Core competencies in advanced training: what supervisors say about graduate training

In an attempt to identify needed mental health skills, many professional organizations have or are in the process of establishing core competency standards for their professions. The AAMFT identified 128 core competencies for the independent practice of MFT. The aim of this study was to learn the opinions of AAMFT Approved Supervisors as to how well prepared postgraduate trainees are when compared to the core competencies. One hundred thirty-five AAMFT Approved Supervisors provided their perspectives on (a) which competencies are most commonly learned in MFT graduate programs, (b) how well the graduates have mastered these competencies, and (c) the level to which the supervisors need the competencies to be mastered prior to entering advanced training. Results suggest that a gap exists between the level of mastery that the postgraduate trainees exhibit and the level desired by supervisors. Implications are suggested for closing this gap.     

Alcohol- and drug-involved driving in the United States: methodology for the 2007 National Roadside Survey

This article describes the methodology used in the 2007 U.S. National Roadside Survey to estimate the prevalence of alcohol- and drug-impaired driving and alcohol- and drug-involved driving. This study involved randomly stopping drivers at 300 locations across the 48 continental U.S. states at sites selected through a stratified random sampling procedure. Data were collected during a 2-hr Friday daytime session at 60 locations and during 2-hr nighttime weekend periods at 240 locations. Both self-report and biological measures were taken. Biological measures included breath alcohol measurements from 9,413 respondents, oral fluid samples from 7,719 respondents, and blood samples from 3,276 respondents.     

Women and men's use of coercive control in intimate partner violence

This study examined the relationship between coercive control and intimate partner violence (IPV) for men and women and for targets and perpetrators. One hundred and seventy-two participants (85 men, 87 women) recruited from three samples reported on their own and their partner's behavior. IPV was measured using the Revised Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS2). Coercive control was measured using modified items from the Psychological Maltreatment of Women Inventory (PMWI). Coercive control was associated with IPV, and this relationship was similar for men and women across the three samples. In fact, coercive control was predominantly reciprocal in nature, with women and men reporting both receiving and perpetrating controlling behaviors. Overall, coercive controlling behaviors were characteristic of individuals within violent relationships, regardless of their physical abuse status. The experience of violence, rather than gender, was the best predictor of coercive control.     

Recovering event histories by cubic spline interpolation

If event data are recorded in discrete intervals of time, errors are introduced when the data are converted from the unit in which they were recorded, such as date, to another unit such as age or duration. The problem is illustrated by the inconsistent age at marriage schedules published by 2 recent US censuses. This paper develops a general method for treating problems of this type using cubic spline interpolation. The method is used to adjust US age at marriage schedules, explaining a substantial part of the discrepancy in the 1960 and 1970 censuses.     

Status report on DHS publications and datasets

"This paper describes the publications produced by the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) program and discusses the availability of DHS datasets through the DHS Data Archive."     

Hiv status and union dissolution in Sub-saharan Africa: The case of Rakai,Uganda

Little is known about the impact of HIV infection on the disruption of families through separation, divorce, and widowhood. Using life tables and multinomial logistic regression, this research examined the influence of HIV status on the risk of separation or divorce and widowhood among women in Rakai, Uganda. The multivariate results revealed that dissolution is more common among HIV-infected women and that infected women in HIV-discordant couples are especially likely to face separation or divorce than women in other HIV-status couples. These results highlight women's vulnerability to the social impact of HIV infection and the importance of dyadic studies of the disruption of unions.     

美国现况:一个日趋成熟的国家

美国是个年轻的国家,其一切都在不停地变动。它永远背朝过去,面向未来。美国人随时都有弃旧图新甚至另起炉灶的准备。十九世纪法国政治家兼历史学家托克维尔曾描述说:身处边疆的美国人会考虑到自己晚年的需要而建一所房屋。可是屋顶还没有盖上他就搬到别处去了。亨利·福特说道:“我们要生活在现在,只有我们今天创造的历史才是唯一有点儿价值的历史。”这种自信心在美国人的血液里都可找到。美国社会给外国人的印象是它已抛弃了传统,盛行的是性事和精神病学,男男女女都离婚数次,儿女们则时常顶撞甚至虐待父母。美国人会在自己事业的中途弃职而去,搭上一辆汽车前往亚利桑那或阿拉斯加。律师可以成为木匠,木匠可以成为律师。在一个劝诫人们勤奋劳动并崇拜金钱的国家,许多美国人竟能不把心目中自己所具的价值同所从