The National Elder Mistreatment Study: An 8-year longitudinal study of outcomes

Objectives: To conduct an 8-year follow-up of the National Elder Mistreatment Study (NEMS) and specify risk ratios for negative outcomes of elder abuse, including DSM-5 defined depression, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and poor self-reported health.

Methods: Attempts were made to re-contact, via Computer Assisted Telephone Interview, all 752 NEMS participants who reported mistreatment since age 60 at Wave I, as well as a randomly selected sample of non-mistreated NEMS participants

Results: 183 NEMS Wave I elder abuse victims and 591 non-victims provided data. In bivariate analyses, elder mistreatment 8 years earlier increased risk of negative outcomes by 200–700%. However, multivariate analyses revealed that Current (Wave II) social support was highly protective against most negative outcomes (excepting PTSD), and even appeared to nullify effects of mistreatment on GAD and poor self-reported health.

Conclusions: Outcomes of elder mistreatment have not been studied prospectively in a national sample. The NEMS 8-year follow-up findings indicate a strong relationship between elder mistreatment at Wave I and negative emotional and physical health 8 years later. Fortunately, current (Wave II) social support appears to be both consistently and powerfully protective against most negative outcomes.     

Exposure to Economically Abusive Tactics Among Adolescent Girls in the Child Welfare System

Economically abusive tactics (EAT), including financial exploitation, economic control, and employment sabotage, have been increasingly identified in intimate relationships. Negative outcomes include increased material hardship, increased depression, and co-occurrence with physical and emotional abuse. However, there is no known research on adolescent exposure to EATs, or its relationship with other well-being indicators. This exploratory study examined the extent of witnessing EAT among adolescent girls involved in child welfare, along with relationships between witnessing EAT and exposure to physical violence, risk of mental health challenges, and current financial self-efficacy. Interviews were conducted with 105 girls ages 12–19. Results indicated that nearly half witnessed moderate to high EATs. Rates of EATs were significantly higher among girls who witnessed physical violence. At the bivariate level, witnessing EATs was correlated with increased rates of physical and emotional abuse, physical neglect, and number of types of trauma, as well as higher levels of depression and PTSD and decreased financial self-efficacy. Implications include the need for measurement refinement, screening, prevention, and intervention for child welfare-involved girls, and continued research regarding EAT exposure.     

Parental Child‐Rearing Conflicts Through Adolescence: Trajectories and Associations With Child Characteristics and Externalizing Patterns

Research on longitudinal interparental conflict patterns and offspring development is scarce. The population‐based TOPP study (N = 459) was used to investigate (1) child‐rearing conflict trajectories through four time points during childhood and adolescence (ages 8–16), and (2) associations between conflict trajectories and child characteristics (i.e., birth order, gender, externalizing patterns from early childhood). Latent profile analysis identified six distinct trajectories. Conflict levels decreased for most respondents over the adolescent offspring period, but offspring's birth order and externalizing problems were related to less typical trajectories and higher levels of conflict. Onset of externalizing problems was of additional importance for the course of parental child‐rearing conflicts. The results highlight the perception of the whole family as an interwoven system.     

Rowing ‘at home’ and ‘away’: sport,heritage and identity in the Malay world

This paper is grounded in a comparison of the cultural identifications that accompany Sambas Malays’ participation in rowing competitions ‘at home’ and ‘away’. Sambas Malays are Indonesian citizens from the regency of Sambas, who ethnically identify as Malay. There, rowing competitions provide the sociocultural infrastructure for developing local and translocal cultural identifications. Two related, yet distinguishable, cultural identifications are evident, each associated with a specific rowing infrastructure. When contests occur ‘at home’, rowing is steeped in local Sambas Malay culture and heritage. However, contests ‘away’, in areas loosely identified as ‘Malay’, generate identifications with a regionally based Malay culture and consociality. Utilizing a non-positivistic conceptualization of ‘border’, this paper considers the intersection of culture, politics, economy, geography and mobility in everyday bordering practices producing two overlapping cultural identifications.     

Parental Cohabitation Experiences and Adolescent Behavioral Outcomes

Children are increasingly spending time in cohabiting parent families. Most studies that examine the implications of parental cohabitation focus on parental living arrangements at a single point in time. Using data from the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), we assess whether and how parental cohabitation during childhood influences adolescent girls’ well-being. This work moves beyond prior studies by specifically considering the effects of the exposure to, transitions, and age at which children lived in cohabiting parent families. The results indicate living in cohabiting parent families is consequential for earlier sexual initiation, likelihood of having a teen birth, and high school graduation. Prior work suggests that the explanation for the negative effect of parental cohabitation is family instability. Yet, our empirical work shows that family instability does not explain the relationship between cohabitation and negative child outcomes. We conclude that the best way to understand the implications of parental cohabitation is to adopt a dynamic family experience model.

