The Weekly Roundup is an opportunity to recap a week in news and share recently discovered materials that might be of interest.
THE NUZZO LETTER IN THE NEWS
Fighting Academia’s Feminist Tentacles: Perth Exercise Scientist Leads the Charge
Bettina Arndt on Substack
KNOWLEDGE BIN
Articles and essays
A Textbook Case of Social Justice Medicine Run Amok
Washington Monthly
Abstract: A new volume from the publishing arm of the American Psychiatric Association illustrates the problem when ideology trumps science.
Daily Caller
A Meta-Analysis of the Efficacy of Trigger Warnings, Content Warnings, and Content Notes
Clinical Psychological Science
Abstract: Trigger warnings, content warnings, or content notes are alerts about upcoming content that may contain themes related to past negative experiences. Advocates claim that warnings help people to emotionally prepare for or completely avoid distressing material. Critics argue that warnings both contribute to a culture of avoidance at odds with evidence-based treatment practices and instill fear about upcoming content. A body of psychological research has recently begun to empirically investigate these claims. We present the results of a meta-analysis of all empirical studies on the effects of these warnings. Overall, we found that warnings had no effect on affective responses to negative material or on educational outcomes. However, warnings reliably increased anticipatory affect. Findings on avoidance were mixed, suggesting either that warnings have no effect on engagement with material or that they increased engagement with negative material under specific circumstances. Limitations and implications for policy and therapeutic practice are discussed.
Historical articles and essays
North American Review, 1879
Mothers of Boys with Gender Identity Disorder: A Comparison of Matched Controls
Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 1991
Abstract: This pilot study compared mothers of boys with gender identity disorder (GID) with mothers of normal boys to determine whether differences in psychopathology and child-rearing attitudes and practices could be identified. Results of the Diagnostic Interview for Borderlines and the Beck Depression Inventory revealed that mothers of boys with GID had more symptoms of depression and more often met the criteria for Borderline Personality Disorder than the controls. Fifty-three percent of the mothers of boys with GID compared with only 6% of controls met the diagnosis for Borderline Personality Disorder on the Diagnostic Interview for Borderlines or had symptoms of depression on the Beck Depression Inventory. Results of the Summers and Walsh Symbiosis Scale suggested that mothers of probands had child-rearing attitudes and practices that encouraged symbiosis and discouraged the development of autonomy.
Book recommendation
Subjected to Science: Human Experimentation in America before the Second World War
RUBBISH BIN
No rubbish this week!
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Wow! Many thanks for the article on mothers of boys with GID. Amazing.
SIMILAR to the case of Justina Pelletier at Boston Children's Hospital.
Take Care of Maya tells the true story of the now-17-year-old Maya Kowalski and her family. When she was 10, she suffered from extreme stomach pain – but when her parents took her to the emergency room at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in Florida.
The investigative documentary explores how Maya was kept away from her parents Beata and Jack Kowalski after the hospital acquired a state order to keep her in custody. As they fought to get their daughter back, Maya’s mother died by suicide. The surviving Kowalskis brought their lawsuit against both the hospital and the Department of Children and Families to court, seeking more than $200 million in damages – and yesterday, November 9, a verdict was reached. Jurors found Johns Hopkins liable on all counts, including false imprisonment, battery, and intentionally inflicting emotional distress on both Maya and Beata. The Kowalskis have been awarded $211 million in damages, $50 million in punitive damages bringing the total to $261 million.
Following the 2016 incident, Maya had been kept in the hospital for three months, during which time Beata took her own life. The jury sided with the family, ruling that Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital wrongfully kept Maya from her family and engaged in “extreme and outrageous” conduct, ultimately resulting in Beata’s death.
The hospital’s defense argued that it had been skeptical about Maya’s complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) diagnosis, which saw Beata – a registered nurse – requesting ketamine treatments to relieve her daughter of pain.
The state’s Department of Children and Families sided with doctors on the suspicion that Beata was suffering from Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a mental illness whereby the caretaker of a child either makes up fake symptoms or causes real ones to make it look like the infant is sick. Even though a court-ordered evaluation ruled that Beata didn’t have Munchausen’s, Maya was placed under state custody.
Following the jury’s initial verdict yesterday, Maya and her father and brother Jack and Kyle were seen sobbing and holding each other and their legal team, who joined them on their five-year battle to bring the case to court. As per TBT, Maya said: “It was about the answer, knowing that my mom was right. For the first time, I feel like I got justice.”