Suchergebnisse

Purpose. This study examines the individual and environmental correlates of home smoking bans among a population-based sample of Mexican-Americans. Design. A telephone survey on tobacco use and home policies was conducted using stratified, random sampling of listed phone numbers. Setting. Surveys were completed by telephone in San Diego, California. Subjects. The sample consisted of San Diego adult residents of Mexican descent (N=1,103). Measures. The interview included questions on home rules regarding smoking in the household and a number of potential correlates, based on the Behavioral Ecological Model (BEM). This model emphasizes the influence of family, social, and cultural factors on health behaviors. Results. Overall, 90.6% of all respondents reported a ban on smoking in the home. Multivariate analyses indicated that home bans on smoking are more likely among individuals that do not smoke, live with children, are more acculturated to U.S. society, report greater aversion to ETS, and/or report more social pressure against indoor smoking. In contrast, smoking bans are less likely among Mexican Americans who live with smokers. Conclusions. Individual and environmental factors play a protective role by increasing the likelihood of smoking bans in the home of Mexican-descent individuals. These factors should be considered for the design of interventions to sustain and promote the adoption of smoking bans in the home among this and other populations.

AbstractThere is significant covariation between internalizing and externalizing behavior, although there is also evidence that internalizing behavior is a protective factor against externalizing behavior. Several researchers have posited that the examination of the relationship between temperament or personality and behavior problems may help explain these seemingly contradictory results. Specifically, negative emotionality or neuroticism has been cited as a temperament characteristic that internalizing and externalizing behavior share in common, whereas behavioral inhibition may be related only to internalizing behavior. We examined the degree to which the covariation between internalizing and externalizing behavior assessed from age 4 to 12 years can be explained by temperament characteristics assessed from age 14 to 36 months. Additionally, we assessed the extent to which this relationship is due to genetic or environmental factors, analyzing data from 225 monozygotic and 185 dizygotic twin pairs assessed by the Colorado Longitudinal Twin Study. In males, a portion of the covariation between internalizing and externalizing behavior was explained by shared environmental influences in common with emotionality and shared environmental influences in common with shyness. In females, most of the covariation between internalizing and externalizing behavior was explained by shared environmental influences in common with emotionality. A possible limitation of this study is that the covariation between temperament and behavior problems may be due to shared measurement variance, as parent ratings were used to assess both temperament and behavior problems.

This paper has two objectives. The first is to study the revenue from the gift, inheritance, and estate taxes in Sweden during more than a century. The second is to focus on a unique episode during the second half of the 1940s when gifts and gift tax revenue exploded. This episode has never before been discussed in the research literature. It gives an extremely clear illustration of behavioral response to taxes in general, and the impact of expectations of future tax increases in particular. It is also a very interesting episode in the economic history of Sweden. I have access to aggregate tax revenue data since 1884. Moreover, I have constructed a rich micro data set of all gifts reported during the period 1942–1949 in one county. A first main result is that gift tax revenue during the 1940s started to increase long before a new estate tax and increased wealth taxation were decided and implemented. The increase even began before the legislative process started. Second, both the number and the average values of gifts increased. Promissory notes were, in value, the most common way to give. Finally, gifts, inheritances, and estates were never important sources of tax revenue. Revenue as a share of GDP reached a peak already in the 1930s. The role of these taxes has instead primarily been equity and to provide integrity for other tax bases.

This paper has two objectives. The first is to study the revenue from the gift, inheritance, and estate taxes in Sweden during more than a century. The second is to focus on a unique episode during the second half of the 1940s when gifts and gift tax revenue exploded. This episode has never before been discussed in the research literature. It gives an extremely clear illustration of behavioral response to taxes in general, and the impact of expectations of future tax increases in particular. It is also a very interesting episode in the economic history of Sweden. I have access to aggregate tax revenue data since 1884. Moreover, I have constructed a rich micro data set of all gifts reported during the period 1942–1949 in one county. A first main result is that gift tax revenue during the 1940s started to increase long before a new estate tax and increased wealth taxation were decided and implemented. The increase even began before the legislative process started. Second, both the number and the average values of gifts increased. Promissory notes were, in value, the most common way to give. Finally, gifts, inheritances, and estates were never important sources of tax revenue. Revenue as a share of GDP reached a peak already in the 1930s. The role of these taxes has instead primarily been equity and to provide integrity for other tax bases.