Adaptive designs for pivotal trials: discussion points from the PSI Adaptive Design Expert Group

The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) is currently preparing a guideline on 'methodological issues in confirmatory clinical trials with flexible design and analysis plan'. PSI (Statisticians in the Pharmaceutical Industry) sponsored a meeting of pharmaceutical statisticians with an interest in the area to share experiences and identify potential opportunities for adaptive designs in late-phase clinical drug development. This article outlines the issues raised, resulting discussions and consensus views reached. Adaptive designs have potential utility in late-phase clinical development. Sample size re-estimation seems to be valuable and widely accepted, but should be made independent of the observed treatment effect where possible. Where unblinding is necessary, careful consideration needs to be given to preserving the integrity of the trial. An area where adaptive designs can be particularly beneficial is to allow dose selection in pivotal trials via adding/dropping treatment arms; for example, combining phase II and III of the drug development program. The more adaptations made during a late-phase clinical trial, the less likely that the clinical trial would be considered as a confirmatory trial. In all cases it would be advisable to consult with regulatory agencies at the protocol design stage. All involved should remain open to scientifically valid opportunities to improve drug development.     

The Impact of Welfare Reform Policies on Child Protective Services: A National Study

The 1996 welfare reform bill set forth major changes in social welfare policies. In addition to federal work requirements and time limits, new state policies impose behavioral mandates that may be accompanied by financial sanctions for noncompliance. Analysis of a survey of state Child Protection Services (CPS) directors focuses on four major areas: effect of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) on CPS; interaction between the two agencies; role of TANF sanctions in referrals to CPS; and select special areas of concern. This research provides empirical insight into the interaction between these two agencies, specific TANF sanctions, and the potential conflicts between TANF policies and CPS concerns for the welfare of children and families under its charge.     

Predicting Well‐Being and Internalizing Symptoms in Late Adolescence From Trajectories of Externalizing Behavior Starting in Infancy

This study aimed to examine the long‐term prediction of well‐being and internalizing symptoms from trajectories of externalizing behavior problems in 921 children from a population‐based sample. We found that a high stable trajectory of externalizing behavior from infancy (age 1.5) to mid‐adolescence (age 14.5) predicted lower scores on life satisfaction and flourishing for both girls and boys (age 18.5). The high stable trajectory also predicted higher levels of depressive symptoms in boys and anxiety symptoms in girls (age 18.5). The findings are noteworthy as they document how a person‐oriented study of externalizing behavior problems starting in infancy can predict well‐being and internalizing in late adolescence. The findings underline the importance of early health promotion and problem intervention efforts.     

Legacy effect of trees in the heritage landscape of a peri-urban golf course

Negative environmental impacts of golf courses have received more attention than positive ecological contributions. We studied the mature tree communities and their legacy effect in a historical urban-fringe golf-course site in Hong Kong covering 170-ha with well-managed natural-cum-cultural landscape. Some 44.3 % of the site is covered mainly by large trees forming a mature peri-urban forest. The 94 species in 35 families offer a high species diversity exceeding local secondary and climax fengshui woodlands with notable rare and protected species. Tree species composition, richness and legacy effects brought by anthropogenic and natural factors were investigated by three habitats with varying naturalness and three golf courses with different age. Landscape zone is remarkably heterogeneous versus other microhabitats (fairway and woodland) and the heterogeneity of tree communities amongst the three courses is relatively weak. Synergistic operation of natural regeneration (natural legacy effect) and anthropogenic management (anthropogenic legacy effect) has fostered diversity accumulation. On the one hand, temporal changes in landscape fashion through a century and variations in site management have driven and maintained species diversity. On the other hand, the founder effect of inherited and cultivated species, as well as successful invasion and establishment of native species, have imposed floristic imprint and inertia on woodland habitat. The findings suggested that urban golf courses can serve as potential hotspots for biodiversity conservation within urban ecosystems.     

THE WELFARE EFFECTS OF TEMPORARY TAX CUTS AND SUBSIDIES: THEORY,ESTIMATION, AND APPLICATIONS

This article presents a tractable and intuitive theory on the welfare effects of temporary tax cuts and subsidies, fiscal policies that I generically term “holidays.” The Kaldor–Hicks efficiency effects are theoretically ambiguous, with competing pro‐ and anti‐efficiency effects on newly incentivized versus time‐shifted purchases. To rectify this ambiguity I derive expressions for the welfare effects that are consistent with constant elasticity assumptions and depend only upon readily and reliably observed information. To demonstrate the framework's broad applicability, I analyze two different policies: the 2009 Cash for Clunkers program and states' sales tax holidays. I estimate that both policies generated substantial deadweight loss. (JEL H21, H30, D91)