A pilot study of the contribution of empathy to burnout in Salvation Army Officers

Although empathy has been found to distinguish effective counsellors from less effective counsellors, human services professionals who continually experience negative emotional reactions to the feelings that clients express in counselling may be at risk of developing burnout. This study examined the hypothesis that emotional empathy rather than cognitive empathy is associated with burnout. The sample of human services professionals consisted of 71 Salvation Army Officers. Multiple regression was used to investigate whether the dimensions of empathy could predict three aspects of burnout: personal accomplishment, emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. The first regression analysis indicated that personal distress and empathic concern were significant predictor of personal accomplishment. The second analysis indicated that personal distress was a significant predictor of emotional exhaustion. The third indicated that empathic concern was a significant predictor of depersonalization. Although these results support the hypothesis, personal distress was negatively associated with personal accomplishment, whereas empathic concern was positively associated with personal accomplishment. The small size of the sample may have influenced the reliability of the findings. A multidimensional approach to the role of empathy in counselling may help human services professionals to manage their emotional reactions when they engage in counselling with distressed clients.     

Bayesian credibility limits for small finite population proportions:stratified and cluster sampling

Bayes credibility limits for small proportions from stratified and fixed size cluster samples are discussed. Ericson’s (JRSS B (1969)) Beta Binomial and Dirichlet-Multinomial priors are used. Approximate limits that are appropriate for large samples and small proportions are derived in both cases. These allow asymptotic comparisons of the efficacy of stratified and cluster sampling relative to simple random sampling for estimating small proportions. Procedures for the selection of hyper parameters are also presented.     

Estimation of the Force of Infection from Current Status Data Using Generalized Linear Mixed Models

Based on sero-prevalence data of rubella, mumps in the UK and varicella in Belgium, we show how the force of infection, the age-specific rate at which susceptible individuals contract infection, can be estimated using generalized linear mixed models (McCulloch & Searle, 2001). Modelling the dependency of the force of infection on age by penalized splines, which involve fixed and random effects, allows us to use generalized linear mixed models techniques to estimate both the cumulative probability of being infected before a given age and the force of infection. Moreover, these models permit an automatic selection of the smoothing parameter. The smoothness of the estimated force of infection can be influenced by the number of knots and the degree of the penalized spline used. To determine these, a different number of knots and different degrees are used and the results are compared to establish this sensitivity. Simulations with a different number of knots and polynomial spline bases of different degrees suggest - for estimating the force of infection from serological data - the use of a quadratic penalized spline based on about 10 knots.     

Understanding foraging flexibility in urban vervet monkeys,Chlorocebus pygerythrus,for the benefit of human-wildlife coexistence

Urban Ecosystems - Generalist wildlife species often thrive in urban environments because of increased anthropogenic resources. However, human-wildlife interactions, especially if negative, raise...     

Cross-validation of the screening scale in an adult protective services sample

Adult Protective Services (APS) professionals are often called on to assess decision-making capacity when investigating financial exploitation. Previous research found that in consecutive APS cases, a decision-making screening scale (LFDSS) also detected financial exploitation. The purpose of this study was to apply the clinical cutoff scores derived from the previous study to a new sample of APS cases. Using a sample of 105 participants, from APS workers across 5 counties this study investigated the clinical utility of the LFDSS to detect financial exploitation based on ratings by APS professionals using the scale. Results demonstrate that the LFDSS has excellent internal consistency and clinical utility properties. This paper provides support for use of the LFDSS as a reliable and valid instrument. Instructions for use of the LFDSS are included in the article, along with information about online support tools.     

