Visible Markers of Traumatic Brain Injury and their Influence on Affective Reactions and Discriminatory Behaviour: A Comparison of Two Models

<p>Two studies examined the influence visible markers of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) have on two mental health models. The two models examined were The Model of Helping Behaviour (Weiner, 1980) and The Danger Appraisal Model (Corrigan, 2000). A total of 305 participants across two experiments were invited and participated in an online survey to investigate the impact visible markers of brain injury have on their emotional and behavioural responses. Participants were recruited via a link on social media or via the intranet at three New Zealand workplaces. The findings of this study found support for visible markers of TBI influencing both The Model of Helping Behaviour and The Danger Appraisal Model. This study suggested that a higher level of perceived dangerousness and social distance is associated with visible markers of TBI and that TBI markers can significantly increase the level of support participants are willing to provide to brain injured individuals within the workplace. Further findings suggested that participants who reported having familiarity of brain injury had lower negative affective reactions, reduced social distance but less willingness to support TBI individuals within the workplace. Due to the limited research relevant to this field, further studies will need to investigate these findings to ascertain whether this is a true replica of the publics’ emotional and behavioural response towards visible markers of brain injury.</p>

Visible Markers of Traumatic Brain Injury and their Influence on Affective Reactions and Discriminatory Behaviour: A Comparison of Two Models

<p>Two studies examined the influence visible markers of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) have on two mental health models. The two models examined were The Model of Helping Behaviour (Weiner, 1980) and The Danger Appraisal Model (Corrigan, 2000). A total of 305 participants across two experiments were invited and participated in an online survey to investigate the impact visible markers of brain injury have on their emotional and behavioural responses. Participants were recruited via a link on social media or via the intranet at three New Zealand workplaces. The findings of this study found support for visible markers of TBI influencing both The Model of Helping Behaviour and The Danger Appraisal Model. This study suggested that a higher level of perceived dangerousness and social distance is associated with visible markers of TBI and that TBI markers can significantly increase the level of support participants are willing to provide to brain injured individuals within the workplace. Further findings suggested that participants who reported having familiarity of brain injury had lower negative affective reactions, reduced social distance but less willingness to support TBI individuals within the workplace. Due to the limited research relevant to this field, further studies will need to investigate these findings to ascertain whether this is a true replica of the publics’ emotional and behavioural response towards visible markers of brain injury.</p>

Socioeconomic inequalities in the prevalence and perceived dangerousness of SARS-CoV-2 infections in two early German hotspots: findings from a seroepidemiological study

Objective Evidence on socioeconomic inequalities in infections with the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is still limited as most of the available studies are ecological in nature and individual-level data is sparse. We therefore analysed individual-level data on socioeconomic differences in the prevalence and perceived dangerousness of SARS-CoV-2 infections in local populations. Data were obtained from a population-based seroepidemiological study of adult individuals in two early German SARS-CoV-2 hotspots (n = 3903). Infection was determined by IgG antibody ELISA, RT-PCR testing and self-reports on prior positive PCR tests. The perceived dangerousness of an infection and socioeconomic position (SEP) were assessed by self-reports. Logistic and linear regression were applied to examine associations of multiple SEP measures with infection status and perceptions of dangerousness. Results We found no evidence of socioeconomic inequalities in SARS-CoV-2 infections by education, occupation, income and subjective social status. Participants with lower education and lower subjective social status perceived an infection as more dangerous than their better-off counterparts. In successfully contained local outbreaks of SARS-CoV-2 in Germany, infections may have been equally distributed across the socioeconomic spectrum. But residents in disadvantaged socioeconomic groups might have experienced a higher level of mental distress due to the higher perceived dangerousness of an infection.

Sentencing Females Convicted of Sex Offenses: Examining Measures of Perceived Dangerousness and the Decision to Incarcerate

From media attention to legislative actions, individuals convicted of sex offenses are often perceived as dangerous and a threat to society. Previous research, however, has demonstrated that perceived dangerousness is gender-specific, often minimizing culpability for women convicted of sex offenses. Consequently, previous research on sentencing outcomes of these individuals have largely been male-only samples, leaving a gap in the literature as it pertains to females convicted of sex offenses. The current study sought to fill this gap by examining the impact that those convicted, victims, and offense characteristics had on sentencing outcomes for women convicted of sex offenses. We analyzed a sample of 262 females convicted of a sex offense in a Southern state. The results demonstrated that official case characteristics, along with victim characteristics, play an influential role in the judicial decision to impose an incarceration sentence.

Health Anxiety Predicts the Perceived Dangerousness of COVID-19 over and above Intrusive Illness-Related Thoughts, Contamination Symptoms, and State and Trait Negative Affect

This study sought to evaluate the specificity of health anxiety, relative to other forms of psychopathology, in perceptions of COVID-19 as dangerous. Measures of health anxiety, COVID-19 perceived dangerousness, negative affect, anxiety, depression, stress, contamination-related obsessions and compulsions, and intrusive illness-related thoughts were administered online to 742 community individuals during the Italian national lockdown. Results showed that, after controlling for demographic variables and other internalizing problems, health anxiety was the single most important factor associated with the perceived dangerousness of COVID-19. Moreover, a comparison between the current sample’s scores on various symptom measures and scores from prepandemic Italian samples revealed that, whereas other internalizing symptoms increased by a large or very large magnitude during the pandemic, levels of health anxiety and negative affect increased by a medium amount. This result may indicate that health anxiety is relatively trait-like, increasing the likelihood that our correlational data support the model of health anxiety as a vulnerability rather than an outcome. Together, these results indicate that health anxiety may be a specific risk factor for COVID-related maladjustment and support the distinction of health anxiety from other psychological problems.

“Bad hombres” at the Southern US border? White nationalism and the perceived dangerousness of immigrants

As a candidate and as president, Donald Trump heightened the salience of immigration, portraying those crossing the nation’s Southern border as “bad hombres” and advocating building a wall blocking their access to the United States from Mexico. Based on a 2019 MTurk study of 465 White adults, the current study found that a clear majority of respondents rejected this stereotype of Southern immigrants as “bad hombres,” judging them to be just as law-abiding as Americans. Importantly, however, the analysis revealed that two innovative measures—Hispanic resentment and, in particular, White nationalism—were consistently related to perceptions of immigrants as criminogenic. Given the growing demographic diversity of the United States, future research should consider the increasing influence of racial/ethnic resentment and White group identity on public opinions about immigration and other justice issues.

EXPLICIT-IMPLICIT DISCREPANCY IN MACRO-LEVEL MENTAL ILLNESS STIGMA IS LINKED TO PREVALENCE AND CARE

Introduction: This study explores the associations in the United States between each state's stereotypes about the dangerousness of people with mental illness and important outcomes for people with mental illness. Methods: Implicit association test and questionnaire data from 17,312 online participants were aggregated within states and years. Each state's annual average implicit and explicit stereotypes were used to predict state differences in prevalence, and treatment, unemployment, and homelessness among people with mental illness. Results: Implicit and explicit perceived dangerousness interact such that in states with low explicit perceived dangerousness, implicit perceived dangerousness is positively associated with all outcomes. In states with high explicit perceived dangerousness, implicit perceived dangerousness is negatively associated with homelessness. Discussion: Explicit-implicit discrepancy in macro-level perceived dangerousness is generally associated with worse outcomes for people with mental illness, but the effects are small. Macro-level stereotypes might have larger effects in smaller regions, like counties, than in states.