Epidemiological Associations between Gambling Behavior, Substance Use & Mood and Anxiety Disorders

Objective To compare gambling behaviors in a random sample of community residents with and without mental disorders identified by the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI).Method A large national community survey conducted by Statistics Canada included questions about problems arising from gambling activities as per the Canadian Problem Gambling Index (CPGI). We compared respondents within three gambling severity categories (non-problem, low severity and moderate/high severity gambling) across three diagnostic groupings (mood/anxiety disorders, substance dependence/harmful alcohol use, no selected psychiatric disorder).Results Of the 14,934 respondents age 18–64 years who engaged in at least one type of gambling activity in the previous 12 months, 5.8% fell in the low severity gambling category while 2.9% fell in the moderate/high severity category. Females accounted for 51.7% of the sample. The risk of moderate/high severity gambling was 1.7 times higher in persons with mood or anxiety disorder compared to persons with no selected disorder. For persons with substance dependence or harmful alcohol use, the risk of moderate/high severity gambling was 2.9 times higher. Persons with both mood/anxiety and substance/alcohol disorders were five times more likely to be moderate/high severity gamblers. The odds ratio for females was 0.6 and for those with less than post-secondary education it was 1.52. Differences in age and personal income were not significant.Conclusions Individuals in the community suffering from mood/anxiety disorders and substance dependence/harmful alcohol, and especially those with both, experience a higher risk for gambling problems. The treatment of these comorbidities should be integrated into any problem gambling treatment program.Disclaimer: The data upon which of the analyses contained in this paper derive from surveys conducted by Statistics Canada. The opinions expressed in this paper do not represent the opinions of Statistics Canada.     

Organizational affiliation and effectiveness: the case of rape crisis centers

Many rape crisis centers (RCCs) that were founded as autonomous organizations have affiliated with other organizations. The relationship of affiliation type and effectiveness is examined in a sample of 25 RCCs in Florida. Effectiveness is defined in terms of range of services for rape victims and involvement in rape prevention (social change) activities. The data show that 23 RCCs are affiliated with six types of organizations and two are free-standing. Each affiliation type has advantages and disadvantages but, overall, free-standing RCCs appear to be most effective and RCCs affiliated with community mental health centers, least effective. Of the seven types, free-standing agencies are most involved in rape prevention activities aimed at social change.     

EXTENDED REVIEW

Deviance, Reality and Society by Steven Box Deviance and Society by Laurie Taylor. Deviance, Crime and Socio-Legal Control by Roland Robertson and Laurie Tayor. The New Criminology: For a Social Theory of Deviance by Paul Walton and Jock Young.     

Potential Assistance for Disadvantaged Workers: Employment Social Enterprises

By integrating a business mission into a transitional jobs program, employment social enterprises (ESEs) provide temporary work and a supported work environment to reduce the barriers facing disadvantaged workers while generating revenue to cover production costs. This study uses surveys of workers in and financial statements from seven ESEs to provide information for three sets of complementary analyses: a pre-post analysis examines changes in employment between the time a person starts ESE work and about one year later; a case study uses propensity score methods to compare changes in employment between ESE workers and similar people who did not work in an enterprise; and a cost-benefit analysis estimates the potential value of ESE jobs. Results suggest that individuals have close to 21% gain in employment one year after starting ESE work; taxpayers gain at least $0.42 for every dollar spent on an ESE job; the return to society of developing an ESE is at least 34%; and the social returns to converting a profit-driven business into an ESE exceed 100%. Although the study cannot control for many of the factors that would allow estimation of causal impacts, it provides some of the first preliminary evidence of the value of the ESEs’ public-private approach to increase workforce skills and employment and stabilize lives of individuals with employment barriers.     

Depression,emotional states,and the experience of binge-watching narrative television

Terms like “binge-watching” and the “showhole” suggest a relationship between binge-watching and emotional health. This study sought to understand the relationship between binge-watching, unhealthy emotional traits, and regular emotional states such as sadness. The study found that emotional states experienced after binge-watching had implications for entertainment gratifications. However, the study did not find a conclusive connection between binge-watching and unhealthy emotional traits.     

