In a recent study regarding the relationship between racial discrimination and risky sexual behavior, psychological and brain sciences professor Megan Roberts found that racism adversely affects African-American adolescent sexual behavior, according to The Good Therapy Blog, a blog focused on therapy and clinical psychology. Her study revealed that racial discrimination can have negative emotional impacts, such as depression and anxiety, on those exposed to racism. Roberts examined 745 African-American 10-year-olds and re-observed them at ages 15 and 18, according to The Good Therapy Blog. She found that 90 percent of these teenagers were exposed to racism and were therefore more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior, The Good Therapy Blog reported. Roberts' study concluded that "attentive parenting" reduced the discrimination and thus the likelihood of contracting sexual transmitted diseases, according to the blog.
A study of medical records conducted by researchers at the Stanford School of Medicine showed that women say they feel pain more intensely than men do, The Stanford Daily reported. The study, published on Jan. 23 in the Journal of Pain, used the Stanford Translational Research Integrated Database Environment, according to The Stanford Daily. Researchers found that the most profound difference in pain recorded in the category of musculoskeletal and connective tissue-related pain. The researchers also said that several assumptions from the study merited further consideration, including how patients could address pain before arriving at the hospital, if patients act differently depending on who is in the room, and if women feel more pain versus report more pain, according to The Stanford Daily. Jeffery Mogil, a pain expert at McGill University in Montreal, told The Stanford Daily that this study was important because of its sheer size.
Gov. Deval Patrick, D-Mass., announced a set of reforms to help Massachusetts community colleges provide residents looking for work with the skills they need to help fill the estimated 120,000 current job openings in the state in his annual State of Commonwealth address, according to a press release. The proposal will unite the state's 15 community college campuses to create a job and skills training program specific to Massachusetts as well as a streamlined curriculum. The proposal, which will include a $10-million increase in funding, aims to decrease unemployment in Boston, the release said. Under this proposal, the Board of Higher Education will be able to redirect all state funding to community colleges and will be responsible for establishing new guidelines for student fees at the colleges, according to the release.
