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.     

Identifiability and estimation of recursive max‐linear models

We address the identifiability and estimation of recursive max‐linear structural equation models represented by an edge‐weighted directed acyclic graph (DAG). Such models are generally unidentifiable and we identify the whole class of DAG s and edge weights corresponding to a given observational distribution. For estimation, standard likelihood theory cannot be applied because the corresponding families of distributions are not dominated. Given the underlying DAG, we present an estimator for the class of edge weights and show that it can be considered a generalized maximum likelihood estimator. In addition, we develop a simple method for identifying the structure of the DAG. With probability tending to one at an exponential rate with the number of observations, this method correctly identifies the class of DAGs and, similarly, exactly identifies the possible edge weights.     

Ecological validity of laboratory studies of videopoker gaming

This study compared the cognitive and behavioral components of videopoker players under laboratory and natural settings. Twenty regular gamblers (19 men and 1 woman) were matched into two groups on age and on frequency of gambling. Irrational verbalizations during gambling, monetary risk (number of bets doubled and number of tokens bet), and motivation served as dependent variables. Results showed no significant differences between laboratory and natural settings for the number of inadequate verbalizations, bets doubled, and motivation. The amount of money gambled was greater in the laboratory than in the natural setting. The practical and theoretical implications of these results are discussed according to the ecological validity of gambling studies conducted in laboratory settings.This study was supported in part by a grant from the Conseil de la Recherche en Sciences Humaines du Canada (410-88-0676) and from the Conseil Québécois de la Recherche Sociale (RS-1280).     

Ecological and Motivational Determinants of Activation: Studying Compared to Sports and Watching TV

How can we enhance activation? Studying shouldbe a challenging, yet rewarding activity forstudents who intend to graduate. The Flowtheory (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990, 1997) predictsthat differential levels of perceived challengeand skill (flow) are related to optimizedmental states and increased activation.However, the influence of concurrent mentalstates and specific environmental cues for thisstate of optimal experience is unknown. In thisstudy we explore the contextual and subjectivedeterminants of flow in relation to activationin studying, and compare this with sports andwatching TV or listening to the radio. Method: 43 undergraduate students at theUniversity of Maastricht were assessed with theExperience Sampling Method for one week(Delespaul, 1995). At random moments 10 timeseach day subjects evaluated the social context,activities, and mood states. Analyses were donewith multilevel random regression techniques.Results: We replicated the predictedflow-related patterns in activation andemotions. While overall activation wasincreased in high challenging moments(β = 0.51; 95% CI: 0.36, 0.19), thiseffect was less pronounced during study(β = ?0.16; 95% CI: ?0.25, ?0.07). Skillslevels did not affect activation(β = ?0.01; 95% CI: ?0.06, 0.05).Concurrent emotions were independently andadditionally related to activation(Δχ² ₍₄₎ = 117.12,p < 0.0001). Unexpectedly, activation increasedwith demotivation (β = ?0.12; 95% CI:0.16, 0.07). We found highly significant andadditional effects of context for all theactivities (study: χ² = 732.63;p < 0.0001; R² = 0.30; active leisure:χ² = 753.40; p < 0.0001; R² = 0.31;and passive leisure: χ² = 555.86;p < 0.0001; R² = 0.24). Conclusions. TheFlow theory is a valuable model leading topredictions of optimal experience as well asactivation. However, the dynamics of activityengagement are more complex and related toconcurrent emotions and context. In the Dutchstudent culture, escaping boredom or compulsoryduties seems to drive individuals more thanpursuing flow.     

Linked Lives: Adult Children's Problems and Their Parents' Psychological and Relational Well-Being

This study examined associations between adult children's cumulative problems and their parents' psychological and relational well-being, as well as whether such associations are similar for married and single parents. Regression models were estimated using data from 1,188 parents in the 1995 National Survey of Midlife in the United States whose youngest child was at least 19 years old. Participants reporting children with more problems indicated moderately poorer levels of well-being across all outcomes examined. Single parents reporting more problems indicated less positive affect than a comparable group of married parents, but married parents reporting more problems indicated poorer parent-child relationship quality. Findings are congruent with the family life course perspective, conceptualizing parents and children as occupying mutually influential developmental trajectories.     

Homelessness in Europe and the United States: A Comparison of Prevalence and Public Opinion

Random samples of 250–435 adults were interviewed by telephone in five different nations ( N = 1,546): Belgium, Germany, Italy, the UK, and the United States. The interview included questions on respondent attitudes, knowledge, and opinions regarding homelessness; respondents' own personal experiences with homelessness and homeless people; and demographic characteristics of the respondents. The highest rates for lifetime literal homelessness were found in the UK (7.7%) and United States (6.2%), with the lowest rate in Germany (2.4%), and intermediate rates in Italy (4.0%) and Belgium (3.4%). Less compassionate attitudes toward the homeless were also found on many dimensions in the United States and the UK. Possible explanations of these findings, drawn from various theoretical perspectives, and policy implications are provided .     

Moral boundaries and national borders: Cuban marriage migration to Denmark

The discussion of marriage migration in Denmark primarily has focused on citizens of immigrant descent (‘New Danes’) who marry partners from their ancestral homeland (often Turkey or Pakistan). This type of marriage migration was the target of the strict Danish family reunification policy instituted in 2002. This article examines the genealogy of the morality underpinning the family reunification policies and asks whether the rules actually promote this moral agenda or have unintended consequences. Empirically, I shift the focus from immigrant Danes to native Danes who marry Cubans. Finally, while little attention is paid to the non-western country involved, transnational marriages always involve two nations. This article investigates how state policies on both ends of this migration trajectory shape moral-territorial borders that transnational couples navigate.     

The Subject of History/The Object of Transference

Rather than consider the patient's history as limited to the first years of life, this paper extends the idea of the patient's history to encompass multiple histories–national, colonial, racial, gendered, sexual, developmental, familial, and immigrant–as interweaving threads of personal identity. From this perspective history refers not only to an individual's developmental course but also to the shaping force of events in creating culture or the very subjects that experience culture and cultural events. Within the performative theater of transference, countertransference histories are actually remade through the intimacies of psychic and affective experience revealed in the analytic encounter.     

Making It as a Dual-Career Family in Germany: Exploring What Couples Think and Do in Everyday Life

This qualitative-explorative article is about meanings and coordination of work, home, and their interrelationship in dual-career families. The study was conducted in a German company by interviewing couples working at the production level, in research and development, middle management, and administration. Data were gathered in narrative interviews and 1-week journals filled out by each interview partner. The results confirm four observations: persistence to traditional gender roles, the indispensable role of grandmothers in enabling mothers to pursue gainful employment, the prevalence of part-time work for mothers, and the “spillover” thesis, indicating that it is predominantly work that spills over into family rather than family that intrudes into work. In the discussion the German social system is included as an explanatory approach to these findings.