Measuring Self-efficacy in Gambling: The Gambling Refusal Self-Efficacy Questionnaire

This paper reports on the development and psychometric properties of a Gambling Refusal Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (GRSEQ). Two hundred and ninety-seven gamblers from both normal and clinical populations completed an initial set of 31-items of which 26 were selected for inclusion in the final version of the GRSEQ. A series of factor analyses showed four clear factors accounting for 84% of the variance. These factors can be summarised as situations and thoughts associated with gambling, the influence of drugs on gambling, positive emotions associated with gambling and negative emotions associated with gambling. The GRSEQ total score and factors scores showed high internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha ranging from 0.92 to 0.98). Participants experiencing problems with gambling scored significantly lower on the GRSEQ, and discriminant analyses showed that the scale is able to correctly classify the non-problem (i.e., community and student samples) and problem gamblers (i.e., clinical sample). Furthermore, the GRSEQ showed significant negative relationships with other gambling-related variables (gambling urge and gambling-related cognitions) and negative mood states (depression, anxiety and stress) and was shown to be sensitive to change in treatment of pathological gambling. The results suggest that the GRSEQ is a useful measure of gambling refusal self-efficacy that is suitable for assessment of gamblers from both normal and clinical populations.     

Patterns of abuse in male same-sex relationships

Previous studies of abuse in male same-sex relationships have been limited by convenience samples and/or by incomplete assessments of partner abuse. We examined patterns of same-sex partner abuse in a random sample of 284 gay and bisexual men. Respondents reported on perpetration and receipt of physical, psychological, and sexual abuse over multiple time frames, as well as injuries resulting from abuse. Almost all respondents reported psychological abuse, more than one-third reported physical abuse, and 10% reported having engaged in unwanted sexual activity because of partner force or threats of force. More than half of recipients of partner violence reported sustaining injury. We found strong associations between different forms of abuse, and between severity of abuse receipt and perpetration.     

Counseling Family Members of Addicts/Alcoholics: The Stages of Change Model

This article adapts the stages of change model, a model in which specific interventions of harm reduction are directed toward the client's readiness for treatment, as a guiding framework for counseling family members of alcoholics/addicts. Interventions at each stage of the family's readiness for change, from precontemplation to action, are described.     

Adoption Preparedness,Cultural Engagement,and Parental Satisfaction in Intercountry Adoption

We explored factors that influence parental involvement in adoption dialogues in 66 internationally adoptive, heterosexual couples with 4- to 7-year old children. Correlates of adoption involvement varied by parent sex. Mothers were more involved in talking about adoption than fathers, but adoption involvement was also correlated within couples. Emphasis on the difference between biological versus adoptive parenting, quality of the marital relationship, and child characteristics were differentially associated with maternal and paternal involvement. Findings suggest an intricate interplay between the marital and co-parental dynamics that shape the early communication process within adoptive families.     

SVM-like decision theoretical classification of high-dimensional vectors

In this paper, we consider the classification of high-dimensional vectors based on a small number of training samples from each class. The proposed method follows the Bayesian paradigm, and it is based on a small vector which can be viewed as the regression of the new observation on the space spanned by the training samples. The classification method provides posterior probabilities that the new vector belongs to each of the classes, hence it adapts naturally to any number of classes. Furthermore, we show a direct similarity between the proposed method and the multicategory linear support vector machine introduced in Lee et al. [2004. Multicategory support vector machines: theory and applications to the classification of microarray data and satellite radiance data. Journal of the American Statistical Association 99 (465), 67–81]. We compare the performance of the technique proposed in this paper with the SVM classifier using real-life military and microarray datasets. The study shows that the misclassification errors of both methods are very similar, and that the posterior probabilities assigned to each class are fairly accurate.     

A contingency approach to nonprofit governance

A number of contingency factors may be relevant for effective nonprofit organizations and their boards. Although all boards must fulfill certain critical roles and responsibilities, strategic choices can be made about adopting different governance configurations or patterns. These choices can be meaningfully informed by understanding organizational contingencies such as age, size, structure, and strategy—and, even more important, by external contingencies and environmental dimensions such as degree of stability and complexity. This article extends or layers contingency thinking beyond its traditional focus on an alignment between the external environment and the organization's structure to focus as well on the alignment of the organization's governance configuration with its structure and environment. Structural contingency theory in general, and specifically within nonprofits, is reviewed. Two cases are presented of organizations that used an approach based on contingency theory in an action research process to examine and change their governance configurations. The steps they followed may help other nonprofits adapt their governance structures and practices and fulfill their responsibilities for board assessment and reflection.     

How Public Are We? Coverage of Sociology by the Associated Press

The recent and prolific attention to public sociology has involved a great deal of theoretical debate about its merits, flaws, and potential future within the discipline. Despite the loud call for becoming more public, existing research on the discipline lacks both an empirical understanding of where we are as well as a methodological rubric to guide future inquiry. This project explores one outlet for public sociology—the press—as a starting point for this line of research. Through an investigation of Associated Press stories featuring sociology and sociologists, we seek to provide a baseline for consideration of public sociology efforts by describing the current state of how our discipline and its members are portrayed in the press. Further, based on our findings we provide some insights for future research.     

Differences in Tobacco Use Among Two-Year and Four-Year College Students in Minnesota

Abstract

Objective: This study compares tobacco use rates among two-year and four-year college students and explores the demographic variables that predicted that behavior. Participants: 9,931 students at 14 two-year and four-year colleges in Minnesota participated. Methods: Students at 11 schools completed an online survey, and students at 3 schools completed a paper survey in 2007. Results: After controlling for sex, age, ethnicity, relationship status, hours of work per week, and number of school credits, attending a two-year college predicted current and daily smoking (odds ratio [OR]) = 1.70, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.52–1.89; OR = 3.47, 95% CI = 2.94–4.11) and smokeless tobacco use (OR = 1.65, 95% CI = 1.32–2.06; OR = 1.64, 95% CI = 1.06–2.53). Conclusions: Although two-year college students comprise approximately two fifths of the college student population, surveys of college student tobacco use have focused nearly exclusively on four-year college students. Two-year college students should represent a priority population for tobacco control because attending a two-year college predicts increased tobacco use.