Temporal variations in the relationship between infant mortality and economic status

Data from a metropolitan aggregate comprising three Ohio cities for the years 1959–61, 1969–71 and 1979–81 reveal some noteworthy variations over time in the nature and magnitude of the traditional inverse association between economic status and infant mortality. This brief paper describes these variations and offers an explanation for the observed temporal changes that relates the influence of medical and infant health care advances to the prevailing overall economic situation.

     

Innovative Uses of the FIRO-B in Couple Counseling*

The use of the Fundamental Interpersonal Relationship Orientation-Behavior (FIRO-B)inventory in couple counseling is viewed as a cooperative counselor-client procedure that aids both counselor and client in conceptualizing interpersonal compatibility, specifying counseling goals, assessing behavior change, and facilitating an action oriented counseling process. Case histories are used to illustrate the use of the FIRO-B as an integral part of the counseling process.     

The developing world to 1990: Trends and implications for multinational business

The strategic postures of multinationals in the Third World are affected by three broad environmental variables. They are political-legal, economic-technological, and socio-cultural variables. In this article, past and future trends and implications of these variables for the multinationals are discussed.     

Video lottery gambling: Effects on pathological gamblers seeking treatment in South Dakota

Fifty-eight pathological gamblers receiving treatment for addictive illness in two South Dakota hospitals were assessed for types of gambling and grouped into three categories; 15 video lottery only (VLO), 36 video lottery mixed (VLM), and 7 not video lottery (NVL). There were 51 male and 7 female respondents, with a mean age of 38.2. We hypothesized that video lottery would be the predominant type of gambling on several dimensions: level of recent activity, most money lost on one occasion, and number of DSM-IV criteria met. Of all gamblers, 87.9% had pathological involvement with video lottery. Video lottery gambling accounted for the highest level of recent activity. In the VLM group, video lottery gambling led to greater single-occasion monetary losses. In addition, significantly more DSM-IV criteria were met in the VLM group for video lottery gambling than for other forms of gambling these subjects had engaged in. Results indicate that video lottery gambling is the predominant type of gambling behavior engaged in by gamblers seeking treatment for addictive illness in South Dakota. We propose that these findings could be associated with the availability and stimulus differences between video lottery and other gambling types.The authors would like to thank Larry Atwood, Chemical Dependency Counselor at Keystone Treatment Center in Canton, S.D., for his assistance with data collection.     

Cohort Perspectives on Women’s Educational Attainment and the Timing of Parenthood in Ghana

This paper examines the effects of womens educational attainment on the timing of parenthood across successive generations of women in Ghana. Given the more enhanced career opportunities in recent years, we argue that the opportunity cost of parenthood may be higher for contemporary educated women, and as such, they are expected to delay parenthood for longer periods than their counterparts in the past. Using data from the 1998 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey, we found that while higher maternal education associates with delayed parenthood, significant cohort differences were noticeable. Consistent with our expectations, the effect of higher educational attainment was substantially greater among younger women, indicating a longer transition to parenthood. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

Angry drivers: a test of state-trait theory

Tested hypotheses from state-trait theory applied to anger while driving. College student drivers high in trait driving anger were compared to drivers low in trait driving anger. High anger drivers were more frequently angered in day-to-day driving (frequency hypothesis). They reported more intense anger in their most angering driving situations, when visualizing provocative driving events, and in day-to-day driving (intensity hypothesis). Driving diaries and surveys showed they engaged in more aggressive behavior and expressed their anger through more verbal, physical, and vehicular means (aggression hypothesis). They reported handling of their anger less well when visualizing provocative events and on the Adaptive/Constructive Expression scale (reduced adaptive expression hypothesis). They engaged in risky behavior (risky behavior hypothesis) and experienced more moving violations, close calls, and losses of concentration, but not more major or minor accidents (partial support for crash-related outcomes hypothesis). High anger drivers were more generally angry and impulsive and employed more negative, less controlled forms of general anger expression. Results supported state-trait theory and added to the literature showing that high anger drivers have some other psychological and behavioral characteristics that may interact negatively with anger behind the wheel.     

The effects of right-to-work legislation on union outcomes: Additional evidence

The authors reexamine the role of open shop legislation in affecting union outcomes. New indices of union success are employed which include election voting behavior, the size of newly certified units, and the rate of union decertification. Three competing hypotheses are empirically tested: (1) the free rider argument predicting lower membership levels in right-to-work (RTW) areas; (2) the saturationist hypothesis predicting a higher level of organizing activity in RTW areas as a result of large concentrations of unorganized workers; and, (3) the hypothesis that legislation is vitiated by distinct organizing behaviors in RTW and nonRTW areas. Empirical results, based on SMSA data from 35 states, tend to provide support for hypotheses (2) and (3). Recently, RTW areas have experienced more prounion outcomes, and the union returns to regional attributes (measured by Chow tests) are found to be distinct in the two areas.     

The Painful Truth: Interpretation of Facial Expressions of Pain in Older Adults

The purpose of this study was to determine whether it is more difficult to decode facial expressions of pain in older than in younger adults. The facial expressions of 10 younger and 10 older chronic pain patients undergoing a painful diagnostic test were viewed on videotape by untrained judges. Judges estimated the severity of pain being experienced by the patients. Ratings made of the older faces during painful moments described more pain, and appeared more accurate, than those made of younger faces. Judges also reported seeing more pain in posed, masked, and baseline facial expressions in the older adults. Age-related structural changes to the face were not responsible for this bias. This suggests that judges were predisposed to see pain in the faces of the older patients, and undermines the assumption that their ratings of pain in the painful moment segments were accurate.