The influence of wives’ and husbands’ fertility preferences on progression to a third birth in Nepal, 1997–2009

As couples across the globe increasingly exercise conscious control over their reproduction, both spouses’ family-size preferences have the opportunity to influence their fertility. Using couple-level measures of rural Nepalese spouses’ family-size preferences and more than a decade of monthly panel data collected subsequently on fertility outcomes, we investigate how both spouses’ preferences influence progression to a third birth in a country where the widely professed ideal family size is two children. Contrary to expectations based on women's relative disadvantage, we find that it is wives’ preferences that drive couples’ progression to a third birth. We find also that the influence of wives’ preferences is not explained by contraceptive use but that this influence is moderated by couple communication about family planning. Wives’ preferences drive progression to a third birth among couples who had discussed how many children to have.     

Anxiety in Adolescence: The Integration of Attachment and Neurobiological Research into Clinical Practice

Attachment theory illuminates aspects of adolescent development and points to critical treatment directions for adolescents. Recent neurobiological research illustrates the importance of integrating physiological understanding into clinical work. The application of attachment theory and neurobiology to treatment is illustrated best through the case example of one adolescent with panic disorder treated in an outpatient setting.     

Risk Perceptions of Offshore Workers on UK Oil and Gas Platforms

Knowledge of the workforce's risk perceptions and attitudes to safety is necessary for the development of a safety culture, where each person accepts responsibility for working safely. The ACSNI Human Factors report stresses the importance of assessing workforce perceptions of risk to achieve a proper safety culture. Risk perception research has been criticized for insufficient analysis of the causal relationships between risk factors and perceived risk. The present study reports some of the factors which predicted risk perception in a sample of 622 employees from six UKCS offshore oil installations who completed a 15-section questionnaire. This paper focuses on the accuracy of workers' risk perceptions and what underlying factors predict the perception of personal risk from both major and minor hazards.     

Are mainstream support services meeting the needs of sexual minority women with breast cancer? An exploration of the perspectives and experiences of users of an online support forum

We conducted an inductive content analysis of messages posted to the lesbian-specific discussion board forum found on breastcancer.org for the purpose of examining sexual minority women's experiences of and perspectives on mainstream cancer support services. Our analysis indicated that currently available support services might not be adequately addressing sexual minority women's unique needs. Individuals posting to the lesbian-specific forum reported the presence of homophobia, heterosexual bias, and feelings of exclusion in mainstream breast cancer support services. In contrast, forum users generally perceived nonspecific cancer support groups to be beneficial, yet the majority preferred lesbian-specific support.     

Reports of Conferences, Institutes, and Seminars: ASIS&T 2008 Annual Meeting

This installment of “Serials Spoken Here” features reports on the ASIS&T (American Society for Information Science & Technology) 2008 Annual Meeting, the EDUCAUSE 2008 Annual Conference, and the 2008 Charleston Conference.     

Usage and Usability Assessment

Abstract

This article describes Online Information Exchange (ONIX) for Serials, a set of XML-based messages parallel to the ONIX for Books format described in an earlier “Standards Update.” These messages are being developed by a joint working party of National Information Standards Organization (NISO) and EDItEUR, the European EDI organization that oversees ONIX development and maintenance. The article describes the messages, their development, and some of the applications in which it is envisioned the messages will be used.     

Young people,emotional suspicion and the emergence of paediatric selfhood in Palestine

This paper explores young people's relationships to emotions and mental health care in Ramallah, Palestine. Palestinian young people—via public anger, sadness, or even joy—are often marked as emotionally other in familial, institutional and other public spaces as part of NGO-driven constructions of emerging paediatric selfhood. In response, they reproduce and/or reframe notions of emotional suspicion that underwrite these marginalizing processes. Thinking along such axes as possibility and impossibility; mobility and immobility; and the local and international, they simultaneously integrate and resist representational subjection, which is an important part of understanding broader post-Oslo Palestinian identity and community formation.     

Assessing behavior in children aged 12–24 months using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire

Behavioral and emotional problems in infants and toddlers are common, often persist and put children at risk of later mental health problems. Reliable, efficient, and sensitive tools are needed to identify young children who may benefit from further assessment and support. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), offers a brief, convenient means of screening for early problems, however, it lacks psychometric validation in infants. The aim of this study was to assess the validity and reliability of the SDQ in children aged 12–24 months. Ninety-three participants, with children aged 12–24 months, completed the SDQ and Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) online. Concurrent validity of the SDQ was assessed through comparison with the CBCL. The results demonstrated that key subscales of the SDQ and CBCL were significantly correlated (r range= −.19 to –.57). Key SDQ subscales showed moderate reliability (Cronbach's alpha range = .38–.79, mean inter-item correlation range = .06–.43). The SDQ shows promising reliability and validity as a measure for rating the behavior of 12–24-months-old children, particularly for externalizing symptoms. Further research is needed to assess its predictive utility.