Is occupational stress associated with work engagement ?

The occupational stress is associated with dissatisfaction, excessive demand at work and personal factors. Those factors can reduce work performance and can predispose workers to various diseases. Workers' health may be protected if there is encouragement to face challenges, which may lessen the impact on psychological and somatic stress and thus have greater personal and professional satisfaction. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between occupational stress and work engagement. Participated in this study 457 male and female workers of a metallurgical industry. Subjects answered personal data, and the Job Stress Scale and Utrecht Work Engagement Scale were applied. Results showed an association between occupational stress and work engagement (P=0,001). The way the individual deals with his frustrations, or rather the work engagement, is associated with the occupational stress.     

Is doctor-patient race concordance associated with greater satisfaction with care?

We examined a national sample of African American, white, Hispanic, and Asian American respondents to test the hypothesis that doctor-patient race concordance is predictive of patient satisfaction. Our analysis examined racial/ethnic differences in patient satisfaction among patients in multiple combinations of doctor-patient race/ethnicity pairs. Additionally, we outline the determinants of doctor-patient race concordance. The analysis used the 1994 Commonwealth Fund Minority Health Survey to construct a series of multivariate models. We found that for respondents in each race/ethnic group, patients who had a choice in the selection of their physician were more likely to be race concordant. Whites were more likely to be race concordant with their physician compared to African American, Hispanic, and Asian American respondents. Among each race/ethnic group, respondents who were race concordant reported greater satisfaction with their physician compared with respondents who were not race concordant. These findings suggest support for the continuation of efforts to increase the number of minority physicians, while placing greater emphasis on improving the ability of physicians to interact with patients who are not of their own race.     

Is prior parental criminal justice involvement associated with child maltreatment? A systematic review

Parental criminal justice involvement is prevalent in the United States and potentially associated with a range of negative outcomes for children including child abuse and neglect. However, the association between prior parental criminal justice involvement and child maltreatment is not well understood. This paper reviewed the existing literature regarding maltreatment victimization among children of parents with prior criminal justice involvement. Results from ten reviewed studies demonstrated an association between prior parental criminal justice involvement and child maltreatment, but did not provide sufficient evidence to determine whether parental criminal justice involvement is an independent risk factor for child maltreatment or of the specific mechanisms through which this association occurs. Recommendations for future research include use of multivariate analysis methods that account for variations in the type and timing of parental criminal justice involvement and child maltreatment. Implications for practice include the development of strategies to address the adverse family contexts commonly found among these parents and children.     

Are economic trends associated with child maltreatment? Preliminary results from the recent recession using state level data

The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of the recent economic recession on child maltreatment rates. Specifically, we examine whether unemployment rates, labor force participation, and food stamp usage are associated with aggregate rates of child abuse and neglect (CAN) rates using state-level data. Theory and prior empirical evidence supports the relationship between family and neighborhood poverty and incidence of child maltreatment; however, the relationship between general economic environment and CAN remains unclear.The study uses a multiple case study design at the state level, analyzing administrative child maltreatment and economic data for seven U.S. states. Aggregate numbers for child maltreatment reports and food stamp usage were obtained from state respective agencies and economic data for unemployment and labor force from the Current Population Survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Empirical growth plots and OLS regression were used to examine changes in maltreatment and utilization of economic variables as predictors over time. Bivariate correlations and OLS regression results show a weak and inconsistent relationship between the economic indicators in this study and maltreatment rates. Several possible reasons accounting for these results are explored.     

Is there a hidden cost of imposing a minimum contribution level for public good contributions?

We examine the effects of either exogenously imposing or endogenously letting subjects choose whether to impose minimum contribution levels (MCLs) in a linear public goods experiment using the strategy method. Our results on contribution levels to the public goods are fairly independent of how MCLs are imposed. We find that the main effect of an MCL on unconditional contributions is that it increases low contribution levels to the MCL imposed, while the effect of those contributing more than the MCL before its introduction depends on the size of the MCL. Unexpectedly, there is much more crowding out for a low MCL than for a relatively high MCL. However, the distribution of contribution types is stable across different MCLs.     

Are case management services associated with increased utilization of adolescent mental health treatment?

Retention in treatment is one of the strongest predictors of positive mental health outcomes. Adolescents, however, are particularly challenging to retain in mental health treatment. Concurrent case management services may offer one strategy for retaining youth in mental health treatment as it aims to reduce barriers to services, coordinate multiple services, and establish a consistent relationship between each client and a single contact person. This study combines three extant data sources from the state of Kansas to examine whether youths' participation in case management is associated with increased utilization of individual and group mental health treatment, controlling for client satisfaction, severity of mental health symptoms, and demographic factors. Linear regression results indicate that participation in case management services predicts increased utilization of both individual and group mental health treatment. Case management may be a useful tool for retaining adolescent clients in mental health services. Practical implications for community mental health service delivery are discussed.     

