OCD: Relieving the Obsession

How many times do you have to wash your hands until they are really clean? One time a day? Five times a day? Would you be surprised if some people wash their hands over 100 times day? This “germ phobia”, while disrupting to daily life, is sometimes the least of worries for people suffering with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).

Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) in the department of psychology is offering new insight into OCD and ways to treat/alleviate it. With over 3.3 million Adults in America suffering from OCD each year and the high probability of countless more undiagnosed cases, this research is close to offering some answers.

Jonathan S. Abramowitz and co-workers in the Department of Psychology at UNC-CH have shown there to be an unmistakable connection between the concepts of experiential avoidance with the symptoms of OCD. Experiential avoidance, commonly described as a person going to irrational measures to avoid experiencing such unpleasant triggers as disturbing thoughts, emotions, etc., has been previously thought to relate to OCD, but this is the first study proving that it indeed does.

“There are competing theories for explaining obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms and this study was designed to try to figure out which theory is stronger. Knowing this can help with better understanding and treating people with OCD,” said Abramowitz.

The study was conducted using 353 volunteer students from UNC-CH enrolled in an introductory psychology course. The students, under confidentiality, were administered three questionnaires via internet at their convenience measuring: 1) tendency for experiential avoidance; 2) tendency towards depression; and 3) tendency towards specific OCD symptoms, such as hand-washing, hoarding, checking, etc. After scoring the questionnaires based on certain criteria published in literature, the researchers divided the scores into two groups, one with a higher degree of obsessive compulsive (OC) symptoms, and another with a much lower degree. The analysis at the core of the journal article was created from the data specific to the group with a higher OC tendency.

Upon examining the results from a statistical analysis of the higher OC group, the researchers discovered that “As expected, the High-OC group evidenced greater levels of…experiential avoidance relative to the Low-OC group.”

But how is this new and what does this mean for the public afflicted with OCD?

From the results of this research, “…people with OCD probably have specific dysfunctional beliefs that underlie their OCD symptoms moreso than having a general tendency to avoid unpleasant experiences. Also, that treatment might be focused on modifying obsessive beliefs which underlie the problem, rather than helping patient develop more psychological flexibility in general,” said Abramowitz.

When looking at what is to come next, “Future research should examine this same question using actual treatment-seeking patients with OCD…[rather than using a]… non-clinical sample of people scoring highly on a measure of OCD symptoms,” says Abramowitz.

It can sometimes be difficult to treat such an illness as OCD, but what remains certain is that the illness can never be treated or cured if you are focusing on the wrong aspect of the illness. Thanks to Abramowitz and co-workers at UNC-CH, even more successful treatments for this condition are that much closer to becoming a reality.

Steven Burgess

Peer-reviewed literature:
Abramowitz, Jonathan S., Gerald R. Lackey, and Michael G. Wheaton "Obsessive-compulsive Symptoms: The Contribution of Obsessional Beliefs and Experiential Avoidance." Journal of Anxiety Disorders 23 (2009): 160-166.

Picture from:
http://bit.ly/9r0nSJ

Science Journalism: Magazine vs. Online Series

The 2009 AAAS Science Journalism Award Recipients in the magazine and online categories approach the concept “explaining science to the public” in divergent ways.

Gary Wolf’s magazine article, “A Simple Plan to ID Every Creature on Earth” manages to keep a nice balance between the science and the overall story. He explains the science involved using specific details and easy-to-understand explanations. The cold hard science about placing a barcode on species by analyzing the CO1 Mitochondrial gene is tempered by descriptions that inspire the different senses. This results in a story that is both engaging and highly informational.

Contrarily, the online series by Lisa Friedman concerning the displacement of people in Bangladesh due to climate change and global warming, begs the question, “where is the science?” It takes a very humanistic approach to a topic that has inundated the news of late and it presents the consequences of human actions. To that effect, it is a well-written human interest story. Because it does not explain anything scientifically, though, it really shouldn‘t have won an award for scientific journalism. Instead it is a nice story of how humans are suffering because of a scientific phenomenon.

