Childhood maltreatment and motivation for treatment in girls in compulsory residential care

The first objective of the current study was to examine the relationship between childhood maltreatment, trauma-related symptoms and motivation for treatment in girls in compulsory residential treatment facilities. The second objective was to examine the extent to which various forms of childhood maltreatment, trauma-related symptoms and motivation for treatment predicted (time to) dropout from these facilities. Participants were 154 adolescent girls recruited from three residential treatment settings in The Netherlands. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that age and ethnicity were associated with motivation for treatment. Furthermore, emotional abuse contributed to motivation for treatment. In addition, internalizing symptoms (e.g., anxiety and depression) significantly predicted level of distress; symptoms of dissociation predicted doubt about treatment. Logistic regression analyses with multiple imputation and competing risk regression analyses revealed no significant predictors for (time to) dropout. The findings suggest that clinicians and therapists should focus on experiences of emotional abuse, traumatic symptoms and treatment motivation in girls in compulsory residential care settings.     

Who Is in the Stepfamily? Change in Stepparents' Family Boundaries Between 1992 and 2009

Guided by trends of increased prevalence and social acceptance of stepfamilies, the authors argue that stepparents are more likely to include stepchildren in their personal network in recent times. Data are from observations by 2 studies: (a) the Living Arrangements and Social Networks of Older Adults Study and (b) the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam in 1992–2009 of 247 Dutch stepparents age 54–91 years. The results revealed that in 1992, 63% of the stepparents had stepchildren in their personal network, and this percentage increased to 85% in 2009. The network membership of stepchildren was less likely for stepparents from living‐apart‐together partnerships. Stepmothers less often included stepchildren in their personal network than stepfathers. Both effects may be understood in terms of family commitment. Stepfamily boundaries have become more permeable over time, suggesting that there is an increased potential for support exchange and caregiving within stepfamilies.     

An axiomatization of the kernel for TU games through reduced game monotonicity and reduced dominance

In the framework of transferable utility games, we modify the 2-person Davis–Maschler reduced game to ensure non-emptiness (NE) of the imputation set of the adapted 2-person reduced game. Based on the modification, we propose two new axioms: reduced game monotonicity (RGM) and reduced dominance (RD). Using RGM, RD, NE, Covariance under strategic equivalence, Equal treatment property and Pareto optimality, we are able to characterize the kernel.     

Specific relationships between psychosocial job conditions and job-related stress: A three-level analytic approach

This cross-sectional questionnaire study presents a multi-level analysis on 2565 workers in 188 departments in 36 organizations in the Netherlands. A three-level model is used in which individual workers are nested within departments, which in turn are nested within organizations. Research questions concern (1) the amount and distribution of variance in job-related stress explained for the three levels in the study (individuals, departments, organizations), and (2) the specificity of relationships between psychosocial job demands and job-related stress in the three-level model. Well-being showed slightly more raw variance to be explained at supra-individual levels than strain. The full regression model explained about 35% of the total variance in both work-related strain and well-being. Psychosocial job conditions did not exceed the expected amount of 10 to 15% contribution to this explained variance. These results do not differ from comparable studies that do not use multi-level analysis. The variance distribution in the full model, however, showed unexplained variance to be located at the individual level for both strain and well-being, and at the departmental level only for well-being. This last finding shows a direction for possible improvement of work stress models. Specificity of relationships was also shown: psychological job demands were more strongly related to strain, whereas job content variables (i.e. job variety, job control) were more strongly related to well-being. Results also suggested that social support was more strongly associated with well-being than with strain. Well-being appeared to have a more widely varying range of predictors than strain.     

The Double Center of Gravity in Durkheim's Symbol Theory: Bringing the Symbolism of the Body Back In

By studying Durkheim through a Schopenhauerian lens, the one-sidedly cognitivist and functionalist reception of his social theory can be balanced. Durkheim explicitly rejected such monistic interpretations. His dialectical approach was always aimed at an essentially dualistic perception of man and society, wherein the lower pole, the individual, is central. In Durkheim's symbol theory, this position leads to two kinds of symbols: those that are bound to the human body, here called "this and that" symbols, and those people can choose freely, here called "this for that" symbols. This twofold symbol theory can already be found in medieval philosophy (e.g. Dante Alighieri) as well as in the work of Paul Ricoeur. For Durkheim the human person is the symbol par excellence. By implication the rituals in which the person is (re)constructed, that is the rites of passage, should be central. The interpretation here opens up new perspectives for a more psychological interpretation of Durkheim's sociology.     

Estimating potential output in developing countries

This paper describes a parsimonious methodology employed by the World Bank for estimating potential output using the production function method. Despite the necessity of strong assumptions, sensitivity analysis suggests the reported estimates for 159 countries are robust to alternative specifications. Moreover, for the majority of countries estimated output gaps are positively correlated with inflation acceleration and negatively correlated with current account balances. An examination of estimated output gaps and post-crisis economic developments in several middle-income countries suggest that the methods can play a useful role in guiding macroeconomic policy.     

Premia in Forward Foreign Exchange as Unobserved Components: A Note

We reconsider the signal-extraction approach to measuring premia in the pricing of forward foreign exchange, put forward by Wolff, in which the difference between the forward rate and the associated future spot rate is modeled as an autoregressive moving average (ARMA) model for the risk premium buried in a white-noise forecast error. We point out that an ARMA model for the risk premium is not always identifiable from information on the difference between the forward rate and the future spot rate only. We present solutions to the problem of identification and show how the model for the risk premium can be estimated in a direct way, provided that the identification problem is solved. For reason of comparison, we use the series analyzed by Wolff to estimate the models for risk premia. The results confirm the earlier finding that premia in forward exchange exhibit a certain degree of persistence over time.