Normalizing Denominational Statistics with Demographic Data: The Case of the United Church of Canada

In the Canadian context, one type of data has been underutilized in the study of contemporary religious trends: church collected statistics. The present article explores the advantages and limitations of such data by analyzing the evolution of key church indicators of the United Church of Canada over the past four decades. Figures regarding church membership, child baptisms, and funerals are examined and compared with demographic data from four Canadian regions. Results show that virtually all United Church statistics are in decline with regard to larger society since the 1970s. However, there are regional variations, most notably in the Atlantic provinces, which show later and lesser rates of decline.     

FamilyLive: Parental Skill Building for Caregivers with Interpersonal Trauma Exposures

Mental health treatments for emotionally traumatized children incorporate family and caregiver-child therapy sessions to promote child recovery and minimize developmental disruption. Such sessions require that caregivers regulate their emotions to remain productively engaged in the therapeutic process. However, caregivers with histories of unresolved interpersonal trauma have difficulty with emotional regulation. Interpersonal trauma also negatively affects the ability to reflect on one’s own and others’ feelings and intentions. This limitation interferes with caregiver engagement in psychotherapy relationships aimed at supporting child trauma work. FamilyLive is an innovative caregiver-focused family therapy model that uses a one-way mirror, a specially trained reflecting team, structured routines and individualized verbalizations to address this complex clinical phenomenon. Guided by the literature on attachment and trauma, FamilyLive has yielded anecdotal successes and positive pilot results. FamilyLive is a viable approach to engaging caregivers with histories of interpersonal trauma in trauma-focused child and family therapy relationships.     

The Inability of Self-affirmations to Decrease Defensive Bias Toward an Alcohol-Related Risk Message Among High-Risk College Students

Abstract

Objective: To examine the efficacy of a self-affirmation task in deterring college alcohol misuse and the importance of preexisting beliefs in predicting subsequent behavior change. Participants: Heavy-drinking undergraduates (N = 110) participated during the 2011–2012 academic year. Methods: Participants were randomized to complete an affirmation or control task before reading an alcohol risk message. Alcohol-related beliefs and behaviors were assessed. Participants completed a 2-week online follow-up assessing alcohol-related behaviors. Results: Both groups reported increased perceived problem importance, but neither group displayed changes in personal risk. Follow-up assessment revealed similar, significant declines in peak consumption in both groups, with no significant between-group differences. Preexisting beliefs accounted for 5% to 10% of variance in drinking outcomes. Conclusions: An affirmation task does not seem to decrease defensive processing or alter high-risk drinking behaviors among college students and should not be utilized in lieu of more effective strategies.     

When safety culture backfires: Unintended consequences of half-shared governance in a high tech workplace

This paper applies concepts from the sociology and anthropology of organizations to understand limits to the implementation of a more effective safety culture in the workplace. It highlights unintended consequences of combining bureaucratic control and shared governance and identifies sources of inertia within already existing safety cultures. The data come from focus group interviews with workers in a research and development facility of a multinational corporation in the Western U.S. It is found that safety protocols, rules, and rhetoric, combined with efforts to give workers more responsibility for safety in the workplace, create tendencies toward worker alienation, shame with regard to injuries, complacency, and fear of bureaucratic processes. Therefore it appears that some efforts to create safety culture in the workplace may unintentionally undermine the goal of manufacturing safety.     

Preschoolers' Attachment to Mother and Risk for Adjustment Problems in Kindergarten: Can Teachers Make a Difference?

Based on attachment theory, two aims were addressed. Firstly, we tested whether close teacher–child relationships may buffer children who are less securely attached to their mothers against negative outcomes, such as aggressive behavior. Secondly, our study evaluated whether teacher sensitivity may protect less securely attached children against forming less close relationships with their teachers. In a sample of 127 children, mother–child attachment was observed in preschool. In kindergarten, teacher sensitivity was observed, and teacher–child closeness and child aggressive behavior were rated by the teacher. Results of multilevel hierarchical regression analyses first showed that with high teacher–child closeness, less securely attached children are no longer at risk for more aggressive behavior. Secondly, it was found that with high teacher sensitivity, less securely attached children are no longer at risk for developing less close relationships with their teachers.     

Cell Phone Survey Feasibility in The U.S.: Sampling and Calling Cell Numbers Versus Landline Numbers

In 2004, we conducted a nationwide dual frame survey of landlineand cell phone numbers to evaluate the feasibility of includingcell phone numbers in a random digit dial telephone survey.Households with both landline and cell phones were eligiblefor selection in both samples. This article describes our designand data collection methods; compares the results from the twosamples (with an emphasis on operational characteristics); andpresents the outcomes of two experimental manipulations designedto improve the cell phone response rate.     

Assessing the Playing Field: A Prospective Longitudinal Study of Internet Sports Gambling Behavior

Internet gambling is growing rapidly, as is concern about its possible effect on the public’s health. This paper reports the results of the first prospective longitudinal study of actual Internet sports gambling behavior during eight study months. Data include recorded fixed-odds bets on the outcome of sporting contests and live-action bets on the outcome of events within contests for 40,499 Internet sports gambling service subscribers who enrolled during February 2005. We tracked the following primary gambling behaviors: daily totals of the number of bets made, money bet, and money won. We transformed these variables into measures of gambling involvement. We analyzed behavior for both fixed-odds and live-action bets. The median betting behavior of the 39,719 fixed-odds bettors was to place 2.5 bets of €4 (approximately $5.3 US) every fourth day during the median 4 months from first to last bet. This typical pattern incurred a loss of 29% of the amount wagered. The median betting behavior of the 24,794 live-action bettors was to place 2.8 wagers of €4 every fourth day during the median duration of 6 weeks at a loss of 18% of the amount wagered. We also examined the behavior of empirically determined groups of heavily involved bettors whose activity exceeded that of 99% of the sample.