The Classification and Ordering of Responses to the Question “Who am I?”*

The question “Who Am I?” (WAI?) has generated considerable research by social psychologists concerned with self phenomena. “Self theory,” from which the “WAI?” technique was derived, hypothesizes an ordinal pattern among consensual self statements. Our data do not confirm this hypothesis nor do they confirm the widespread assumptions of a direct relationship between the salience and importance of self statements or between salience and positively evaluated self statements. We discuss the implications of these findings for the principles of “self theory” and for the validity and reliability of the “WAI?” question.     

Medicalization of Social Problems: Rising Depression-related Absenteeism in Japan

Increasing numbers of people are absent from work with a diagnosis of depression, and this has become a social problem in Japan. This study examines the hypothesis that this rise of depression-related absenteeism in Japan is influenced by social factors that contribute to the medicalization of social problems. Here, “social factors” are corporate systems that affect workers' psychology and mental health, media coverage and disease awareness campaigns by pharmaceutical companies, the intentions of patients' physicians, as well as psychopathological factors such as increased workplace stress. Data were obtained from semi-structured interviews conducted with 50 workers who had a history of taking depression-related leaves of absence, and a re-diagnosis by six physicians of 10 representative cases derived from categorizations based on data from the interviews. The data were analyzed to identify social factors underlying the rise in depression-related absenteeism and the mechanisms of medicalization of social problems. Social factors found to affect the rise of depression-related absenteeism include mentalities whereby patients, seeking to escape from harsh work environments, may wish to receive a diagnosis of depression to take a leave of absence; and the intention of participants' physicians to provide the diagnosis out of sympathy even when official diagnostic criteria are not met. Thus, it would seem that work-related social problems that should normally be addressed by public policy measures are in fact being medicalized. Moreover, this study considers how “self-medicalization” by patients renders the solution to social problems more complex by contributing to the further medicalization of social problems.     

How disability affects absenteeism: An empirical analysis for six European countries

Using data from the European Community Household Panel for six European countries (Austria, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain) for the period 1995–2001, this article investigates how disability affects workers' absenteeism. The results show that workers with disabilities are absent more often than workers without disabilities. This finding is obtained after controlling for individuals' self‐reported health, visits to doctors and nights spent in hospital. The severity of disability is also a relevant factor in higher absenteeism. The total effect of disability on absenteeism amounts to a marginal increase of six to 26 days per year (depending on the country).     

The relationship of placement experience to school absenteeism and changing schools in young,school-aged children in foster care

Background

Chronic school absenteeism and frequent school changes, particularly among younger children, may be antecedents for the high rates of school failure and subsequent dropout among youth in foster care. However, the relationship of foster care experience to absenteeism and school change has not been well studied.

Objective

This study examined the association of placement experience with absenteeism and changing schools among 209 urban children in foster care enrolled in public elementary schools.

Methods

A cohort of children aged 5 to 8 years who entered non-relative or kinship foster care from 2006–2008 were followed longitudinally for 2 years from entry into foster care. Children residing in foster care were categorized at the end of the study as early stable, late stable, or unstable, if they achieved a permanent placement prior to 45 days, between 45 days and 9 months, or failed to do so within 9 months, respectively. Children who reunified home were classified as a fourth category. Poisson regression, controlling for baseline factors, was used to compare days absent and number of schools attended across categories of placement experience.

Results

Among the 209 children, 51% were male, 79% were African American, and 55% were initially placed with kin. One third of children reunified home; among children who did not reunify, one half was early stable, and a third was unstable. Adjusted rates of school absenteeism increased in stepwise fashion as children's placements became more unstable; children with unstable placements were 37% more likely to be absent than those with early placement stability (p = 0.029). Children who reunified during the study demonstrated the highest rates of absenteeism; however, there was no significant difference in absenteeism before or after reunification. Number of schools attended increased as stability worsened, with the standardized rate of schools attended reaching 3.6 schools (95% CI 3.1–4.1) over a two year period among children in unstable placements.

