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There is no reported investigation comparing concordance in attitudes and beliefs about autism spectrum disorder between parents of children with autism spectrum disorder and scientists who research autism spectrum disorder. To investigate the level of concordance between these groups on causes of autism, priorities of research, perceived stigma, and disclosure of genetic test results, telephone interviews were conducted. Parents (n?=?502) were recruited from the Simons Simplex Collection, and research scientists (n?=?60) were recruited from investigators funded by the Simons Foundation. Response rates were notable (parents 91%, scientists 80%). Parents and scientists differed significantly regarding beliefs of the likely major cause of autism (p?=?0.007) and priorities for further research (p?

Columbia University offers two innovative undergraduate science-based bioethics courses for student majoring in biosciences and pre-health studies. The goals of these courses are to introduce future scientists and healthcare professionals to the ethical questions they will confront in their professional lives, thus enabling them to strategically address these bioethical dilemmas. These courses incorporate innovative pedagogical methods, case studies, and class discussions to stimulate the students to think creatively about bioethical issues emerging from new biotechnologies. At the end of each course, each student is required to submit a one-page strategy detailing how he or she would resolve a bioethical dilemma. Based on our experience in teaching these courses and on a qualitative analysis of the students' reflections, we offer recommendations for creating an undergraduate science-based course in bioethics. General recommendations include: 1) integrating the science of emerging biotechnologies, their ethical ramifications, and contemporary bioethical theories into interactive class sessions; 2) structuring discussion-based classes to stimulate students to consider the impact of their moral intuitions when grappling with bioethical issues; and 3) using specific actual and futuristic case studies to highlight bioethical issues and to help develop creative problem-solving skills. Such a course sparks students' interests in both science and ethics and helps them analyze bioethical challenges arising from emerging biotechnologies.

Author(s): Sydney H. Kinnear[sup.1] [sup.6] , Bruce G. Link[sup.2] [sup.3] [sup.7] , Michelle S. Ballan[sup.4] [sup.5] , Ruth L. Fischbach[sup.1] [sup.3] Author Affiliations: (1) Department of Psychiatry, Center for Bioethics, [...], Stigma is widely perceived in the lives of families with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) yet large, systematic studies have not been undertaken. Following Link and Phelan&apos;s (Ann Rev Sociol 27:363-385, 2001 (See CR12)) model, this study of 502 Simons Simplex Collection families details how different factors contribute to stigma and how each appears to increase the overall difficulty of raising a child with ASD. The model begins with the child&apos;s behavioral symptoms and then specifies stigma processes of stereotyping, rejection, and exclusion. Autism behaviors contribute both to the difficulty families experience raising a child with autism and to the stigma processes associated with those behaviors. Stigma also plays a significant role (.282, p < .001) in predicting how difficult life is overall for parents.

Gender-based violence, only recently emerging as a pervasive global issue, contributes significantly to preventable morbidity and mortality for women across diverse cultures. Existing documentation suggests that profound physical and psychological sequelae are endemic following intimate partner violence. The presentation of domestic violence is often culture specific. A new lexicon, prompted by the expansion of human rights analysis, describes particular threats to local women including dowry deaths, honor murder, sati, and disproportional exposure to HIV/AIDS as well as globally generic perils including abuse, battering, marital rape, and murder. While still fragmentary, accruing data reveal strengthening associations between domestic violence and mental health. Depression, stress-related syndromes, chemical dependency and substance (ab)use, and suicide are consequences observed in the context of violence in women's lives. Emerging social, legal, medical, and educational strategies, often culture specific, offer novel local models to promote social change beginning with raising the status of women. The ubiquity, gravity, and variability of domestic violence across cultures compel additional research to promote the recognition, intervention, and prevention of domestic violence that are both locally specific and internationally instructuve. Key words - domestic violence, gender-based violence, spouse abuse, pregnancy, cross-cultural studies, dowry death, HIV/AIDS, rape, mental health, human rights, ethics

This study examined individuals either personally or indirectly exposed to disaster and hypothesized that social involvement would differentially mediate the effect of exposure on the mental health of male and female victims. The study reinterviewed individuals previously interviewed just prior to disastrous floods and the discovery of unsafe levels of dioxin. Results indicated that males and females differ in their response to disaster exposure. Males showed increased symptoms of alcohol abuse and depression as a result of either personal, or both personal and indirect, exposure to disaster. In contrast, females' symptomatology was not directly elevated by personal disaster exposure. Both sexes were sensitive to demands for support as a mediator of disaster effects. That is, victims both personally exposed to disaster and heavily relied upon by network members were far more likely to somatize (females) or abuse alcohol (males) than personally exposed individuals subject to more moderate network demands. Although excellent spouse support attenuated male symptomatology, its presence was associated with an exacerbation of symptoms in personally exposed females. Results suggest the importance of considering both the positive and negative consequences of social involvement because, for women in particular, very strong social ties may be more burdensome than supportive in times of extreme stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author comments on the issue of whether physicians in the U.S. should consent to a patient's request that the left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implanted on his chest be disabled. She cites three factors that physicians should consider when faced with the same situation, including the patient's self-determination, the limits of medical technology and the physician's compassion. She maintains the belief that it is ethically justifiable that the LVAD be disabled by the compassionate physician.