Period‐Based Mortality Change: Turning Points in Trends since 1950

We investigate a major turning point in mortality trends at adult ages that occurred for many low‐mortality countries in the late 1960s or early 1970s. We analyze patterns of total and cause‐specific mortality over the past 60 years using data from the Human Mortality Database and the World Health Organization. We focus on four broad categories of causes of death: heart diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, smoking‐related cancers, and all other cancers. We use a two‐slope regression model to assess the timing and magnitude of turning points in mortality trends over this era, making separate analyses by sex, age, and cause of death. The age pattern of temporal changes is given particular attention. Our results demonstrate convincingly that period‐based factors were very significant in the onset of the “cardiovascular revolution” in the years around 1970. In general, although cohort processes cannot be ruled out as a driver of mortality change in recent decades (especially for mortality due to smoking‐related cancers), the evidence reviewed here suggests that period factors have been the dominant force behind the mortality trends of high‐income countries during this era.     

Finance Capital and the Water Crisis: Insights from Mexico

This paper explores how finance capitalism materializes as socio-ecological process, shedding light on the complex causalities in which current shifts in control over natural resources are embedded. Housing is a critical aspect of financialization. A case study of the financialized housing sector in Central Mexico shows (i) how housing policy serves as a mechanism for the redistribution of wealth from the working class to global finance capital, and (ii) how mortgage-financed housing projects come into being only through an existing water governance regime, while in turn leading to new structures of groundwater governance with profound social and ecological implications. The paper concludes that current accumulation and natural resource regimes interact in complex and contradictory ways that go beyond straightforward resource grabbing. It suggests that Moore’s concept of ‘capitalism in the web of life’ could help to understand how finance capitalism simultaneously transforms the socio-natural world and is produced by it.     

Function-Altering Effects of Rule Phrasing in the Modulation of Instructional Control

The Analysis of Verbal Behavior - This study evaluated the effects of four instructional variants on instruction following under changing reinforcement schedules using an operant task based on...     

A Dyadic Analysis of Attachment Insecurities and Romantic Disengagement among Couples Seeking Relationship Therapy

This study sought to assess the role of attachment insecurities on romantic disengagement among couples seeking relationship therapy. Dyadic associations were examined between attachment insecurities and romantic disengagement, accounting for depression, relationship satisfaction, and commitment, using a sample of 171 couples. Partners completed the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale and the Romantic Disengagement Scale. Path analysis revealed that attachment-related avoidance, but not anxiety, was associated with romantic disengagement. Men's attachment-related anxiety was related to greater disengagement in their partner. The combination of men's attachment-related avoidance and women's attachment-related anxiety was also significantly associated with women's romantic disengagement. Although attachment insecurities were associated with romantic disengagement, contextual and intrapersonal factors also contributed to our understanding of disengagement. Findings are discussed in light of clinical interventions for couple therapy.     

Sexual Portrait of Couples Seeking Relationship Therapy

This study sought to provide information about the sexual well‐being of 298 mixed‐sex couples seeking relationship therapy and determined the extent to which problems with sexual functioning and dyadic adjustment of both partners are associated with sexual satisfaction. Partners completed measures of dyadic adjustment, sexual satisfaction, and sexual functioning. Thirty percent of couples reported a clinically significant sexual problem. Compared to their male partners, the women were more likely to report a sexual problem as well as lower dyadic adjustment, sexual satisfaction, and overall sexual functioning. Path analysis indicated that relationship adjustment uniquely predicted individuals' own sexual satisfaction; problems in sexual functioning uniquely predicted own and partner sexual satisfaction. Findings underscore the need to address sexual problems in relationship therapy.     

Transitions to Caregiving,Gender, and Psychological Well‐Being: A Prospective U.S. National Study

Guided by a life course perspective, this study examined the effects of transitioning into caregiving activity for a child, spouse, parent, other relative, or nonkin associate on nine dimensions of psychological well‐being. Data came from adults ages 19–95, who were noncaregiver primary respondents in the National Survey of Families and Households in 1987–88 and who were followed up longitudinally in 1992–93 (N= 8,286). Results from multivariate regression models confirmed that the transition to caregiving for primary kin (i.e., a child, spouse, or biological parent) was associated with an increase in depressive symptoms. However in selected instances, caregiving was associated with beneficial effects (e.g., women who began to provide nonresidential care to a biological parent reported more purpose in life than noncaregiving women). Evidence regarding gender differences was inconsistent, varying across caregiving role relationship types.     

The internal validity of the index of spouse abuse in African American women

This study investigated the internal validity of the Index of Spouse Abuse (ISA) (Hudson & McIntosh, 1981) in a sample of 583 African American women who sought health care at a tertiary care hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. Three models were tested with confirmatory factor techniques: (a) Hudson and McIntosh's original Index of Spouse Abuse two factor model; (b) Campbell, Campbell, Parker, and Ryan's three factor model (Campbell, Campbell, King, Parker, & Ryan, 1994); and (c) an alternative model of physical and nonphysical abuse. This alternative model is based in part on Tolman's conceptualization of psychological abuse as a construct comprised of two related but distinct factors: controlling and emotionally abusive behaviors (Tolman, 1999). Results show that the alternative model fits the data better than the first two models. Findings support the continued use of the ISA, but with proposed modifications.     

Decreased psychopathology & family burden. Associated with clozapine treatment of patients with refractory schizophrenia

1. Intensive multimodal treatment produces measurable gains in community functioning of people with schizophrenia and reduces family burden. 2. Families that were more involved with patients were more satisfied. 3. Money directed at intensive management and rehabilitation decreases hospitalization and increases community functioning of people with schizophrenia.     

Risk factors for suicide attempts among African American women experiencing recent intimate partner violence

The purposes of this study were to identify risk factors for suicide attempts among 200 African American abused women (100 attempters, 100 nonattempters) and to test a cumulative risk model to determine if a woman's likelihood of making a suicide attempt increased as the number of risk factors increased. Results revealed that attempters were significantly more likely than nonattempters to report high levels of depressive symptoms, hopelessness, drug abuse, and childhood abuse and neglect. Results from the cumulative risk model revealed a linear association between the number of risk factors and the odds of making a suicide attempt. Compared to women with no risk factors, women with two risk factors, women with three risk factors, and women with four to five risk factors were 10, 25, and 107 times, respectively, more likely to attempt suicide. The identification of risk variables highlights the importance of designing interventions to address these factors in order to reduce the risk of suicidal behavior in abused, African American women.     

The Internet and Opinion Measurement: Surveying Marginalized Populations

Objective . Problems of self-selection, selection bias, and response rates have greatly limited the use and validity of on-line surveys. This study addresses those issues by examining population data for a group of Internet users who responded to a series of on-line surveys, enabling the calculation of both response rate and selection bias. Methodology . A series of surveys were posted on a gay/lesbian website. We compare demographic data collected from our study sample with national data on gays/lesbians. A logistic regression model was used to determine if differences existed between participants and nonparticipants. Results . The study sample of gays/lesbians comported well with the national sample. Demographic characteristics of those electing to participate in the surveys and nonparticipants are practically indistinguishable. The response rate to our on-line surveys was approximately 16.4 percent, similar to that in nontargeted mail surveys. Conclusions . The results indicate that, despite its limitations, the Internet can be a valuable medium in reaching populations difficult to identify using standard survey research techniques.