Structural effects of network sampling coverage I: Nodes missing at random

Network measures assume a census of a well-bounded population. This level of coverage is rarely achieved in practice, however, and we have only limited information on the robustness of network measures to incomplete coverage. This paper examines the effect of node-level missingness on 4 classes of network measures: centrality, centralization, topology and homophily across a diverse sample of 12 empirical networks. We use a Monte Carlo simulation process to generate data with known levels of missingness and compare the resulting network scores to their known starting values. As with past studies (0035 and 0135), we find that measurement bias generally increases with more missing data. The exact rate and nature of this increase, however, varies systematically across network measures. For example, betweenness and Bonacich centralization are quite sensitive to missing data while closeness and in-degree are robust. Similarly, while the tau statistic and distance are difficult to capture with missing data, transitivity shows little bias even with very high levels of missingness. The results are also clearly dependent on the features of the network. Larger, more centralized networks are generally more robust to missing data, but this is especially true for centrality and centralization measures. More cohesive networks are robust to missing data when measuring topological features but not when measuring centralization. Overall, the results suggest that missing data may have quite large or quite small effects on network measurement, depending on the type of network and the question being posed.     

Fraternity Membership and Sexual Aggression: An Examination of Mediators of the Association

Abstract

Objective: This prospective study examined attitudes (ie, hostility toward women, acceptance of rape myths), peer influences (ie, peer pressure to have sex, peer approval of forced sex), and risky behaviors (ie, high-risk alcohol use, number of sexual partners) as possible mediators of the association between fraternity membership and sexual aggression. Participants: The sample included 424 males recruited as freshmen from a large state university in the southeastern United States. Methods: Respondents completed survey measures in their first, second, and third years of enrollment at the university. Results: Path analyses revealed that the prospective effect of fraternity membership on sexual aggression was mediated by high-risk alcohol use. Conclusions: The findings indicate that high-risk alcohol use accounts for much of the association between fraternity membership and sexual aggression.     

Bringing Assisted Living Services into Congregate Housing

Beginning in April 2000 and continuing for 21 months, Florida's legislature allocated $31.6 million (annualized) to nursing homes through a Medicaid direct care staffing adjustment. Florida's legislature paid the highest incentives to nursing homes with the lowest staffing levels and the greatest percentage of Medicaid residents—the bottom tier of quality. Using Donabedian's structure-process-outcomes framework, this study tracks changes in staffing, wages, process of care, and outcomes. The incentive payments increased staffing and wages in nursing home processes (decreased restraint use and feeding tubes) for the facilities receiving the largest amount of money but had no change on pressure sores or decline in activities of daily living. The group receiving the lowest incentives payment (those highest staffed at baseline) saw significant improvement in two quality measures: pressure sores and decline in activities of daily living. All providers receiving more resources improved on deficiency scores, suggesting more Medicaid spending improves quality of care regardless of total incentive payments.     

A National Survey of Graduate Education in Psychopharmacology: Advancing the Social Work Perspective on Psychiatric Medication

ABSTRACT

Social workers’ unique skills and professional perspective can contribute to improved practices in psychopharmacology, yet it is unclear how social work programs prepare students for this area of practice. This study examined instruction of psychopharmacology through a national Web-based survey of MSW program directors and instructors of psychopharmacology content (n = 171). Nearly two-thirds (63.7%) reported their program integrates psychopharmacology usually into one or two existing courses, whereas 20.5% indicated their program offers a stand-alone course. Lack of faculty expertise and having no room in the current curriculum structure were identified as the top barriers for programs not offering any psychopharmacology content. The profession’s critical, social justice, empowerment, client-centered, and systems perspective appears to ground the teaching of psychopharmacology in social work programs.     

Pathological Dissociation as Measured by the Child Dissociative Checklist

The component structure of the Child Dissociative Checklist was examined among abused children. A factor described as pathological dissociation emerged that was predicted by participants being male. There also were differences in pathological dissociation between groups of sexually abused and physically abused children. Replication of this factor and the establishment of base rates for various groups of children are recommended so that the Child Dissociative Checklist might be used to more effectively eliminate false positives and increase true positives in the screening and ultimate treatment of dissociative children.     

