Optimal row-column designs for complete diallel crosses

Universally optimal row-column designs for complete, diallel crosses are investigated. Three series of designs that require just one replication of the crosses are provided. A series of designs having two replications of each cross is also provided.     

Youth suicide in Australia

This paper reviews the incidence of youth suicide in Australia in comparison with other industrialized countries around the mid-1990s. It focuses on fatal suicides in Australia and records changes in suicide mortality levels and patterns since the 1950s. An attempt is made to estimate the global extent of the problem of suicidal behaviour (suicides plus attempted suicides). The discussion concentrates on the presumed factors associated with the recent epidemic of self-destruction among young Australian males: drug and alcohol abuse, and unemployment. Finally, some of the attempts at prevention of suicidal acts and their effectiveness are reviewed.     

Marital Quality,Socioeconomic Status,and Physical Health

Recent efforts to promote marriage among the socioeconomically disadvantaged are based on the assumption that marriage is equally beneficial for persons with varying levels of socioeconomic status. Using 3 waves of data from a sample of married adults (the National Survey of Families and Households; N = 1,849), the authors evaluated whether the health benefits of marital happiness and the health costs of marital conflict might vary by education and income levels. They found that increases in marital happiness were associated with increases in self‐rated health for individuals with more education. In addition, increases in marital conflict were linked to greater increases in functional impairment for persons with lower income. Although the results were not consistent and effect sizes were modest, the evidence nonetheless tentatively suggests that higher levels of marital happiness may be less beneficial for health and that higher levels of marital conflict may be more detrimental to health among persons with lower socioeconomic status.     

Substantive Meanings of Missing Data in Family Research: Does “Don't Know” Matter?

In this article we analyze “don't know” responses from three sources of longitudinal data: the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (n = 14,528), the National Survey of Families and Households (n = 5,488), and the National Health Interview Survey Second Longitudinal Study of Aging (n = 1,131). We asked whether these responses are meaningful in family research, and, if so, how evaluating these responses can contribute to the development of theory, the discovery of novel findings, and identification of sensible methods for analyzing these nebulous responses. We found that “don't know” responses to questions about family members predicted less educational attainment, poor marital quality, and earlier mortality. Results suggest that this response category may have substantive meanings rather than indicating neutral responses or being missing data.     

Risk Factors and Intervention Programs for Depression in Nursing Home Residents: Nursing Home Staff Interview Findings

The in-depth qualitative interviews with 25 nursing home staff members were done to examine (a) their perceptions and experiences of risk factors for residents' depression, (b) current depression intervention programs, and (c) specific needs for staff training. The interviewees identified the residents' sense of loss and grief and feelings of isolation and loneliness as the causes of their depression and in-house activities and contract mental health services as current services aimed at reducing depression. They also pointed out the following barriers to providing effective depression interventions: too much dependence on antidepressant medication, low Medicaid reimbursement rate, staff shortage, residents' attitudes, and nursing home culture. The types of training that the staff members desired were: skills to monitor nonverbal signs and changes and to systematically screen different types of depression; education about antidepressants and their effects, side effects, and interaction effects with other medication; and systematic training in different types of psychosocial and behavioral interventions for late-life depression in residents with various levels of physical disabilities and cognitive impairments.     

Out-of-Pocket Expenditures and the Financial Burden of Healthcare Among Older Adults: By Nativity and Length of Residence in the United States

Newly arrived older immigrants in the United States tend to be greatly affected by increasing out-of-pocket healthcare expenditures due to their limited insurance options. To examine such disparities in the out-of-pocket expenditures, this study analyzed the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey by immigrant status. Major findings of this study indicated that although recent immigrants had lower total healthcare expenditures, they spent much higher proportions of their annual income on out-of-pocket medical payments, compared with their US-born counterparts. Dramatically higher out-of-pocket burdens among recent immigrants represent a barrier to necessary healthcare, which needs to be addressed from both public health and economic perspectives.     

Unmet Needs and Depressive Symptoms Among Low-Income Older Adults

Previous studies have found that declining health, decreased social interaction, and inadequate financial resources were significant risk factors for late-life depression, and social support from families and friends and religiosity were significant protective factors. In this study, we examined if low-income older adults' perceived unmet need for home- and community-based services for many aging-associated problems would be independently associated with their depressive symptoms, controlling for these known risk and protective factors. We interviewed a total of 213 community-residing older adults to assess their depressive symptoms, using the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), and unmet needs in the areas of personal assistance, instrumental and environmental support, emotional support, and other facilitative/enabling services. We found that the number of unmet needs was significantly positively associated with these older adults' depressive symptoms, although it explained only a small proportion of the variance of the GDS scores. Future research and practice implications are discussed.     

Caregiver's Spirituality and Its Influence on Maintaining the Elderly and Disabled in a Home Environment

ABSTRACT

This study examined the role that faith-based organizations play for caregivers in maintaining the elderly and disabled in their homes. The study explored if persons who use religious beliefs and practices cope with caregiver stress better than those who do not use religious beliefs and practices. The study also explored the role of religious coping as a factor affecting decisions to institutionalize, and the role that faith-based practices and organizations play in helping caregivers maintain the elderly and disabled in their homes.