The practice of clinical research in accredited marriage and family therapy programs

This study aims to explore the prevalence of clinic-based research among accredited marriage and family therapy (MFT) programs and reveal rationales explaining why academic settings may or may not be conducting clinical research. Findings of this project are the result of electronic-mail surveys completed by 26 accredited MFT programs. Approximately one-half of the respondents reported currently conducting clinic-based research. Open-ended responses reveal factors that lead to research success and failure, as well as reasons research was not being conducted at training programs.     

Ready for the storm

The coming decade is likely to be more turbulent than any we have faced. In fact, the basic structures and roles of health care may begin to shift and dissolve in ways that we cannot begin to predict. In turbulent times, long-term plans are vulnerable to fundamental shifts in the environment. Planning recedes in importance compared to preparing--nurturing the institutional and individual capacity for change. Rigid planning is about power and control. Preparing is about unleashing the strengths of each person on the crew. Self-development is largely a matter of recognizing what your strengths are, learning to live in those strengths, while nurturing the abilities that do not come naturally. Leadership is largely a matter of creating an environment that helps your crew work from their strengths and supports them in their weaker areas.     

Did socioeconomic inequalities in morbidity and mortality change in the United States over the course of the twentieth century?

In this article we present two sets of empirical analyses that consider the extent to which socioeconomic gradients in self-assessed health and child mortality changed since the beginning of the twentieth century in the United States. This empirical issue has important and wide-ranging research and policy implications. In particular, our results speak to the value of considering the role of broader social, economic, and political inequalities in generating and maintaining socioeconomic disparities in morbidity and mortality. Despite dramatic declines in morbidity and mortality rates in the United States across the twentieth century, we find that socioeconomic-status gradients in morbidity and mortality declined only modestly (if at all) during that period.     

Theory-based evaluation of a comprehensive Latino education initiative: an interactive evaluation approach

Latino student access to higher education has received significant national attention in recent years. This article describes a theory-based evaluation approach used with ENLACE of Hillsborough, a 5-year project funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for the purpose of increasing Latino student graduation from high school and college. Theory-based evaluation guided planning, implementation as well as evaluation through the process of developing consensus on the Latino population of focus, adoption of culturally appropriate principles and values to guide the project, and identification of strategies to reach, engage, and impact outcomes for Latino students and their families. The approach included interactive development of logic models that focused the scope of interventions and guided evaluation designs for addressing three stages of the initiative. Challenges and opportunities created by the approach are discussed, as well as ways in which the initiative impacted Latino students and collaborating educational institutions.     

Is everyone really middle class? Social class position and identification in Alberta

In defining social class, researchers often rely on measures of objective class position, even though subjective perceptions of social class identity can better account for the creation of social class boundaries. We explore the relationship between measures of objective class position and subjective class identity using data from an online survey of 1155 residents in Alberta, Canada, a conservative province dependent on a fluctuating energy sector. We find that although most Albertans identified as middle class, the strength of class identity and views regarding linked social class fates varied across categories with poverty class and uppermiddleclass respondents standing out. In reporting class identity, respondents considered measures related to objective class position, especially their income and economic security levels, but gaps still remained. We then use the results of this exploratory study to advocate for more comprehensive measures of social class.     

Family Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Risks of Financial Insecurity and Coping

During the COVID-19 pandemic, families have experienced unprecedented financial and social disruptions. We studied the impact of preexisting psychosocial factors and pandemic-related financial and social disruptions in relation to family well-being among N = 4091 adolescents and parents during early summer 2020, participating in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development^SM Study. Poorer family well-being was linked to prepandemic psychosocial and financial adversity and was associated with pandemic-related material hardship and social disruptions to routines. Parental alcohol use increased risk for worsening of family relationships, while a greater endorsement of coping strategies was mainly associated with overall better family well-being. Financial and mental health support may be critical for family well-being during and after a widespread crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.     

Empowerment through work: the cases of disabled individuals and low-skilled women workers on the US–Mexican border

This article discusses workers at two organizations: one employing disabled individuals and another employing low-skilled Mexican-American women. Workers at both organizations show positive effects from employment, including having increased self-efficacy and self-esteem, valuing work as a source of income and personal growth, as well as developing a sense of community. These perceptions contrast sharply with statements presented about how they viewed themselves and their abilities before working in these organizations. Through comparisons between these two sets of experiences, we show how individuals draw meaning, dignity, self-esteem, and empowerment from work.     

PERSONALITY,INFORMATION ACQUISITION,AND CHOICE UNDER UNCERTAINTY: AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

This article studies the role of personality in choice under risk and uncertainty. We explore the hypothesis that personality plays a role in decision making in situations of uncertainty but not in situations of risk. In addition to offering support for this main hypothesis, we explore the various pathways through which personality exerts its influence. What we find is that in uncertain environments, where decision makers are able to acquire information about the unknown probability distributions they face, personality variables influence the type of information people acquire, which then influences their choice. Our experimental design brings in two novel aspects of choice under uncertainty: information acquisition and advice. The findings indicate that indeed, under uncertainty, personality matters for choice in a way it does not under risk. Furthermore, the results suggest that personality can play a role at multiple levels, such as people's preferences for certain types of information and the likelihood of following advice. (JEL C90, D03, D81)     

OPTIMAL EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP CONTRACTS UNDER AMBIGUITY AVERSION

The aim of this paper is to compute and describe the conditions of an optimal employee ownership contract between an employer and an ambiguity‐averse employee. We then introduce ambiguity aversion in the baseline model of Aubert et al. (2014) using the multiple prior preferences of Gilboa and Schmeidler (1989) and its extension proposed by Maccheroni et al. (2006). This model offers solutions that reconcile labor and financial economics and behavioral economics research findings on employee ownership. The paper focuses on the most common situation where employee ownership has a positive impact on corporate performance, but can also be used as an entrenchment mechanism. We determine the optimal company stock contribution, which corresponds to a perfect subgame Nash equilibrium in the ambiguity framework. Using the framework of Gilboa and Schmeidler (1989), we show that the optimal ownership contract is increasing with respect to the lower bound of the return expectation in the case of a high level of effort, and decreasing with respect to the upper bound of the return expectation in the case of a low level of effort. In the framework of Maccheroni et al. (2006), we prove that if aversion to ambiguity is sufficiently high, then we find the same behavior as in the case of no ambiguity. (JEL G11, G32, G34, J33)     

Accompaniment in a Mexican immigrant community: Conceptualization and identification of biopsychosocial outcomes

Taller de Jose (TDJ) offers accompaniment in a Mexican neighborhood in Chicago, helping service participants navigate health, judicial, and social service systems. Using a community-based participatory approach, the current study conceptualizes the accompaniment service and identifies psychosocial outcomes. Focus groups with service participants and staff were conducted, using a grounded theory approach. The data provides support for a conceptual model of accompaniment based on interdisciplinary knowledge in ministry, social work, and public health; and a consideration of social context, values, and outcomes such as increased social support, knowledge of community resources, and improved self-efficacy.