Alternative solutions to the problem of selection bias in an analysis of federal residential drug treatment programs

In an evaluation of prison-based residential drug treatment programs, the authors use three different regression-based approaches to estimating treatment effects. Two of the approaches, the instrumental variable and the Heckman approach, attempt to minimize selection bias as an explanation for treatment outcomes. Estimates from these approaches are compared with estimates from a regression in which treatment is represented by a dummy variable. The article discusses the advantage of using more than one method to increase confidence in findings when possible selection bias is a concern. Three-year outcome data for 2,315 federal inmates are used in analyses where the authors separately examine criminal recidivism and relapse to drug use for men and women. Statistical tests lead the authors to conclude that treatment reduces criminal recidivism and relapse to drug use. The treatment effect was largest when the inference was based on the Heckman approach, somewhat smaller when based on the instrumental variable approach, and smallest when based on the traditional dummy variable approach. Treatment effects for females were not statistically significant.     

Contribution behavior of 401(k) plan participants

This Issue Brief examines the 1999 contribution behavior of 1.7 million 401(k) plan participants drawn from the EBRI/ICI Participant-Directed Retirement Plan Data Collection Project. The findings in this paper build on previous academic research examining the contribution activity of 401(k) participants, by using a large sample of participants in a wide range of plan sizes and by examining in detail the factors that influence contribution activity. Eighty-five percent of participants in the sample only made before-tax contributions to their plans, and 97 percent of all dollars contributed by employees were contributed on a before-tax basis. On average, participants contributed 6.8 percent of their salaries on a before-tax basis. Before-tax contribution activity varied among participants. About 61 percent of participants contributed more than 5 percent of their salaries on a before-tax basis and about 21 percent set aside more than 10 percent of their salaries on a before-tax basis. Eleven percent of participants analyzed in this study earning more than $40,000 a year contributed at the $10,000 before-tax IRC limit in 1999. Thirteen percent of participants with salaries between $70,000 and $80,000 contributed at the cap, and 18 percent of those with salaries between $80,000 and $90,000 were at the limit. However, it appears that among participants not contributing at the IRC limit, 52 percent could not have done so because of formal plan-imposed contribution limits below the IRC limit. Older participants tended to contribute a higher percentage of their salaries to plans than did younger participants, even after factoring out differences in salary and job tenure. Participants tended to increase the share of their salary (and amounts) contributed to their 401(k) plan as their salaries rose until salaries reached $80,000. For individuals with salaries above $80,000, before-tax contribution rates (though not the amounts contributed) tended to fall as salaries rose because IRC, and possibly plan sponsor, contribution limits became binding for some participants. Giving employees the option of borrowing from their 401(k) accounts increased participant contribution rates. On average, a participant in a plan offering loans appeared to contribute 0.6 percentage point more of his or her salary to the plan than a participant in a plan with no loan provision. Total contributions--the sum of employee and employer contributions--were higher for participants who received an employer contribution as part of their 401(k) plan than for those who did not. The average total contribution rate was 10 percent of salary for employees in plans offering an employer contribution, compared with 7.4 percent for those in plans not offering an employer contribution.     

Taking risks in investing in the equity market: racial and ethnic differences

Some policy makers and policy analysts have proposed that Social Security should be privatized to enable participants to achieve higher returns through investment in the stock market. How well individual retirees would fare financially under a privatized system largely depends on their decision to invest in the equity market, rather than in other types of investment vehicles. For that reason, it is important to investigate the degree to which minority people are currently investing in this market. This article presents the findings of a study that compared the investment behavior of black and Hispanic people aged 51 to 61 with the investment behavior of their white counterparts. The major findings indicate that black and Hispanic people: (a) are less likely to invest in the equity market than are white people, and (b) tend to invest smaller percentages of their assets in the equity market. Implications for policy are discussed.     

The epidemiology of physical attack and rape among crack-using women

This prospective study examines the epidemiology of physical attack and rape among a sample of 171 not-in-treatment, crack-cocaine using women. Since initiating crack use, 62% of the women reported suffering a physical attack. The annual rate of victimization by physical attack was 45%. Overall, more than half of the victims sought medical care subsequent to an attack. The prevalence of rape since crack use was initiated was 32%, and the annual rate was 11%. Among those women having been raped since they initiated crack use, 83% reported they were high on crack when the crime occurred as were an estimated 57% of the perpetrators. Logistic regression analyses showed that duration of crack use, arrest for prostitution, and some college education were predictors of having experienced a physical attack. Duration of crack use and a history of prostitution were predictors of suffering a rape. Drug abuse treatment programs must be sensitive to high levels of violence victimization experienced by crack-cocaine using women. Screening women for victimization, and treating the problems that emanate from it, may help make drug abuse treatment more effective.     

