The Relationship Between Aversive Conditioning and Risk-avoidance in Gambling

This study investigated the relationship between aversive conditioning, heart rate variability suppression, behavioral activation system/behavioral inhibition system and risk-avoidance on the Iowa gambling task (IGT) in a nonclinical sample (29 male, 29 female, mean age = 20.7). A laboratory based Pavlovian aversive conditioning paradigm was used where a 1500 Hz tone (CS+) was followed by a burst of loud white noise (US), and a 850 Hz (CS−) tone was never followed by the US. In a subsequent extinction phase where the CS+ and CS− were presented without the US, conditioned skin conductance responses to the CS+ indicated aversive conditioning. The results showed that the participants who did not show aversive conditioning (N = 26) exhibited significantly less risk-avoidance compared to participants who did show aversive conditioning (N = 32). Regression analysis showed that among the study variables, only aversive conditioning contributed significantly to explaining variance in risk-avoidance. These results may have implications for understanding risk-taking in gambling in general, and may be a starting point understanding the role of aversive conditioning in the development and maintenance of gambling problems.     

A time-varying measurement error model for age of onset of a psychiatric diagnosis: applied to first depressive episode diagnosed by the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI)

A substantial degree of uncertainty exists surrounding the reconstruction of events based on memory recall. This form of measurement error affects the performance of structured interviews such as the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI), an important tool to assess mental health in the community. Measurement error probably explains the discrepancy in estimates between longitudinal studies with repeated assessments (the gold-standard), yielding approximately constant rates of depression, versus cross-sectional studies which often find increasing rates closer in time to the interview. Repeated assessments of current status (or recent history) are more reliable than reconstruction of a person's psychiatric history based on a single interview. In this paper, we demonstrate a method of estimating a time-varying measurement error distribution in the age of onset of an initial depressive episode, as diagnosed by the CIDI, based on an assumption regarding age-specific incidence rates. High-dimensional non-parametric estimation is achieved by the EM-algorithm with smoothing. The method is applied to data from a Norwegian mental health survey in 2000. The measurement error distribution changes dramatically from 1980 to 2000, with increasing variance and greater bias further away in time from the interview. Some influence of the measurement error on already published results is found.     

The Determinants of Retail Productivity: A Critical Review of the Evidence

This paper discusses the literature on the established determinants of productivity in the retail sector. It also draws attention to some neglected strands of research which provide useful insights into strategies that could allow productivity enhancements in this area of the economy. To date, very few attempts have been made to integrate different specialisms in order to explain what drives productivity in retail. Here this paper rectifies this omission by putting together studies from economics, geography, knowledge management and employment studies. It is the authors’ view that quantitative studies of retail productivity should focus on total factor productivity in retailing as the result of competition/composition effects, planning regulations, information and communications technology, the multinational operation element and workforce skills. Further, the fact that retail firms possess advantages that are transferable between locations suggests that investment in strategies enhancing the transfer of explicit and tacit knowledge between and within businesses are crucial to achieve productivity gains.     

Contingencies versus External Pressure: Professionalization in Boards of Firms Affiliated to Family Business Groups in Late‐Industrializing Countries

We examine the antecedents of professionalization in boards of firms affiliated to family business groups, increasingly recognized in the literature as the dominant form of big business organization in many late‐industrializing countries. Dimensions of board professionalization that we include in our study are board size, ratio of salaried executives and outsider presence. We compare predictions on board composition derived from contingency, institutional and power perspectives. Turkish family business groups, considered as an archetypal example of this form of organization, provide the empirical setting for the study, with data on 299 firms affiliated to ten different family business groups. Our results provide greater support for institutional and power perspectives, showing that, relative to internal and external complexity facing affiliate firms, institutional pressures and the presence of joint venture partners better predict board professionalization.     

Statistics in Latin America

Statistics is a relatively new discipline in Latin America. At present only sparse information is available about the state of the statistical profession in Latin America. We present and summarize the available information about the job market; training, education, and research; professional societies and their activities; and so forth. We also share our hopes, concerns, and suggestions for the future.     

Methods for calculating stationary distribution in linear models of time series

The article deals with methods for computing the stationary marginal distribution in linear models of time series. Two approaches are described. First, an algorithm based on approximation of solution of the corresponding integral equation is briefly reviewed. Then, we study the limit behaviour of the partial sums c ₁ η₁+c ₂ η₂+···+c _n η _n where η _i are i.i.d. random variables and c _i real constants. We generalize procedure of Haiman (1998) [Haiman, G., 1998, Upper and lower bounds for the tail of the invariant distribution of some AR(1) processes. Asymptotic Methods in Probability and Statistics, 45, 723–730.] to an arbitrary causal linear process and relax the assumptions of his result significantly. This is achieved by investigating the properties of convolution of densities.     

Attentional Bias in Problem Gambling: A Systematic Review

Attentional bias has been the subject of extensive empirical investigation in connection with chemical addictions, and it has been demonstrated in users of several different substances. The findings show that substance users seem to notice and attend to substance-related stimuli more readily than non-substance-related stimuli. Less is known, however, about attentional bias in pathological gambling. This systematic review investigates the existing empirical evidence on attentional bias in problem and pathological gamblers. Eleven studies were identified and evaluated following a literature search. Key findings are that problem and pathological gamblers seem to exhibit attentional bias toward gambling-related stimuli across different measuring paradigms, although some negative findings were reported. Recommendations aimed at improving research on this topic include better validation of measures, the inclusion of manipulations of craving level, and adding variations in gambling severity as a variable, as well as gambling preference. Research on therapeutic procedures aimed at reducing attentional bias is also recommended.     

A Scoping Review of Challenges in Adult Intimate Relationships After Childhood Sexual Abuse

Childhood sexual abuse is a severe problem worldwide. Childhood sexual abuse can be detrimental to children and their abilities to cope with and communicate in their subsequent adult intimate relationships. The aim of this review was to generate and summarize knowledge about how childhood sexual abuse manifests in adult intimate relationships so healthcare professionals can incorporate this knowledge into treatment and care. A scoping review methodology was selected because it supports examination of the extent, range, and nature of research activity. A content analysis of the studies included in this review led to three thematic categories of challenges in adult intimate relationships after childhood sexual abuse: (a) relationship satisfaction, (b) sexual satisfaction, and (c) communication and trust.