The two winners both use pictures to enhance the pieces. The online series takes it a step further with a short video clip. This video clip tugs on the heartstrings but it does not explain any science and does not add much to the overall. Both stories are well-written, had clarity, and flowed from beginning to end. However, where the former is scientifically dense, the later is watered down and contains almost no scientific basis or fact.

Large & Small (But Really Long) Newspaper Articles

Carl Zimmer’s three long newspaper articles are on very different topics: “Now: The Rest of the Genome”, “10 Genes, Furiously Evolving”, and “Blink Twice If You Like Me”.

Zimmer’s “Now: The Rest of the Genome” is about Encode (Encyclopedia of DNA Elements) and what they are doing. It is full of scientific language referring to terminology that I have heard many times but never fully comprehended. Altough Zimmer does explain it, the It is full of very long sentences and paragraphs compared to the small newspaper article “’One mother loses five of her kids in ‘worst-case scenario’, which is full of short, informative sentences and paragraphs.

It’s main focus is providing a reformative definition for ‘gene’:

‘”These new concepts are moving the gene away from a physical snippet of DNA and back to a more abstract definition. “It’s almost a recapture of what the term was originally meant to convey,’ Dr. Gingeras said.”

This is all I really retained from this article. I got bored many times throughout and can’t imagine someone who is not interested in science finding this interesting or sitting down to read the article in its entirety.

“10 Genes, Furiously Evolving” is about the evolutionary biology of viruses. Virologists study the complexity and mystery surrounding the evolution of viruses. Viruses are described in scientific language, filled with quotes from doctors, etc.

Zimmer includes interesting trivia such as "Virologists have estimated that there are a million trillion viruses in the world's oceans." Further, Zimmer explains that birds are constantly mixing up the constellation of viruses.

This is certainly a relevant article considering the recent swine flu outbreak that has caused everyone to panic. It does a good job explaining how swine flu has evolved and it flows well. Its length was not as daunting as “Now: The Rest of the Genome.”

“Blink Twice if You Like Me” is the most interesting article Zimmer wrote. Although the other two are arguably more important and impactful than cannibal butterflies, they didn’t interest me nearly as much.

Zimmer again used very long paragraphs with very long sentences. However, multimedia such as audio recordings, photos, and videos on the left side of the page add some color and life and detract from the massive wall of text going down the page.

The article is interesting because everyone loves fireflies. Hating fireflies is like hating rainbows. Who hates rainbows? The science was interesting enough and Zimmer explained the observable traits and practices of firefly mating.

However, I found the end of the article the most fascinating: when the author talked about Photuris predators, their deceitful flashes, and how evolution and natural selection came into play. It seemed to be disconnected from the rest of the article, and I’d like to read an expanded article on this topic.

“Lethal Legacy” by Amie Thompson may be from a small newspaper, but it is a long, long, long, long, long article. It’s so long that it needs a few headings: “Merciless Killer”, “Road to Montana”, etc. as well as includes pictures throughout. Long narrative of history of family. There is not much science. It is a sad story and seems to have TONS of information that is just thrown at the paper.

This may be harsh, but I got bored listening to the stories of more and more people getting sick and dying. Compared to ‘One mother loses five of her kids in ‘worst-case scenario’, it bores me and seems to just tell a story of everyone dying. It was all over the place and I didn’t like it one bit. The pictures on the right were the same pictures every new page (and there were six long pages).

“One mother loses five of her kids in 'worst-case scenario'” is on the contrary a short article with short paragraphs that does the job. It doesn’t ad tons of detail or take a long time explaining the science, but gets straight to the point and briefly portrays the tragic events.

This article does not have too much science in it, but it is also far shorter. I think this article would be the article most likely to be completely read by the average reader (including me) because it is not intimidating, unlike the others.

