Virtual World Interview Skills Training for Students Studying Health Professions

This study examined the effectiveness of a health professional virtual world interview skills trainer (IST), in comparison to classroom training via interview role-plays with peers. Students of psychology, physiotherapy, and general health science learned interviewing skills through role-play and virtual world training. Students were randomly allocated to a role-play-first, or IST-first condition. Interviewing self-efficacy was measured at baseline and after each of the learning experiences. In total, 72 students completed all surveys. Students’ reported an increase in interviewing self-efficacy significantly after the IST experience than after role-play.     

Sport fans' impressions of gay male athletes

The purpose of this study was to examine sport fans' impressions of gay male athletes. Participants formed impressions of a fictional athlete from their favorite team after reading a short scenario about the player. The scenarios described the athlete as being gay or straight, and either becoming a distraction or not causing a distraction to the team. While males' ratings of the athlete did not significantly differ, female fans formed significantly more positive impressions of the gay male player than the straight athlete. These results are discussed in terms of the ingroup bias and the shifting culture of homophobia in sport.     

What's in a Name? ‘Work and Family’ or ‘Work and Life’ Balance Policies in the UK since 1997 and the Implications for the Pursuit of Gender Equality

Since 1997, Labour has developed a wide range of policies on childcare services, care leaves and flexible working hours. In 2000, the term ‘work‐life balance’ was introduced and has been used by Government Departments and by the academic community with very little discussion of its meaning vis à vis the use of ‘family‐friendly’ policies, or the promotion of ‘work and family balance’. We explore the introduction of the term work‐life balance, the reasons for it, and its significance at the policy level, especially in terms of its implications for the pursuit of gender equality. We find that at the policy level, its use was more a matter of strategic framing than substantive change. Nevertheless, because of the UK Government's largely gender‐neutral approach to the whole policy field, it is important to make explicit the tensions in the continuing use of the term work‐life balance, particularly in relation to the achievement of gender equality.     

Family Therapy for Child and Youth Mental Health: A Scoping Literature Review

Early intervention in childhood years is an important part of successful therapies for children and adolescents living with or at risk of mental illness. Family therapy acknowledges the role of family relationships, interactions, and family systems in child and youth mental health. To explore the effectiveness and delivery of family therapy in order to inform current family therapy practice in Australian public mental health services, a scoping literature review mapped key concepts of the past 11 years of family therapy research. Current gaps were noted within the following key concepts: family therapy settings and definitions, the influence of family factors on outcomes, transparency of intervention methods, and the training of family therapists. Further research could be undertaken to address current gaps in the literature, specifically: assessment and intervention processes; typical length of time for a series of family sessions; frequency of sessions; and theoretical foundations linked with most effective outcomes, as identified by clinicians, children, and their families. This research would provide a better understanding of best practice and evidence‐based family therapy practices that work for children and their families to inform family therapy practice in Australia and beyond. This scoping literature review identified that there is a noteworthy variation in the way brief family therapy is provided, both in terms of the duration and frequency of sessions, as well as the theoretical underpinnings employed. Further research is warranted to explore different service contexts and brief versions of family therapy delivery and the outcomes for the children and their families.     

Heterosexual Anal Sex Among Men and Women in Substance Abuse Treatment: Secondary Analysis of Two Gender-Specific HIV-Prevention Trials

Receptive anal sex has high human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission risk, and heterosexual substance-abusing individuals report higher anal sex rates compared to their counterparts in the general population. This secondary analysis evaluated the effectiveness of two gender-specific, evidence-based HIV-prevention interventions (Real Men Are Safe, or REMAS, for men; Safer Sex Skill Building, or SSSB, for women) against an HIV education (HIV-Ed) control condition on decreasing unprotected heterosexual anal sex (HAS) among substance abuse treatment-seeking men (n = 171) and women (n = 105). Two variables, engagement in any HAS and engagement in unprotected HAS, were assessed at baseline and three months postintervention. Compared to the control group, women in the gender-specific intervention did not differ on rates of any HAS at follow-up but significantly decreased their rates of unprotected HAS. Men in both the gender-specific and the control interventions reported less HAS and unprotected HAS at three-month follow-up compared to baseline, with no treatment condition effect. The mechanism of action for SSSB compared to REMAS in decreasing unprotected HAS is unclear. More attention to HAS in HIV-prevention interventions for heterosexual men and women in substance abuse treatment is warranted.     

A Comparison Study of Low Trauma Disclosure Participants and Their Partners in Army Couples

Intimate partner relationships provide unique conditions for examining how the interpersonal and/or systemic impact of trauma exposure and post-trauma responses can impact both the primary and secondary trauma survivors and the interpersonal dynamics of the couple. The current study explored qualitative and quantitative data from low trauma disclosure individuals (n?=?15) and their partners to understand the experiences of low trauma disclosure to spouses in a sample of Army couples. Contrary to the original hypothesis, the results indicated mixed trauma disclosure partners seemed to be functioning at lower individual and relationship functioning levels than the low or high trauma disclosure partners. Implications for practice and future research also are described.     

Exploring the impact of mindfulnesss on mental wellbeing,stress and resilience of undergraduate social work students

Mindfulness is becoming more popular as emerging research demonstrates its benefits for self-care, by cultivating calmness and decreasing stress or anxiety. This pilot study aimed to measure the impact of a six-week Mindfulness course, modelled on the manualised treatment programme developed by Kabat-Zinn on the mental well-being, stress and resilience of undergraduate social work students in Northern Ireland. This was a mixed methods study involving two groups: (1) intervention group participants who attended a six-week Mindfulness course (April–May 2016) and (2) control group participants. Basic socio-demographic data were collected from all participants and all were invited to complete the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale, the Perceived Stress Scale and the Resilience Scale during weeks 1 and 6. Statistical tests were used to compare mean scores from the scales, and qualitative data were manually analysed using thematic content analysis. Findings indicated significant changes in the scores for well-being, stress and resilience for the intervention group, but not for the control group. Mindfulness may not appeal to all students so it should not be a mandatory component of training, but may be offered as one of the wider approaches to self-care for undergraduate social work degree students.     

Proposed best practice for projects that involve modelling and simulation

Modelling and simulation has been used in many ways when developing new treatments. To be useful and credible, it is generally agreed that modelling and simulation should be undertaken according to some kind of best practice. A number of authors have suggested elements required for best practice in modelling and simulation. Elements that have been suggested include the pre‐specification of goals, assumptions, methods, and outputs. However, a project that involves modelling and simulation could be simple or complex and could be of relatively low or high importance to the project. It has been argued that the level of detail and the strictness of pre‐specification should be allowed to vary, depending on the complexity and importance of the project. This best practice document does not prescribe how to develop a statistical model. Rather, it describes the elements required for the specification of a project and requires that the practitioner justify in the specification the omission of any of the elements and, in addition, justify the level of detail provided about each element. This document is an initiative of the Special Interest Group for modelling and simulation. The Special Interest Group for modelling and simulation is a body open to members of Statisticians in the Pharmaceutical Industry and the European Federation of Statisticians in the Pharmaceutical Industry. Examples of a very detailed specification and a less detailed specification are included as appendices.     

Information and preference aggregation

We investigate the implications of relaxing Arrow's independence of irrelevant alternatives axiom while retaining transitivity and the Pareto condition. Even a small relaxation opens a floodgate of possibilities for nondictatorial and efficient social choice. Received: 20 August 1997/Accepted: 29 September 1998