Conclusions

The relationship between placement experience and school absenteeism and school change illustrates the need to better coordinate the educational experience of high-risk children in foster care. The secondary finding of high absenteeism among children in the process of returning home illustrates that educational challenges for youth may be equally if not more concerning among the greater majority of youth in child welfare who remain home with birth parents.     

Predictors of school absenteeism severity at multiple levels: A classification and regression tree analysis

School attendance is an important foundational competency for children and adolescents, but rates of problematic school absenteeism have remained high and steady. Efforts to conceptualize problematic school absenteeism across its myriad psychiatric symptoms, risk factors, and intervention types have centered recently on multi-tiered systems of support models that arrange these variables into prevention, early intervention, and intensive intervention tiers. Unfortunately, research into absenteeism severity levels to demarcate these tiers remains sparse. The present study utilized nonparametric classification and regression tree analysis to examine multiple demographic and academic risk factors simultaneously in a very large and diverse community sample. Academic variables included grade level, letter grades, grade point average, individualized education plan eligibility, and participation in school sports. Demographic variables included youth age, gender, and ethnicity. The study aimed to identify risk categories for school absenteeism severity at the 1%+, 10%+, and 15%+ levels and across elementary, middle, and high school levels. Results indicated a more homogeneous set of risk factors at the 10%+ and 15%+ levels than the 1%+ level, in particular with respect to low GPA, age 15.5 + years, African American or American Indian ethnicity, and grades 1, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, or 12. The results have implications for identifying highest risk youth to further improve assessment, prevention, and intervention practices for this population.     

Consistent Assignment of Nurse Aides: Association With Turnover and Absenteeism

Consistent assignment refers to the same caregivers consistently caring for the same residents almost every time caregivers are on duty. This article examines the association of consistent assignment of nurse aides with turnover and absenteeism. Data came from a survey of nursing home administrators, the Online Survey Certification and Reporting data, and the Area Resource File. The measures were from 2007 and came from 3,941 nursing homes. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to examine turnover and absenteeism. An average of 68% of nursing homes reported using consistent assignment, with 28% of nursing homes using nurse aides consistent assignment at the often recommended level of 85% (or more). Nursing homes using recommended levels of consistent assignment had significantly lower rates of turnover and of absenteeism. In the multivariate analyses, consistent assignment was significantly associated with both lower turnover and lower absenteeism (p < .01). Consistent assignment is a practice recommended by many policy makers, government agencies, and industry advocates. The findings presented here provide some evidence that the use of this staffing practice can be beneficial.     

Relationship between Financial Stress and Workplace Absenteeism of Credit Counseling Clients

The researchers examined how financial stress was associated with absenteeism of credit counseling clients. Data were collected by a national non-profit credit counseling organization, from consumers who telephoned seeking assistance in debt management. The results indicate credit counseling clients’ financial stress affects their absenteeism at work. Clients with high levels of financial stress are more likely to experience higher levels of absenteeism; thus spending work hours handling personal finances, which decreases the time they are at work. The results suggest some insight into providing financial education and assistance for employees with financial strains as productivity loss might influence their pay.Appreciation is extended to the InCharge Institute of America and the InCharge Education Foundation for supporting this research. Dr. Kim served as an InCharge Scholar during this research effort.     

Feasibility study for collecting alcohol and other drug use data among secondary school students: a web-based survey approach

This study examined the feasibility of using a Web-based survey to collect alcohol and other drug use data from secondary school students in an urban school district in the Midwest. A Web-based survey was self-administered by a random sample of 6th through 11th grade students in the spring of 2002. The final sample consisted of 1,536 secondary school students (781 women and 755 men). The sample was 57% White, 40% African American, and 3% from other racial and ethnic groups. Several indicators of data quality were examined including response rate, absenteeism, refusals, substantive data, and data processing time. The study achieved a response rate of 89.1%. The results of the present study provide evidence that a Web-based survey can be successfully implemented in an economically and racially diverse urban sample of secondary students. While researchers conducting survey research within secondary schools should consider using Web-based survey approaches, additional research is needed to compare Web-based surveys to more traditional approaches to collecting data.     

