Thoughts and acts of self-harm,and suicidal ideation,in online gamblers

Gambling problems have been linked to suicidal ideation and enhanced risk of suicide attempts. However, we know very little about the factors associated with either thoughts or acts of self-harm amongst people who gamble. A web-based study of 4125 online gamblers (79% males; mean age 35.5 years), analysed using hierarchical multiple regression, revealed that self-reported non-gambling-related self-harm was negatively related to age and marital status, and positively related to problematic alcohol use. Self-reported acts of self-harm both related and unrelated to gambling were associated with drug misuse. Thoughts and acts of gambling-related self-harm were associated with problem gambling, gambling involvement and parental problem gambling. All types of self-harm were associated with mood disorder symptoms, unemployment and certain gambling motivations. When tailoring assessment and interventions for individuals at risk for gambling-related deliberate self-harm, it is important to recognize that contributory factors may include some that differ from those for deliberate self-harm in general, and that there is potential value in evaluating gambling involvement and motivations, and history of parental gambling.     

Dispersing the Serials Collection and Measuring Paper: Cooperative Storage Efforts and Legacy Journals Management in a University Library

This article discusses workflows involved with contributing print journal back runs to scanning and storage efforts. The purpose of these efforts was to alleviate space problems in a library by consolidating stacks that were formerly used to house runs of bound journals. This article contributes to the literature on serials withdrawal projects by demonstrating database designs for tracking contributions made to cooperative storage facilities as well as highlighting an innovative solution for tracking the required linear feet for housing bound print collections.     

Heterogeneity and selection in multistate population analysis

If one subgroup of individuals in a population has a higher death rate than the others, then over time the surviving population will include a larger share of those with the lower death rate. As a result, the aggregate average death rate for this increasingly more robust population will decline. This conclusion, however, can be drawn only for nonrecurrent events experienced by populations that do not exchange members with one another--that is, for noninteracting populations. Studies of changes in marital status, labor force activity, residential location, and active life, for example, all should focus on patterns of recurrent events among interacting populations (that is, multistate populations). Selection arising from heterogeneity will occur, but the consequences for average measures become unpredictable a priori. This paper explores such aspects of the selection effects of heterogeneity in multistate populations and illuminates some of their consequences for commonly used rates.     

The effects of maternal working conditions and mastery on child behavior problems: studying the intergenerational transmission of social control.

We assess the impact of maternal sense of mastery and maternal working conditions on maternal perceptions of children's behavior problems as a means to study the transmission of social control across generations. We use a sample of 521 employed mothers and their four-to six-year-old children from the National Longitudinal Survey's Youth Cohort in 1986. Regarding working conditions, we consider mother's hourly wage, work hours, and job content including involvement with things (vs. people), the requisite level of physical activity, and occupational complexity. We also consider maternal and child background and current family characteristics, including marital status, family size, and home environment. Maternal mastery was related to fewer reported behavior problems among children. Lower involvement with people and higher involvement with things, as well as low physical activity, were related significantly to higher levels of perceived problems. In addition, recent changes in maternal marital status, including maternal marriage or remarriage, increased reports of problems; stronger home environments had the opposite effect. We interpret these findings as suggesting how maternal experiences of control in the workplace and personal resources of control can influence the internalization of control in children.     

MINIMUM DISTANCE and INDUCED STATISTICS FOR TESTING INEQUALITIES

Minimum distance statistics for testing inequality restrictions on the mean vector of a multivariate normal population are considered and are shown to be equivalent to certain induced (or intersection) test statistics. Tests based on these statistics are shown to be admissible.     

Underlying and multiple causes of death related to smoking

Although smoking has been linked to various causes of death, there is no systematic account of the underlying and multiple cause-of-death distributions associated with various smoking statuses. We analyze such patterns by age and gender for the USA in 1986. Our study is based on a one-percent random sample of decedents 25 and over in the USA for whom survey data from informants were linked to death certificate data. Smoking is related to several underlying causes of death, the most common being circulatory diseases. Lung cancer is less prevalent than circulatory diseases or other cancers among ever smokers. Multiple medical conditions are common for both smokers and nonsmokers, but particular combinations vary among persons with different smoking statuses. Former smokers who quit soon before death and were under frequent medical care are most likely to have had lung cancer. Amount of smoking is tied to variations in cause-of-death patterns. Differences by age and gender are not substantial, although other cancers appear frequently for both smokers and non-smokers among women. The distribution of medical causes of death for ever smokers is not radically different from that of never smokers. However, differences in cause patterns are seen when smoking statuses are detailed by amount of smoking and timing of quitting. These similarities and differences in cause patterns must be related to the fundamental fact that the average smoker will die earlier than the average nonsmoker. Such findings should especially influence programs for diseases whose links to smoking have been underestimated.     

Serving elders in greatest social and economic need: the challenge to the Elderly Nutrition Program

The federally funded Elderly Nutrition Program is mandated to serve elders in greatest social and economic need. Yet researchers have concluded that the program underserves certain groups of elders, including those who are socially impaired and homeless and members of ethnic and other minority groups. This paper reviews the issues involved in serving elders in greatest social and economic need and suggests that reaching all of these elders with program services is not only a laudable goal but also, based on innovative models briefly described, is clearly achievable.     

High-risk families: the unequal distribution of infant mortality in nineteenth-century Sweden

An analysis of infant mortality (based on 133,448 births) in two regions, Sundsvall and Skellefte?, in north-eastern Sweden during the nineteenth century shows that infant mortality was highly clustered with a relatively small number of families accounting for a large proportion of all infant deaths. Using logistic regression, two important factors were found to be associated with high-risk families: (i) a biological component evidenced by an over-representation of women who had experienced stillbirths, and (ii) a social component indicated by an increased risk among women who had remarried. The results strengthen the argument for using the family rather than the single child as the unit of analysis. The clustering of infant deaths points to the need to re-evaluate our interpretations of the causes of infant mortality in the past.