In my opinion, “Disease leads neurologist on research odyssey” is the best article about Pallido-Ponto-Nigral-Degenration (PPND). It is medium in length and I feel its readability and flow are the best. It focused on Wszolek’s research and path instead of jumping around to a bunch of different people and stories like “Lethal Legacy” seemed to do. It seems to be a step up from the shortest article, and step down from the longest article, but still explains all needed information.

Zimmer’s Large Newspaper Articles

Carl Zimmer’s three long newspaper articles are on very different topics: “Now: The Rest of the Genome”, “10 Genes, Furiously Evolving”, and “Blink Twice If You Like Me”.

Zimmer’s “Now: The Rest of the Genome” is about Encode (Encyclopedia of DNA Elements) and what they are doing. It is full of scientific language referring to terminology that I have heard many times but never fully comprehended. Altough Zimmer does explain it, the It is full of very long sentences and paragraphs compared to the small newspaper article “’One mother loses five of her kids in ‘worst-case scenario’, which is full of short, informative sentences and paragraphs.

It’s main focus is providing a reformative definition for ‘gene’:

‘”These new concepts are moving the gene away from a physical snippet of DNA and back to a more abstract definition. “It’s almost a recapture of what the term was originally meant to convey,’ Dr. Gingeras said.”

This is all I really retained from this article. I got bored many times throughout and can’t imagine someone who is not interested in science finding this interesting or sitting down to read the article in its entirety.

“10 Genes, Furiously Evolving” is about the evolutionary biology of viruses. Virologists study the complexity and mystery surrounding the evolution of viruses. Viruses are described in scientific language, filled with quotes from doctors, etc.

Zimmer includes interesting trivia such as "Virologists have estimated that there are a million trillion viruses in the world's oceans." Further, Zimmer explains that birds are constantly mixing up the constellation of viruses.

This is certainly a relevant article considering the recent swine flu outbreak that has caused everyone to panic. It does a good job explaining how swine flu has evolved and it flows well. Its length was not as daunting as “Now: The Rest of the Genome.”

“Blink Twice if You Like Me” is the most interesting article Zimmer wrote. Although the other two are arguably more important and impactful than cannibal butterflies, they didn’t interest me nearly as much.

Zimmer again used very long paragraphs with very long sentences. However, multimedia such as audio recordings, photos, and videos on the left side of the page add some color and life and detract from the massive wall of text going down the page.

The article is interesting because everyone loves fireflies. Hating fireflies is like hating rainbows. Who hates rainbows? The science was interesting enough and Zimmer explained the observable traits and practices of firefly mating.

However, I found the end of the article the most fascinating: when the author talked about Photuris predators, their deceitful flashes, and how evolution and natural selection came into play. It seemed to be disconnected from the rest of the article, and I’d like to read an expanded article on this topic.

“Lethal Legacy” by Amie Thompson may be from a small newspaper, but it is a long, long, long, long, long article. It’s so long that it needs a few headings: “Merciless Killer”, “Road to Montana”, etc. as well as includes pictures throughout. Long narrative of history of family. There is not much science. It is a sad story and seems to have TONS of information that is just thrown at the paper.

This may be harsh, but I got bored listening to the stories of more and more people getting sick and dying. Compared to ‘One mother loses five of her kids in ‘worst-case scenario’, it bores me and seems to just tell a story of everyone dying. It was all over the place and I didn’t like it one bit. The pictures on the right were the same pictures every new page (and there were six long pages).

“One mother loses five of her kids in 'worst-case scenario'” is on the contrary a short article with short paragraphs that does the job. It doesn’t ad tons of detail or take a long time explaining the science, but gets straight to the point and briefly portrays the tragic events.

This article does not have too much science in it, but it is also far shorter. I think this article would be the article most likely to be completely read by the average reader (including me) because it is not intimidating, unlike the others.

