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Issue 73
June 2008

Welcome to the 73rd edition of Flash, our bi-weekly alert for science, health and medical journalists. Flash is a courtesy service with access to ScienceDirect, Elsevier’s online platform, providing full text access to some 2,000 scientific, technical and medical journals.

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ARTICLES

1. DOES INTELLIGENCE EQUATE TO ATHEISM?

In his book The God Delusion (2006), British biologist Richard Dawkins suggests that it is not intelligent to believe in the existence of God. The book has attracted widespread commentary – good and bad – and led many to explore the links between intelligence and atheism.

In Elsevier’s Intelligence, evidence is reviewed that points to a negative relationship between intelligence and religious belief in the United States and Europe. The paper looks at data from the IQ of nations given in IQ and Global Inequality, and figures for belief in God from a 2007 study that shows data for 137 countries representing just over 95 percent of the world’s population. Using all of this data, a correlation of 0.60 was discovered between national IQs and disbelief in God.

This conclusion raises the question of why this correlation exists. The authors go on to suggest that in some cases, people no longer rely on religion as an explanation for occurrences in nature and look to science for answers. Others note that intelligent people are more prone to question irrational or unproven religious dogmas.

Surprisingly, the U.S. has an unusually low percentage of its population disbelieving in God, considering it is a country with a high-IQ. The researchers suggest this could be attributed to the number of American Catholics and the many immigrants who arrived in the U.S. with strong religious beliefs. As a result, these beliefs may have been transmitted as a cultural and even genetic legacy to subsequent generations. It has been found that religious belief has a significant heritability.

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2. I’M A SURVIVOR? – WOMEN WITH BREAST CANCER QUESTION THE TERMINOLOGY

In recent decades, breast cancer has become a highly visible and well-funded disease. Pink ribbons, charity walks and aggressive research campaigns have done much to eliminate the stigma of the disease. But when it comes to the term “survivor,” some women question and fail to identify with this common phrase.

In Elsevier’s Social Science & Medicine, data from 39 in-depth interviews with women that had completed treatment for breast cancer provide insights into how they feel about the term “survivor”. The women’s treatments varied, with some going through chemotherapy, others having a lumpectomy or mastectomy, and still others enduring radiation therapy. Among other questions, each woman was asked if she referred to herself as a “survivor” and what the word “survivor” meant to her.

Results showed that the women rarely referred to themselves as survivors. For those that did, the meaning of the survivor identity varied. Some said they agreed with this statement because they were proud that they had completed the treatment. Other women saw themselves as survivors, but considered themselves to be in an ongoing war with cancer.

For those that did not accept the title of “survivor,” there was a consistent fear that the cancer could come back and some described themselves as “cancer free for now.” Several also rejected the term because they did not believe they were ever sick enough to be labelled a survivor, or because they did not want to be part of the group of women who are publicly labelled as cancer survivors.

This research suggests breast cancer terminology needs to acknowledge the long-term role of cancer in women’s lives and their fears of recurrence. Such a framework might pull away from the term “survivor” to “living with cancer,” acknowledging that it is a chronic disease. Some women may still gravitate toward the “survivor” messaging, but others might respond more to a different model.

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3. SOCIAL SERVICES THROUGH THE EYES OF THE HOMELESS – HOW DO THEY MEASURE UP?

Research surrounding homelessness often explores why people are homeless, what needs to be done to get them off the streets and how they impact society. Rarely is the focus on how the people experiencing homelessness view the world, and particularly the interactions they face with the service providers they rely on for food and shelter.

A study in Elsevier’s The Social Science Journal, draws on a database of more than 500 interviews with homeless people focusing on descriptions that centre on interactions with staff and providers.

Results indicate that staff are often disrespectful and treat the homeless in an infantile manner, talking down to them and treating them like a number. Several of the interviewees were so discouraged by this behaviour that they said they’d rather “learn to survive … on the streets,” sleep under bridges, etc. At least then, they said, they could maintain some form of dignity. Since many policy makers tend to identify individuals who opt out of the system as one of the most problematic issues within homelessness, these insights pose the question as to whether the problem lies with the homeless person or the system?

On the flip side, positive comments revolved around staff members that showed they cared about the homeless person as an individual, the appreciation for a little privacy and safe place to rest, and flexibility with the rules.

The study concludes that if we expect to make significant steps towards solving homelessness, it is important that homeless individuals feel it is possible to become a part of “mainstream society.” However, this can only be accomplished when they are consistently treated with respect in a variety of settings, retaining a sense of dignity.