The authors performed a case-controlled psychological autopsy study of 100 successive suicides in Budapest, examining the presence of major depression, alcohol, and drug and/or medicament dependency/ abuse according to DSM-IV. The presence of somatic diseases, psychosocial stress, oppressive experiences, and interpersonal relationship disorders within the period of 1 month previous to death was also examined. The control group of 100 people who died of natural causes was identical with the suicide group in respect of number, sex, and age. Results: Among those committing suicide, psychosocial stress, oppressive experiences, and interpersonal relationship disorders were much more frequent and behavioral changes occurred more often in the weeks preceding death compared to the control group. A single suicide attempt during one's life span did not prove to be predictive for a later fatal action, but multiple attempts did. Major depression was diagnosed in 36% of the cases in the suicide group and 17% in the control group. Half of major-depressed suicides (18 persons) and almost all in the control group (16 persons) suffered from reactive (secondary) major depression as a result of somatic disease. Severe alcoholism was found in 33% of the suicide cases and in 44% of the control group. Drug and/or medicament consumption (misuse and/or abuse) occurred in 14% and 8% of the cases, respectively. The data emphasize again that alcoholism seems to be one of the most serious problems in Hungary both in psychological and somatic illnesses.

The increased crash risk of young, novice drivers, especially in their teenage years, has been a growing concern at both the state and federal levels. Teenage drivers are involved in fatal crashes at more than double the rate of the rest of the population per 100 000 licensed drivers. The best way of stemming these losses is to enact laws adopting graduated licensure systems that restrict young, novice drivers to conditions that reduce crash risk exposure when they first operate motor vehicles and to educate the public on the need for this legislation. Legislated teenage driving restrictions involve night‐time vehicle driving restrictions, prohibitions on other teenage passengers, and the required presence of supervising adults. These restrictions are relaxed as teenage drivers successfully progress through initial and intermediate stages of graduated licensure before being granted unrestricted driver licenses. Unfortunately, many states have incomplete graduated licensing systems that need further legislative action to raise them to the desirable three‐stage system that has been shown repeatedly to produce the greatest safety benefits. These state efforts should be buttressed by federal legislation that has proved to be crucial in allied driver behavioral concerns. Because reducing crash risk involves other strategies, stringent enforcement of primary seat belt laws as well as improved motor vehicle crash avoidance capabilities and crashworthiness must accompany efforts to reduce young driver crash risk.

Abstract  In Norway, certain adults with intellectual disabilities who were arrested were not held responsible for their crimes. Instead of receiving a conviction and a prison term, they were sentenced to preventive supervision. In January 2002, Norwegian law changed and these types of adults are now sentenced to "mandatory care" in their municipalities. As little research had been carried out on the characteristics of these offenders and the services they received, the authors studied the characteristics of this group and compared them with the results of other studies. Study subjects were 27 persons assigned to preventive supervision during 2002. Using questionnaires, the authors collected data from four sources of information: the supervised persons' key carers, the care managers, the probation officers, and the criminal register. Common offenses included sexual behavior offenses, arson, and violence. Many of the subjects had coincident mental health and behavioral problems and most received specialist health services. Both carers and probation officers rated the original preventive supervision model as satisfactory. The authors conclude that preventive supervision, now termed "mandatory care," can provide offenders with intellectual disabilities with a secure and supervised community‐residential placement while giving them access to specialized health and counseling services and providing safety for the community. As mandatory care is a new service, further follow‐up and research are needed to investigate its long‐term outcomes.

