The Effects of Middle School Weight Climate on Youth With Higher Body Weight

This study examines whether social‐emotional difficulties associated with higher body weight vary across schools as a function of the school's weight climate. Weight climate, characterized by weight‐policing, was assessed indirectly by examining how strongly self‐reported weight predicts victim reputation within 26 ethnically diverse middle schools. Social‐emotional indicators included self‐reported loneliness, school belonging, and self‐esteem. In schools with stronger weight‐policing at seventh grade, loneliness was intensified by eighth grade among both girls (n = 2,101) and boys (n = 1,985) with higher weight. Similar effects were found for low self‐esteem among girls. Additionally, boys—regardless of their weight—reported lower sense of belonging in schools with stronger weight‐policing. The study offers a new method to estimate school weight climate, and the findings provide insights for interventions.     

Unit-Root Tests and Asymmetric Adjustment With an Example Using the Term Structure of Interest Rates

This article develops critical values to test the null hypothesis of a unit root against the alternative of stationarity with asymmetric adjustment. Specific attention is paid to threshold and momentum threshold autoregressive processes. The standard Dickey–Fuller tests emerge as a special case. Within a reasonable range of adjustment parameters, the power of the new tests is shown to be greater than that of the corresponding Dickey–Fuller test. The use of the tests is illustrated using the term structure of interest rates. It is shown that the movements toward the long-run equilibrium relationship are best estimated as an asymmetric process.     

Differences in Audiotaped Versus Videotaped Physician-Patient Interactions

Most medical interaction studies have been conducted on audiotaped recordings of physician-patient encounters. Empirical studies have not previously demonstrated whether coders' scores differ on audio-only versus videotaped data. Data from a convenience sample of forty-seven physician-patient interactions were analyzed using the same coding systems to judge audio-only versus video-based data formats. All coding conditions demonstrated acceptable reliability, using intraclass correlation coefficients. However, MANOVA analyses show that ratings of audiotaped physician-patient interactions are not equivalent to ratings of videotaped encounters. Exploratory factor analyses show differences in the underlying structures of the data derived from the audio-only versus the video information. The differences in the video-based factor solutions account for more total variance and are more consistent with theoretical expectations.     

Migration und das kriminalpolitische Handeln staatlicher Strafverfolgungsorgane

Immigrants in Germany form a significant group in terms of crime. An investigation of the rates at which migrants of different nationalities are registered as police suspects and convicted by the courts in comparison to members of the indigenous population was carried out using data supplied by thirteen German federal states. The raw data for the 1995 and 1999 police crime statistics were provided by the State Offices of Criminal Investigation, while the raw data for the 1995 and 1999 court statistics were supplied by the State Statistical Offices. The two data sources were compared while keeping as many variables constant as possible. After taking into consideration age and gender distributions, it is found that for the different migrant populations the probability of involvement with the police and the courts is in some cases more than three times as high as for the German population. However, young migrants (aged under twenty-five) were less likely than young Germans to be convicted by a court in the course of the judicial process. One reason why higher rates were found for migrants is that their everyday life is regulated by the “Ausländergesetz” (Foreign Citizen’s Act), which is irrelevant for German citizens. Significant differences in the probability of migrants becoming involved with the police and the courts were found between the German federal states. In certain states the Foreign Citizen’s Act is applied three times more frequently than in others. The study examines whether these differences are related to a) the external borders of the European Union; b) the proportion of foreigners in the population; and c) political party preferences and the parties forming the governing majority of the state; clear differences were found with respect to item c).     

Parents’ Interpersonal Distance and Touch Behavior and Child Pain and Distress during Painful Pediatric Oncology Procedures

Children with cancer and their parents report that treatment-related procedures are more traumatic and painful than cancer itself. Competing hypotheses have emerged regarding relations between parents’ social support and child pain and distress. Little is known about caregivers’ use of nonverbal immediacy behaviors that may function as social support messages. This study describes caregivers’ interpersonal distance and touch behaviors during painful pediatric oncology procedures and examines relations between those behaviors and children’s pain and distress. Caregivers’ total touch time and instrumental (task-oriented) touch time, but not supportive touch time, during the actual procedure covaried with children’s procedural pain and distress. This research was conducted as part of a larger investigation funded by a grant from the National Cancer Institute, “Parental Role in Pediatric Cancer Pain and Survivorship” (NCI R01 CA100027), Terrance L. Albrecht, PI. The authors wish to thank Ellen Jones for her efforts.