The Power Equity Guide: attending to gender in family therapy

In the past two decades, feminist scholars have challenged the field of family therapy to incorporate the organizing principle of gender in its theory, practice, and training. In this paper, we introduce a training, research, and therapeutic tool that provides guidance for addressing or observing gender and power differentials in the practice of family therapy. As a training tool, the Power Equity Guide helps trainees to translate their theoretical understanding of feminist principles into specific behaviors in therapy. Researchers and supervisors can use the Power Equity Guide to evaluate the practice of gender-informed family therapy. We also provide specific suggestions for its use by trainers, supervisors, therapists, and researchers.     

Biracial youth and families in therapy: issues and interventions

Empirical research and clinical resources focusing specifically on minority youth and families have increased tremendously in the last 2 decades. Despite this trend, certain groups continue to be relatively neglected. In particular, very few resources exist for understanding the unique challenges that often face biracial youth and their families. In this article, we use a nationally representative database to compare functioning in biracial youth to white adolescents and other minority adolescents. Results suggest that biracial/biethnic youth are a particularly vulnerable group in terms of self-reported delinquency, school problems, internalizing symptoms, and self-regard. As a group, they are also more likely to receive some form of psychological intervention. Given these findings and the shortcoming of clinical resources for work with this population, we provide an in-depth discussion of why biracial youth may be particularly vulnerable from a social-constructionist framework and offer several strategies based on narrative family therapy for working with biracial youngsters and their families.     

Individual and crossover effects of stress on adjustment in medical student marriages

High-stress individuals may benefit from social support, although their support providers may be adversely affected via stress crossover effects. Individual and crossover effects of perceived stress within medical student marriages (n = 30) were investigated. Perceived spousal support was positively associated with individuals' own marital and emotional adjustment, attenuating stress effects. With regard to crossover effects, medical students' perceived stress was significantly associated with their spouses' emotional adjustment. Further, medical students' own emotional adjustment fully mediated this crossover effect. Results suggest that the contagion of negative affect may serve as a key mechanism through which stress crossover effects operate in marriage.     

Internship training in marriage and family therapy: a survey of doctoral program objectives and implementation

This article presents the results of a survey that examined the implementation of the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE) internship requirement by accredited doctoral Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) programs. Representatives from each of 10 doctoral MFT programs provided responses to questions regarding program objectives for internship training. Respondents also provided subjective impressions regarding the effectiveness with which established internship goals are accomplished, associated benefits and difficulties, and adequacy of the standards. Results suggest that although most programs perceive the internship requirement as beneficial, many express concern regarding the effects of the internship requirement on other aspects of training and in relationship to the overall goals for doctoral MFT education. Conclusions and recommendations are offered based on the mixed findings.     

Controversies and challenges of ritual abuse

Children who have survived ritual abuse have endured physical, psychological, and sexual trauma; brain-washing; and mind-altering drugs. Their trust in adults has been eroded. Their coping strategies include anxiety, denial, self-hypnosis, dissociation, and self-mutilation. Although reports of ritual abuse initially seem hard to believe, nurses have a responsibility to detect clues to abuse, diagnose the child's responses, and recognize controversial issues regarding ritual abuse. To evaluate ritual abuse, nurses should avoid interview strategies that influence the child's recall (e.g., coaching, suggestions) and recognize that some reports are discounted as false memories because they emerge from fantasy, distortions, innocent deceptions, false beliefs, lies, or adult coaching. Nurses play an important role in case finding and treatment. They can evaluate clues to ritual abuse to reduce sources of error in assessment, build a child's trust, monitor their own attitudes toward ritual abuse, and intervene to increase self-esteem, empathy, boundary establishment, and coping. Nurses have an important opportunity to detect and begin healing the wounds caused by a child's abuse.     

Family therapy trainees' evaluations of their best and worst supervision experiences

Supervisees in Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education-(COAMFTE) accredited and candidacy training programs were asked to describe their best and worst supervision experiences in terms of the context of training and supervision, the perceived personal attributes of the supervisor, and specific behaviors perceived to be enacted by the supervisor during supervision. Contextual factors such as supervision modality, frequency and duration of supervisory contacts, and sources of supervisory data appeared to distinguish between supervisees' perceptions of their best and worst experiences. These experiences were further distinguished by the supervisees' perceptions regarding the supervisor's level of interpersonal attractiveness, trustworthiness, and expertise. Key behaviors perceived to be enacted by supervisors during best and worst experiences clustered into several dimensions that included creating an open supervisory environment, communication and encouragement, attending to personal growth, and providing conceptual and technical guidance and direction.