Challenges to Aging in Place: Understanding Home Maintenance Difficulties

Age-related declines in capabilities may compromise older adults' ability to maintain their homes thus threatening successful aging in place. Structured interviews were conducted with forty-four independently living older adults (M(age) = 76.1, SD = 4.7) to discuss difficult home maintenance tasks and how they managed those tasks. Solutions to managing difficulties were categorized as person-related or environment-related. The majority (85%) of responses were person-related solutions. An understanding of the specific challenges that older adults face in maintaining their homes can guide redesign efforts and interventions to effectively support older adults' desire to age in place.     

RELATIONAL V-CODE CONDITIONS IN A CHILD AND ADOLESCENT POPULATION DO WARRANT TREATMENT

It is often argued that relational V-code conditions are less serious than classical psychiatric disorders, and that they should therefore receive lower clinical priority or diminished levels of treatment funding. Despite these common assertions, there have been virtually no studies that have used actual case data to evaluate whether such problems are in fact less serious and less worthy of treatment funding. We used actual case data from a universally funded child and family clinic to evaluate these questions. Results showed that both classical diagnoses and relational problems were significantly related to markers of clinical severity. As with previous research, family therapy was not differentially associated with a larger number of treatment sessions.     

Numerical integration of the divisia price index and an application of the equation of measurement to prices

First the linear and the exponential paths are chosen as examples to show how the Divisia price and quantity index can be integrated numerically. Then the equation of measurement by Eichhorn and Gleissner is adapted to price measurement and used to formulate certain properties of indices. A special class of properties, the reversal tests describing certain symmetries, is considered especially, It turns out that the corresponding antitheses form a group of eight elements.     

Epidemiologic Evidence for Chloroprene Carcinogenicity: Review of Study Quality and its Application to Risk Assessment

This article evaluates the quality and weight of evidence associated with epidemiologic studies of cancer among occupational cohorts exposed to chloroprene. The focus is on liver, lung, and lymphohematopoietic cancers, which had been increased in early studies. Literature searches identified eight morbidity/mortality studies covering seven chloroprene-exposed cohorts from six countries. These studies were summarized and their quality was assessed using the 10 criteria suggested by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The limitations within this literature (primarily the early studies) included crude exposure assessment, incomplete follow-up, uncertain baseline rates, and uncontrolled confounding by factors such as smoking, drinking, and co-exposure to benzene and vinyl chloride. Four cohorts were studied by the same group of investigators, who reported no overall increased associations for any cancers. This four-cohort study was by far the most rigorous, having the most comprehensive exposure assessment and follow-up and the most detailed documentation. This study also contained the two largest cohorts, including an American cohort from Louisville, Kentucky, that ranked at or near the top for each of the 10 quality criteria. There was evidence of a strong healthy worker effect in the four-cohort study, which could have hidden small excess risks. Small increased risks were suggested by internal or company-specific analyses, but these were most likely caused by uncontrolled confounding and low baseline rates. Overall, the weight of evidence does not support any substantial link between chloroprene exposure and cancer, but inconsistencies and a lack of control for major confounders preclude drawing firmer conclusions.     

Challenges to Aging in Place: Understanding Home Maintenance Difficulties

Age-related declines in capabilities may compromise older adults’ ability to maintain their homes, threatening successful aging in place. Structured interviews were conducted with 44 independently living older adults (mean age = 76.1, standard deviation = 4.7) to discuss difficult home maintenance tasks and how they managed those tasks. Solutions to managing difficulties were categorized as person-related or environment-related. The majority (85%) of responses were person-related solutions. An understanding of the specific challenges that older adults face in maintaining their homes can guide redesign efforts and interventions to effectively support older adults’ desire to age in place.     

New representations of the noncentral chi-square density and cumulative

Representations of noncentral chi-square cumulative distribution function and probability density function are reviewed and new repre¬sentations are given. One representation of the cdf in terms of an integral is easily computed on any machine which has an accurate algorithm for computing the normal cdf.     

The role of coping and problem drinking in men's abuse of female partners: test of a path model

This article examines the relationship of coping and problem drinking to men's abusive behavior towards female partners. While previous research has demonstrated a consistent association between problem drinking and male abuse of intimate partners, virtually no studies have assessed the role of coping in relation to men's violence. Furthermore, multivariate studies have not examined how these factors operate together to increase risk for abusive behavior. An ethnically diverse sample of 147 men in a court-mandated program for domestic violence offenders completed questionnaires at the first session. Path modeling was conducted to test the extent to which coping and problem drinking predicted both physical and psychological abuse. In addition, the relationships of problem drinking and physical abuse to injury of the men's female partners were examined. Results indicated that both the use of avoidance and problem-solving coping to deal with relationship problems were related indirectly to abusive behavior through problem drinking. Greater use of avoidance coping strategies was more likely among problem drinkers. By contrast, men who used higher levels of problem-solving coping were less likely to be problem drinkers. Avoidance, but not problem-solving coping also was directly and positively related to physical and psychological abuse. Men identified as problem drinkers were more likely to use both physical and psychological abuse. Finally, greater use of physical violence was strongly related to higher levels of injury among female partners, and served to mediate the relationship between problem drinking and injury. Results are discussed in terms of their contribution to the identification of risk and protective factors for men's violent behavior toward intimate female partners and implications for developing intervention strategies.     

An objective rating form to evaluate grant proposals to the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health: a pilot study of implementation

The lack of support for mental health-related projects by private philanthropy, even among those that express an interest in mental health, is due in large part to the subjectivity of the grant review process. To address this problem, Whaley, Rodriguez, and Alexander developed the Grant Proposal Rating Form (GPRF) to make the grant review process more objective at the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health. The purpose of the current study is to establish the ecological validity of the GPRF by a pilot study of its implementation in the actual grant review process of the foundation. The overall results of this pilot study did not yield consistently favorable psychometric outcomes as the original study by Whaley et al. The implications of these results are discussed.