The impact of a health campaign on hand hygiene and upper respiratory illness among college students living in residence halls

Hand hygiene is a key element in preventing the transmission of cold and flu viruses. The authors conducted an experimental-control design study in 4 campus residence halls to determine whether a message campaign about hand hygiene and the availability of gel hand sanitizer could decrease cold and flu illness and school and work absenteeism. Their findings indicate that students who were exposed to the message campaign and provided with gel hand sanitizer increased their knowledge about the potential health benefits of hand washing and sanitizer use; they reported higher rates of hand washing and using sanitizer than did the control group. These students also experienced fewer cold and flu illnesses during the study than those in the control group and missed fewer class or work engagements because of colds or flu. Conducting a health promotion campaign in residence halls may therefore help prevent colds and flu and decrease absenteeism on university campuses.     

PAY, TECHNOLOGY, AND THE COST OF WORKER ABSENCE

Conventional studies of absenteeism concentrate on labor supply. An equilibrium approach, however, establishes that the shadow cost of absenteeism varies across firms that operate different technologies. Using an unusual employee/employer matched data set from France, which records both individual worker absenteeism and information about technology, we show that firms operating just-in-time technology have higher shadow costs of absence than firms that do not. The estimates are used to calculate the economy-wide cost of absence, which turns out to be very low. ( JEL J22, J31, J41)     

The effects of union membership on absence from work due to illness

A simple model of the effects of unionization on absenteeism due to illness is developed and tested. It is argued that unions lower absenteeism through providing a monopoly wage, but raise it by providing liberal sick-leave benefits. Data from the Michigan Panel Study of Income Dynamics are used to test the model. In regressions which control for human capital and demographic characteristics as well as working conditions, it is found that the net effect of unionization is to encourage absence.     

The impact of union direct voice on voluntary and involuntary absenteeism

Using a Spanish panel of large establishments, we test the reliability of the exit-voice theory to understand absenteeism (making the distinction between voluntary and involuntary absences). In the Spanish institutional framework, union direct voice (as opposed to union representative voice) is proxied by the existence of a collective agreement at the firm level. We find a positive influence of union direct voice on involuntary absenteeism, which is consistent with a greater protection of workers’ rights through that institution. We do not find a robust effect of direct voice on voluntary absenteeism. The first result lends support to the exit-voice theory but not the second one. Our interpretation underlines the need for re-construction of the exit-voice theory as a more general and precise one.     

Can vigilance‐focused governance reforms improve service delivery? The case of Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) in Bihar,India

Child undernourishment is a major challenge in India even though the government has, since 1975, been running the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), one of the largest programmes of this type in the world. Ever since its inception, this scheme has been marred by various governance challenges: widespread corruption, absenteeism and targeting problems, more visible in states like Bihar than in others. The ruling dispensation in Bihar has instituted major reforms to tackle these problems. These include regular inspection of service delivery centres, strict monitoring of funds, swift disciplinary action and vigilance through community participation. While these reforms are generally accepted as good in theory, research‐based empirical evidence of their impact on the ground is scarce. This article tries to fill this gap through an in‐depth case study of ICDS in Bihar. The findings indicate that, contrary to conventional thinking about good governance, the vigilance‐focused reforms along with community‐based monitoring have not been successful in curbing systemic corruption. The study concludes that alternative approaches are required to resolve the governance problems in ICDS. These include tackling the problems of understaffing and heavy workloads, and providing stronger incentives to the frontline service providers.     

Work ability among nursing personnel in public hospitals and health centers in Campinas--Brazil

Nursing personnel is essential in hospital, health centers and enterprises and is the large work force in health system. A cross-sectional study was conducted in a large city in two public hospitals and five health centre with the objective of to evaluate the work ability and health aspects of nursing staff. The sample was composed by 570 workers. The Work Ability Index - WAI and a questionnaire with socio-demographic, health and life style data was applied. The majority of workers was women (83%), married (50.4%), and was working in night shift work (65.6%); 61.4% was auxiliary nursing, 22.3% was registered nurses (RN). The average age was 38.9 years (SD 7.8) and the Body Mass Index mean was 25.8 (SD 5.3). Only 17.2% referred to practice at least 150 minutes of physical exercise five times per week or more. 26.8% had a second job. The work ability mean was 39.3 (SD 5.3) points. Age had a negative correlation with WAI (p=0.0052). Public hospital and health centre workers had poor work ability score when compared with workers from another branches. Public policies related to workplace health promotion need to be implemented in public hospital and health centre to improve the work ability.     

