Signs of struggle (SOS): The development and validation of a behavioural mental health checklist for the workplace

ABSTRACT

For managers to successfully support employee access to mental health resources, they must first be able to recognise if and when an employee may need help. To manage employees effectively, managers must be able to recognise changes in employees’ work behaviour that may indicate when an employee is struggling at work. In study 1, we develop and establish the structure of the 20-item Signs of Struggle (SOS) checklist as comprising five factors that describe the warning signs of health impairment at work (i.e. distress, withdrawal, reduced attendance, degradations in performance, extreme behaviours). In study 2, we show that manager-rated signs of struggle correlated substantially (r?=?.72) with participant-reported strain. The SOS tool provides managers a way to recognise when employees may be struggling and could benefit from workplace resources. We recommend that for maximal benefit, managers also receive training on how to use the SOS, and also on how to approach and assist employees who are displaying warning signs.     

Biomarkers in drug development: friend or foe? A personal reflection gained working within oncology

Hopes and expectations for the use and utility of new, emerging biomarkers in drug development have probably never been higher, especially in oncology. Biomarkers are exalted as vital patient selection tools in an effort to target those most likely to benefit from a new drug, and so to reduce development costs, lessen risk and expedite developments times. It is further hoped that biomarkers can be used as surrogate endpoints for clinical outcomes, to demonstrate effectiveness and, ultimately, to support drug approval. However, I perceive that all is not straightforward, and, particularly in terms of the promise of accelerated drug development, biomarker strategies may not in all cases deliver the advances and advantages hoped for.     

Unweaving leaving: the use of models in the management of employee turnover

This paper offers a review of the literature on labour turnover in organizations. Initially, the importance of the subject area is established, as analyses of turnover are outlined and critiqued. This leads to a discussion of the various ways in which turnover and its consequences are measured. The potentially critical impact of turnover behaviour on organizational effectiveness is presented as justification for the need to model turnover, as a precursor to prediction and prevention. Key models from the literature of labour turnover are presented and critiqued.     

Jewish Involvement in Shaping American Immigration Policy, 1881–1965: A Historical Review

This paper discusses Jewish involvement in shaping United States immigration policy. In addition to a periodic interest in fostering the immigration of co-religionists as a result of anti-Semitic movements, Jews have an interest in opposing the establishment of ethnically and culturally homogeneous societies in which they reside as minorities. Jews have been at the forefront in supporting movements aimed at altering the ethnic status quo in the United States in favor of immigration of non-European peoples. These activities have involved leadership in Congress, organizing and funding anti-restrictionist groups composed of Jews and gentiles, and originating intellectual movements opposed to evolutionary and biological perspectives in the social sciences.     

Critical success factors for cross-functional teamwork in new product development

There is consensus that the effective implementation of cross-functional teams is critical to new product success. However, such teams face particular challenges because of well-documented barriers between functions. Furthermore, there is little evidence-based guidance for practitioners on how to achieve effective cross-functional teamwork. In order to address this gap, the literature on cross-functional teamwork was analysed to identify critical success factors. Using a heuristic team effectiveness model, these were categorized into six groups: task design, group composition, organizational context, internal processes, external processes and group psychosocial traits. Recent theory on group effectiveness has increasingly recognized the significance of a supportive organizational context, and this is particularly pertinent for cross-functional teams. Key success factors include strategic alignment between functions, a climate supportive of teamwork and team-based accountability. The findings are integrated into a diagnostic model which is intended to be of practical benefit to people designing, leading and facilitating cross-functional new product development teams.     

Bidirectionality in kindergarten children's school readiness and emotional regulation

This study examined the longitudinal associations of emotional regulation and school readiness among Chinese kindergarten children. Data were collected from 523 children (mean age at time 1 = 52.42 months; 52.9% male) at two time points separated by approximately 1 year in Hong Kong, China. At times 1 and 2, children's school readiness was assessed by their teachers and parents while their emotional regulation was directly tested. Teachers also rated children's emotional regulation at both time points. The results from the two reciprocal path models showed that, controlling for the corresponding autoregressive effects, school readiness at time 1 was predictive of emotional regulation at time 2. However, emotional regulation at time 1 did not emerge as a significant predictor of school readiness at time 2. Theoretically, these results underscored children's school readiness as a potential contributor to their emotional regulation. Practically, these findings suggested the utility of supporting children's school readiness to foster their emotional regulation.     

Cost analysis between options for the movement of freight

A mathematical model is developed for the comparison of cost by weight for the movement of freight between the Canadian Forces ‘Scheduled Road Freight Service’ and the commercial carriers. The study considers in detail the effect of inflation on the various factors which affect the cost that govern those economic consequences which differ between the two alternatives. An example is included to illustrate the methodology.     

Eighteen Months Old in Dublin

SUMMARY: The data reported and discussed in this article are taken from the Dublin Child Development Study, a longitudinal study which started in 1985 with interviews of 200 women expecting their first child. Using information gathered in the first 18 months of the children's lives, an attempt is made to describe the sample of children as they arrive at the age of 18 months. The findings on the children's development are placed in the context of the study's information on their parents and in the wider social context in which the families lived, in Dublin in the late 1980s.     

水稻生产环节外包决策实证研究——基于江西省稻农水稻种植数据的研究

基于江西省2011年325户稻农和2007年307户同一稻农两年各水稻种植季节内水稻种植8个生产环节的要素投入和要素来源微观数据,实证分析水稻生产环节外包决策,研究发现:不同特征的水稻生产环节间的外包程度有很大差别;不同种植规模的稻农在水稻生产外包的环节上也存在差别;分析稻农水稻生产环节外包决策问题,应在季节层面而非加总的农户层面进行探索。Mvprobit模型的回归结果表明,稻农水稻生产各个环节的外包决策是相关的;对于不同特征的水稻生产环节,影响其外包的因素存在差别。总体而言,增加非农就业机会、提高非农收入水平,以及降低外包价格,均有助于外包比例的提高。