Prevalence and correlates of alcohol-induced blackouts among college students: results of an e-mail survey

The authors conducted an e-mail survey of 772 college students to learn more about their experiences with blackouts. Approximately half (51%) of those who had ever consumed alcohol reported they had experienced a blackout at some point in their lives, and 40% had experienced 1 in the year before the survey. Among those who drank in the 2 weeks before the survey, nearly 1 in 10 (9.4%) had experienced a blackout during that period. Many later learned that, during the blackout, they had vandalized property, driven an automobile, had sexual intercourse, or engaged in other risky behaviors. Experiencing 3 or more blackouts was associated with a variety of other experiences, including heavier drinking, lower grades, an earlier age of drinking onset, and having others express concerns about their drinking. The female students who reported blackouts during the 2 weeks before the survey drank far less than male students did during this time period, supporting the use of gender-specific definitions of risky drinking.     

The effects of domestic violence during pregnancy on maternal and infant health

The present study examined the impact of domestic violence on maternal and infant health by assessing maternal health during pregnancy and infant health at two months postpartum. Two hundred and two women (68 battered and 134 non-battered) were recruited from the community and completed both pregnancy and 2-month postpartum interviews. Results revealed that domestic violence during pregnancy was associated with numerous health problems for mothers and infants including more health problems during pregnancy, more likelihood of premature labor, later entrance into prenatal care, lower infant birth weight, greater utilization of health care resources, and more prenatal substance use. After income was controlled, the relationship between violence and timing of prenatal care and infant birth weight became nonsignificant. Maternal social support was found to protect against the effects of violence for several health outcomes. The current findings suggest the need for domestic violence screening during pregnancy, as well as clinical interventions for battered, pregnant women in order to prevent serious physical and emotional problems for both mothers and their infants.     

Office ergonomics education: a comparison of traditional and participatory methods

Health and safety literature stresses the value of programs aimed at preventing musculoskeletal injuries. The concepts of empowerment learning are often recommended as guidelines for worker education yet these approaches are largely untested. The present study compares the traditional approach involving lecture and discussion with a participatory method. A sample of 102 participants employed at a centralized reservation facility was used. Participants were randomly assigned to either the traditional education group or the participatory education group. Data collection utilized surveys completed by study participants and observational checklists completed by a trained observer. Data were collected prior to intervention and at approximately 3, 6, and 12 months post intervention. Results of data analysis provide no evidence that participatory methods are more effective than traditional methods in encouraging workers to position their work equipment correctly or to maintain good working postures to prevent musculoskeletal injuries.     

Evaluation of an upper extremity student-role functioning scale using item response theory

Millions of workers suffer from upper extremity (musculoskeletal) disorders. Many of these workers are predisposed to upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders because of early exposure to ergonomic risks as students. Computer usage for four or more hours remains the greatest risk for upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders for workers and students alike. Developing preventative methods to reduce student exposure, and thus protect future workers from upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders later in life, requires an appropriate measure for upper extremity musculoskeletal disorder prevalence and related limitations for student functioning. Item response theory analysis was used to evaluate and further develop a upper extremity functioning scale for the student role.     

A review of research on techniques for lifting low-lying objects: 1. Criteria for evaluation

Advice and training on techniques for lifting is frequently provided. The choice of which technique to use should be based on the evidence available on a number of criteria. Important criteria include: psychophysical, physiological, biomechanical, psychological, performance and clinical. However few professionals have the time to read all the original research required to understand the limitations of the available criteria. The purpose of this paper was to present an accessible synthesis of the criteria used to choose a specific technique. Each criterion is described and its validity discussed to provide the reader with a better understanding of the criteria, and thus the evidence available.     

Mitigating the tithonus error: genetic analysis of mortality phenotypes

Summarizing an organism's age at death in terms of the mean or maximum life-span is the most popular way to describe genetic effects on aging. In this Perspective, the author describes a new study with the fly Drosophila melanogaster, in which another type of measure is also used: the age-dependent risk of death, or age-specific mortality. Changes in age-specific mortality reflect the underlying physiological deterioration of an organism as it ages. Thus, the author argues that these changes provide a phenotype that is ideal for the genetic analysis of aging.     

Gaydar: visual detection of sexual orientation among gay and straight men

Currently, American gay people believe they have a unique ability to pick each other out in a crowd (often termed "gaydar" ["gay" + "radar"]). This was established through a nationwide Internet-mediated survey (n = 460). To test for the presence of this ability in gay men, the researcher asked self-identified gay and straight male participants to view a series of unfamiliar men on videotape and determine the sexual orientation of each. The higher overall accuracy of gay men demonstrated a trend level difference from their straight cohorts although falling short (primarily due to small sample size) of the p < 0.05 level. A theory for the emergence of this skill (termed "Adaptive Gaydar" by the author) as a unique perceptual ability/coping mechanism uinique among gay people is also presented.     

Quality of Life Indexes for National Policy: Review and Agenda for Research

A number of governments and public policy institutes have developed Quality of Life Indexes – statistics that attempt to measure the quality of life for entire states or regions. We develop 14 criteria for determining the validity and usefulness of such QOL indexes to public policy. We then review 22 of the most-used QOL indexes from around the world. We conclude that many of the indexes are successful in that they are reliable, have established time series measures, and can be disaggregated to study subpopulations. However, many fall short in four areas: (1) indexes vary greatly in their coverage and definitions of domains of QOL, (2) none of the indexes distinguish among the concepts of input, throughput, and output that are used by public policy analysts, (3) they fail to show how QOL outputs are sensitive to public policy inputs, and (4) none have examined convergent validity against each other. We conclude that many of these indexes are potentially very useful for public policy and recommend research to further improve them.     

Perspectives on Incorporating Human Neurobehavioral End Points in Risk Assessments

Three topics are addressed: (1) measurement issues (e.g., the reliability and validity of neurobehavioral test scores), (2) general principles of assessment, including test selection, and (3) interpretation of scores. Psychological tests generally perform as well as medical tests in terms of reliability and validity. Test manuals, assessment textbooks, and psychologists are useful resources to the risk assessor. The variety of different tests employed in neurobehavioral studies complicates interstudy comparisons. In addition, tests that ostensibly assess the same general domain of function might assess somewhat different abilities within that domain. Although a uniform battery for use in all studies seems desirable, the battery appropriate for a specific study depends on study goals, knowledge about the mechanism(s) of neurotoxicity, nature of the study population, and pattern of exposure. Exposure-related neurobehavioral deficits are generally indicators of "altered function" rather than of "clinical disease." Limiting concern to end points corresponding to clinical disease might not be appropriate. Many neurobehavioral diagnoses are phenomenological and a neurotoxicant might cause a unique pattern of deficits for which no label has been created. The concern that a small shift in the central tendency of a distribution of test scores has no significance for the individual should be reexamined in light of the prevention paradox, formulated on the basis of epidemiologic studies of chronic disease. Poor performance on a neurobehavioral test does not necessarily map clearly onto underlying behavioral or neural substrate. The absence of such linkages, given current knowledge about brain-behavior relationships, should not reduce confidence in neurobehavioral end points. Use of neurobehavioral test scores involves considerations that differ little from those that the risk assessor routinely addresses in using end points commonly used in research on other topics in environmental epidemiology.