Article archive / October 2023
Originally published: . Volume 14, No. 10. Source pages: 1, 6.
Researchers from Louisiana Present at Am Psych Assn
Louisiana psychological scientists and researchers from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Tulane University Health Sciences Center, Tulane University New Orleans, and Xavier University of Louisiana, New Orleans presented at the August national conference of the American Psychological Association. Presentations included the following.
Louisiana State University
Mary E. Barnes, Matthew L. Willis, and Katie E. Cherry, PhD of LSU Baton Rouge, authored “Memory Self-Efficacy in Oldest-Old Adults.” According to the abstract: Subjective perceptions of memory play an important role in cognitive adaptability in later life. Self-reported memory is typically assessed using objective surveys. Few studies have examined what older people may by James Glass have to say about their own memory in
everyday life. In the present research, authors examined older adults’ memory self- efficacy appraisals using a mixed method approach that included objective and subjective measures. Participants were young-old (60-74 years), old-old (75-89 years) and oldest-old (90 + years) adults in the Louisiana Healthy Aging Study.
Kamile Geist, PhD, and Eugene Geist coauthored “The Impact of Music-Based Strategies on Caregivers and Infants At-Risk Families.” According to the program: It is well known that engaging in the arts throughout the lifespan can positively impact long-term health and well-being (Fancourt & Perkins, 2018). The evidence of the positive impact on public health with families at risk due to trauma, substance abuse, and low socioeconomic status is building.
Tulane University
Aditi Morumganti contributed to the “Compounding Structural Vulnerabilities Faced by People Living with HIV and Cancer in Vietnam.” In contrast to the robust subsidized HIV-related health care services provided in Vietnam, cancer care presents a significant cost burden, said the author. Further, people living with HIV have higher rates of many cancers, and thus are a group that disproportionately bears these high costs. Participants reported that the current health care infrastructure in Vietnam leads to later diagnosis of cancer and poorer cancer prognoses. Costs of cancer care were discussed as a major concern. In general, participants also noted that HIV care tends to be siloed from other medical care, including cancer care.
Aditi Morumganti also coauthored a presentation for “A Qualitative Exploration of Sociocultural Perceptions of Cancer and Their Interplay with Stigma," and “Cancer Stigma and Discrimination in Employment and Housing in Viet Nam.”
The author noted in the abstract that, "Living with HIV can threaten one’s ability to achieve […] cultural capabilities due to perceptions of people living with HIV as contagious, engaged in immoral or illegal activity, and unemployable. On the other hand, taking HIV treatment and maintaining employment were seen as enabling people living with HIV to retain social standing."
And, "Cancer patients can face multilevel stigma related to their cancer and its treatment, including discrimination in employment and housing. This discrimination has significant social, economic, and emotional effects, yet remains underexplored in many contexts, including Viet Nam. As cancer incidence continues to rise in Viet Nam’s aging society, comprehensive interventions for cancer patients and public education against cancer stigma will be increasingly necessary."
Tochukwu Awachie coauthored with Heidi P. Breaux, DSW of Louisiana State University on the “BIPOC Trans and Nonbinary Liberation: Practice and Advocacy Strategies.” This was for Transgender and gender nonconforming and Ethnic Minority Studies.
Tochukwu Awachie collaborated on the “Generic and Culturally Relevant Coping May Mediate the Reasons for Living – Suicide Resilience Link.” According to the abstract: African American women historically have shown impressive resilience to suicidal behavior. Authors focus attention to the association between suicide resilience and reasons for living or culturally-relevant factors that may explain the association, since both constructs are protective factors for suicidal behavior.
Tochukwu Awachie presented “Personhood & Power: The Therapeutic Value of Embracing AfroDiasporic Cosmologies in Clinical Spaces.” Author noted limitations of mainstream psychology in service of Black therapy clients and offered recommendations for more culturally-enriched psychotherapy. Mainstream or Western psychology posits Eurocentric philosophies and theories as standards against which cultural psychology, the psychology of people of the global majority, is contrasted (Sutherland, 2011). African psychology is a protest psychology that centers African ways of knowing and being and reclaims African images and narratives from Euro- American discursive contexts (Nwoye, 2015).
Michael Cunningham, PhD and Ramal R. Rauf, BS, presented on the “Dimensions of Racial Identity: Protective Factors for African American Girls.” This research examined the relationship between stressful life events and mental health challenges among African American female adolescents, and how that is moderated by dimensions of racial identity. Authors identified these relationships among 245 African American female adolescent participants at a school in the southern United States. The linkages between SLEs and mental health challenges are assessed through the lens of Spencer’s PVEST framework.
Tulane University Health Sciences Center
Sangkyu Kim and S. Michal Jazwinski collaborated on “Memory Self-Efficacy in Oldest-Old Adults.” The abstract noted: Subjective perceptions of memory play an important role in cognitive adaptability in later life. Few studies have examined what older people may have to say about their own memory in everyday life. In the present research, we examined older adults’ memory self-efficacy appraisals using a mixed method approach that included objective and subjective measures. Participants were young-old (60-74 years), old-old (75-89 years) and oldest-old (90 + years) adults in the Louisiana Healthy Aging Study (LHAS).
Xavier University of Louisiana, New Orleans
Stephanie M. Grant, PhD, presented on the “Co-creating anti colonial learning spaces: Building communities of resistance.” The author noted: This session will be focused on exploring the tenets of the collaborative, non- hierarchical, anti-colonial approach to collective learning through community while providing a direct model of a session with participants. We will briefly review the tenets of an anti-colonial learning collaborative as well as findings from the initial 8-session learning collective completed in the summer of 2022 (approximately 10 minutes) and proceed to model a sample learning session with participants. This content will serve as the cornerstone of a non-hierarchical discussion around anti-colonial approaches to knowledge dissemination and community building.
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