Confidant par excellence, advisors and healers: women traders' intersecting identities and roles in Senegal

Peer Victimization and Unhealthy Weight Control Behaviors-the Role of Intersecting Identities among New York City Youth

We investigated the intersection of sexual minority, gender, and Hispanic identities, and their interaction with peer victimization in predicting unhealthy weight control behaviors (UWCB) among New York City (NYC) youths. Using logistic regression with data from the 2011 NYC Youth Risk Behavior Survey, we examined the association of sexual identity, gender, ethnicity, and peer victimization (dating violence, bullying at school, electronic bullying) in predicting UWCB. Sexual minority youths, dating violence victims, and youths bullied at school had 1.97, 3.32, and 1.74 times higher odds of UWCB than their counterparts, respectively (P < 0.001). The three-way interaction terms between (i) dating violence, gender, and sexual identity and (ii) electronic bullying, gender, and sexual identity were statistically significant. The effect of dating violence on unhealthy weight control practices was strongest among sexual minority males (OR = 4.9), and the effect of electronic bullying on unhealthy weight control practices was strongest among non-sexual minority males (OR = 2.9). Sexual minority and gender identities interact with peer victimization in predicting unhealthy weight control practices among NYC youths. To limit the prevalence and effect of dating violence and electronic bullying among youths, interventions should consider that an individual's experiences are based on multiple identities that can be linked to more than one ground of discrimination.

Deaf identities in a multicultural setting: The Ugandan context

Often located far apart from each other, deaf and hearing impaired persons face a multiplicity of challenges that evolve around isolation, neglect and the deprivation of essential social services that affect their welfare and survival. Although it is evident that the number of persons born with or acquire hearing impairments in later stages of their lives is increasing in many developing countries, there is limited research on this population. The main objective of this article is to explore the identities and experiences of living as a person who is deaf in Uganda. Using data from semi-structured interviews with 42 deaf persons (aged 19–41) and three focus group discussions, the study findings show that beneath the more pragmatic identities documented in the United States and European discourses there is a matrix of ambiguous, often competing and manifold forms in Uganda that are not necessarily based on the deaf and deaf constructions. The results further show that the country's cultural, religious and ethnic diversity is more of a restraint than an enabler to the aspirations of the deaf community. The study concludes that researchers and policy makers need to be cognisant of the unique issues underlying deaf epistemologies whilst implementing policy and programme initiatives that directly affect them. The upper case ‘D’ in the term deaf is a convention that has been used since the early 1970s to connote a ‘socially constructed visual culture’ or a linguistic, social and cultural minority group who use sign language as primary means of communication and identify with the deaf community, whereas the lower case ‘d’ in deaf refers to ‘the audio logical condition of hearing impairment’. However, in this article the lower case has been used consistently.

Confidant Relations in Italy

Confidants are often described as the individuals with whom we choose to disclose personal, intimate matters. The presence of a confidant is associated with both mental and physical health benefits. In this study, 135 Italian adults responded to a structured questionnaire that asked if they had a confidant, and if so, to describe various features of the relationship. The vast majority of participants (91%) reported the presence of a confidant and regarded this relationship as personally important, high in mutuality and trust, and involving minimal lying. Confidants were significantly more likely to be of the opposite sex. Participants overall were significantly more likely to choose a spouse or other family member as their confidant, rather than someone outside of the family network. Familial confidants were generally seen as closer, and of greater value, than non-familial confidants. These findings are discussed within the context of Italian culture.