In my opinion, “Disease leads neurologist on research odyssey” is the best article about Pallido-Ponto-Nigral-Degenration (PPND). It is medium in length and I feel its readability and flow are the best. It focused on Wszolek’s research and path instead of jumping around to a bunch of different people and stories like “Lethal Legacy” seemed to do. It seems to be a step up from the shortest article, and step down from the longest articles, and

Megabeast and Barcoding Life: A Comparison of Award-Winning Science Media

I am sure we are all glad that sabertooth tigers, wooly mammoths, and other giant beast of the ice age are no longer around, but we still wonder why they are no longer around. Of course like any other insect and animal of today “megabeast” of the past would still be classified into different species. An “automatic animal identifying machine” would be useful for that task.

Animals of the ice age are never coming back, but we may know why they're extinct and we do in fact have an “automatic animal identifying machine.”

Gary Wolf is a human, who wrote the 2009 AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) award winning article A Simple Plan to ID Every Creature on Earth in Wired Magazine; if you want to make sure you can use Paul Herbert’s “automatic animal identifying machine.”

Wolf’s article tells the story of Herbert quest to rid the biology world of “operational taxonomic units” an imprecise method of classifying organism until identification as a species. Herbert uses CO₁ mitochondria DNA a unique “barcode” to separate specimens into species.

While pictures are few, Wolf uses anecdote and simple language to keep the reader engaged. Herbert’s machine is not widely accepted by the scientific community and Wolf shows that with quotes from the opposition.

In comparison you have Doug Hamilton’s AAAS awarding winning documentary The Last Extinction of the controversial new theory on the extinction of the “megabeast” of the Ice Age.

Hamilton goes where the scientists go showing the scientist triumphs or failures making viewers feel like they are there when their theory is proven right or wrong. Like Wolf, uses opposing opinions to keep viewers engaged while also informing them of alternate theories.

It be could that I found DNA more interesting than extinct ice age animals, since I thought that Wolf did a better job explaining and entertaining readers than Hamilton. To decide for yourselves read/ watch the originals at:

http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/magazine/16-10/ff_barcode?currentPage=1

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/clovis/

Genes and Climate Change: Recognizing Great Science Writing

Every year the American Association for the Advancement of Science gives out awards to journalists to acknoledge great achievement in the area of science reporting to the general public. What makes these writers so good? What do they have in common? Why is it important to recognize science wrting to a genral audience? These are all questions one may ask of the AAAS, and questions which deserve to be answered.

The first three awards for 2009, for "Large Newspaper" articles which received over 100,000 copies, had to do with genetics and biology. What made these articles particulaly spectacular was their ability to describe immensly detailed and profound research and findings in ways that any adult could understand. This was achieved very sublty using a combination of images, metaphors, and analogies. By relating a complex theory or idea with a simple to understand idea or concept, the reader can gain a fuller understanding and appreciation of the topic. This method of writing was prevelant in all of the newspaper articles. Additionally, the articles made a point to answer the "so what" question that all readers have.

This "so what" question was especially important in the online publications. Online content allows for the author to include links to other content, show pictures and other multimedia, and by doing so draw readers into the article. In the online publication titled "Bangladesh: Where the climate exodus begins", the following image is used to draw out the pathos of the reader.

http://www.eenews.net/special_reports/bangladesh/part_one


Similar techniques are used in other posts in order to give relevance to the subject matter which will make the general public want to keep reading. The use of such techniques of writing, media presentation, as well as the overall presentation is what made these publications very compelling to the general public while still conveying science in a meaningful and accurate way and thus makes them deserving of praise and recognition by the scientific and journalism communities.

Comparing Lisa Friedman's online science journalism to Julia Cort's educational science television

Comparing a fun video about scientists who grow diamonds, complete with Indiana Jones references and goofy cartoons, to hard journalism about the effects of climate change on Bangladesh makes for some pretty stark contrasts. One is compelling because of its topic's Mr. Wizardesque appeal. The other demands attention with gravity rather than levity...

Consider both in terms of Cornelia Dean's measurements of "newsworthiness."

