Russell Sage College

Coerced debt is an important but understudied form of intimate partner violence. It occurs when abusive partners use fraud, coercion, or manipulation to incur debt in their partners' names. For the current study, we sampled 187 women who had recently divorced an abusive husband and their combined 2,833 credit accounts to answer the questions: (1) On what types of credit accounts and using what types of transactions (i.e., fraud, coercion, and manipulation) did ex-husbands create coerced debt in their partners' names? (2) How much money was spent and what items were purchased? and (3) What reasons did ex-husbands give for pressuring participants to open accounts in their names that resulted in coerced debt? We collected data via an online survey and telephone interview. We analyzed quantitative data with descriptive statistics and responses to open-ended questions with inductive thematic analysis. The findings indicated that coerced debt is a common and expensive problem with a wide variety of presentations. The 116 participants with coerced debt had a mean of 4.4 and a maximum of 24 such debts and owed a combined total of over 12.5 million dollars. The most common types of accounts with coerced debt were credit cards, vehicle loans, mortgages, personal loans, and student loans. Coercive transactions were much more common than debt created by fraudulent transactions. Coerced debt was used for basic necessities, lifestyle purchases, transportation, the ex-husbands' personal interests, financial needs and obligations, and other household members' needs. The most common reason ex-husbands gave for putting accounts in their partners' names was personal resource adequacy. This study indicates the need for future research on the effects of coerced debt and the effectiveness of interventions to address it; screening tools and practices for use in direct service settings; and laws that address debt created by coercive transactions.

Prehabilitation may help older adults recover after surgery, yet adherence has been variable. We assessed the feasibility of a multi-component prehabilitation program. This single-arm trial was conducted at an academic medical center to test the feasibility of an individualized prehabilitation program before major surgery. The program consisted of twice-weekly physical therapy, weekly dietician consultations with daily protein supplementation, and weekly group meditation for 3-4 weeks. The primary outcome was adherence, as measured by the proportion of completed sessions. Secondary outcomes included changes in gait speed, chair stands, and grip strength after intervention and Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS)-Physical Function scores at 90 days post-surgery. Of 95 eligible patients, 30 (31.6%) were enrolled (mean [SD] age, 75.3 [6.6] years; 12 [40.0%] women; 19 cardiac and 11 non-cardiac procedures) and 28 began the intervention. Adherence was 91.3% (190/208 sessions completed) for physical therapy, 76.9% (80/104 sessions completed) for dietician consultation, and 68.3% (71/104 sessions completed) for meditation, with 67.9% of the participants completing at least 50% of each component. Among 25 participants (89.3%) who completed the intervention, mean walking speed increased (0.2 m/s; 95% CI: 0.0-0.4), and mean time to complete 5 chair stands decreased (3.4 s; 95% CI: -6.9 to 0.0), but mean grip strength did not change significantly (1.6 kg; 95% CI: -2.1 to 5.3). Among 22 out of 23 participants (95.7%) who underwent surgery, the mean PROMIS-Physical Function score improved by 4.4 points (95% CI: 3.0-5.9) at 90 days post-surgery compared to baseline. Adverse events included gastrointestinal discomforts (3 events), musculoskeletal pain (3 events), and dizziness (1 event). This study demonstrates the feasibility of multicomponent prehabilitation in older patients scheduled for major elective surgery. NCT05752474.

Although research has shown both positive and negative mental health correlates of social media use, few studies focus on adolescents who are receiving intensive psychiatric care. The purpose of this study was to describe problematic media use, experiences of cybervictimization and sextortion, and correlates with adolescents' health in a sample of adolescents (N = 97; 53.6% female) in a partial psychiatric hospitalization program. Approximately one-quarter of participants reported being cybervictimized at least once over the past month and 17.5% of participants reported ever experiencing sextortion. Greater problematic media use was associated with lower physical activity and greater feelings of loneliness. In a subsample of 51 participants, questions were asked regarding who they had gone to for support regarding experiences of online harm, and barriers to disclosing such experiences. The majority of youth who experienced cybervictimization indicated going to a friend for support but rarely endorsed telling a mental health clinician about it. Even fewer disclosed their experience of sextortion, with nearly half reporting not telling anyone (44.4%). Given the rates of online harm experienced by youth in acute psychiatric treatment, screening for and conducting brief interventions on problematic or risky social media use is recommended.

In the following we introduce a special issue of the journal Woman & Therapy, titled Women in Their 80s and 90s: Positively Vital. Our intent has been to provide a balance to the prevailing literature on older women which tends to present a negative view of the trials and tribulations of old age. We believe that this information is vital not just for old women but also for feminist psychologists who work with this population and for the world at large.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the views of African higher education scholars about effective leadership and if those views reflect a unique, African meaning of leadership.Design/methodology/approachThe study sought to explore the views of African higher education scholars about leadership in general and if those views reflect a unique, African meaning, that does not necessarily fit the widely accepted western theories. Using a researcher-designed questionnaire, higher education faculty and administrators were asked their understanding and beliefs about leadership. Data from quantitative responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics and t-test. In addition, qualitative answers, from one open ended question, were utilized to possibly triangulate with quantitative responses.FindingsThis study found that most research participants believe that the widely used western leadership theories are not fully applicable to Africa's context. However, the list of qualities of effective leadership, these participants suggest to be unique to Africa, included mixed attributes from Western, Non-Western and Culture-Neutral theories.Research limitations/implicationsThis study has some limitations. First, the data for this study was collected electronically which might have affected the potential responses from those with limited Internet connection or who have not updated their current email addresses. Second, the participants of the study are higher education professionals whose insight about leadership may not necessarily reflect the views of others from different background.Practical implicationsBy examining leadership effectiveness in Africa's context, this study adds to the body of literature on the ongoing discussion on the topic of culture and leadership. It is hoped that the findings of the study provide important insights regarding the debate on “western vs non-western” leadership theories.Originality/valueThe universal understanding of leadership and the application of leadership theories across cultures have been an issue of debate for leadership scholars and practitioners around the globe. Many authors argue that the widely used leadership theories are “too western” in value and character (Bass, 1990; Hofstede, 1993; House and Aditya, 1997). This study adds the perspectives of African scholars to the ongoing debate and expands the understanding about leadership across culture.

Entrepreneurship is vital in economic advancement and global competitiveness. Entrepreneurship education has shown a rapid growth worldwide as education provides an environment that will stimulate the growth of the learner; and facilitates innovation and competition. Transformative changes in entrepreneurship education provide students with an environment to grow and sharpen their entrepreneurial skills and exploit innovation opportunities. Academic entrepreneurship education delivers sustainability within the education system by improving knowledge and competencies of entrepreneurship and provides avenues for more advantageous learning. In this paper recent entrepreneurship education studies were reviewed to understand the trends and development in entrepreneurship education studies. The research mainly focused on the status of innovative methods in entrepreneurship education and outlined current innovative methods that are being implemented to inspire a dynamic and self-regulating attitude and a mindset in learners for new opportunities. Among innovative methods, technology-enhanced learning and using various technology platforms are found very helpful in bringing about social awareness and innovation from students. Digital technologies and e-skill are outlined very helpful in increasing knowledge retention and engagement in a particular topic in entrepreneurship settings to better prepare students for the challenges that are most certainly ahead in the future. Also, it is important to adjust different techniques used in teaching to correspond to the needs of the students with multidisciplinary backgrounds. The paper summarizes future research suggestions on research directions in technology enhanced learning and includes implications of interdependence between learning and economic growth.