A Longitudinal Empirical Investigation of the Pathways Model of Problem Gambling

The pathways model of problem gambling suggests the existence of three developmental pathways to problem gambling, each differentiated by a set of predisposing biopsychosocial characteristics: behaviorally conditioned (BC), emotionally vulnerable (EV), and biologically vulnerable (BV) gamblers. This study examined the empirical validity of the Pathways Model among adolescents followed up to early adulthood. A prospective-longitudinal design was used, thus overcoming limitations of past studies that used concurrent or retrospective designs. Two samples were used: (1) a population sample of French-speaking adolescents (N = 1033) living in low socio-economic status (SES) neighborhoods from the Greater Region of Montreal (Quebec, Canada), and (2) a population sample of adolescents (N = 3017), representative of French-speaking students in Quebec. Only participants with at-risk or problem gambling by mid-adolescence or early adulthood were included in the main analysis (n = 180). Latent Profile Analyses were conducted to identify the optimal number of profiles, in accordance with participants’ scores on a set of variables prescribed by the Pathways Model and measured during early adolescence: depression, anxiety, impulsivity, hyperactivity, antisocial/aggressive behavior, and drug problems. A four-profile model fit the data best. Three profiles differed from each other in ways consistent with the Pathways Model (i.e., BC, EV, and BV gamblers). A fourth profile emerged, resembling a combination of EV and BV gamblers. Four profiles of at-risk and problem gamblers were identified. Three of these profiles closely resemble those suggested by the Pathways Model.     

Agricultural multifunctionality and farmers' entrepreneurial skills: A study of Tuscan and Welsh farmers

The process of agricultural restructuring in Europe has been strongly influenced both by CAP support of multifunctional agriculture and by market liberalisation, and farmers are exhorted to become more entrepreneurial in response. This paper explores the interaction of these policy goals in two regions where a rural development form of multifunctionality is favoured.     

Comparing child protective investigation performance between law enforcement agencies and child welfare agencies

This study examines the comparative effectiveness of using law enforcement agencies for child protective investigation (CPI), in contrast with the traditional approach of CPI conducted by the public child welfare agency. The analysis uses 2006-2007 data from a natural experiment conducted in Florida to show modest differences in performance and cost-efficiency between the two approaches to CPI. These findings may have implications for other states considering outsourcing CPI to law enforcement.     

IMAGE AND MISREPORTING

In this paper we analyze how image utility can lead to misreporting of private information in contexts where truthful reports maximize monetary outcomes. In a controlled experiment, subjects go through a series of quiz questions and subsequently report a performance measure. We vary whether reports are made to an audience or not. In an additional feedback treatment, reports are also stated to an audience and afterwards the experimenter publicly verifies whether reports were correct. We find that in the audience treatment, stated reports are significantly higher relative to the private treatment as well as the feedback treatment. Our findings suggest that overconfident appearance might be a consequence of social approval seeking.     

Do Friendships and Sibling Relationships Provide Protection against Peer Victimization in a Similar Way?

Based on the notion that friendship may serve an important protective function against peer victimization, this study examined the moderating effect of reciprocal friends' prosociality on the link between a child's reactive aggression and victimization. The study also investigated whether a similar moderating effect could be found with respect to sibling's prosociality, given that sibling relationships have been found to provide social benefits comparable to friendships. These questions were addressed using a sample of 246 six‐year‐old twin pairs (246 boys and 246 girls). The results showed that a child's own reactive aggression uniquely contributed to the risk of victimization for both boys and girls. The link between reactive aggression and victimization was, however, moderated by reciprocal friends' prosocial behavior and siblings' prosocial behavior, respectively. The results are discussed in terms of their theoretical and prevention‐related implications for children at risk for peer victimization.     

Patterns of Affiliation with Delinquent Friends During Late Childhood and Early Adolescence: Correlates and Consequences

This study examined longitudinal patterns of affiliation with delinquent friends during late childhood and early adolescence, i.e., from ages 10 through 13, in a sample of 376 participants of both genders. Four groups with distinct affiliation profiles were found: an early affiliative group, a late affiliative group, a declining group (i.e., a group that affiliates with delinquent friends early on but much less so thereafter), and a group of children who did not affiliate with delinquent friends throughout the period covered in this study. There was also a fifth group of children who had no mutual friends throughout. The proportion of boys and girls varied in some groups but not in others. Participants’ own delinquency and depression trajectories as well as other behavior‐ , peer‐ , school‐ , and family‐related correlates were examined in association with group membership through the use of growth curves analysis. The results are discussed in light of prevalent theories about the role of delinquent friends with respect to externalizing and internalizing problems.     

A resilience enhancing trauma-informed program for children and mothers in domestic violence shelters: A qualitative study

In domestic violence (DV) shelters, offering psychosocial support services to mothers and children is vital. The program ‘Time for Tony the Turtle’ has been developed for mothers and children residing in DV shelters in the Netherlands. It aims to foster attachment and regulation skills, which can also prepare for trauma treatment if sought after later on. This qualitative study explores the experiences of mothers, children and professionals with the program and its perceived impact and what components function as facilitators and barriers in the implementation of such a program in DV crisis shelters in the Netherlands. We conducted in-depth interviews with 15 mothers, 11 children and 18 professionals from three organizations offering DV shelters. We used thematic analysis to identify patterns of meaning in the interviews. Mothers, children and professionals valued that the program provided a calm moment for reflection in hectic times and that the playfulness in which the program addressed trauma-related topics. However, mothers find it difficult to attend the program in the beginning of their shelter stay, therefore hampering the applicability of the program. Our findings suggest that integrating the topic of discussing father in a program in crisis shelters is complex and deserves more attention.     

Learning from the experience of parents in poverty: The power of recognition

This study aims to contribute to the literature exploring the parents' perspective on what parenting in poverty means in their everyday life and how they are able to cope with the challenges that arise from a condition of economic deprivation. Forty parents living in different Italian regions had been interviewed. Data gathering and data analysis were conducted as a simultaneous and iterative process, oriented by the constructivist grounded theory. Our findings provide a clear picture of the parents' constant struggle to protect their children from an environment in which structural conditions and dominant narratives lead to normalize and personalize disadvantages. Parents described enabling and disabling processes that interplay at a material, relational and symbolic level, influencing their movement along a continuum that depicts different experiences in different moments of their lives, as the output of processes where vulnerabilities and strengths are combined. The parents' knowledge helps to explain the wider social processes and the day-to-day social interactions that influence the flow along this continuum. The final purpose is to allow their voices to be heard and to learn from their perspective, as it is essential in designing policies and services that are supposed to help them.     

SNARES IN FAMILY THERAPY

Telephone calls after therapy sessions, concurrent individual treatment of family members, the offer of secret revelations, and the use of psychoactive drugs all involve issues and events that can be insidious to effective family therapy. Various tactics are presented which not only succeed in controlling these incidents, but which also use them as important occasions for therapeutic intervention within the model of family therapy developed by Selvini Palazzoli and her colleagues in Milan.