The Convergent Validity of the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Young Children for a Sample of Sexually Abused Outpatients

ABSTRACT

The convergent validity of the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Young Children (TSCYC) was examined with a sample of 172 sexually abused outpatient treatment-seeking children and their caregivers. The TSCYC evidenced good convergent validity with other parent ratings (e.g., the Child Behavior Checklist, Child Sexual Behavior Inventory, and the University of California at Los Angeles Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Reaction Index [UCLA PTSD Index]). The convergent validity of the TSCYC and the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children was weak, perhaps illustrating the lack of agreement often found between children and caregivers and illustrating the need for a multi-informant approach to screening and assessment of sexually abused children. The TSCYC seems to hold promise based on the emerging evidence for its convergent validity.     

Suicidal Thoughts/Behaviors in Sexually Abused Children

This study examined the frequency of suicidality based on self-report and parent report in 430 sexually abused outpatient youth ages 3 to 17. Thirty-four percent of youth experienced suicidal ideation or behavior. However, when both parent and child completed measures, the rate of suicidality increased to 45.3%. The prevalence of suicidal thoughts and behavior was not higher based on relationship to the perpetrator, race, or previous placement outside the home. Suicidal youth rated themselves as more depressed, anxious, and angry on self-reports. Child self-reports of post-traumatic stress disorder were greater among the suicidal youth. Parent reports of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder were greater among suicidal youth. A logistic regression model including Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children Depression and Anger scores correctly classified 74.2% of suicidal and nonsuicidal children and adolescents, but not self-criticism, was predicted by depression and anger. These findings support the need for formal multi-informant evaluations of suicidality in sexually abused youth.     

Cocreating a Social Work Apprenticeship with Disadvantaged African American Youth: A Best-Practices After-School Curriculum

Cocreating an after-school program with disadvantaged African American youth (2006–2011) resulted in a social work apprenticeship. In a participatory action, youth-led evaluation process, youth (N = 203) prioritized positively impacting their communities, especially mentoring community children and promoting alternatives to community violence. Starting from the strengths perspective and self-determination theory, topics youth valued included human rights, peace-building, trauma and stress management, and mentoring. Knowledge about human development and interviewing helped youth experience the fulfillment of being mentors. A subsample (n = 133) described what they learned about social work, and 43% of those reported an interest in pursuing a social work career.     

“What Happens at Home Does Not Necessarily Stay at Home”: The Relationship of Observed Negative Couple Interaction With Physical Health,Mental Health,and Work Satisfaction

Using data from a sample of 281 couples (the Flourishing Families data set), the authors tested a systemic theoretical model that examined the relationship among observed marital interaction, physical and mental health, and work satisfaction. The results showed that negative marital interaction was associated with significantly lower work satisfaction and poorer health for men. Higher negative marital interaction scores were significantly related to elevated depression scores for both women and men. For both men and women, negative couple interaction was associated with work satisfaction through depression and health. Overall, 34% of the variance in work satisfaction for men and 24% for the women was explained by the model. The results suggest that marriage‐to‐work spillover can be costly for families, organizations, and governments.     

Considerations on the ‘Replication Problem’ in Sociology

We re-examine the so-called “replication problem” in sociology—a scarcity of published studies dedicated to reproducing findings from prior research. We do this in part by considering the larger epistemological traditions of the natural sciences and humanities. We make three primary arguments: that (1) replication studies are more prevalent than is commonly perceived, (2) calls for and discussions of replication do not attend enough to issues of theory, and (3) we should reconsider as a discipline how we evaluate replications. In developing this third argument, we draw on the concept of episteme, discussing two epistemes that concurrently exist in sociology: the scientific project and the aesthetic object. The former overlaps with approaches to knowledge growth in the natural sciences, the latter with the humanities. We propose that sociology is situated between these extremes, presenting unique challenges for replication research. In particular, nuanced considerations of replications in sociology foreclose any simplistic accounts of a replication problem in the discipline.