Substance use disorders (SUDs) take a heavy toll on those who have them and on society more broadly. These disorders are often difficult to treat, and relapse is common. Perhaps, because of these factors, these disorders are highly stigmatized worldwide. The purpose of this study is to examine empirical work intended to determine the impact of perceived social stigma and self-stigma on the process of recovering from SUDs with the assistance of formal treatment services. Qualitative studies confirmed that stigma experiences are common among those with these disorders and that these experiences can negatively impact feelings and beliefs about treatment. One quantitative study provided good statistical support for a direct effect of stigma on outcomes, but this was contradicted by other longitudinal data. In general, quantitative articles suggested an indirect effect of stigma on treatment outcomes, via negative emotions and cognitive mechanisms such as feelings of self-efficacy. However, it was notable that there was little consistency in the literature as to definitions and measurement of the constructs of recovery, perceived social stigma, and self-stigma. Future work should focus on bringing clarity, and validated measures, to this problem in order to better determine the nature of these relationships.

Substance-use disorders are a public health crisis globally and carry with them significant morbidity and mortality. Stigma toward people who abuse these substances, as well as the internalization of that stigma by substance users, is widespread. In this review, we synthesized the available evidence for the role of perceived social stigma and self-stigma in people’s willingness to seek treatment. While stigma may be frequently cited as a barrier to treatment in some samples, the degree of its impact on decision-making regarding treatment varied widely. More research needs to be done to standardize the definition and measurement of self- and perceived social stigma to fully determine the magnitude of their effect on treatment-seeking decisions.

Background: Emergency medical service (EMS) personnel are regularly exposed to traumatic incidents and experience higher rates of symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than the general population. Grit is a construct proposed to be associated with achievement, but it has demonstrated preliminary evidence of an association with resilience. The current study examined the relationship between grit and resilience among EMS workers. Methods: A link to an online survey was sent to East Baton Rouge Parish Emergency Medical Services personnel via an email distribution list. Demographic variables and the following self-report measures were assessed: the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), the Grit Scale, the Brief COPE scale, and the Professional Exposure to Traumatic Experiences scale (modified from the Life Events Checklist). Results: PCL-5 scores were significantly and negatively correlated with the Grit Scale score (r=-0.57, P<0.01). Hierarchical regression revealed that grit and coping mechanisms were predictive of self-reported PTSD symptoms (adjusted R 2 =68.7%, F(15,67)=9.81, P<0.001). Examination of the coefficients revealed that lower total Grit Scale scores and higher scores on the following Brief COPE scales were significant predictors of PCL-5 scores: denial, substance abuse, disengagement, and self-blame. Conclusion: This study examined the relationship between grit and resilience, measured by self-reported PTSD symptoms. Our results demonstrate a significant relationship between grit and resilience. Grit is related to, but distinct from, other constructs that predict resilience, such as coping mechanisms. Large prospective studies could have significant implications for hiring practices and building grit in existing personnel to bolster resilience.

Background: Burnout is a major problem among physicians in the United States. Women physicians experience higher rates of both burnout and sexual harassment than their male counterparts. Some studies from Asia and Europe have shown a correlation between sexual harassment at work and burnout in women physicians, but no studies on this topic have been done in the United States.Methods: For this study, women physicians with active Louisiana licenses were invited to complete a cross-sectional self-report survey to assess burnout and sexual harassment. Burnout was assessed with the 2-item Maslach Burnout Inventory, and sexual harassment was assessed with a questionnaire adapted from the Sexual Experiences Questionnaire and a series of follow-up items.Results: The survey response rate was 13% (129 of 970 invitees). Of the 129 participants, 36% reported feeling burned out from their work at least once a week and 38% reported having experienced at least one inappropriate sexual incident in their career. Ninety-six percent of respondents reported having experienced gender harassment from their colleagues, while 69% had experienced unwanted sexual attention from the same. Additionally, 69 (53%) participants reported experiencing some form of sexual harassment from patients or their families. Colleague gender harassment was significantly correlated with burnout scores.Conclusion: This study found that reports of burnout and gender harassment from colleagues were significantly correlated. The results also align with previous findings of high rates of sexual harassment in medical school and residency. More research should be done in this area, especially focusing on women in training, women of color, and sexual and gender minority individuals.

Using speakers of either African American English or Southern White English, we asked whether a working memory measure was linguistically unbiased, that is, equally able to distinguish between children with and without specific language impairment (SLI) across dialects, with similar error profiles and similar correlations to standardized test scores. We also examined whether the measure was affected by a child's nonmainstream dialect density. Fifty-three kindergarteners with SLI and 53 typically developing controls (70 African American English, 36 Southern White English) were given a size judgment working memory task, which involved reordering items by physical size before recall, as well as tests of syntax, vocabulary, intelligence, and nonmainstream density. Across dialects, children with SLI earned significantly poorer span scores than controls, and made more nonlist errors. Span and standardized language test performance were correlated; however, they were also both correlated with nonmainstream density. After partialing out density, span continued to differentiate the groups and correlate with syntax measures in both dialects. Thus, working memory performance can distinguish between children with and without SLI and is equally related to syntactic abilities across dialects. However, the correlation between span and nonmainstream dialect density indicates that processing-based verbal working memory tasks may not be as free from linguistic bias as often thought. Additional studies are needed to further explore this relationship.