Environmental and policy change to support healthy aging

Given the growing evidence of the influence of the environment on older adult health, the need to design and implement effective environmental policy around healthy and vital aging is urgent. This article describes issues amenable to improvement through policy change, evidence supporting specific policy approaches and outcomes, and promising strategies for implementing those approaches. Key areas of focus are neighborhood design and safety, housing, transportation, and mobility. Strategies to build capacity for policy change are also addressed. Our goals are to foster greater attention to environmental change in support of healthy aging and to illuminate directions for policy change.     

On the role of data,statistics and decisions in a pandemic

AStA Advances in Statistical Analysis - A pandemic poses particular challenges to decision-making because of the need to continuously adapt decisions to rapidly changing evidence and available...     

Parent Characteristics and Early Coparenting Behavior at the Transition to Parenthood

This study examined parent characteristics as correlates of coparenting behavior in 57 primiparous couples. Parents' negative emotionality and perceptions of maternal acceptance in childhood, mothers' beliefs about fathers' roles, and observed marital behavior and family socioeconomic status were assessed during the third trimester of pregnancy, and coparenting behavior was observed at 3.5 months postpartum. Couples who exhibited high‐quality marital interaction showed higher supportive coparenting behavior, but couples who showed lower quality marital interaction demonstrated higher supportive coparenting behavior when mothers held more progressive beliefs about fathers' roles. Couples showed more undermining coparenting behavior when family socioeconomic status was lower and when fathers were higher on negative emotionality. Greater perceived maternal acceptance in childhood was only associated with lower levels of undermining behavior when prenatal marital interaction was high in quality. Thus, the characteristics of both parents, especially in combination with preexisting marital behavior, are important determinants of coparenting behavior.     

Cost‐Benefit Analysis of Passive Fire Protections in Road LPG Transportation

The cost‐benefit evaluation of passive fire protection adoption in the road transport of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) was investigated. In a previous study, mathematical simulations of real scale fire scenarios proved the effectiveness of passive fire protections in preventing the “fired” boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion (BLEVE), thus providing a significant risk reduction. In the present study the economical aspects of the adoption of fire protections are analyzed and an approach to cost‐benefit analysis (CBA) is proposed. The CBA model is based on the comparison of the risk reduction due to fire protections (expressed in monetary terms by the value of a statistical life) and the cost of the application of fire protections to a fleet of tankers. Different types of fire protections were considered, as well as the possibility to apply protections to the entire fleet or only to a part of it. The application of the proposed model to a real‐life case study is presented and discussed. Results demonstrate that the adoption of passive fire protections on road tankers, though not compulsory in Europe, can be economically feasible, thus representing a concrete measure to achieve control of the “major hazard accidents” cited by the European legislation.     

Temperament as a Moderator of the Effects of Parental Depressive Symptoms on Child Behavior Problems

Parental depressive symptomatology has consistently been linked to child maladjustment, but these effects are not universal. This investigation examined the role of child temperament as a moderator of the effects of parental depression on behavior problems in five‐year‐old children. Parents reported on their own depressive symptoms, and both parents and teachers reported on child behavior. Temperament was assessed by both parent‐report and structured observation. Results indicated significant associations between behavior problems and both depressive symptoms (maternal and paternal) and child temperament (effortful control and negative affect). Child surgency moderated the effects of both maternal and paternal depressive symptoms on child behavior problems. Child negative affect and incongruous negative emotionality moderated the effects of maternal depressive symptoms on child behavior problems. These findings point to the importance of examining multiple factors within the family system to further understand the processes of child development.     

Social Darwinism in Anglophone Academic Journals: A Contribution to the History of the Term

Abstract This essay is a partial history of the term "Social Darwinism". Using large electronic databases, it is shown that the use of the term in leading Anglophone academic journals was rare up to the 1940s. Citations of the term were generally disapproving of the racist or imperialist ideologies with which it was associated. Neither Herbert Spencer nor William Graham Sumner were described as Social Darwinists in this early literature. Talcott Parsons (1932 , 1934 , 1937 ) extended the meaning of the term to describe any extensive use of ideas from biology in the social sciences. Subsequently, Richard Hofstadter (1944 ) gave the use of the term a huge boost, in the context of a global anti-fascist war.     

An Examination of the Relationship Between Career Thoughts and Communication Apprehension

This study examined relationships among dysfunctional career thoughts and levels of communication apprehension. Undergraduate students, 88 women and 87 men, completed the Career Thoughts Inventory (CTI; J. P. Sampson, G. W. Peterson, J. G. Lenz, R. C. Reardon, & D. E. Saunders, 1996) and the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA‐24; J. C. McCroskey, 1984b). Analysis of correlation coefficients found significant mild‐to‐moderate correlations among scales of the CTI and the PRCA‐24. The results indicated that individuals with average and high levels of communication apprehension had greater decision‐making confusion, commitment anxiety, and external conflict than persons with low levels of communication apprehension. Implications for counseling and further research are discussed in light of these results.