Reliability,Validity and Classification Accuracy of the South Oaks Gambling Screen in a Brazilian Sample

The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability, validity and classification accuracy of the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) in a sample of the Brazilian population. Participants in this study were drawn from three sources: 71 men and women from the general population interviewed at a metropolitan train station; 116 men and women encountered at a bingo venue; and 54 men and women undergoing treatment for gambling. The SOGS and a DSM-IV-based instrument were applied by trained researchers. The internal consistency of the SOGS was 0.75 according to the Cronbach’s alpha model, and construct validity was good. A significant difference among groups was demonstrated by ANOVA (F _(2.238) = 221.3, P < 0.001). The SOGS items and DSM-IV symptoms were highly correlated (r = 0.854, P < 0.01). The SOGS also presented satisfactory psychometric properties: sensitivity (100), specificity (74.7), positive predictive rate (60.7), negative predictive rate (100) and misclassification rate (0.18). However, a cut-off score of eight improved classification accuracy and reduced the rate of false positives: sensitivity (95.4), specificity (89.8), positive predictive rate (78.5), negative predictive rate (98) and misclassification rate (0.09). Thus, the SOGS was found to be reliable and valid in the Brazilian population.     

Economic evaluation of brief sex counseling for sexually dysfunctional adolescents

Objectives: In a randomized controlled trial brief sex counselling (BSC), intensive sexual healthcare (ISH) and no treatment (NT) for adolescents with a sexual dysfunction were compared. The aim of this study was to assess the cost-effectiveness and cost-utility of BSC versus ISH and NT from a societal perspective. Methods: Costs, sexual functioning and quality of life were measured during 6 months. Primary outcome measures were measured with the Female Sexual Functional Index, the International Index of Erectile Function and the utilities reflecting Quality of Life based on the SF-36. Uncertainty was dealt with by using bootstrap replications and sensitivity analyses. Results: Results show that the societal costs were the highest for ISH followed by NT and BSC. The difference in costs between ISH compared to NT and BSC was significant. Furthermore, there were no significant group differences in sexual functioning or quality of life. With respect to the cost-effectiveness and cost-utility, BSC can be considered to be a suitable treatment for adolescents with a sexual dysfunction. Conclusions: Due to the lack of a significant difference in clinical effect, it can be concluded that BSC is the cheapest treatment option when implementing the intention-to-treat, besides a no treatment option, for adolescents with a sexual dysfunction.     

‘Civilising’ the Roma? The depoliticisation of (anti-)racism within the politics of integration

This essay questions the enduring difficulties of addressing racism within the current politics of integration in Europe, with a specific focus on the Portuguese context. The analysis centres on integration initiatives to promote employability among the Portuguese Roma and the ways in which they are rationalised by employment gatekeepers and decision-makers. This rationalisation depoliticises racism by constantly shifting the focus to the presumed characteristics of the ‘other’, re-enacting white-privileged notions of nationhood, Portugueseness and Europeanness. Accordingly, projects based on ‘activation of social competences’, ‘empowerment’ and ‘interculturality’ are implemented as a civilising and disciplinary programme aimed at correcting the presumed deficiencies in ethnically marked populations. The analysis aims to contribute towards a much needed debate on the notion of integration and the re-articulation of the historical legacies of racism in contemporary European democracies.     

‘Su guagua no escucha nada’: Ecuadorian families confronting the deafness of a child

In accordance with the social model of disability, this study proceeded from the assumption that parents’ experiences of a child’s hearing impairment reflect the circumstances of their lives rather than anything innate in the impairment itself. Few studies have explored the influence both of culture and social structure and of families’ economic and social resources. We studied families’ experiences of the diagnosis of hearing loss in Ecuador, a multicultural country in which family ties are strong but where pronounced social and economic inequalities persist and where many people have no access to health care. The study shows how inequality – and in particular the experience of poverty – shapes families’ experiences of acquiring a diagnosis and of trying to accommodate a child with special needs.     

The Sound of Silence. Lesbian,Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Discrimination in ‘Inclusive Organizations’

Most studies on diversity and discrimination in the workplace have focused on ‘visible’ minorities such as gender or race, often neglecting the experiences of invisible minorities such as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) workers. In this paper we explore the practices of inclusion/exclusion of LGBTs in the workplace in Italian social cooperatives, which are specifically founded to create employment for people who are disadvantaged in the labour market. The study examines how organizations, which have an ethos focused on inclusion and mainly employ workers from specific social minority groups, manage the inclusion of LGBT workers. We also explore the experience of LGBT workers within these organizations. The paper reports that the culture of silence existing in the five organizations studied prevents LGBT employees from constructing a work identity which encompasses their sexual identity and prevents the organizations from achieving their aim of being fully inclusive workplaces.     

Arm’s Length Bodies in Brazil: Contradictions and Challenges

Despite initial criticism, and often driven by performance contracts, arm’s length bodies (ALBs) have been expanding in Brazil within the context of state reform. The creation of ALBs is the strategy by which Brazilian governments have sought to address or evade the rigidity of public sector rules. Governments from different political orientations have adopted various types of ALBs with the aim of achieving some administrative agility and flexibility in the delivery of public services. The advances in flexibility are larger than the granting of autonomy for the new organizations, revealing persistent hierarchical relationships between the government and ALBs.     

Penalized models to estimate customer survival

In this paper we propose a novel procedure, for the estimation of semiparametric survival functions. The proposed technique adapts penalized likelihood survival models to the context of lifetime value modeling. The method extends classical Cox model by introducing a smoothing parameter that can be estimated by means of penalized maximum likelihood procedures. Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods are employed to effectively estimate such smoothing parameter, using an algorithm which combines Metropolis–Hastings and Gibbs sampling. Our proposal is contextualized and compared with conventional models, with reference to a marketing application that involves the prediction of customer’s lifetime value estimation.     

Race differentials in employment effects of psychological distress: A study of non-Hispanic Whites and African-Americans in the United States

This study used two sub-samples of African-Americans and non-Hispanic Whites from the 2002–2003 U.S. National Survey on Drug Use and Health to examine differential effects of psychological distress (PD) on employment. Failing to reject exogeneity of PD in the employment specifications, we estimated standard probit of employment. We found that PD significantly reduced employment probability regardless of race; but the reduction was 7.4% for African-Americans, compared to 5.3% for Whites. Using individuals with PD only, we estimated the Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition and found endowments explained 61% of employment differences between Whites with PDs and African-Americans with PDs while 39% of these differences were due to unexplained factors. These findings suggest that targeted policies for prevention and effective treatment of PD might yield higher employment benefits for minorities.     

Forthcoming inSociological Forum

Forthcoming inSociological Forum