A Unified Approach of Meta-Analysis: Application to an Antecedent Biomarker Study in Alzheimer's Disease

This article provides a unified methodology of meta-analysis that synthesizes medical evidence by using both available individual patient data (IPD) and published summary statistics within the framework of likelihood principle. Most up-to-date scientific evidence on medicine is crucial information not only to consumers but also to decision makers, and can only be obtained when existing evidence from the literature and the most recent individual patient data are optimally synthesized. We propose a general linear mixed effects model to conduct meta-analyses when individual patient data are only available for some of the studies and summary statistics have to be used for the rest of the studies. Our approach includes both the traditional meta-analyses in which only summary statistics are available for all studies and the other extreme case in which individual patient data are available for all studies as special examples. We implement the proposed model with statistical procedures from standard computing packages. We provide measures of heterogeneity based on the proposed model. Finally, we demonstrate the proposed methodology through a real life example studying the cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers to identify individuals with high risk of developing Alzheimer's disease when they are still cognitively normal.     

New Possibilities for Integration and Unification in Interdisciplinary Studies Commentary on Janice Haaken's Pillar of Salt

Janice Haaken's ambitious and wide-ranging interdisciplinary work synthesizes a large and diverse array of profoundly complex subjects. By focusing primarily on her psychotherapy work, I demonstrate close kinship between her therapeutic attitudes, beliefs, and values and my own. My beliefs and values are psychoanalytic, and I find that similar or compatible ones motivate Haaken's feminist, social activist, and radical academic sensibilities. Thus, underlying common attitudes, beliefs, and values between these seemingly diverse areas and psychoanalysis contribute significantly to the authority, unity, and integrative power in Haaken's interdisciplinary work.     

Solidarity Revisited: Group-level Effects on Individual-level Union Voting

Rooted in the theory of planned behavior, our empirical reinvestigation of archived union certification election data provided strong evidence that workgroup solidarity was a significant predictor of individual voting behavior. Specifically, group-level attitudes toward unions accounted for individual voting behaviors beyond the individual-level attitudes toward unions. This study offers a meaningful increment to our knowledge as it provides a quantification of the extent that employees are willing to, and actually, comply with subjective norms. Important practical implications for both unions and employers as well as directions for future research are discussed.     

Termination of Casework: The Student,Client and Field Instructor

This study of 65 supervisees and 64 supervisors addresses current issues in social work supervision through exploring various models of structure, authority, and teaching that were perceived to be in use. Significant differences in level of interaction, supervision and job satisfaction, and sense of accomplishment were found as the source of the supervisors' authority varied, but no differences occurred in variations of structure. Incongruence between supervisees' and supervisors' perceptions of actual and preferred structure, authority, conference frequency and initiation, and content in supervision demonstrates the need for exploration of autonomy in practice and control in supervision.     

Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Senior Centers: Comparing Participant Characteristics in More and Less Multicultural Settings

The 2008 Health Indicators Project surveyed a probability sample (N = 1,870) of New York City senior center participants. Attendees of racially and ethnically diverse and nondiverse senior centers were compared across 5 domains: demographics; health and quality of life; social support networks; neighborhood perceptions and engagement; health service access/utilization. Although homogeneous and diverse center participants demonstrate similar health and quality-of-life outcomes, those from diverse centers demonstrate greater risk of social isolation, receive less family support, and more likely seek medical care from hospitals or community clinics. Implications and future directions for research, practice and policy are discussed.     

Knowledge,Beliefs, and Behaviors: Examining Human Papillomavirus–Related Gender Differences Among African American College Students

Abstract

Objective: Given recent approval for administration of a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine to men, it is important to assess the HPV-related perspectives of men and women. The purpose of this study was to examine gender differences in HPV knowledge, beliefs, and vaccine acceptance among college students attending 3 historically black colleges/universities in the Southeast. Participants and Methods: A nonprobability sample of 575 students completed a self-report questionnaire. Results: Males were significantly less likely to have heard of HPV, scored lower in HPV knowledge, were less likely to perceive HPV health outcomes as severe and that there was a benefit to vaccinate, reported fewer cues for vaccine acceptance, and perceived more barriers to vaccination compared to females (all p < .05). Conclusions: The gender disparities demonstrated in this study highlight the need to increase HPV-related communication/education to include men and to extend HPV research to a broader segment of the college population.     

County Government Resources Associated with Dependent-Adult Abuse Investigations in Iowa

ABSTRACT

This study evaluated on a county level the association of Iowa's domestic dependent-adult abuse investigations with the location of adult protective services (APS) offices, rurality, government resources, felony charges and prosecutions, child abuse reports, and census demographics. In 2003, the rate of dependent-adult abuse investigations for Iowa was 0.70 per 1,000 population age 18 and older. Higher rates of child abuse investigations, felony prosecutions, sheriff's annual salary, and lower rates of child abuse substantiations are associated with higher rates of dependent-adult abuse investigations and substantiations.     

Relationship goals of middle-aged,young-old,and old-old internet daters: An analysis of online personal ads

Purpose of the studyResearch on courtship patterns and romantic relationship in later life has not kept pace with the burgeoning number of older adults interested in dating.Design and methodsWe conducted content analyses of themes arising from 450 personal ads written by middle-aged (40–54), young-old (60–74), and old-old (75 +) participants.ResultsSignificant differences between the young-old and the middle-aged were few; those between the young-old and old-old were numerous. Compared to the old-old, the young-old and middle-aged were more likely to mention adventure, romance, sexual interests, and seeking a soul mate and less likely to mention health.ImplicationsThis study increases our understanding of relationship goals in later life and highlights the error of treating all older adults as a homogeneous group. Practice and policy can benefit from more nuanced distinctions between age groups and an enhanced recognition of the vibrant emotional, romantic, and sexual lives of older adults.     

Premarital sexual standards of rural youth

Abstract

This study measures and evaluates the premarital sexual standards of a sample of adolescents residing in a small Mississippi community. On the basis of their response patterns to a set of Guttman scale items, the students were classified into three standards: abstinence, double standard, and the single standard of permissiveness. A racial comparison of the Mississippi sample with Reiss' Virginia student sample revealed striking similarities with one exception—a significantly higher proportion of Mississippi whites endorsed permissiveness without affection. The Mississippi data, however, failed to give strong support to the presumed prevalence of the double standard. Moreover, several social factors examined appeared to influence the standards of whites and females to a greater extent than those of Negroes and males.