Extent: Climate Change, yes. Growing Diamonds, no.
Intensity: Neither, really. I'm used to people in Bangladesh doing worse than I am, and I'm not buying a diamond--grown or otherwise--anytime soon.
Consequence: Climate Change, yes. Growing Diamonds, no.
Celebrity: Climate Change, no. Growing Diamonds, yes--Neil DeGrasse Tyson is, to quote a colleague, "a scientist rock-star."
Proximity: nope and nope
Timeliness: Climate Change, ALWAYS. Diamonds? Timeless, maybe, but not particularly timely.
Novelty: Climate Change, good lord no. But Friedman's idea of going in-depth to observe direct and measurable effects of climate change is quite novel. Her approach is much of the story's success, I think.
Diamonds, obviously extremely novel. This is where Cort capitalizes.
Human interest: Friedman focuses here, and lets her subjects speak in their own voices. Photos add credence to the narrative. We see economic forces at the micro level.
Diamonds--A trip to New York's Diamond District puts human interest where there might've been none. We get to watch a veteran diamond appraiser react to a "grown" diamond. His disdainful joking about the idea of "grown" diamonds devaluing natural ones make us wonder if there is anxiety underneath. And his perspective begs the question: what do we value?
Currency: both are a yes

Interesting. These pieces of science communication are ostensibly opposites (with one making use of novelty and the other on consequence), except for the fact that both capitalize on human interest.

NYTimes vs. Wired

Shannon Maryman

Every year the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) acknowledges a distinguished writer for each writing style including large newspaper, small newspaper, magazine, television, in-depth reporting, radio, online, and children’s science news. Each style utilizes different approaches to communicate which has pros and cons in their specific medium.

I focused on the comparison of the magazine winner, Gary Wolf, and the large newspaper winner, Carl Zimmer.

Gary Wolf was acknowledged for “A Simple Plan to ID Every Creature on Earth” in Wired which discussed the work of Paul Hebert along with Dan Janzen on barcoding every species by analyzing the CO1 Mitochondrial Gene.

This lengthy piece of work included numerous pictures depicting researchers in the field which helped provide a visual connection with the story. Also, Wolf interwove Hebert’s past of how he got to where he is today along with the key intention of the story. Many quotes from various scientists were interjected in the piece which helped the reader to understand the viewpoint of barcoding and how it is not widely accepted.

For three articles in The New York Times, “Now: The Rest of the Genome,” “10 Genes, Furiously Evolving,” and “Blink Twice If You Like Me,” Carl Zimmer was also acknowledged. I focused on “Now: the Rest of the Genome” which discussed the misuse of the term gene and how it is not fully understood.

Above the article, a large picture of a scientist writing on a whiteboard draws the reader into the piece, but it is the only one included. Throughout the piece many terms are defined such as gene and RNA which draws away from the story. Also, the piece is divided into sections with each one starting with a bold title.

While this helps to keep the audience’s attention and for them to understand the important key points, it disrupts the flow of the story and becomes choppy.

I viewed both of these articles online which hindered my ability from seeing them in their natural medium.

When compared with one another my attention was maintained in the magazine article even though it was three pages longer than the newspaper piece because of the incorporation of pictures and the inclusion of story details that were not prevalent to the overall idea.

The newspaper piece can not incorporate as many pictures because of the competition it has with all the other articles. Also, there is not enough space in a daily paper to incorporate the minute details that Wolf displayed in Wired.

The New York Times circulates to a more expansive crowd than Wired so the inclusion of definitions and bolded titles help the general audience to understand the piece.

Both writers understand their audience and style of medium which has made them successful

Read More Wired: http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/magazine/16-10/ff_barcode#ixzz0hhN6ZCjQ
Photo Wired: http://jenruby09.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/coverimage1_681x440-1.jpg
Read More NYTimes: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/11/science/11gene.html?pagewanted=4&_r=1
Photo NYTimes: http://www.logicalscience.com/videos/index_files/NY%20Times%20Logo_250.jpg
Read More AAAS Winners: http://www.aaas.org/aboutaaas/awards/sja/winners.shtml

Magazine - Small newspaper

Imagine: Barcoding all life as we know it and a currently incurable disease best described as a merciless killer. These are two stories totally independent of one another minus their success as being AAAS Science Journalism Award Recipients - and with good reason.

