Translating cross-lagged effects into incidence rates and risk ratios: The case of psychosocial safety climate and depression

Longitudinal studies are the gold standard of empirical work and stress research whenever experiments are not plausible. Frequently, scales are used to assess risk factors and their consequences, and cross-lagged effects are estimated to determine possible risks. Methods to translate cross-lagged effects into risk ratios to facilitate risk assessment do not yet exist, which creates a divide between psychological and epidemiological work stress research. The aim of the present paper is to demonstrate how cross-lagged effects can be used to assess the risk ratio of different levels of psychosocial safety climate (PSC) in organisations, an important psychosocial risk for the development of depression. We used available longitudinal evidence from the Australian Workplace Barometer (N?=?1905) to estimate cross-lagged effects of PSC on depression. We applied continuous time modelling to obtain time-scalable cross effects. These were further investigated in a 4-year Monte Carlo simulation, which translated them into 4-year incident rates. Incident rates were determined by relying on clinically relevant 2-year periods of depression. We suggest a critical value of PSC?=?26 (corresponding to ?1.4 SD), which is indicative of more than 100% increased incidents of persistent depressive disorder in 4-year periods compared to average levels of PSC across 4 years.     

Toward a sociology of global comparative placemaking

I call for a globally informed sociology of comparative placemaking that integrates historical and contemporary processes and includes the ephemeral, institutional, and personal. By placemaking, I am referring to the explicit or tacit cooperation among people to create, maintain, and give meaning to places in space through bodily occupation given differential resources and constraints. I review select place, space, and community-based literature about urban, Black, migrant, LGBTQ, and international populations to think about how we can build upon and integrate multiple theoretical, methodological, and epistemological insights to form an explicit placemaking research agenda. A US focus on neighborhoods contrasts with a comparative examination of global urban networks, social polarization, and transformation of the built environment in the interdisciplinary field of global urban studies (Ren, 2018). I argue for a placemaking research agenda that bridges insight from US Urban Sociology with Global Urban Studies to consider how various structures and actors constrain and facilitate place projects. With a globally reaching and comparatively informed sociology of placemaking, we can illuminate our multi-structured story of place and agency in context. We can answer questions about how and why we co-create and are simultaneously disciplined by the process of creation.     

Understanding variation in marital sexual pleasure: an impossible task?

Over the past twenty years, sociologists have begun to explore the social and cultural context within which sexual relationships are constructed and in Western society, given such importance. However, although it is commonly recognised that the contraceptive pill has changed the meaning of sexuality (Giddens, 1992; Ferguson, 1989) comparatively little attention has been paid to locating the level of pleasure married women derive from marital sex within the situational, structural and cultural parameters of their lives. The material in this paper is based on intensive interviews with 60 married women, aged 20–42 years old and randomly selected from the records of general medical practitioners in North London. The paper indicates that methodological squeamishness about the viability of a study of sexual pleasure is unwarranted. It shows that only just over one third of these respondents had a high level of sexual pleasure on the scale devised in the study (weighted kappa=.89). For the most part, such pleasure was not associated with other aspects of the marital relationship. Drawing on illustrative material, it locates such pleasure within the context of their marital and family situation and suggests future lines of enquiry.     

驱逐“懈怠症”

保持高水平的生产力,或者更进一步,将生产力提升到更高的层面,这往往是高级经理人们最为关注的问题之一。但有些经理人的举措却证明是适得其反的,其结果生产力不升反降。举例而言,人们有一种自然倾向,尤其对那些经验缺乏的经理,就是认为仔细监督下级的工作会让他们的工作效率更高。但如果一味依靠监督     

How to reduce workload--augmented reality to ease the work of air traffic controllers

In the future the air traffic will rise--the workload of the controllers will do the same. In the BMWi research project, one of the tasks is, how to ensure safe air traffic, and a reasonable workload for the air traffic controllers. In this project it was the goal to find ways how to reduce the workload (and stress) for the controllers to allow safe air traffic, esp. at huge hub-airports by implementing augmented reality visualization and interaction.     

Does Iconicity in Pictographs Matter? The Influence of Iconicity and Numeracy on Information Processing,Decision Making,and Liking in an Eye‐Tracking Study

Researchers recommend the use of pictographs in medical risk communication to improve people's risk comprehension and decision making. However, it is not yet clear whether the iconicity used in pictographs to convey risk information influences individuals’ information processing and comprehension. In an eye‐tracking experiment with participants from the general population (N = 188), we examined whether specific types of pictograph icons influence the processing strategy viewers use to extract numerical information. In addition, we examined the effect of iconicity and numeracy on probability estimation, recall, and icon liking. This experiment used a 2 (iconicity: blocks vs. restroom icons) × 2 (scenario: medical vs. nonmedical) between‐subject design. Numeracy had a significant effect on information processing strategy, but we found no effect of iconicity or scenario. Results indicated that both icon types enabled high and low numerates to use their default way of processing and extracting the gist of the message from the pictorial risk communication format: high numerates counted icons, whereas low numerates used large‐area processing. There was no effect of iconicity in the probability estimation. However, people who saw restroom icons had a higher probability of correctly recalling the exact risk level. Iconicity had no effect on icon liking. Although the effects are small, our findings suggest that person‐like restroom icons in pictographs seem to have some advantages for risk communication. Specifically, in nonpersonalized prevention brochures, person‐like restroom icons may maintain reader motivation for processing the risk information.     

NDIS Self‐Management Approaches: Opportunities for choice and control or an Uber‐style wild west?

This article examines the emerging challenges and opportunities presented by self‐management options in Australia's National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). We examine the three different ways in which NDIS participants can opt to self‐manage their funding and services, including direct employment and emerging Uber‐style online platforms, and explore the potential implications of these options for NDIS participants, service providers and the disability support workforce. In particular, we focus on these options in relation to the transition to a marketised services landscape being developed alongside the NDIS, and examine both the risks and opportunities for each stakeholder group. Through this analysis, we identify implications for policy and practice, in particular around regulatory mechanisms and the role of government within this emerging market economy and transforming service landscape.     

Research initiation based on idea-circles: from research object to co-actor

This article details an evaluation of a research project based on participatory research methods organized by the Swedish Disability Federation from 2008 to 2011. In Sweden there has been a lack of productive dialogue with the traditional academic world and the question was raised whether proposals for future research would be different if disabled people formulated them. Nine idea-circles with disabled participants and invited researchers from fields of interest close to the participants produced ideas, developed out of the life experience of being a disabled person. These ideas were developed into 72 research drafts that often reflected key advocacy areas, rather than operationalized research issues. The adjustment from the familiar discourse of political struggle to discussion of research was a complicated process for many. When asked to prioritize among areas for research, the representatives from the disability movement chose areas that are not stressed in mainstream disability research in Sweden.