Sexual behavior of resident street prostitutes with their clients in Camden,New Jersey

This paper describes a prospective study of the sexual behaviors of 20 resident street prostitutes and their clients. Prostitutes were long‐term residents of and practiced street prostitution in their community. They worked full‐time and reported averages of four clients per workday, four to five workdays per week, in an eight‐year career. Sexual behaviors with clients on five to eight workdays were recorded over a seven‐month period. Forty‐nine percent of contacts were with repeat clients. A regular client was defined by prostitutes as one who visited at least once a week. The results of the present study indicate that long‐term sexual relationships exist between some clients and prostitutes. Typically, a regular client had one to three sexual encounters per week with the prostitute, spent several hours with her at a motel (or one of their homes), and was more likely (than the occasional client) to engage in vaginal intercourse. Reported condom use was in the range of 39 to 74 percent.     

Gambling Behaviors Among Oxford House Residents: A Preliminary Investigation

ABSTRACT

The present study investigated the prevalence of gambling behaviors among 71 individuals recovering from substance-dependent disorders and living in self-run recovery homes (Oxford Houses). Residents were given the South Oaks Gambling Screen to assess gambling behaviors and pathological gambling, and 19.7% of the sample was identified as having probable pathological gambling. These residents reported proportionately more involvement in a variety of gambling behaviors than other residents. Engagement in various gambling activities was consistent with previous investigations and suggested that self-run recovery homes such as Oxford Houses might be suitable referral sources for recovering persons who have comorbid gambling problems.     

An empirical approach to determine a threshold for assessing overdispersion in Poisson and negative binomial models for count data

Overdispersion is a problem encountered in the analysis of count data that can lead to invalid inference if unaddressed. Decision about whether data are overdispersed is often reached by checking whether the ratio of the Pearson chi-square statistic to its degrees of freedom is greater than one; however, there is currently no fixed threshold for declaring the need for statistical intervention. We consider simulated cross-sectional and longitudinal datasets containing varying magnitudes of overdispersion caused by outliers or zero inflation, as well as real datasets, to determine an appropriate threshold value of this statistic which indicates when overdispersion should be addressed.     

Understanding Very Old Age: Looking Back and Thinking Forward

ABSTRACT

Understanding human development among the oldest old is a sequential building process taking into account building-block data, theories, and models from childhood, adulthood, and old age toward a new territory of oldest-old survivors who have lived way beyond the average life-span. A central question is whether the oldest-old survivors have developed specific survival techniques and/or protective environments that nurture survival. Or are the oldest old statistical outliers who by happenstance continue to survive further into old age? This commentary provides a historical framework on the papers in this series that describe challenges confronted by the oldest-old survivors in order to advance our understanding of survival of the oldest old. A clear understanding of the contributors to longevity could guide public policies toward well-being and life satisfaction among our oldest-old citizens.     

"MEN I MESS WITH DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH AIDS":

Pivotal in HIV/STD intervention and prevention is how individuals perceive risk. This article discusses how ethnotheory can be used to understand the underpinnings of risk perception from the subject's perspective. Ethnotheory's theoretical and methodological character extends present models used to explain sex-related HIV behaviors and provides insights into risk perception useful for the development of effective intervention strategies. Four detailed ethnographic excerpts from low-income African American and Mexican American men and women illustrate how people form perceptions of risk and how information gained through ethnotheory is useful in the design of culturally relevant interventions.     

Publishers' announcement

Publishers' announcement     

Home care reimbursement for technology-dependent children: Its impact on parental distress

The distress of 52 parents with a technology-dependent child at home is measured using a standardized psychological inventory. Fifty-eight percent of these parents report enough symptoms to classify them as needing psychiatric intervention. Cost savings to third-party payers are accelerating the trend toward home care (rather than institutionalized care). Yet, these findings point to an underestimated cost to families in terms of parents' psychological well-being. One factor associated with less distress for mothers is having services reimbursed through the Medicaid Model Waiver Program, which provides a comprehensive plan for home care services. In contrast, services reimbursed by private third-party payers are more variable, placing greater financial strain and uncertainty on parents, which is associated with greater psychological distress. These results suggest the need for further study of the long-term impact on parents caring for technology-dependent children at home.Reprint requests to Barbara J. Leonard, R.N., Ph.D., Maternal and Child Health Major, Division of Human Development and Nutrition, School of Public Health, Box 197 UMHC, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, (612) 625-3660.This study was supported in part by BRSG Number 2-S07-RR05448-25 awarded to the University of Minnesota, School of Public Health by the Biomedical Research Grant Program, Division of Research and Resources, National Institute of Health. Additional support was provided by the Department of Health and Human Services, State of Minnesota, Academic Computing Services and Systems, University of Minnesota and special project funds from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.Barbara J. Leonard is an Assistant Professor and Chair of the Maternal and Child Health Major, Division of Human Development and Nutrition, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, MN 55455. Her research interests include children with developmental disabilities, their parents, and siblings. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.Janny Dwyer Brust is a Research Fellow in the Maternal and Child Health Major at the University of Minnesota. Her research interests include issues related to the care of chronically ill children and sexually abused children. She received her M.P.H. from the University of Minnesota.Joan Patterson is an Assistant Professor in the Maternal and Child Health Major and Associate Director of the Center for Children with Chronic Illness and Disability at the University of Minnesota. Her research interests include family adaptation to chronic illness and family stress and coping. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.