Subordinate social adaptability and the consequences of abusive supervision perceptions in two samples

The present investigation examined social adaptability as a moderator of the relationships between perceptions of abusive supervision and several work outcomes. Specifically, we hypothesized that individuals with lower levels of social adaptability would be more adversely affected by heightened levels of abusive supervision perceptions than employees with greater levels of social adaptability. Data from two samples offered strong support for the hypotheses. Specifically, employees with lower levels of social adaptability reported heightened job tension (i.e., Sample 1) and emotional exhaustion (Samples 1 & 2), as well as diminished job satisfaction (Samples 1 & 2) and work effort (Samples 1 & 2) as perceptions of abusive supervision increased, whereas employees with greater social adaptability skill were less strongly affected by their perceptions of abusive supervision. Contributions of the research to scholarship and practice, strengths and limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.     

Indirect evidence of the contribution of prenatal sex selection practices to the high sex ratio at birth in Vietnam

This paper reports indirect evidence that prenatal sex selection is a contributor to the recent increase in sex ratio at birth in Vietnam. The paper uses birth data from the Population Change Survey 2006 to assess the associations between sex ratio at birth and variables that predict increased opportunities to practise prenatal sex selection, including maternal knowledge of foetal sex before birth, the use of ultrasound for foetal sex determination, the gestation week when foetal sex was disclosed, and access to abortion services. The high sex ratio of most recent births was significantly associated with the use of ultrasound to determine the foetal sex in gestation weeks 12–22 and with access to family planning services that provide abortion. Prenatal sex selection in health facilities are likely to contribute to the recent increase in sex ratio at birth in Vietnam.     

A scale-location adjustment for proportional hazards deviance residuals

We show that deviance residuals derived using the proportional hazards assumption (including Cox regression) are not asymptotically standard normal, but that a scale-location adjustment makes them nearly standard normal, even for moderate sample sizes. This adjustment should aid in outlier detection, as it allows a more exact assessment of when a deviance residual is unusually large.     

Death at the Border: Efficacy and Unintended Consequences of US Immigration Control Policy

This article assesses the efficacy of the strategy of immigration control implemented by the US government since 1993 in reducing illegal entry attempts, and documents some of the unintended consequences of this strategy, especially a sharp increase in mortality among unauthorized migrants along certain segments of the Mexico–US border. The available data suggest that the current strategy of border enforcement has resulted in rechanneling flows of unauthorized migrants to more hazardous areas, raising fees charged by people‐smugglers, and discouraging unauthorized migrants already in the US from returning to their places of origin. However, there is no evidence that the strategy is deterring or preventing significant numbers of new illegal entries, particularly given the absence of a serious effort to curtail employment of unauthorized migrants through worksite enforcement. An expanded temporary worker program, selective legalization of unauthorized Mexican workers residing in the United States, and other proposals under consideration by the US and Mexican governments are unlikely to reduce migrant deaths resulting from the current strategy of border enforcement.     

ESTIMATION, PREDICTION AND INFERENCE FOR THE LASSO RANDOM EFFECTS MODEL

The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) can be formulated as a random effects model with an associated variance parameter that can be estimated with other components of variance. In this paper, estimation of the variance parameters is performed by means of an approximation to the marginal likelihood of the observed outcomes. The approximation is based on an alternative but equivalent formulation of the LASSO random effects model. Predictions can be made using point summaries of the predictive distribution of the random effects given the data with the parameters set to their estimated values. The standard LASSO method uses the mode of this distribution as the predictor. It is not the only choice, and a number of other possibilities are defined and empirically assessed in this article. The predictive mode is competitive with the predictive mean (best predictor), but no single predictor performs best across in all situations. Inference for the LASSO random effects is performed using predictive probability statements, which are more appropriate under the random effects formulation than tests of hypothesis.     

Civilization's Wake: Ecology,Economics and the Roots of Environmental Destruction and Neglect

Population and Environment -     

Standardized testing and school segregation: like tinder for fire?

Recent research suggests that high-stakes standardized testing has played a negative role in the segregation of children by race and class in schools. In this article we review research on the overall effects of segregation, the positive and negative aspects of how desegregation plans were carried out following the 1954 Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education, and the de facto re-segregation that followed the dismantling of many desegregation plans, along with the increase of school choice plans. We then analyze these effects in light of the ways that high-stakes standardized testing has grown in importance and intensity in US education policy and practice, especially during the most recent period of school re-segregation. Based on the evidence we argue that the intrinsic features of high-stakes testing, combined with current systems of school choice, function as mechanisms used for racial coding that facilitate segregation and compound inequalities found in schools.     

Gamblers Anonymous as a Recovery Pathway: A Scoping Review

Given the preponderance of Gamblers Anonymous (GA), there has been relatively little effort to explore the existing evidence base on its effectiveness as a recovery approach for problem gambling. To remedy this gap in the literature we conducted a scoping review of the literature on mutual aid for individuals experiencing problem gambling published between 2002 and 2015. We searched 13 databases and reviewed reference lists and websites of relevant organizations. We reviewed records for eligibility and extracted relevant data from eligible articles. Three reviewers independently assessed the methodological quality of the included studies using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. We identified 17 studies in 25 publications that were eligible for inclusion. Most studies were conducted in the United States, were cross-sectional in design, and involved both male and female adult participants. Results indicate that the evidence for the effectiveness of GA either as a control condition or in conjunction with formal treatment or medication is inconsistent. An emphasis on patience, using the Serenity Prayer as a way to gain acceptance of financial matters and reality, and absolute assertion of identity as a “compulsive gambler” were identified as important aspects of GA’s recovery culture. There is a need for large-scale randomized controlled trials to determine GA’s effectiveness, as well as research exploring the mechanisms through which GA works, barriers to GA as a recovery approach, and the status of women in the fellowship.