Gambling Behaviour and the Prevalence of Gambling Problems in Adult EGM Gamblers when EGMs are Banned. A Natural Experiment

In this article, findings of a panel study among former EGM gamblers are discussed. The data were collected in two waves during 2007, and 1293 people, 18 years or older, participated. The background for the study was the Norwegian ban on EGMs from 1 July 2007, and the aim was to investigate how this ban affected gambling involvement and problem levels in the sample. The analysis shows that gambling participation, gambling frequencies and gambling problems were reduced after EGMs disappeared from the market. There was no indication of the development of an illegal EGM market, or of substitution of EGMs with other types of gambling. A reduction in other types of gambling is interpreted as an indication of synergetic effects between games. Reduced gambling participation among the most active EGM gamblers, and among risk gamblers, shows that the reductions in gambling availability had an effect even on highly involved gamblers.     

Bayesian modelling of spatial compositional data

Compositional data are vectors of proportions, specifying fractions of a whole. Aitchison (1986) defines logistic normal distributions for compositional data by applying a logistic transformation and assuming the transformed data to be multi- normal distributed. In this paper we generalize this idea to spatially varying logistic data and thereby define logistic Gaussian fields. We consider the model in a Bayesian framework and discuss appropriate prior distributions. We consider both complete observations and observations of subcompositions or individual proportions, and discuss the resulting posterior distributions. In general, the posterior cannot be analytically handled, but the Gaussian base of the model allows us to define efficient Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithms. We use the model to analyse a data set of sediments in an Arctic lake. These data have previously been considered, but then without taking the spatial aspect into account.     

Description and evaluation of a nested cube experimental design

An incomplete factorial design based on an extension of the Fawiliar 2^kfactorial called a nested cube is proposed for use in response surface investigationso The simplicity and general efficiency of the nested cube suggest its suitability to many areas of research, especially that repeated at many locations orconductea over a long period. Comparisons to potentially competing designs are provided for bias in response estination due to fitting an ioappropriate model and for profiles of variance. merits of the nested cube are (1) a level of relative bias and variance judged to be favorable though not optimal, (2) an ability to utilize a minimum blag estimator not available to competing designs, and (3) a simplicity associated with use of equal spacing

and nearly equal replication on the margin for each factor level.     

Ageing and exercise: building body capital in old age

Background

Research that provides better understanding of the motivational processes in older age to maintain a healthy and active lifestyle is sought after. We apply theoretical approaches to cultural capital, active and healthy aging health to shed light on the women’s experiences in maintaining physical capabilities through an active lifestyle, and thereby facilitating their own inclusion in society. Thus, the aim of this paper is to explore why older home dwelling women over the age of 70 years or more spend time in physical exercise and their experiences about the importance of participating in group exercise for their daily life.This paper reports on a qualitative study based on interviews with 16 older women aged 70 years or more and regularly attending group exercise classes in the community at an established workout center. The data were analyzed the data using an inductive content analysis approach.

Results

Three overreaching and interrelated themes emerged from the interviews: “Building body capital for independence”, “Building body capital to maintain vitality and being in control” and “Building resources for social interaction”. The findings suggest that group exercise is important for building body capital. The group exercise helped the women in building bodily ability to manage everyday life, maintain vitality, being in control, pursue social interaction and live independently. These body resources were important for these older women’s experience of the manageability and meaningfulness of daily life.

Conclusion

This study has provided insights into older women’s understanding and experiences of the challenges of everyday life within a theoretical framework of cultural capital and health. The women acquired cultural health capital, and more specifically body capital, by participating in the group exercise classes. The women’s investment in body capital through regular physical activity created resources which facilitated social participation. Therefore professionals need to be aware of this when performing group exercise.

     

Impact of Bereavement on the Self-Conceptions of Older Surviving Spouses

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to assess the extent to which the social anchorage dimension of the self-concept is impacted by the death of a spouse among a sample of older surviving spouses. Social anchorage was measured by the Twenty Statements Test (TST) in mailed questionnaires and consisted of self-statements that signify important social relationships and group memberships. As hypothesized, the 42 bereaved persons had lower social anchorage scores than the 72 nonbereaved controls. This significant effect was evident as early as three to four weeks following the death, and it persisted through five more measurement periods that covered the first two years of bereavement.