Weight-related genomic information and provider communication approach: looking through the lens of patient race

Aim: This report explores the process of weight-related genomic information provision considering patient race as an important potential moderator of patient response. Methods: Health beliefs and perceived stigma were assessed following provision of genomic (versus behavioral) information by a virtual reality-based physician using either a supportive or directive communication style. Participants included 168 women with overweight. Results: Genomic explanations, combined with supportive communication, resulted in some improved health behavior-related and interpersonal outcomes for white patients, but not black participants. Black participants, on average, did not have diminished outcomes when provided with genomic information. Conclusion: Genomic communications may elicit more positive interpersonal responses than behavioral explanations among both majority and minority populations, but these effects may be moderated by patient race.

The Bi-Dimensional Rejection Taxonomy: Organizing Responses to Social Rejection along Antisocial–Prosocial and Engaged–Disengaged Dimensions

Interpersonal responses to social rejection vary widely in form and function. Existing theories of social rejection have exclusively focused on organizing these responses on a single antisocial–prosocial dimension. Accumulating evidence suggests a gap in this approach: variability in social responses to rejection cannot solely be explained by the antisocial–prosocial dimension alone. To fill this gap, we propose the bi-dimensional rejection taxonomy, consisting of the antisocial–prosocial x-axis and engaged-disengaged y-axis, a novel contribution to the literature. We demonstrate that both the x- and y-axes are necessary for understanding interpersonal responses to rejection and avoiding erroneous conclusions. We also show how this new framework allows researchers to generate more nuanced and accurate hypotheses about how people respond when rejected. We further demonstrate how existing research about individual differences and situational factors that predict responses to rejection can be viewed in a new light within the bi-dimensional rejection taxonomy. We conclude by suggesting how the taxonomy inspires innovative questions for future research, including understanding spontaneous responses and neurophysiological markers.

The Interpersonal Psychotherapy Platform

This chapter introduces interpersonal psychotherapy, covers its increasing popularity, and defines the elements that make it unique. It discusses the extent to which IPT can be adapted for differing treatment populations, diagnostic groups, and treatment formats and still remain effective and authentic. The model described here has been the basis for the research that put IPT on the international map, and significantly altering that model would depart from the evidence base that gives it clinical validity. The techniques of IPT are outlined. Much of the work in IPT involves helping patients to see the relationship between environmental triggers and their symptoms, then encouraging them to find interpersonal responses to ameliorate the crisis. The chapter reviews the history, theory, and empirical basis of IPT. Highlighted are the extensive research trials that have confirmed the efficacy of this method of treatment.

Reframing Narratives of Aboriginal Health Inequity

A large body of literature explores historical trauma or intergenerational trauma among Aboriginal communities around the globe. This literature connects contemporary forms of social suffering and health inequity to broader historical processes of colonization and the residential school systems in Canada. There are tendencies within this literature, however, to focus on individual pathology and victimization while minimizing notions of resilience or well-being. Through a social constructionist lens, this research examined how interpersonal responses to historical traumas can be intertwined with moments of and strategies for resilience. Detailed narrative interviews occurred with four Aboriginal Cree elders living in central Saskatchewan, Canada, who all experienced historical trauma to some extent. From this analysis, we argue that health research among Aboriginal populations must be sensitive to the complex individual and social realities that necessarily involve both processes of historical and contemporary traumas as well as resilience, strength, and well-being.