Monitoring Optimism in South Africa

The last two decades have been the most crucial and eventful ones in South Africa's history. During this time, the empirical research and knowledge provided by opinion polls yielded much-needed insight into the grass roots of a society in transition, providing an instrument with which to measure the political climate, to observe trends and developments, and to give input into the decision-making process of companies and political parties. Although the process of change and political transition still remains difficult to define properly, this article will provide some insight into the attitudes, perceptions and values of the South African public, by giving attention to trends that have transpired over the years. Special attention is devoted to perceptions on pertinent issues such as the mood in the country, optimism, economic well-being, social harmony and trust – all essential elements in an emerging democracy. Extensive use is made of data and findings of Markinor's bi-annual Socio-Political Trends surveys, the World Values Studies and the annual Gallup End-of-Year Poll.     

Sibling, peer, neighbor, and schoolmate correlations as indicators of the importance of context for adolescent development

We use nationally representative data to calculate correlations in achievement and delinquency between genetically differentiated siblings within a family, between peers as defined by adolescents' "best friend" nominations, between schoolmates living in the same neighborhood, and between grademates within a school. We find the largest correlations between siblings, especially identical twins. Grademate and neighbor correlations are small. Peer-based correlations are considerably larger than grademate and neighbor correlations but not larger than most sibling correlations. The data suggest that family-based factors are several times more powerful than neighborhood and school contexts in affecting adolescents' achievement and behavior.     

eDiary and Female Sexual Distress Scale(©) in evaluating distress in hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD)

Sex-related distress is integral to the diagnosis of hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD). This article describes the results of three prospective, non-treatment validation studies (two North American and one European), each testing over 200 participants with HSDD, other types of female sexual dysfunction (FSD), or no FSD in which the 12-item Female Sexual Distress Scale(?) (FSDS(?)), the 13-item FSDS-Revised(?)(FSDS-R(?)), and a single question asked using a daily electronic diary (the eDiary For HSDD Trials(?); eDiary) were used to measure sex-related distress. FSDS results with 30- and seven-day recall were equivalent. The results observed with FSDS-R Item 13 (a single question assessing concern due to low sexual desire) were comparable to the FSDS. Mean eDiary monthly distress scores were closer to the minimum possible score (equivalent to "a little bit" of distress) and were about twice as variable as FSDS or FSDS-R Item 13 scores in participants with HSDD. All three measures confirmed that there is more distress in women with HSDD compared to women with no sexual dysfunction at all time points, demonstrating discriminant validity.     

Successful adoption and implementation of a comprehensive casework practice model in a public child welfare agency: Application of the Getting to Outcomes (GTO) model

In recent years, several states have been developing or adopting casework practice models in an effort to shape the thinking and behavior of front line child welfare workers with a commitment to improving the safety, permanency and well-being outcomes of vulnerable children in their care (Antle, Christensen, Barbee & Martin, 2008; Christensen, Todahl & Barrett, 1999; Courtney, 2009; Folaron, 2009). This article presents one framework for approaching the organizational changes that need to be made in order to support a practice model. The Getting to Outcomes” Framework (Wandersman, 2009) is a useful approach for ensuring that all areas to support practice change are addressed.     

重振布隆方丹中央商务区：前景、阻碍与错失的机会

一个多世纪以来,人们对城市变迁展开了系统性的研究,其中一个焦点是城市的中央商务区（CBDs）。过去几十年里有大量关于中央商务区衰落问题的文献,焦点集中在这种衰退为什么会发生,以及可以出台哪些刺激性政策措施来重振这些地区。本文主要讨论大城市中较为发达的地区,从地理上说就是南非北部的前工业重镇。就这些问题南非的学者也有为数不多但值得我们重视的文献,他们以年鉴形式记录了中央商务区的衰落及后续的重振措施。与国际上的经验类似,研究的焦点集中在南非的主要大城市地区,而二线城市则不在研究者们关注的范围之内。本文概述二线城市布隆方丹的中央商务区重振所面临的前景和阻碍的目的是,尽管在开普敦和约翰内斯堡等城市开展一般性的重振项目对抑制中央商务区的进一步衰退有显著成效,但对布隆方丹这样的二线城市来说,可能还需要一些其他措施。     

Conceptualizing social-ecological drivers of change in urban forest patches

Urban Ecosystems - We introduce a conceptual model of the urban forest patch as a complex social-ecological system, incorporating cross-scale interactions. We developed this model through an...     

The Food Marketing Defense Model: Integrating Psychological Research to Protect Youth and Inform Public Policy

Marketing practices that promote calorie-dense, nutrient-poor foods directly to children and adolescents present significant public health risk. Worldwide, calls for government action and industry change to protect young people from the negative effects of food marketing have increased. Current proposals focus on restricting television advertising to children under 12 years old, but current psychological models suggest that much more is required. All forms of marketing pose considerable risk; adolescents are also highly vulnerable; and food marketing may produce far-reaching negative health outcomes. We propose a food marketing defense model that posits four necessary conditions to effectively counter harmful food marketing practices: awareness, understanding, ability, and motivation to resist. A new generation of psychological research is needed to examine each of these processes, including the psychological mechanisms through which food marketing affects young people, to identify public policy that will effectively protect them from harmful influence.