The time‐dependent “cure‐death” model investigating two equally important endpoints simultaneously in trials treating high‐risk patients with resistant pathogens

A variety of primary endpoints are used in clinical trials treating patients with severe infectious diseases, and existing guidelines do not provide a consistent recommendation. We propose to study simultaneously two primary endpoints, cure and death, in a comprehensive multistate cure‐death model as starting point for a treatment comparison. This technique enables us to study the temporal dynamic of the patient‐relevant probability to be cured and alive. We describe and compare traditional and innovative methods suitable for a treatment comparison based on this model. Traditional analyses using risk differences focus on one prespecified timepoint only. A restricted logrank‐based test of treatment effect is sensitive to ordered categories of responses and integrates information on duration of response. The pseudo‐value regression provides a direct regression model for examination of treatment effect via difference in transition probabilities. Applied to a topical real data example and simulation scenarios, we demonstrate advantages and limitations and provide an insight into how these methods can handle different kinds of treatment imbalances. The cure‐death model provides a suitable framework to gain a better understanding of how a new treatment influences the time‐dynamic cure and death process. This might help the future planning of randomised clinical trials, sample size calculations, and data analyses.     

Reliability of professional judgments in forensic child sexual abuse evaluations: unsettled or unsettling science?

In the absence of photographic or DNA evidence, a credible eyewitness, or perpetrator confession, forensic evaluators in cases of alleged child sexual abuse must rely on psychosocial or "soft" evidence, often requiring substantial professional judgment for case determination. This article offers a three-part rebuttal to Herman's (2009 ) argument that forensic decisions based on psychosocial evidence are fundamentally unreliable and that this conclusion represents settled science. The article also discusses the potentially adverse consequences of Herman's proposed reforms to forensic practice on child protection and prosecution efforts.     

Raccoon use of the urban matrix in the Baltimore Metropolitan Area, Maryland

The raccoon is often considered a synanthropic species; however, most urban research on this species has been restricted to urban parks or green spaces. Little is known about the persistence of synanthropic characteristics in the raccoon within the urban matrix. We examined density, den selection, home range size, habitat selection, and survival for adult raccoons (Procyon lotor) during summer (June?CAugust) and autumn (September?CNovember) in two residential neighborhoods, Linthicum located inland, and Riviera Beach on a peninsula in the Potomac river, in Southern Maryland. Den site selection varied by gender (P?=?0.0002) and study site (P?=?0.052), and study site interacted with gender (P?=?0.0063), with female raccoons denning preferentially on the ground and male raccoons in human structures in Riviera Beach while in Linthicum females denned preferentially in trees and males avoided human structures. Seasonal home range size was larger for males (P?<?0.0001) than females at both sites. Habitat selection varied at different hierarchical levels, and between gender, season and site. Intersite differences in habitat selection were apparent at the second order and third order scale. Aquatic and urban habitat was ranked high and woodland consistently lowest in second order scale at Riviera Beach while urban habitat was consistently ranked lowest at Linthicum where woodland ranked highest. Between the hierarchal scales (2nd and 3rd order) a difference in habitat selection occurred at Linthicum only where urban habitats ranked lowest at 3rd order. The differences in patterns of habitat selection we observed between two urban sites at different hierarchical scales suggest that resource selection is dependent upon the specific characteristics of the site and that raccoons exhibit variable responses to changes in landscape features. Finally, male survival tended to be lower (P?=?0.079) than female survival in both study sites. Our results reveal that raccoons can continue to exhibit synanthropic characteristics within the urban matrix even in areas with little natural habitat. This ability to adjust to different levels of development allows the raccoon to occur throughout most parts of the urban landscape, which has important management implications for human-raccoon conflicts and disease management.     

Parent–Child Positive Touch: Gender,Age, and Task Differences

This study examined gender, age, and task differences in positive touch and physical proximity during mother–child and father–child conversations. Sixty-five Spanish mothers and fathers and their 4- (M = 53.50 months, SD = 3.54) and 6-year-old (M = 77.07 months, SD = 3.94) children participated in this study. Positive touch was examined during a play-related storytelling task and a reminiscence task (conversation about past emotions). Fathers touched their children positively more frequently during the play-related storytelling task than did mothers. Both mothers and fathers were in closer proximity to their 6-year-olds than their 4-year-olds. Mothers and fathers touched their children positively more frequently when reminiscing than when playing. Finally, 6-year-olds remained closer to their parents than did 4-year-olds. Implications of these findings for future research on children’s socioemotional development are discussed.