Reporter Gary Wolf of Wired Magazine and staff writer Amie Thompson of the small newspaper known as Great Falls Tribune of Montana, contribute to the world of professional science journalism by reporting on two stories with different topics and target audiences, offering comparable intensity and grace in content and flow of information.

Wolf's story discusses the current “barcoding” of hard-to-identify creatures of the animal kingdom. Paul Herbert of the University of Guelph, Canada, has created an “automatic animal-identifying machine”. Not as impossible as it sounds, according to Herbert's story. By taking a section of DNA from an organism with the help of the lepidopterist Dan Janzen and his vast insect collection out of Costa Rican forests, Herbert was able to successfully begin the long but reliable process of identifying and documenting all living creatures. Though not without scrutiny, Herbert and Janzen both have visions of pocket sized organism-identifying machines in the future.

Thompson reports on a disease known as PPND that has reeked havoc on the lives of the people carrying its characteristic genetic deformity. Symptoms of this disease seem to only be visible in those over 40 years of age, giving a carrier ample time to pass it on to their children. Complete with the sad story of one woman's life and death at PPND's hand as well as pictures, Thompson delivers a heart-wrenching story that will hopefully make PPND patients suffering more visible to the medical world.

Gary Wolf: A Simple Plan to ID Every Creature on Earth
Amie Thompson: Lethal legacy: Rare disease devastating Turner-area family

Small Newspaper VS. Long-Form TV Show

In the AAAS awards given for outstanding science journalism in 2009, the small newspaper article written by Amie Thompson about a specific deadly genetic disease definitely fits the merit. In this article, Thompson develops the story around a specific family plagued with Pallido-Ponto-Nigral-Degeneration (PPND), a degenerative genetic disease occurring in middle aged people. The most horrible aspect of the disease is that the patient’s body increasingly loses functionality and has only about eight years to live after the onset. The story successfully connects with the reader’s emotions, but the extent of science information is minimal.

For the long-form TV show pick of the 2009 AAAS awards, recognition was given to the in-depth TV report by Doug Hamilton about the extinction of large land mammals about 12,900 years ago. This show focused on the current state of knowledge on the subject and about the developing new theories as to how the extinction occurred. The show walks the viewer through every detail in the discovery and is filled with computer animations and prominent scientist interviews to bolster the claims of the new theory.

In examining the small newspaper article, the author had much less time to develop a story and “connect” or “tug” emotionally at the reader than in the in-depth TV report. The newspaper article could not rely on visual pictures or music to capture the audience, but rather had to articulately use words to walk the reader through the story. In the case of the newspaper article, I felt as if the science was sparse throughout, but I definitely felt more of an emotional connection with the article than I did with the TV show. With the TV show, the producer did a good job of tying all threads together at the end, but I felt as if a lot of the information was repeated to a fault. I felt as if the TV show entertained nicely, but did not go as deep into the science as I would have liked. Lastly, the TV show was able to visually convey emotion and establish a connection with the audience quite easily, while the newspaper article was forced to develop and build up to the emotional connection through articulate writing.

Lasting impression: each specific media-form utilizes different techniques to explain the science, and inherently each will include science to varying degrees of difficulty.

Genetic Disease and Tidal Waves: Small Newspaper story and Website

You wouldn’t think that climate change and a rare gene anomaly would tug at your heartstrings, but two science journalists won an award for doing just that.

Great Falls, Montana, reporter Amie Thompson and ClimateWire reporter Lisa Friedman won Science Journalism awards for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Thompson won the small newspaper award; Friedman won the online award. One story had global implications; the other affected a small group of people. Yet by the end of each story, you knew who was affected, why they were suffering and what the future looked like. And in both cases, the future was bleak.

