The Beliefs in the Inheritance of Risk Factors for Suicide Scale (BIRFSS): further results on demographic correlates, dimensionality, reliability, and validity

Convergent lines of evidence from adoption, family, geographical, immigrant, molecular genetic, surname, and twin studies of suicide point to genetic contributions to risk factors for suicidal behavior. Related mental health literacy (knowledge and beliefs) of professionals and laypersons may, however, lag behind this research progress. The purpose of this study was to further validate the 22-item Beliefs in the Inheritance of Risk Factors for Suicide Scale (BIRFSS), a novel instrument for assessing individuals' beliefs in the genetics of suicide. Data from a general population sample of 159 Austrian adults showed adequate internal scale consistency. Due to deliberate content heterogeneity, the instrument has a subscale structure, but factor analysis of items extracted a dominant first factor. BIRFSS scores were positively related to overall and specific knowledge on suicide facts (convergent validity), whereas unrelated to the Big Five personality dimensions, locus of control, social desirability, and verbal intelligence (discriminant validity). Demographic correlates of BIRFSS scores included respondents' age and religiosity (both positive ones), but not respondents' sex, educational level, or political orientation.     

Patterns of parental bereavement following the loss of a child and related factors

This study investigated the patterns of parental bereavement in 20 parents who have lost a child to cancer, congenital heart disease, meningitis, or drowning in the last 19 months, using semi-structured interviews and standardized questionnaires of depression and grief. Qualitative content analysis of interviews identified three bereavement patterns: The majority of parents (65%) presented uncomplicated, Integrated Grief five mothers were Consumed by Grief and one mother and one father expressed Minimal Grief. Quotes from parents exemplified these patterns. Parental gender, symptoms of depression, and pre-death relationship between parents and their deceased child differentially related to these patterns. Having surviving children, social support, and being active appeared to help to integrate grief into daily life. These findings illustrate differential patterns of parental bereavement and related factors, information that has important implications for identifying at-risk parents for complicated bereavement.     

三分之一的美国人是功能性文盲

2500万美国成年人读不懂报纸头版美国成人文盲的数量会让大部分人都为之震惊,因为人们习惯于认为美国的扫盲率会像其他发达国家一样高。据联合国的统计显示,美国与其他二十个国家的识字率都达到了99．9％。虽然各个国家对读写能力的评判标准有所区别（在某些国家、某些语言中）,但其实识字的标准仅仅是指具有最基本的可以进行简单读写的能力。     

争夺世界市场份额的竞争

推动跨国公司在世界事务中进一步扮演主要角色的结构性变化的加速,意味着竞争经济学在许多工业部门中已经发生了根本性改变,这种改变也许是不可逆转的。所谓的“全球性竞争”,是各公司在一定时期内对机会和威胁平衡变化作出反应的结果。鉴于对公司活动国际化的规章限制和技术障碍日益减少,种种机会已广泛形成,但威胁同样普遍存在,因为并非所有公司都能对开拓者确定的新标准作出恰当的反应。每逢命运的转折关头,开拓者和追随者采取的行动都有助     

引言:社会记忆与超现代性

自从社会学这门学科在19世纪末逐渐发展成形(下面我们还将讨论这一点)以来,集体记忆(collective memory)和社会记忆(social memory)这些术语就一直在其研究文献中不断出现,并在20世纪中期以后引发了各种各样的概念分析。而且,从20世纪20年代到40年代,这些术语由莫里斯·哈布瓦赫(Maurice Halbwachs)进行过系统的理论概括,1但这位学者在这一领域的研究工作却在15年前才被人发现。到了21世纪的今天,这些术语已经被牢固地纳入     

重访ColdFire

第三代嵌入式处理器能提供更佳性能和外设支持。     

国有企业的物质刺激与道德祸因之巧合

关于国有企业状况,最近经验研究发现,从改革开放以来,国有工业企业的强激励与绩效改善之间存在着一种相应的关系。这种实证的微观经济学的估计与中国国有企业总体上恶化的情况形成了鲜明的对照。这篇论文表明了一个微观观点,即物质刺激效用的增进和道德祸因的弱化之间存在一种对应性。所谓的道德祸因是国有企业的内部人为了获得很小的一点利益而让企业或社会承担巨大的成本。我们的发现表明,以运用激励合约为核心的中国国有企业的改革已经成功地激励企业的经理和工人追求与保持利润,但是并没有防止这些内部人把所造成的损失和所承担的责任转稼给社会。换言之,就是存在着资产私人化而责任社会化。如果这种不对称的激励与结果不能得到制止的话,例如,如果不进行正式规则的所有权的改革,如果不引入有效的内部治理机制,如果不通过企业之间的竞争和建立商业信贷关系来强化企业的外部约束,那么,国有企业部门不断增加的亏损和债务将对整个国家银行制度和宏观经济稳定造成严重的威胁。