Is Less More? Number of Siblings and Frequency of Maternal Activities with Preschool Children

ABSTRACT

We use the German Socio-Economic Panel to investigate to what extent the number of siblings has on the frequency of cognitively stimulating activities mothers undertake with their children aged 2 to 3 and 5 to 6. The resource dilution model assumes that this relationship should be negative. We introduce the resource augmentation hypothesis and argue that increasing sibship size can also have a positive effect when efficiency gains, the public good character of maternal activities, reallocation of maternal time, and child care by older siblings are considered. Our results from intraindividual and between family analyses suggest that resource dilution is unavoidable in large families, but that resource-augmenting processes are also at work. The relationship between the number of siblings and activity frequency is not linear and can be reversed from negative to positive in smaller families depending on the presence of younger siblings.     

Is boredom associated with problem gambling behaviour? It depends on what you mean by ‘boredom’

The propensity to experience boredom is believed to be a predisposing factor for problem gambling; yet, a full understanding of this association is currently lacking. Some claim that gambling alleviates the under-arousal associated with boredom; others claim that gambling helps individuals avoid the negative affect associated with boredom. The purpose of the present study was to clarify this relationship. Two hundred and two undergraduate students completed measures of gambling, boredom, and sensitivity to punishment and reward. Results suggest individuals gamble in order to increase arousal, rather than to avoid the negative affect associated with boredom. Moreover, results also suggest that boredom is distinctly related to gambling problems, above and beyond its overlap with sensitivity to reward.     

Is implementation fidelity associated with improved access to care in a School-based Child and Family Team model?

Effective child and family centered service planning is crucial to addressing vulnerable children's needs. However, there is limited evidence about what facets of these processes improve service use and outcomes. The current study used a Poisson random effects hazard model to test correlations between fidelity to NC's Child and Family Support Team model and time to service receipt, using case management data for 3396 children served by that program during the 2008–2009 school year. Students were more likely to receive recommended services more quickly when caregivers and the students attended planning meetings, when their plans included services for caregivers, and when child and family team leaders followed up after meetings to verify service receipt. Contrary to the Child and Family Support Team theory of change, match between student needs and the lead agency of the meeting was not associated with the odds of quicker service receipt, nor was attendance by natural supports. Findings from this study demonstrate the potential effectiveness of using case management systems to measure service planning process fidelity, as well as how results thereof can both inform process improvement and potential refinements to models’ theories of change.     

Is Working with Your Spouse Good for Business? The Effect of Working with Your Spouse on Profit for Rural Businesses

The goal of this article is to uncover more precise and unbiased estimates of the relationships between relationship satisfaction, a copreneurial business structure, and profit. Because of the suspected simultaneity between profit levels, the choice to be copreneurial and relationship satisfaction, a multivariate recursive probit is used to test for endogeneity between these variables. The results of the empirical analysis suggest that spouses self-select into a copreneurial business structure depending on the level of satisfaction they feel in their interpersonal relationships. Additionally, copreneurial businesses with high relationship satisfaction are more likely to have higher profit than if they were non-copreneurial.     

Are maternal and community risk factors associated with the presence of asthma among children placed in foster care?

Objective

The occurrence of pediatric asthma has been associated with exposure to chronic stress. This study examined the relationship between maternal and community risk factors and asthma in a sample of maltreated children in foster care.

Method

Interviews were conducted with 365 maltreated children in foster care. Measures included youth/caregiver reports of asthma, an index of maternal risk based on data abstracted from child welfare records and community violence exposure.

Results

After controlling for demographic variables, maternal risk was associated with the presence of asthma (OR = 1.314, 95% CI = 1.09–1.58). Community violence exposure, however, was not related to the presence of asthma.

Conclusion

Maternal risk factors were significantly associated with the presence of asthma in a foster care population. Physicians who care for maltreated children in foster care should be particularly attuned to the presence of these additional risk factors that may place high-risk children at increased risk for chronic health problems.     

To what extent is social security spending associated with enhanced firm-level performance? A case study of SMEs in Indonesia

Although the relationship between social protection and enterprise performance is much debated in the literature, evidence is particularly limited in the case of small and medium-sized enterprises in developing economies. Using census data from 2010 to 2014, this article examines how the provision of social security influenced business performance in Indonesia. The author finds that increased social security spending of 10 per cent is associated with a per-worker revenue gain of up to 2 per cent. Moreover, profits are not found to decrease with increased social protection coverage, suggesting that increasing worker benefits may be a worthwhile business investment.     

Are urge incontinence and aging risk factors of erectile dysfunction in patients with male lower urinary tract symptoms?