Experience with research paradigms relates to infants’ direction of preference

Interpreting and predicting direction of preference in infant research has been a thorny issue for decades. Several factors have been proposed to account for familiarity versus novelty preferences, including age, length of exposure, and task complexity. The current study explores an additional dimension: experience with the experimental paradigm. We reanalyzed the data from 4 experiments on artificial grammar learning in 12-month-old infants run using the head-turn preference procedure (HPP). Participants in these studies varied substantially in their number of laboratory visits. Results show that the number of HPP studies is related to direction of preference: Infants with limited experience with the HPP setting were more likely to show familiarity preferences than infants who had amassed more experience with this paradigm. This evidence has important implications for the interpretation of experimental results: Experience with a given method or, more broadly, with the laboratory environment may affect infants’ patterns of preferences.     

The Impact of Organizational Structure and Supervisory Listening Indicators on Subordinate Support,Trust, Intrinsic Motivation,and Performance

A field study of a tool manufacturing organization examined the impact of supervisory listening indicators on subordinate perceptions of support, trust, and intrinsic motivation and on subordinate performance (productivity and absenteeism). The moderating impact of organizational structure was also investigated. The results indicated that the impact of supervisory listening indicators was very different dependent upon whether the structure of the organizational work group was more mechanistic or more organic. Within the more organic portions of the organization, supportive listening indicators were positively related to production and negatively related to absenteeism. The opposite occurred within the mechanistic levels. At all levels, perceived listening increased supportiveness, trust, and intrinsic motivation, although listening for accuracy had the strongest impact.     

Multiracial Identities and Employee Absenteeism: Testing Contact and Depletion Hypotheses

Employee absenteeism costs the U.S. economy billions of dollars each year. Recent research finds that workplace characteristics are important predictors, yet variation remains by racial identity. Less is known about the reasons multiracial workers miss work. With data from the 2014 General Social Survey, we test a contact hypothesis and a depletion hypothesis. The findings support the depletion hypothesis. Multiracial workers are likely feeling cognitively taxed from comparatively more interracial interaction in the workplace, resulting in their higher rate of employee absenteeism. Given that the number of multiracial individuals living and working in the United States is expected to grow substantially over the next decade, understanding the factors that explain their work behavior may be beneficial to all social groups.     

Substance Use and Psychosocial Predictors of High School Dropout in Cape Town, South Africa

The aims of this study were to examine whether use of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs predicts dropout among secondary school students in Cape Town, South Africa. A self-report instrument was administered to 1,470 Grade 8 students. The proportion of students that dropped out of school between the onset of the study and 4 years later was 54.9%. After adjusting for a range of confounders, dropout was significantly predicted by absenteeism, poverty (as assessed by a possession index), and past month cigarette use, but not by past month alcohol use and lifetime illicit drug use. Contrary to findings from developed countries, alcohol and illicit drug use did not predict dropout. It is possible that predictors of dropout documented elsewhere may not be pertinent in developing countries.     

The effects of Project SUCCESS on student academic performance: a quasi-experimental study

Project SUCCESS (PS) is a substance use prevention program that targets indicated high school students. We used archival data to explore the program's effects on students' academic achievement and disciplinary problems. It is essential to demonstrate such effects, if prevention curricula are to survive in schools that face multiple competing demands for class time. Using a quasi-experimental design that compared students exposed to the program to those not exposed in five schools, we examined the effects of PS on grades, absenteeism, and disciplinary problems. Using longitudinal analyses that linked individual students' program exposure data to their academic performance, we found that PS had a positive impact on both grades and absenteeism for two years following exposure. We note that these findings are particularly fortuitous, as PS was not designed to affect these outcomes. We recommend that future evaluations of school-based prevention curricula routinely include academic performance.