Sexual decision making and safer sex behavior among young female injection drug users and female partners of IDUs

Data from interviews with 94 young women who were injection drug users (IDUs) or partners of IDUs were analyzed to examine associations between self-reported sexual decision making and condom use, contraceptive use, and relationship characteristics. Most women (73-85%) reported participating in decisions about condom use, contraception, and when to have sex. Adjusting for potential covariates, respondents who reported participating in decisions about condom use and when to have sex were 7 and 19 times, respectively, more likely than others to report recently using condoms. Respondents who reported participating in decisions about contraception were 20 times more likely than others to report recently using contraceptives. Longer sexual relationships were associated with decreased likelihood of condom or contraceptive use.     

Review–Feature

Book Reviews are in this Articles.
Psychoanalysis and Feminism. By Juliet Mitchell.     

Women,Peace and Security Resolution 1325

This article does not have an abstract     

Gender differences in relating life events and well-being in elderly individuals

Two hundred and sixty-eight community-residing elderly participants completed measures of physical illness, psychiatric symptomatology, life satisfaction, and recent mood, and a modified version of the Rahe (1975) Recent Life Change Questionnaire on which they indicated how much adjustment each event experienced required and whether it was appraised as expected or unexpected, desirable or undesirable, and controllable or uncontrollable. The results suggest that: (1) scores that reflect how events were appraised accounted for more variance than total frequency scores; (2) optimal predictors differed for different outcome measures; and (3) there are substantial gender differences in the pattern of relationships of predictor to outcome variables. The first two findings are consistent with those reported for younger cohorts. The third finding has not been reported previously.     

SOCIAL COMPARISON AND EFFORT PROVISION: EVIDENCE FROM A FIELD EXPERIMENT

Social comparison has potentially far reaching consequences in many economic domains. We conducted a field experiment to examine how social comparison affects workers' effort provision if their own wage or that of a co‐worker is cut. Workers were assigned to groups of two, performed identical individual tasks, and received the same performance‐independent hourly wage. Cutting both group members' wages caused a decrease in performance. But when only one group member's wage was cut, the affected workers decreased their performance more than twice as much as when both workers' wages were cut. This finding indicates that social comparison among workers affects effort provision because the only difference between the two wage‐cut treatments is the other group member's wage level. In contrast, workers whose wage was not cut but who witnessed their group member's pay being cut displayed no change in performance relative to the baseline treatment in which both workers' wages remained unchanged. This indicates that social comparison exerts asymmetric effects on effort.     

A good death for residents of long-term care: family members speak

Little research has been done on the topic of end-of-life care in long-term care settings to identify important themes regarding end-of-life care structures, processes, and outcomes. This study utilized data gathered in a stratified, random sample of 437 family members of residents who died in 31 nursing homes (NHs) and 199 residential care/ assisted living facilities. Structural components of care including staffing adequacy, training, and consistency as well as facility environment and size were important factors for family members interviewed. "Being there" and manner of care delivery (e.g., staff attitudes/empathy) were major elements in the process of care. These factors were mentioned more than direct care, Hospice, or resident preferences. Family members identified themes of [dying at] home and being comfortable and clean as important outcomes of care. These identified structural components, processes, and outcomes have implications for the role of social workers in these settings despite that social work support is notably absent in these findings.