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4. PREGNANCY POSSIBLE OVER THE AGE OF 50 BUT COMES WITH RISKS FOR MUM AND BABY

Women in their 50s are usually perimenopausal, and having a baby is the last thing on their minds. But pregnancy is still possible and as result, more information is becoming available on the risks to baby and mum.

In Elsevier’s Maturitas, a new article details the findings of a retrospective population-based study evaluating spontaneously pregnant Chilean women more than 50 years old compared to women in the control group aged 20 to 34 years old. Information was assessed from the time period of 1990 to 2004 with more than four million babies born and 20,531 stillbirths registered. Within this cohort, there were 217 live or stillbirths of mothers aged 50 or older.

Data showed significantly greater risks of fetal, neonatal, post-neonatal and infant deaths in the study group compared to the control group. There were, however, no significant differences between the groups in the incidences of low and very low birth weight babies. Most alarmingly, infant mortality was 10 times higher in women over 50.

Overall, while spontaneous pregnancy on women 50 and older is uncommon, it is possible. With that said, this paper suggests it is advisable for older women to continue adequate contraception until it is clear they are menopausal – even one year after ovarian failure is established.

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5. SEPARATION FROM MUM OR DAD LINKED TO CHILD LEARNING DIFFICULTIES

Divorce and parental illness are just two of the many reasons why a child may experience separation from a parent, but little is known about the impact of this separation, specifically on developmental outcomes.

Taking a closer look at the impact of parental separation on developmental outcomes before school entry, a new paper in Elsevier’s Ambulatory Pediatrics looks at a pool of 1,619 children entering school, of which 18 percent had been separated from a parent for at least one month or longer. The researchers investigated this age group since it is a time when children are routinely seen by medical providers. It thus presents an opportunity for screening and early identification of potential learning issues. Additionally, parents or caregivers of the children completed a detailed health and development survey. Demographic data and information about participation in preschool and day care programmes was also gathered, and parents filled out details about their child for learning, expressive language and speech scales.

Based on all reports, this study indicated that separation from a parent is common in an economically disadvantaged urban setting, and it suggests that children who have experienced separation from a parent had more learning difficulties compared with children who did not experience separation. Specifically, more learning and pre-literacy problems were identified.

It is important for primary caregivers and schools to be aware of these risks, as early intervention might be suggested for families whose young children may be starting formal education at a disadvantage. The authors conclude that identifying these young kids early is essential so all parties can consider what anticipatory guidance or preventive services may be of most benefit.

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6. A LOOK AT PARTY STRATEGIES AND VOTE CHOICE IN RECENT BRITISH ELECTIONS

Emotion, drama, and gossip in the tabloids. Yes, all of these things exist when it comes to politics, but there is also a real science in running for office, and finding the right party strategy is essential.

In Elsevier’s latest Electoral Studies, a new paper examines a model of voting behaviour and party behaviour in relation to party strategies and vote choices in recent British elections stretching from 1987 to 2005. Two models, specifically the spatial view of politics and the issue ownership theory, are closely studied.

With the spatial model, parties maximise votes by adopting a position on a policy dimension, gravitating toward the median voter in a two-party system. The corresponding expectation is that voters choose parties closest to their policy preferences.

With issue ownership, parties primarily compete by emphasising different policy issues during a campaign, seeking and focusing on issues that promote their strengths and avoiding issues that give the opposition an advantage.

In looking at the previous three decades of political campaigns in Britain, the authors argue that the idea of issue ownership provides a better explanation of vote choice in recent elections, more so than the spatial model. Specifically, the paper goes on to detail a number of findings from the 2005 general British election, pointing out that in cases where voter ideological positions are more similar, competence ratings become more closely associated with vote choice.

Observers should pay more attention to the policy competencies of parties than the policy positions of political parties if they wish to understand the strategies of political actors.

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DISCLAIMER:
The summaries of published papers in this email are intended to be read as accessible signposts towards the original abstracts and articles, which of course have been peer-reviewed. However, the summaries in this email have not been peer reviewed, nor have they been approved by the authors of the articles or their editors.

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1. doi:10.1016/j.intell.2008.03.004
2. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2008.03.036
3. doi:10.1016/j.soscij.2008.03.001
4. doi:10.1016/j.maturitas.2008.03.011
5. doi:10.1016/j.ambp.2008.02.001
6. doi:10.1016/j.electstud.2008.02.003