I use a quasi-experiment and follow-up questionnaire to ascertain the effects of PowerPoint multimedia presentations and a Blackboard course website on the course grades and perceptions of teaching effectiveness of introductory sociology students. Results of t-tests showed no statistically significant difference in course grades between experimental and control groups. However, students' responses to standardized teaching evaluations were considerably more favorable in the experimental group; all measured dimensions of perceived teaching effectiveness yielded statistically significant increases, with substantial increases in perceptions of instructor rapport and grading. I use the ideas of George Herbert Mead to interpret the results and increase sociological understanding of the relationship between the introduction of instructional technology and student perceptions of teaching effectiveness. In Mead's terms, the introduction of technology is not merely a self-involved act performed by the instructor that changes the modality of course presentation but a social process involving both instructor and students. Within this process the introduction of technology is both a nonsignificant gesture, which elicits from students an unconscious or "instinctively" favorable impression of the course, and a significant symbol, which calls forth behavioral responses from students, conscious actions that substantially alter their perceptions of the course. Students not only reacted positively to the instructor's use of technology but through their own use of the technology increased their involvement in the course and came to perceive its teaching more favorably.

AbstractIncreased prenatal exposure to testosterone (T) in females of an opposite-sex (OS) twin pair may have an effect on the development of sex-typical cognitive and behavioral patterns. The prenatal exposure to T due to hormone transfer in OS twin females may occur in two ways, one directly via the feto–fetal transfer route within the uterus, the other indirectly through maternal–fetal transfer and based in the maternal–fetal compartment. Although some studies in singletons indeed found that women pregnant with a male fetus have higher T levels during gestation than women pregnant with a female fetus, many other studies could not find any relation between the sex of the fetus and maternal serum steroid levels. Therefore at present it is unclear whether a pregnant woman bearing a male has higher levels of T than a woman bearing a female. Up to this point, no-one has investigated this issue in twin pregnancies. We examined the relationship between maternal serum steroid levels and sex of fetus in 17 female–female, 9 male–male and 29 OS twin pregnancies. No differences were observed between the maternal serum steroid levels of women expecting single-sex and mixed-sex offspring. It is concluded that the source of prenatal T exposure in females probably comes from the fetal unit, which is the direct route of fetal hormone transfer.

The aim of the study was to investigate the success of a smoking cessation program among the smoking relatives of patients with serious smoking-related disorders and to determine whether having a relative with such a disorder influences the rate of success of the program. The relatives of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer who wanted to quit smoking were included in the smoking cessation program (group I, n = 34). During the same period, the same number of subjects with relatives free of any smoking-related diseases were included as a control group (group II, n = 34). Intensive behavioral therapy and motivational support was given to all subjects. Nicotine replacement therapy was administered to 10 subjects (29.4%) in group I and 14 subjects (41.2%) in group II. The subjects were evaluated in the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 8th and 12th week and subsequently every 3 months for a year in the outpatient clinic and proactive telephone interviews were performed periodically. In group I, 23.5% of subjects had a relative with COPD, 61.8% had relatives with lung cancer, and 14.7% had relatives with both COPD and lung cancer. The rate of quitting smoking was 79.4 and 73.5% on the 15th day and 41.2 and 38.2% at the end of the 1st year in groups I and II, respectively (p > 0.05). We observed that having a relative with serious smoking-related disorders did not motivate smokers to quit smoking.

PurposeThe author's original approach helps to understand the executives and their decision‐making process.Design/methodology/approachThe complexity of today's business requires the board of directors (BoD) to go beyond its traditional role of referee, and to become involved as appropriate with the business and with its top managers. The BoD should apply the 3<P>of governance: namely the official policies that tell it what to do and what not to do; a comprehensive process of governance that ensures the effectiveness of its activities; and, last but not least, basic psychology to understand the possible quirks of the top managers. This article complements the author's earlier contribution on the process of governance, and focuses on how the directors can monitor the behavioral patterns of the top managers and assess the impact on their decision making.FindingsThe author recommends that the BoD uses the methodology of "Creating Business Value" described in this article. By providing transparency over the whole business system, it brings out the proficiency of the top management, and reveals dysfunctional attitudes.Practical implicationsThe advocated approach contributes to the effectiveness of the directors as they interact with the executive on critical issues.Originality/valueThe author presents an application of "creating business value", an original and holistic methodology that enables all concerned to see where, why, how, and how much business value has been, or will likely be, added or destroyed throughout the enterprise.

