Remission from Depression in the DSM: Moving from Rhetoric to Restoration

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition, the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, uses the term “remission” to describe the reduction of depressive symptoms. This paper argues that by categorizing someone who no longer has depressive symptoms as “in remission,” that person may feel indefinitely tied to his or her diagnosis. Considering the unfortunate stigma associated with mental illness, permanent linkage to diagnosis through records and professional memory may cause individuals to internalize pathology. In fact, the language of the diagnosis can affect self-perception in sensitive souls for a lifetime. As an implication for practice, we propose that cognitive and narrative therapy approaches, mood-memoirs, and use of metaphor present alternative uses of language that can reduce power imbalances between clinicians and clients, providing a bridge to healing.     

Nowcasting Indicators of Poverty Risk in the European Union: A Microsimulation Approach

The at-risk-of-poverty rate is one of the three indicators used for monitoring progress towards the Europe 2020 poverty and social exclusion reduction target. Timeliness of this indicator is critical for monitoring the effectiveness of policies. However, due to complicated nature of the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) poverty risk estimates are published with a 2–3 years delay. This paper presents a method that can be used to estimate (“nowcast”) the current at-risk-of-poverty rate for the European Union (EU) countries based on EU-SILC microdata from a previous period. The EU tax-benefit microsimulation model EUROMOD is used for this purpose in combination with up to date macro-level statistics. The method is validated by using EU-SILC data for 2007 incomes to estimate at-risk-of-poverty rates for 2008–2012 and to compare the predictions with actual EU-SILC and other external statistics. The method is tested on eight EU countries which are among those experiencing the most volatile economic conditions within the period: Estonia, Greece, Spain, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal and Romania.     

An examination of sexual strategies used by urban southern and rural Midwestern university women

The purposes of this study were (a) to determine whether women's use of persuasion, non‐physical coercion, and physical force strategies to obtain sex from a man varied between U.S. women from an urban Southern and rural Midwestern university and (b) to determine if sexual behavior history and early courtship behavior affected the use of these strategies (or not using any strategy). Women from the Midwest and the South did not differ in their use of sexual strategies. There were, however, other variables that accounted for differences in women's use of sexual strategies. Women who used persuasion strategies had fewer lifetime sexual partners than women who used any other strategy. Women who used physical force strategies reported a lower age at first intercourse and more early courtship behaviors than all others. Overall, the results indicated that sexual strategies are related to sexual behavior history and early courtship behaviors rather than cultural setting or demographics.     

Measuring stakeholder identification with nonprofit causes: the development and validation of the identification with social causes scale

Nonprofit organizations (NPOs) achieve desired outcomes by fostering organizational identification. However, little research has explored how identification with the cause or the recipients of support relates to identification with the NPO. This study developed the Identification with Social Causes Scale as a mechanism for distinguishing organizational identification from identification with a social group or cause. Data were collected using two groups: the homeless (n = 318) and HIV positive (n = 314) individuals. Exploratory factor analysis and multigroup confirmatory factor analysis yielded a 9-item scale measuring two dimensions: attachment and consubstantiality. Initial construct validity of the scale was established.     

Master Scheduling in Assemble-To-Order Environments: A Capacitated Multiobjective Lot-Sizing Model

Basic characteristics of an assemble-to-order environment make effective master scheduling extremely difficult. Limited resource capacities and dynamic customer end-item demand contribute to the complexity of the master production scheduling problem. To gain flexibility and responsiveness within this system, the master production schedule (MPS) focuses at the component level. This research proposes a master scheduling technique for manufactured components which combines a multiobjective capacitated multi-item/multi-stage lot-sizing model with an interactive multiple objective optimization solution procedure. To evaluate the model's performance as a realistic and practical master scheduling tool, this study focuses on the National Cash Register (NCR) electronics manufacturing facility in Columbia, South Carolina.     

A Perspective on Dioxin Emissions from Municipal Solid Waste Incinerators

This paper discusses the following key issues concerning human exposure to dioxins and furans emitted from typical, modern MSW incinerators: (1) Are MSW incinerators the major source of PCDD/PCDF input into the environment? (2) Are environmental concentrations around MSW incinerators substantially elevated relative to background levels? And (3) are MSW incinerators the major source of human exposure to PCDDs and PCDFs? Current scientific evidence indicates that (1) combustion sources in general (including steel mills, copper smelting plants, motor vehicles, pulp and paper mills, and MSW incinerators) are major sources of PCDD/PCDF input in the environment; (2) environmental concentrations of PCDDs and PCDFs around operating MSW incinerators are not substantially elevated; and (3) 99% of human exposure to PCDDs and PCDFs is from background contamination, even for individuals living near a modern MSW incinerator.     

Relative Spousal Earnings and Marital Happiness Among African American and White Women

The distinctive economic histories of African American and White wives suggest that involvement in household income production holds contextually situated unique meanings for these groups. Yet research has not addressed racial differences in the effects of relative earnings on marital well‐being. Surveying 431 employed wives in 21 U.S. cities, we found that wife‐to‐husband income ratio and marital happiness were negatively associated when women held traditional values, but in racially distinct ways. Among White women only, a negative association between income ratio and marital happiness was reversed when financial need was reported. Findings are discussed in terms of variability in the meaning of wives’ earnings as a function of situational, historical, and sociocultural dynamics.     

Psychological impact of writing about abuse or positive experiences

Writing often helps people deal with trauma. To see if writing about childhood physical or sexual abuse, or positive experiences, helps, psychology undergraduates wrote for 20 minutes on 4 days about their abuse, a positive experience, or a trivial topic. Among 102 who began and 85 who completed pre-, post-, and 4-week follow-up measures of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideas, abuse writers were more likely to discontinue, and positive writers were more depressed and anxious. Compared to pretest, all completers were less depressed, anxious, and suicidal at follow-up, but nonsignificantly different in health visits. Completers who wrote about abuse rated the study as more valuable than did those who wrote about positive experiences. College students who wrote about childhood physical or sexual abuse benefited from any type of structured writing assignment (where they interacted with a researcher and got extra credit) in terms of reduced anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideas, but they found value in writing about their trauma more than writing about innocuous topics.     

The vocational development of emotionally disturbed young adults in a community setting

Although the potential benefits are significant, few programs emphasize the vocational rehabilitation of the severely disturbed adolescent-young adult. The philosophical constructs as well as the major operational components of one such program are presented. The complex problems that impede this population's ability to work successfully in the community are explored. Emotionally disturbed adolescents-young adults are accustomed to failure and their behavior is frequently self-defeating. Community resistance and professional conservatism may limit their work options. The program's experience has demonstrated that if disturbed youths are provided the opportunity to work in a natural community setting, they will frequently surpass formal diagnostic evaluations of their capacities. The therapeutic gains realized by the disturbed individual who works successfully in his or her community are considered.