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Building from a panel at the 2022 National Communication Association (NCA) annual convention, the present article seeks to ground communication studies/sciences as central to interdisciplinary conversations surrounding sexuality education and communication. Communication is integral to sexuality education, and topics of communication, sex, and sexuality education are researched across disciplines. Still, research on sexuality education within communication studies remains under-attended, and interdisciplinary sexuality education research remains siloed by academic discipline. Presenting a forum featuring both emerging and leading scholars in the field of communication researching sex(uality) education, the present article seeks to establish the academic discipline of communication as integral to research on sexuality education. To do so, we first discuss communication as an academic discipline and its advancements in sexuality education research. Next, communication scholars offer their expertise in sex(uality education) communication topics including family conversations, cultural influence, health inequities in education, and medicine. Collectively, these perspectives offer an understanding of current sexual health research in the field of communication, as well as next steps through direct application to conversations about sex, improvement to our medical and education systems, and community-based education and intervention. It is our hope that this article fosters a larger conversation about the importance of communication (studies/sciences) in sexuality education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parents are often the first-line resource for their children regarding relationships and sex-related topics. Although there has been increasing research on difficulties parents perceive surrounding these conversations, less research has been done to assess the complex personal experiences and perceptions parents navigate surrounding open, honest, and comprehensive sex-related talks with their children. The qualitative study included 78 U.S. parents/guardians across 12 focus groups discussing their experiences and communication surrounding sex-related topics with their children. Using the constructivist grounded theory approach we found that parents are trying to navigate a balance between four competing struggles in conversations about sex-related topics with their children, including: (a) sexual education and overexposure, (b) family values and breaking the cycle, (c) accurate information and influencing sources, and (d) parent control and child autonomy. Our findings offer insights into parents' common struggles, inform future research, and promote more meaningful parent-child communication about sex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study adopts a dialectical perspective to explore how students transitioning to college communicatively negotiate the web of old and new relationships in the age of Facebook. Interpretive thematic analysis of 30 interviews revealed three discursive struggles: preservation and (re)invention, uniqueness and conformity, and openness and closedness. With time and space no longer inhibiting a connection to all the people in our relational lives, college students must make sense of the possibility for new senses of self when connected to "home" in a way previous generations never experienced. The contradictions present in the participants' voices illuminate the ways in which wider cultural discourses that construct college as a time of separation and independence enable and constrain students' understandings of their own emerging adulthood.

Miscarriage occurs in roughly one in five pregnancies in the United States. Although it is largely considered a "women's issue," non-miscarrying spouses also endure the mental and relational health effects of the loss. Drawing on communicated narrative sense-making (CNSM) theory, we interviewed heterosexual, cisgender, mostly white, married men (n = 45) to solicit their stories of their spouse's miscarriage. Six types of memorable messages (i.e., messages that affect the values, behaviors and/or beliefs of the receiver) from social network members emerged – have faith, brush it off, this (pain) is your fault, silence, I'm so sorry, and this happens a lot. These messages illuminate the importance of context in memorable message meaning-making; highlight the complexity of "message gaps" in narratively processing difficulty; and uncover ethical issues with attending to men's experiences with miscarriage. We explore how these findings inform memorable messages theorizing and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Whilst evidence suggests cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) may be effective for depressed older people in a primary care setting, few studies have examined its cost-effectiveness. The aim of this study was to compare the cost-effectiveness of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), a talking control (TC) and treatment as usual (TAU), delivered in a primary care setting, for older people with depression. Methods Cost data generated from a single blind randomised controlled trial of 204 people aged 65 years or more were offered only Treatment as Usual, or TAU plus up to twelve sessions of CBT or a talking control is presented. The Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II) was the main outcome measure for depression. Direct treatment costs were compared with reductions in depression scores. Cost-effectiveness analysis was conducted using non-parametric bootstrapping. The primary analysis focussed on the cost-effectiveness of CBT compared with TAU at 10 months follow up. Results Complete cost data were available for 198 patients at 4 and 10 month follow up. There were no significant differences between groups in baseline costs. The majority of health service contacts at follow up were made with general practitioners. Fewer contacts with mental health services were recorded in patients allocated to CBT, though these differences were not significant. Overall total per patient costs (including intervention costs) were significantly higher in the CBT group compared with the TAU group at 10 month follow up (difference £427, 95% CI: £56 - £787, p < 0.001). Reductions in BDI-II scores were significantly greater in the CBT group (difference 3.6 points, 95% CI: 0.7-6.5 points, p = 0.018). CBT is associated with an incremental cost of £120 per additional point reduction in BDI score and a 90% probability of being considered cost-effective if purchasers are willing to pay up to £270 per point reduction in the BDI-II score. Conclusions CBT is significantly more costly than TAU alone or TAU plus TC, but more clinically effective. Based on current estimates, CBT is likely to be recommended as a cost-effective treatment option for this patient group if the value placed on a unit reduction in BDI-II is greater than £115. Trial Registration isrctn.org Identifier: ISRCTN18271323

