Contraceptive Responsibility among Male University Students

Abstract

This paper assesses the male contribution to contraceptive mismanagement and unwanted pregnancy. The subjects were 109 students at the University of Melbourne. A high incidence of risk-taking was reported, and almost one-fifth of the sexually experienced men stated that they had been involved in an unwanted pregnancy. A small group of these reported more than one such incident. The underlying reasons for poor contraceptive technique seemed to be related to two beliefs: that contraception is a female responsibility, and that sexual intercourse should be entirely spontaneous and unplanned.     

A Pilot Study of 2 Brief Forms of Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Training for Emotion Dysregulation in College Students

Abstract

Objective: To examine the feasibility and initial efficacy of 2 abbreviated dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) skills training groups: emotion regulation skills only and emotion regulation with mindfulness skills. Participants: Participants were 24 undergraduates (aged 18–29) with significant emotion dysregulation who participated between February and May of 2010, 2011, and 2012. Methods: Participants participated in 2-hour weekly group sessions for 8 weeks and completed outcome measures at baseline, midtreatment, posttreatment, and 4-week follow-up. Results: Participants in both conditions made significant gains, with large effect sizes, across measures of emotion regulation, affect, skills use, and functioning. There were no differences between the 2 groups, suggesting no additive benefit of mindfulness skills. Conclusions: This pilot study provides support for the acceptability and efficacy of abbreviated DBT skills training in colleges, given significant improvements, positive feedback, and low attrition. Impediments to feasibility included recruitment difficulties, particularly due to scheduling constraints.     

Is Valuing Equality Enough? Equality Values, Allophilia, and Social Policy Support for Multiracial Individuals

We conducted a field study to investigate positive intergroup attitudes (i.e., allophilia) and equality values as potential antecedents of social policy support for multiracial individuals. Participants (N = 97) reported their social policy support for multiracial individuals in two ways—support for the recognition of "multiracial" as a distinct racial category (recognition) and support for multiracial individuals' access to programs and policies (assistance). Results revealed that allophilia motivated those who held equality beliefs to support social policies for multiracial individuals. Implications of these findings for theories of positive intergroup relations, as well as the processes that may underlie progress for multiracial individuals, are discussed.     

Media and the Intersectional Other

This article presents the findings of an intersectional study on migrant women on German television. Besides content and textual analyses, we conducted focus groups with audiences and interviews with migrant media workers. As the representation of Others was explored through the nodes of production, consumption, and identity, a complicated intersectional practice emerged. We found the televised representations of migrant women to be dominated by (often veiled) women as signifiers of non-integration but also by instances when gendered ethnicity was used as a marketable attribute. The audiences and producers employed various distancing strategies: they criticized specific programs for blatant stereotyping as much as didactic counter-stereotyping while downplaying systemic shortfalls of the coverage. These distancing strategies were intensified by the acceptance of individualized ideologies of success and commodified logics of media production. Ultimately, class appeared as the central demarcating category. On German television a problematic class distinction was articulated through ethnic and gender difference. Female migrants were often “othered” as lower-class. This class discourse absolved middle-class viewers and media workers from engaging in the systemic struggles over female/migrant identities, thus undermining the potential for gender and migrant solidarity and for the dynamic creation of cultural citizenship as a mode of belonging.     

Childless Elders in Assisted Living: Findings from the Maryland Assisted Living Study

We compared data drawn from a random sample of 399 current assisted living residents and a subsample of 222 newly admitted residents for two groups: childless residents and residents with children. The percentage of childless residents (26%) in our study was slightly higher than U.S. population estimates of childless individuals aged 65 years and older (20%). In the overall sample, the two groups differed significantly by age, race, and women's years of education. The childless group was slightly younger, had a higher percentage of African American residents, and had more years of education than the group with children. In the subsample, we looked at demographic, functional, financial, and social characteristics and found that childless residents reported fewer diagnoses of dementia and fewer visits from a relative but more reported paying less money per month for assisted living and having private insurance than residents with children. As childlessness among older adults continues to increase, it will become increasingly important to understand how child status affects the need for and experience of long-term care.     

Zur näherungsweisen ermittlung optimaler stochastischer steuerimgen durch diskretisierung

Considered are stochastic continuous-time control systems described by stochastic differential equations, which are defined by special martingals. Examples are given by the well known Ito equations with respect to a Wiener - or a Poisson process. By means of a performance index, regarding current yields as well as a terminal payment a control problem is formulated. The essential result in view of concrete evaluation is the approximation by a sequence of discrete-time finite dimensional control problems.     

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Bipolar Disorder: Implications for Clinical Social Workers

ABSTRACT

The purposes of this review article are to orient clinical social workers to cognitive-behavioral theory, intervention, and research on bipolar disorder (BD); identify pros and cons of applying cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) to social work clients with BD; and identify specific implications for clinical social work practice. Of the 545 articles that were obtained via the systematic review, 18 studies were identified as being potentially eligible for inclusion, and 9 of those studies ultimately satisfied the inclusion criteria. The results of each study were summarized via identifying statistically significant (p< .05) differences that existed between experimental cohorts who received CBT (plus pharmacotherapy) and control cohorts who received treatment as usual. Outcomes showed CBT cohorts as having significant improvement over their respective control groups. The review's implications for clinical social workers and the need for future research are discussed.     

A note on approximate confidence limits for the negative binomial model

Four methods of approximating confidence limits for the single negative binomial parameter, P, are outlined and an empirical study is presented. Some remarks on prediction intervals are also included.     

族群认同的血缘性重建--以海村京族人为例

本文对1949年以来海村京族人族群意识的变化进行了考察。认为,客观文化特征的不断消退,族际交流与族群互动的日益频繁,族群认同上功利性取向的不断增加以及“法定”的民族属性对京族认同的冲击,使海村京族人的族群认同面临表述上的危机。为了应对这种危机,海村京族人不得不重新利用血缘关系的不可替代性来重新构建其族群认同,并以此为基础复兴京族传统文化,强化族群成员的族群意识。