Background: Associations between physical and emotional stress and negative mood states have been documented in a variety of populations. In military personnel, more physical symptoms and decrements in ability, to perform critical tasks have been shown to accompany such stress-induced negative mood. Most research in this area has focused on immediate effects of stress on mood. Purpose: We wondered what immediate mood effects strenuous training would have on Marines, what mood effects would endure 30 and 90 days after completion of training, and how mood scores would compare with normative data. Methods: Sixty male Marines (M age = 19 years, range = 18-28) completed the Profile of Mood States (POMS) at multiple time points before and after participating in a 30-day, cold weather, high-altitude field training exercise. Anthropometric measurements were taken at the same time points. Results: The Marines reported significant increases in POMS scores from baseline to completion of training, most of which endured up to 90 days. The anger and fatigue scores reported by the Marines were comparable to adult male psychiatric outpatient norms. Conclusions: Rigorous training in challenging environments may result in enduring negative moods that approach levels of clinical significance and may have implications for readiness for duty and performance of critical tasks. Behavioral medicine interventions may be helpful in military populations to reduce the impact of negative mood.

•Summary: This paper presents the case of a 12-year-old boy with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) who demonstrated no interest in participating in therapy. The aims of the paper were to present a multiple therapy design as an effective measurement for social workers to use in their regular intervention process; to learn about the relative effectiveness of three common methods for addressing ODD (behavior therapy being used in teacher supervision and parental counseling and cognitive therapy being used in the child's individual therapy); and to present a self-control model for improving the child's behavior. •Findings: The case study pointed to the efficacy of the self-control model for helping the child change. Therapy facilitated a significant decrease in the child's disruptive behavior as well as a significant increase in the child's self-control and social interaction. Also, the case study presented the feasibility of the single case design as an effective way for social workers to assess and evaluate their intervention. •Applications: The presented case study highlighted the ability of social workers: 1. to supervise parents and teachers as important change agents in the child's environment; 2. to use the single case design in daily intervention; and 3. to utilize cognitive behavioral therapy as an effective method for change. The efficacy of the intervention pinpointed the need to apply the proposed methods for other problems as well.

This paper reports on a new venture for the study of public sector performance and on its implementation in Israel. The Israeli study is part of the "European Assessment Project of Public Administration" (EAPPA) that is aimed at a cross-cultural and cross-sectional examination of public administration agencies in various European countries using attitudinal-behavioral methods and tools. A sample of 345 citizens was used to assess the performance of the Israeli public administration and to draw conclusions about the levels of satisfaction with, trust in, and general attitudes towards public policies and personnel. The main findings of the study indicate that Israeli citizens are deeply critical of public institutions and governmental agencies. A correlation analysis further shows a strong and stable relationship between satisfaction and three separate constructs of citizens' trust: (1) trust in administrative and governmental institutions, (2) trust in civil servants, and (3) faith in citizenship involvement. Significant relationships were also found between citizens' satisfaction and most of the other indicators of performance. Finally, the paper presents a socio-economic and demographic analysis of the data. The paper ends with a discussion about the centrality of public opinion studies in the field of public sector performance. It is our expectation that this initiative will lead to more extensive studies throughout other European states that are struggling for improvement in their public service systems.

Recent articles have explored from different perspectives the psychological foundations of American institutionalism from its beginning to the interwar years (Hodgson 1999; Lewin 1996; Rutherford 2000a, 2000b; Asso and Fiorito 2003). Other authors had previously dwelled upon the same topic in their writings on the originsand development of the social sciences in the United States (Curti 1980; Degler 1991; Ross 1991). All have a common starting point: the emergence during the second half of the nineteenth century of instinct-based theories of human agency. Although various thinkers had already acknowledged the role of impulses and proclivities, it was not until Darwin's introduction of biological explanations into behavioral analysis that instincts entered the rhetoric of the social sciences in a systematic way (Hodgson 1999; Degler 1991). William James, William McDougall, and C. Lloyd Morgan gave instinct theory its greatest refinement, soon stimulating its adoption by those economists who were looking for a viable alternative to hedonism. At the beginning of the century, early institutionalists like Thorstein Veblen, Robert F. Hoxie, Wesley C. Mitchell, and Carleton Parker employed instinct theory in their analysis of economic behavior. Their attention wasdrawn by the multiple layers of interaction between instinctive motivation and intentional economic behavior. Debates on the role of instinctsin economicswere not confined to the different souls of American Institutionalism, and many more "orthodox" figures, like Irving Fisher or Frank Taussig, actively participated.