Toddler Emotion Regulation With Mothers and Fathers: Temporal Associations Between Negative Affect and Behavioral Strategies

The present study investigated temporal associations between putative emotion regulation strategies and negative affect in 20‐month‐old toddlers. Toddlers’ parent‐focused, self‐distraction, and toy‐focused strategies, as well as negative affect, were rated on a second‐by‐second basis during laboratory parent–toddler interactions. Longitudinal mixed‐effects models were conducted to determine the degree to which behavioral strategy use predicts subsequent negative affect and negative affect predicts subsequent strategy use. Results with mother–toddler and father–toddler dyads indicated that parent‐focused strategies with an unresponsive parent were followed by increases in negative affect, whereas toy‐focused strategies were followed by decreases in negative affect. Results also indicated that toddler negative affect serves to regulate behavioral strategy use within both parent contexts.     

Women and the elite

Cette étude examine les changements dans le choix professionnel des femmes dans deux écoles canadiennes privées qui ont fortement représenté l'élite traditionnelle au Canada, afin d'évaluer le degré de changement qui s'est produit entre les années 60 et les années 70. Les données indiquent que les aspirations à la réalisation sont à la hausse. La connexité des femmes et de l'élite n'a jamais été adéquatement conceptualiséd et cette étude explore ce probléme. On se sert de données au-delà du choix professionnel pour analyser quelques explorations conceptuelles de la nature du rapport des femmes et de l'élite, ainsi que les répercussions du Mouvement féministe et d'autres changements socio-économiques au cours de la decennie.
Changes in the occupational choice of females at two of Canada's private schools which have figured strongly in Canada's traditional elite are examined in order to assess the degree of change from the decade of the 1960s to the 1970s. Data indicate a rise in achievement aspirations. The relationship of women to the elite has never been adequately conceptualized and this problem is explored. Data beyond that of occupational choice is utilized to test certain conceptual explorations of the nature of women's relationship to the elite and to analyze the impact of the Women's Movement and other socio-economic changes over the decade.     

Social work education in the West Indies

Social Work Education has been offered in the West Indies at a professional certificate level since 1961. Programmes exist within multi-disciplinary Departments of academic institutions in six countries. Given limited staff resources, they benefit from the availability of instruction in related subject areas but lack the autonomy to create fully integrated social work curricula. Graduates are prepared to function in a post-colonial (post slavery) West Indian society characterized by increasingly democratized patterns of social organization and indicators of modernization but with a serious catalogue of contextual, structural and human behavioural problems which impact the economic social and cultural lifestyles of the people. While there have been some positive developments, the major constraining factors for regional social work education are: limited resources which deny programme autonomy, limit staffing and subject offerings; an unsatisfactory dependence on metropolitan social work education models; and an insufficient sensitivity to the challenge to produce indigenous theory and culturally appropriate practice models. Challenges to be addressed are the need for authentic West Indian (Caribbean) social work models, the strengthening of field practice experience for students, more preparation for advocacy and policy development roles and the extension of professional education at the undergraduate level through the distance education mode, and at the post graduate level.     

Lethal intimate partner violence in later life: Understanding measurements,strengths, and limitations of research

ABSTRACT

The aim of this article is to conduct a critical analysis of existing family violence literature related to elder abuse homicide, also known as “eldercide.” The focus relates to fatal violence perpetrated by current or former intimates. Men are the most likely victims of homicide but are rarely murdered by partners. Older women are most often killed in the home by a spouse or other family, consistent with the notion of “femicide.” The Federal Bureau of Investigation Supplemental Homicide Reports and the Bureau of Justice Statistics National Crime Victimization Survey are utilized to illustrate trends by sex over time. Intimate partner homicide-suicide is examined via news surveillance. Strengths and limitations of data and methods are addressed. Homicide trends among the members of the baby boom cohort are predicted based on current and future patterns as they age. To facilitate prevention, researchers are encouraged to move beyond simple prevalence estimates toward greater understanding of complex trends, distinctions, and motivations of these violent deaths.     

Disability citizenship and independence through mobile technology? A study exploring adoption and use of a mobile technology platform

This article explores the use of a mobile technology platform as experienced by people with disability, their significant other and service providers. An interpretive qualitative study design was adopted involving observations and interviews. The data were analysed using the combined lenses of the social approach to disability and the PHAATE model which represents the factors for consideration in service design for assistive technology. The findings suggest that the adoption of the technology by those in the study could be characterised by a typology of users. The implications of the typology are discussed together with the influencing factors that affected social participation and disability citizenship.