With approximately 20 % of pregnancies ending in loss, miscarriage is a relatively common and stressful occurrence. Because romantic partners' coping efforts are intimately connected, the way one partner copes with the other's miscarriage has important implications for individual and relational well-being. Grounded in the communicated sense-making (CSM) model, the current study investigated how cis-gender men in heterosexual marriages (n = 45) communicatively constructed the meaning of their wife's miscarriage through metaphors. Analysis of interview data revealed two supra-themes—metaphors of miscarriage and metaphors of men's role as a husband. Metaphors of lost gift, cataclysm, death of a loved one, emptiness, and chaotic movement animated husbands' CSM about their wife's miscarriage. Men drew upon discourses of masculinity to make sense of their role as a husband in the miscarriage process as a rock, guard, repair man, and secondary character. We explore these findings in light of the master narrative of birth and propose an expansion of the CSM model to include metaphors as a key CSM device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grounded in communicated sense-making (CSM) theorizing, we investigated communicated perspective- taking (CPT; i.e., conversational partners' attendance to and confirmation of each other's views) in association with individual and relational well-being in married couples who had miscarried (n = 183; N = 366). Actor-partner interdependence modeling revealed husbands' perceptions of wives' CPT were positively related to husbands' positive affect about the miscarriage and both spouses' relational satisfaction, as well as negatively associated with wives' positive affect. Wives' perceptions of husbands' CPT related positively to their own relational satisfaction and negatively to husbands' negative affect. Analyses revealed identification as a parent to the miscarried child (i.e., "parenting role salience") positively moderated the relationship between CPT and relational satisfaction. Implications for advancing CSM theorizing in health contexts and practical applications are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The past year has seen a global upsurge of violent attacks by lone, mentally unstable individuals. The motivations for these attacks have varied and extremist ideological drivers are rarely ‘pure’, but mental health problems and personal grievances are common themes. Mentally ill and disenfranchised individuals may be vulnerable to extremist messages and propaganda because such beliefs can be a means of interpreting their social difficulties. Terrorist messages can also be adopted by psychotic people who are seeking to make sense of their symptoms. Most lone-actor attacks are preventable, if there is a system in place for identifying and intervening with antecedent behaviours, which include mental disturbances and the social problems that frequently accompany these conditions. Joint police-mental health models developed to assess and manage fixated persons can be applied to other forms of grievance-fuelled, lone-actor violence. This paper describes the establishment of such a service in Australia, and provides some preliminary data. It also discusses the role of mental health in the current security environment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The recent passing of House Bill 5 (HB5) in Texas has renewed interest in CTE programs and in the importance of preparing students for college and careers. Research indicates that CTE programs are effective in decreasing dropout rates, increasing attendance, increasing student grades, and encouraging students to pursue careers and post-secondary education. This study was conducted using quantitative analysis to determine if there is a relationship between the perceptions of the student's preparedness for college or university, trade school, or a career, and five factors of the CTE endorsement area. The five factors researched were curriculum, extracurricular activities, facilities, teacher knowledge, and administrator support. The study utilized a survey research instrument that was administered to high school seniors enrolled in a CTE course at one of two south central Texas high schools. Analysis of data determined that there are significant differences in specific endorsement areas on student's perceptions of preparedness. Results can be utilized by educators and administrators to implement components of House Bill 5 and to strengthen CTE programs across south central Texas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research considers how communication within college student social networks may encourage high-risk sexual relationships. Students (n = 274) described sexual scripts for hooking up and reported on peer communication, sexual behavior, and sexual attitudes. Students described varied hookup scripts, expressed ambivalent attitudes, and reported moderate participation in hookups overall. However, the most common hookup script, suggesting high-risk sexual activity (i.e., unplanned, inebriated sex), was featured in most accounts of students who themselves participated in hookups. Students overestimated how often others were hooking up, and these estimates were especially inflated by students who frequently talked about hooking up with friends. Among students with strong ties to peers, frequent peer communication about sex predicted participation in hookups and favorable attitudes about hooking up. Peer approval also predicted hookup behavior and attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]