Successful aging: how does physical activity influence engagement with life?

With the increasing number of individuals over the age of 65?years worldwide, it is critical for society to recognize the importance of helping seniors maintain their health, physical, and cognitive functioning as well as their engagement with life. These three dimensions provide the foundation for successful aging (SA). The positive role of engagement with life has been understated to date in the literature. This review highlights the components of SA with particular emphasis on engagement and how physical activity positively impacts engagement which in turn positively influences health and physical function.     

Enriching Students’ Conceptual Understanding of Confidence Intervals: An Interactive Trivia-Based Classroom Activity

Confidence intervals provide a way to determine plausible values for a population parameter. They are omnipresent in research articles involving statistical analyses. Appropriately, a key statistical literacy learning objective is the ability to interpret and understand confidence intervals in a wide range of settings. As instructors, we devote a considerable amount of time and effort to ensure that students master this topic in introductory courses and beyond. Yet, studies continue to find that confidence intervals are commonly misinterpreted and that even experts have trouble calibrating their individual confidence levels. In this article, we present a 10-min trivia game-based activity that addresses these misconceptions by exposing students to confidence intervals from a personal perspective. We describe how the activity can be integrated into a statistics course as a one-time activity or with repetition at intervals throughout a course, discuss results of using the activity in class, and present possible extensions. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.     

Is whole-body vibration beneficial for seniors?

Normal aging processes result in losses of functional flexibility and muscular strength, which increase seniors’ fall risk and dependence on others. A relatively new intervention to reduce and/or reverse the adverse effects of aging is whole-body vibration (WBV) exercise. The purpose of this article is to review the established effects of WBV exercise exclusively with the aging population. A systematic search utilizing PubMed and Sport Discus databases uncovered journal articles specific to seniors and whole-body vibration. An extensive hand search supplemented the database results to find other relevant articles. Twenty-seven articles were obtained; all articles have been published in the past 8 years, reflecting the recent and growing interest in this area. Researchers have determined that WBV training can reduce fall risk and improve postural control in seniors. It has also been determined that WBV training can be as effective as conventional resistance training to improve seniors’ lower body strength. However, little is known about the effect of WBV exercise on flexibility and upper body strength in the aging population. More research is required to establish how effective WBV training is on these specific components and how it may affect seniors’ quality of life.     

Examining Protective Factors for Dysthymia Among Individuals Attending Substance Abuse Treatment

ABSTRACT

Dysthymia affects millions of people and has been associated with impaired psychosocial and occupational functioning and poor clinical treatment outcomes. Yet few studies have examined protective factors that can be utilized to help individuals with dysthymia in clinical settings, particularly among individuals with comorbid substance use disorders. The purpose of this study was to examine the potential protective quality of adult attachment dimensions, spirituality, and meaning in life among clients with and without dysthymia in treatment for addiction. Data were obtained from 305 self-report questionnaires administered to clients attending a residential substance abuse treatment center. Approximately 25% of the sample met criteria for dysthymia. Results from logistic regression analyses indicated that purpose and meaning in life and attachment anxiety were the most important protective factors against having dysthymia. These results suggest that mental health professionals may need to integrate these protective factors into the treatment of individuals with dysthymia and substance use disorders, which may enhance treatment outcomes and maximize treatment effectiveness. Future studies should continue to explore protective factors that can assist individuals who experience these comorbid conditions and consider replicating this study using an ethnically diverse sample and other clinical settings to determine the generalizability of the findings.     

An Appeal to Aid Specialists

The appeal I am making is (roughly speaking) for aid specialists to do more to help those of us who are not aid specialists to arrive at judgments about the effects of the work of (voluntary) aid agencies that we have at least some reason to think accurate. I argue that the fact that it is so difficult for us to arrive at such judgments at present has certain negative consequences, and that this gives those who are in a position to make it easier for us to arrive at such judgments strong reasons to do so. And I argue that (certain) aid specialists are in such a position. Hence my appeal to them to do so.     

Examining School Connectedness as a Mediator of School Climate Effects

Researchers have suggested that good‐quality school climates foster a sense of connection to the school and in this way contribute to fewer emotional and behavioral problems. However, few studies have directly assessed the role of school connectedness as a mediator of school climate effects. Using path analysis, this brief report examined whether four aspects of student perceived school climate (cohesion, friction, competition among students, and overall satisfaction with classes) were indirectly associated with subsequent early adolescent conduct problems and depressive symptoms through school connectedness. Participants were four hundred and eighty‐nine 10‐ to 14‐year old middle school students involved in two waves of a study. The results showed that school connectedness mediated the relations between perceived cohesion, perceived friction, and overall satisfaction with classes and subsequent student conduct problems 1 year later. School connectedness was not, however, predictive of subsequent depressive symptoms and thus did not mediate the school climate effects on early adolescent emotional problems.     

Researching volunteer associations and other nonprofits: An emergent interdisciplinary field and possible new discipline1

Conclusion ARNOVA is alive and well and living in Indianapolis as housed by the Center for Philanthropy at Indiana University, Indianapolis. ARNOVA had over 1,000 members from more than 55 different nations and from 16 fields and disciplines in its membership as of 1999. It is in very sound financial shape for the next three years at least, pursuing a variety of initiatives, both existing and new (e.g., more diversity in membership and leadership). Its annual conference attendance climbs each year now, as does its membership, with aggressive marketing through direct mail to lists of potentially interested scholars as well as by word of mouth.     

Some understudied research topics: the 1994 ISTR Conference and beyond

Conclusion The 1994 ISTR Conference suggests to me several topics that need more research, taking the Conference presentations as a current sampling of research on non-profits by researchers from many countries. In most cases, the Conference sessions provide something on the topic, but not very much on certain central issues. Others have done work in these areas too, but more research is needed.