SHORT‐ AND LONG‐TERM HOMELESSNESS AND ADOLESCENTS' SELF‐ESTEEM,DEPRESSION, LOCUS OF CONTROL AND SOCIAL SUPPORTS

The study investigated the effect of length of homelessness, (less than three months as against six months or longer), on four variables: self‐esteem, depression, locus of control and social supports. Respondents, (50 homeless adolescents, 25 male and 25 female, aged between 16–21), completed four questionnaires. Multivariate Analysis of Variance indicated that a combination of the four variables was dependent on the length of homelessness. The short‐term homeless group reported significantly higher levels of self‐esteem and significantly lower levels of depression compared with the long‐term homeless. Furthermore, the long‐term homeless group scored towards a more external locus of control, as compared with the short‐term homeless. While no significant difference was found between the two groups in the number of social supports, the short‐term homeless group reported significantly greater levels of satisfaction with their supports. We discuss the implications of these findings.     

Friendship Groups,Personal Motivation,and Gender in Relation to High School Students' STEM Career Interest

Friendship group characteristics, motivation, and gender were investigated in relation to adolescents' science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) career interest. The sample was comprised of 468 high school students (M = 16 years, range = 13–18) from diverse ethnic backgrounds. Participants rated their friendship group's support of STEM as well as their personal motivation in science. They separately rated the friendship group's support of English and personal motivation in English. Other predictors included friendship group characteristics (importance, gender composition) and background variables such as gender. Group support of STEM (but not English) and science motivation (but not English motivation) predicted STEM career interest. Group characteristics and participant gender moderated the effects. Findings suggest social identities and self‐concepts may shape youths' STEM career choices.     

Guidelines for Conducting a Victim-Sensitive Interview

Victim sensitive interviews allow the adult investigator to gather vital facts from a child. Within these interviews, the investigator is provided with an opportunity to elicit responses from the child regarding allegations that have taken place. These allegations often have many origins and may involve sexual impropriety, abuse, taunting, and torture of a physical nature, verbal nature, or both. The purpose of this article is to provide standardized guidelines that can assist individuals from various occupational fields in conducting victim sensitive interviews. The standardized guidelines provided offer an assemblage of general principles that have consistently appeared within literature as well as in manuals provided by various jurisdictions. These guidelines refer to a practice of conduct that is recommended; however, variance with implementation is allowed. It is assumed that the reader brings a level of clinical experience to the material provided in this article.     

Diagnostics for identifying influential cases in manova

Measures of influence of multivariate cases on the estimated parameter matrix in MANOVA are developed. The development is based on the confidence region resulting from the likelihood ratio criterion, and is patterned after the development of Cook's univariate D_Imeasure. Influence measures corresponding to the other 3 common multivariate test criteria are presented. Relationships to the measures of Caroni (1987), and Barrett and Ling (1988) are noted. A numerical example is included.     

A Generalized Correlation Coefficient for the General Two-Treatment Crossover Design

This article extends the correlation methodology developed by Chinchilli et al. (2005 Chinchilli , V. M. , Phillips , B. R. , Mauger , D. T. , Szefler , S. J. ( 2005 ). A general class of correlation coefficients for the 2 × 2 crossover design . Biometr. J. 47 : 1 – 10 . [Google Scholar]) for the 2 × 2 crossover design to more complex crossover designs for clinical trials. We describe how the methodology can be adapted to a general type of two-treatment crossover design which includes either at least two sequences or at least two treatment periods or both. We then derive the asymptotic theory for the corresponding correlation statistics, investigate the statistical accuracy of the estimators via bootstrap analyses, and demonstrate their use with two real data examples.     

Building assets from birth: a global comparison of Child Development Account policies

Asset building is a growing theme in public policy, and building assets from birth in the form of Child Development Accounts is now occurring in several countries. This article provides an overview of the Child Development Account policies in Singapore, Canada, the UK and Korea, and the proposed policy in the USA. The key elements of inclusiveness, progressivity, coherence and integration, and development are explicated and discussed.     

Yarning about gambling in Indigenous communities: an Aboriginal and Islander Mental Health Initiative

Gambling impacts upon the health, wellbeing and finances of many people throughout Australia. This study aimed to explore the socioeconomic and cultural factors linked with gambling in urban and remote Indigenous settings in the Northern Territory to inform the development of a gambling public health strategy. The Aboriginal and Islander Mental Health Initiative developed a semi‐structured questionnaire with Aboriginal partner organisations following consultation. Indigenous consumers of substance use treatment facilities participated in focus group discussions and key informant interviews were conducted with nine service providers at two time points, a year apart. Participants described key strengths in community as family, health and culture, while key worries included substance misuse, health concerns and family disharmony. Regulated gambling and card playing were also identified as important community worries. Financial and family concerns and addictive behaviour were seen as negative consequences of gambling. There was increasing concern linked with card playing and electronic gaming machines and an increased call for awareness campaigns, support from government for change and greater regulation. The findings of this study provide the most recent insight into attitudes, behaviours and consequences linked with Indigenous gambling in the Northern Territory.     

Common Law Marriage and Teen Births

Whether common law marriage (CLM) in the US affects teen birth rates is the central question we address. CLM effects were identified through cross-state and time variation, as four states repealed the law over the period of study. Using microdata from Current Population Survey Fertility supplements 1990–2010 and state-level data from CDC Vital Statistics 1988–2012 we found that, in the states where CLM was first available but then repealed, the odds that teens would become new mothers increased. Births to teens younger than 18 were more responsive to availability of CLM than those to teens aged 18 or 19 or to women in their early twenties. The likelihood of becoming a mother increased where CLM was available in the years prior to its repeal. Teens were more responsive to information about availability of CLM about three years later than to knowing that it is available at the time of potential conception. To the extent that they reduce teen births CLM laws are socially desirable and states that still have CLM may be better off by not repealing the law.     

What matters most? Different stakeholder perspectives on estimands for an invented case study in COPD

In drug development, we ask ourselves which population, endpoint and treatment comparison should be investigated. In this context, we also debate what matters most to the different stakeholders that are involved in clinical drug development, for example, patients, physicians, regulators and payers. With the publication of draft ICH E9 addendum on estimands in 2017, we now have a common framework and language to discuss such questions in an informed and transparent way. This has led to the estimand discussion being a key element in study development, including design, analysis and interpretation of a treatment effect. At an invited session at the 2018 PSI annual conference, PSI hosted a role‐play debate where the aim of the session was to mimic a regulatory and payer scientific advice discussion for a COPD drug. Including role‐play views from an industry sponsor, a patient, a regulator and a payer. This paper presents the invented COPD case‐study design and considerations relating to appropriate estimands are discussed by each of the stakeholders from their differing viewpoints with the additional inclusion of a technical (academic) perspective. The rationale for each perspective on approaches for handling intercurrent events is presented, with a key emphasis on the application of while‐on‐treatment and treatment policy estimands in this context. It is increasingly recognised that the treatment effect estimated by the treatment policy approach may not always be of primary clinical interest and may not appropriately communicate to patients the efficacy they can expect if they take the treatment as directed.