Thompson wrote a series for the Great Falls Tribune on a large Montana family that carries a rare gene anomaly known as Pallido-Ponto-Nigral-Degeneration (PPND). Her series is contained in six pages of text, with photos of family members lining the right side of each page.

Friedman developed a Web-based series on the plight of residents of Bangladesh. Her series begins with a page of text introducing some of the families in various villages, along with statistics and history of why the country is suddenly experiencing frequent tidal waves and flooding. The second part of the series is a video focusing on the village of Gabura, Bangladesh, and the story in this video is further developed in text on the third page of the series (with photos, one of which links to the earlier video).

Each reporter’s story is tailored for a different medium and a different audience. Thompson writes for a print newspaper in a small, rural town. Her audience would probably connect more with the family than with the science, so Thompson sneaks in some medical facts from time to time. Friedman writes for a globally-minded audience, possibly who are already interested in the subject of climate change, so she is free to intersperse more statistics, but she uses the human interest story to house them to keep the audience’s interest. Since her medium is online, she can incorporate inline photos and video.

The lesson for us: Know your audience and the capacity of your medium.

Living with Adult Children: Health Effects on Elderly Parents

On January 28th, 2006 a 66 year-old Alzheimer's patient went missing from a Charlotte, NC nursing home. She was found severely dehydrated in the facilities storage room after a four day search but died later on in the hospital (3). Increasing news stories, like the one in Charlotte, about neglect and abuse in nursing homes have steadily grown in the last few years. Many people believe that nursing homes are the proper place for the elderly population in the United States; however that may not be the case. A recent study by Dr. Feinian Chen of North Carolina State University and Dr. Susan E. Short of Brown University examined the health effects on elderly Chinese cohabiting with their adult children. They used the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) to gather subjective and quantitative data on the well-being of elderly Chinese citizens, particularly, those 80 and over.

Approximately 72.5% of the 7,534 participants lived with family members, defined as spouse, children, or both. 55.2% of elderly parents lived with their children. The researchers found that elderly parents who lived with their daughters reported higher well being than those who lived with their sons despite traditional living arrangements supporting the latter. The researchers hypothesize that “gendered care giving patterns” (a daughter is more likely to be more attentive than a son) played a role in the results. However, reported well-being lowered when the elderly parent was responsible for childcare; but the negative effects lessened as the age of the child increased, number of children decreased, and grandparent age decreased. The researchers needed more data to conclude if childcare for elderly parents caused an overall negative effect on their health. Drs. Chen and Short found that emotional health is improved when elderly parents lived with or were frequently visited by their family. The elderly Chinese who lived in nursing homes also reported a positive well-being. For the 10.1% who lived alone an overall negative well-being was reported. Overall, the study showed positive well-being for the elderly who lived with someone. There was no significant difference if they lived with family or in a care facility.

Dr. Chen has plans to do a similar study in the United States using the Health and Retirement Survey funded by the National Institute on Aging for the elderly population in that country. A significant difference may be found since previous studies showed that independent living in the United States has had a positive effect on the elderly. However, Dr. Chen plans to focus on African-American and Hispanic families where grandparents play a significant role in family life. With increasing news coverage on neglect and abuse in nursing homes, Dr. Chen and Short’s study shows how elderly parents can receive quality care and an increase in their overall well-being within their children’s home. Even if an elderly parent does not want to live with their children Drs. Chen and Short found that constant family contact and human interact contributes to the overall positive well being of elderly parents.



Works Cited:
1. Burns, Matthew. "Childcare: Good for Grandparents?" North Carolina State University. http://www.ncsu.edu/research/results/vol9n3/07.html (accessed February 4, 2010).


2. Chen, Feinian, and Susan E. Short. "Household Context and Subjective Well-Being Among the Oldest in China." Journal of Family Issues 29, no. 10 (2008): 1379-1403.


3. Perlmutt, David. "Missing Patient Found, but Dies: Woman, Focus of 4-Day Search, Was in Nursing Home Storage Room." Charlotte Observer 28 Jan. 2006: 1. Print.