Organisationsentwicklung im Öffentlichen Dienst

The situation of German universities is going to change due to the expected decreasing number of students. The universities develop a strategic orientation to compensate e.g. by focusing on research, international students or continuing education. The article describes the foundation of an institute for continuing education and its implications on internal structure.     

“I feel like her daughter not her mother”: Ethnographic trans-cultural perspective of the experiences of aging for a group of Southeast Asian refugees in the United States

ObjectiveThis study seeks to understand trans-cultural aging and stressors for aging refugees. It describes the experiences of Cambodian refugee women as they age in the United States.MethodExperiences of 16 Cambodian refugee women (ages 44–60), participants of a Cambodian community health center support group, were examined over a year.ResultsAnalysis revealed complex experiences of aging in the U.S. including these: (a) loss of role as respected elder, (b) fear of living separate from children, (c) feeling devalued by children, and (d) feeling self-blame for intergenerational cultural gap. The women described years of employment interrupted by the exacerbation of post-traumatic symptoms later in life preventing further employment.DiscussionAn ethnographic trans-cultural perspective of the experiences of aging for Southeast Asian refugees. Aging refugees face stressors even 20–30 years after resettlement. Findings show decrease in functioning as survivors of torture age. Recommendations for social service programs and providers are made.     

Predictors of Regional Well-Being: A County Level Analysis

The current study takes a novel approach to studying the correlates of subjective well-being. Unlike previous studies, which typically examine group-level well-being at the state or national level, we analyzed correlates of well-being at the county level within the United States. Using nationally representative data, we found that reliable variance in well-being exists across counties. Furthermore, this variance was associated with a number of objective factors, including income, population density, health and education. Continued study of these factors at the regional level may have important implications for developing community programs and public policy.     

Going It Alone: Post-9/11 Veteran Nonuse of Healthcare and Social Service Programs During Their Early Transition to Civilian Life

Transitioning from military to civilian life is challenging for a substantial number of veterans. Successful transitions require veterans to function well in various well-being domains including employment, education, financial, health, and social relationships. There are many programs and services designed to assist veterans transition to civilian life. However, veterans rarely avail themselves of supportive resources. This study examined veteran nonuse of programs and services within the first three months of their transition to civilian life. Results revealed that male veterans often reported that they did not need programs. Female veterans and veterans from the lowest enlisted ranks were more likely to report that they did not know if they were eligible for support programs. A small percentage of veterans indicated they had not found the right program or did not know where to go to get help. Veterans need clear information about available programs, eligibility requirements, where to locate them, and how to identify which programs will benefit them. Future research should focus on what predicts veteran use of programs and services, how use changes over time, and how programs and services should be advertised/marketed to different veteran populations, particularly those at risk for poor transition outcomes.     

Reproducibility of clinical data II: categorical outcomes

In this second part of this paper, reproducibility of discrete ordinal and nominal outcomes is addressed. The first part deals with continuous outcomes, concentrating on intraclass correlation (ρ) in the context of one‐way analysis of variance. For categorical data, the focus has generally not been on a meaningful population parameter such as ρ. However, intraclass correlation has been defined for discrete ordinal data, ρ_c, and for nominal data, κ_I. Therefore, a unified approach to reproducibility is proposed. The relevance of these parameters is outlined. Estimation and inferential procedures for ρ_c and κ_I are reviewed, together with worked examples. Topics related to reproducibility that are not addressed in either this or the previous paper are highlighted. Considerations for designing reproducibility studies and for interpreting their results are provided. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Using an Interpreter as Cofacilitator

This article describes an ongoing group for Cambodian refugee elder women. The group was facilitated by a White licensed clinical social worker who spoke only English and a bilingual, Cambodian interpreter. The interpreter interpreted for the members and the English speaking facilitator but also was a cofacilitator performing assessments of group dynamics, interventions, and actively facilitated alongside the licensed clinical social worker. This model is different than how interpreters are traditionally used. Challenges, strengths, and the dynamics of this model are discussed.     

Early Psychosocial Stress Affects Men's Relationship Length

Life history theory predicts that the optimal reproductive strategy for individuals in risky and uncertain environments (subjectively experienced as early psychosocial stress) is to maximize current reproduction to minimize the chances of lineage extinction. Having many short-term relationships and many lifetime sex partners are ways to maximize current reproduction, but they come at a cost (e.g., decreased resources for future reproduction, decreased desirability as a future mate, etc.). This study, therefore, examined whether sexually active individuals with high levels of early psychosocial stress report more terminated short-term relationships, a shorter relationship length with their current partner, and more lifetime sex partners than those with less early psychosocial stress. Early psychosocial stress in men was associated with more terminated short-term relationships and a greater number of lifetime sex partners, but not with current relationship length; in women, high early psychosocial stress was associated with shorter current relationship length but not with the number of terminated short-term relationships or number of lifetime sex partners. Results are discussed from the perspective of life history theory and gender differences in preferences for short- and long-term relationships.     

Maternal Punitive Reactions to Children's Negative Emotions and Young Adult Trait Anger: Effect of Gender and Emotional Closeness

The current study tested whether young adult's recollected reports of their mother's punitive reactions to their negative emotions in childhood predicted anger expression in young adulthood and whether emotional closeness weakens this association. Further, a three-way interaction was tested to examine whether emotional closeness is a stronger protective factor for young women than for young men. Results revealed a significant three-way interaction (gender × emotional closeness × maternal punitive reactions). For young men, maternal punitive reactions to negative emotions were directly associated with increased anger expressions. Maternal punitive reactions to young women's negative emotions in childhood were associated with increased anger in adulthood only when they reported low maternal emotional closeness. Findings suggest that maternal emotional closeness may serve as a buffer against the negative effects of maternal punitive reactions for women's anger expression in young adulthood.     

Usual care for trauma-exposed youth: Are clinician-reported therapy techniques evidence-based?

The current study examined the extent to which usual care interventions targeting childhood traumatic stress involved the application of practice elements (Chorpita, Daleiden, & Weisz, 2005) represented among the evidenced-based treatments (EBTs) for trauma. Youth age and the presence of conduct problems at intake were examined as potential predictors of differences in the presence of elements from EBTs. Data were obtained from archival records from 814 youth who received services from a large, community-based mental health system. Results showed that usual care clinicians reported a variety of practices, only some of which were common to the evidence base for traumatic stress. ‘Exposure’ stood out as the most common practice element among EBTs for treating traumatic stress, but it was reported in fewer than a quarter of usual care cases. For youth receiving out-of-home services, a diagnosis of PTSD predicted that fewer practice elements from EBTs for trauma were reported. Also, as youth age increased, clinicians reported using more practice elements from the evidence base. These findings point to possible opportunities for service improvement in usual care settings for trauma-exposed youth and at the same time call into question whether aspects of the context or population warrant increased use of techniques not associated with EBTs for traumatic stress (cf. Brookman-Frazee, Haine, Baker-Ericzén, Zoffness, & Garland, 2010; Southam-Gerow, Chorpita, Miller, & Gleacher, 2008).