Reducing high blood cholesterol in children

There is compelling evidence that the process of atherosclerosis begins in childhood as a result of elevated levels of blood cholesterol and that preventing or slowing this process in childhood can extend the years of healthy life for many Americans. Health professionals need to use a variety of strategies to affect social policy in order to decrease the abuse of children whose elevated blood cholesterol has been ignored by the health care system. Through these strategies we can begin to improve the health of our children and thus ultimately improve the health of all Americans.     

Family sociologists and policymaking: A supporting role perspective

Family sociologists do not set policymaking agendas. This is the role of elected officials and administrators with implementation power. Our functions as supporting players in the policymaking process are the following: 1) raising issues that foster or discourage policy development; 2) shaping arguments for proposed laws or administrative decrees; and 3) providing frameworks for development of legislative proposals. Examples of each function appear along with comments from persons involved in the policymaking process. There is also a discussion of the distinction between social scientists’ influence depending on their knowledge rather than their advocacy of specific proposals. Her recent work on policy includes a chapter with Robert Tuttle on unemployment and the family to appear inFamilies in Trouble, edited by Catherine Chilman, Fred Cox, and Elam Nunnally. She currently is using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to look at the effects of high inflation on families.     

Relationships of work stress measures for employees with the same job

Most research on job stress is based on the assumption that correlations between perceived work environment and affective measures reflect a relationship between the objective work environment and affective measures. Correlations found among perceived stress measures were similar in magnitude to those found in other work stress studies that had greater variation in the subject sample and jobs. Also, no relationship was found between objective and perceived danger. Alternative explanations for perceived job stress relationships are discussed.     

Adolescent Contraceptive Method Choices

This article analyzes determinants of contraceptive method choices among adolescent women in the United States. By using data from the 1982 National Survey of Family Growth, we examined factors that differentiate users of various methods early in the sexual careers of teenaged women. We find that patterns of method choice not only vary by race and region within the United States but also change over the teenager's life course. In addition, among teenagers who did not use a method at first sex, the likelihood of adopting a method soon thereafter was low for both whites and blacks and was unaffected by social structural characteristics.     

Elderly Consumers and Social Care Policy

The development of social care policy for elderly Australians is proceeding with little regard for the preferences and perspectives as expressed by the elderly themselves. The likely consequence is a continuation of policies based largely on other people's assumptions about what elderly people actually need and the extension of service categories into which many elderly people do not easily fit. Discussions with 71 elderly consumers during 1983 in Queensland established that they have input to make into policy and service delivery issues such as the provision of information on services, the determination of needs, the extension of choices between alternative services and choice of appropriate service providers. Social care policy should not continue to develop around singular and untested assumptions concerning what elderly people need and prefer.     

An analysis of safety culture attitudes in a highly regulated environment

Culture is a complex construct in organizations, consisting of attitudes, perceptions, values and beliefs, which must necessarily be set in context. Many authors imply that culture is organization-wide and common to all employees. In terms of safety culture, the organizational context may determine its salience and likelihood of affecting behaviour, especially in a highly regulated environment such as the nuclear industry. This study investigates the components of safety culture and how it varies in a highly-regulated nuclear power plant. A 60-item questionnaire measuring safety attitudes and values was administered anonymously to 1550 employees at two plants in the UK nuclear industry, with a 64.7% mean response rate. Principal components analyses revealed six factors conceptually common to shop floor and management (supervisor/manager/professional) groups for both plants, relating to: management style and communication; responsibility and commitment; risk-taking; job satisfaction; complacency; and risk awareness. A canonical discriminant analysis of the items suggested that the data could distinguish three employee groups. The implications of these findings and the proposal that there are two or more safety cultures in the organization is discussed.     

Estimation in the Cox cure model with covariates missing not at random,with application to disease screening/prediction

In an attempt to provide a statistical tool for disease screening and prediction, we propose a semiparametric approach to analysis of the Cox proportional hazards cure model in situations where the observations on the event time are subject to right censoring and some covariates are missing not at random. To facilitate the methodological development, we begin with semiparametric maximum likelihood estimation (SPMLE) assuming that the (conditional) distribution of the missing covariates is known. A variant of the EM algorithm is used to compute the estimator. We then adapt the SPMLE to a more practical situation where the distribution is unknown and there is a consistent estimator based on available information. We establish the consistency and weak convergence of the resulting pseudo-SPMLE, and identify a suitable variance estimator. The application of our inference procedure to disease screening and prediction is illustrated via empirical studies. The proposed approach is used to analyze the tuberculosis screening study data that motivated this research. Its finite-sample performance is examined by simulation.     

Adult Attachment Style and Nonverbal Closeness in Dating Couples

This study examined the nonverbal correlates of attachment style during interaction with a dating partner. Sixty-one heterosexual couples completed a self-report measure of attachment style and then were videotaped while discussing positive aspects of their relationships. The partners' nonverbal behaviors were coded for specific nonverbal cues and qualities theoretically associated with attachment style. A more secure attachment style was generally associated with more nonverbal closeness and a more avoidant style was generally associated with less nonverbal closeness. Contrary to expectations, individuals with a more preoccupied style were not found to engage in more intimate or clingy behaviors. Results provide partial support for self-reported differences between secure and insecure individuals in their preference for, and comfort with, closeness. Implications for understanding the associations between attachment style and relationship outcomes are discussed.     

The Making of National Health Insurance in Britain and Canada: Institutional Analysis and its Limits

Scholars examining the development of health insurance reform programs from an institutionalist perspective have drawn attention to the importance of state structures and administrative capacities in shaping social policy outcomes. Focusing on the introduction of the British National Health Insurance Act of 1911 and the Canadian Hospital Insurance Act of 1957, I suggest that institutionalist analysis can obscure the historical record in three ways. Analysts may ignore the multiple institutional mechanisms that were available to policy makers at the time; they may overlook the contentiousness of policy battles; and they may underestimate the extent to which similar institutions have functioned in very different ways. In the case of Britain, I argue that national health insurance was part of a package of social reforms designed to halt the slide of Britain from a position of preeminence in the world economy. The introduction of Canadian health insurance coincided with an increased role for local and federal states in fostering economic development within the nation. Institutional structures, cultural values, and political power were all resources used within both states to create a consensus behind the new national agenda.