Introduction: Several studies have indicated that erectile dysfunction (ED) patients also suffer from lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). We investigated a group of men with LUTS and assessed their sexual function with the aim of being able to predict ED risk factors and introduce ED treatments earlier for this patient group.

Methods: International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), Overactive Bladder Symptoms Score (OABSS) and Sexual Health Inventory for Men (SHIM) score were obtained from 236 men with LUTS at their first out-patients visit. Clinical parameters such as body mass index, prostate volume, residual urine volume and prostate specific antigen were also evaluated. The relationship between the SHIM score and other clinical data was analyzed.

Results: According to the SHIM score, ED in men with LUTS was severe 15%, moderate 19%, moderate to mild 28%, mild 17%, normal 7% and data was incomplete in 14%. Based on the results of a multivariate analysis, aging (p?p?=?0.024) were significantly correlated to severe and moderate ED. Furthermore, among OAB symptoms score items, urge urinary incontinence was a risk factor for severe and moderate ED (p?=?0.005).

Conclusion: Aging and OAB (notably urinary urge incontinence) are risk factors for severe and moderate ED in men with LUTS.     

Is County Level of Social,Creative, and Human Capital Associated with Winning Humanities Grants in Kansas?

This article examines patterns of Kansas Humanities Council grant distributions to organizations in the state's counties and then assesses social, creative, and human capital explanations for the observed patterns. Substantial numbers of counties have received no grants across a fifteen‐year period. Why is that? The analyses reveal that the presence of statistically significant relationships depends on the intersection of the type of capital in the county and the type of grant program: (1) the receipt of heritage grants is associated with county levels of network social capital, particularly those networks that are “non‐rent‐seeking”; (2) the receipt of “mini” Humanities grants and total grants are associated with levels of creative capital; and (3) the level of human capital makes little difference in grant patterns. These relationships persist under controls for racial/ethnic diversity, income inequality, and dominant political ideology. The implications of the results are assessed in terms of strategies for granting agencies to deal with building community life in low–social capital settings.     

What's parenthood got to do with it?: men's hours of paid work1

It is commonly reported that fathers in Britain work longer hours than non-fathers. This statistic is frequently used as supporting evidence for the argument that the role of fathers within families remains primarily concerned with financial provisioning. In this paper it is shown, through regression models, that once other factors are taken into account the significance of fatherhood in relation to hours of paid work disappears. This highlights fatherhood as a period in the life course which often coincides with longer working hours but challenges the assumption of a causal relationship.     

Parental Discussion of Child Sexual Abuse: Is It Associated with the Parenting Practices of Involvement,Monitoring, and General Communication?

We investigated whether parents who reported more positive parenting practices (i.e., monitoring, involvement, and communication) reported more discussion of child sexual abuse (CSA) with their children. Parents from Australia and the UK (N = 248), with children aged 6 to 11 years, completed an online survey. About half of parents reported directly discussing CSA, whereas 35% reported telling their children that CSA perpetrators may be family members. Rates of discussion were higher for other CSA-related topics such as body integrity and abduction. Correlational analyses showed that parents who reported speaking to their children about CSA also reported more positive parenting practices, more discussion of other sensitive topics, and assessed CSA risk for children (in general) to be higher. Discussion of CSA risk was not associated with parents' CSA knowledge, confidence or appraisal of own-child risk. Parents higher in positive parenting believed their children to be at less CSA risk. Parents who appraised higher own-child risk reported less positive parenting practices and were less confident about their parenting and their ability to protect their children from CSA. The findings are the first to report on the associations of parenting practices with parents' CSA discussion with their children.     

Is Participation Without Power Good Enough? Introduction to “Democracy Now: Ethnographies of Contemporary Participation”

This introduction to the section Democracy Now: Ethnographies of Contemporary Participation sketches a contemporary enthusiasm for participation that reaches across business, education, popular culture, and politics. The article tries to account for what makes this enthusiasm new and begins to sketch its implications for what people want and expect from their political and economic institutions.     

The Stability of Facial Attractiveness: Is It What You’ve Got or What You Do with It?

Physical attractiveness is suggested to be an indicator of biological quality and therefore should be stable. However, transient factors such as gaze direction and facial expression affect facial attractiveness, suggesting it is not. We compared the relative importance of variation between faces with variation within faces due to facial expressions. 128 participants viewed photographs of 14 men and 16 women displaying the six basic facial expressions (anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, surprise) and a neutral expression. Each rater saw each model only once with a randomly chosen expression. The effect of expressions on attractiveness was similar in male and female faces, although several expressions were not significantly different from each other. Identity was 2.2 times as important as emotion in attractiveness for both male and female pictures, suggesting that attractiveness is stable. Since the hard tissues of the face are unchangeable, people may still be able to perceive facial structure whatever expression the face is displaying, and still make attractiveness judgements based on structural cues.