Development and piloting of a mother and child intervention to promote resilience in young children of HIV-infected mothers in South Africa

This paper describes the process of developing a parallel intervention for HIV-positive mothers and their young children (6-10 years) with a view to strengthening the relationship between them. Strong mother-child relationships can contribute to enhanced psychological resilience in children. The intervention was developed through action research, involving a situation analysis based on focus group discussions; intervention planning, piloting the intervention and a formative evaluation of the intervention. Participants supplied feedback regarding the value of the intervention in mother-child relationships. The findings obtained from the formative evaluation were used to refine the intervention. Two parallel programmes for mothers and children (15 sessions each) were followed by 10 joint sessions. The intervention for mothers focused on maternal mental health and the strengthening of their capacity to protect and care for their young children. The intervention for children addressed the development of their self-esteem, interpersonal relationships and survival skills. The formative evaluation provided evidence of good participation, support and group cohesion. Qualitative feedback indicated that the activities stimulated mother-child interaction. A similar intervention can easily be applied elsewhere using the detailed manual. The insights gained and lessons learnt related to mother and child interaction within an HIV-context that emerged from this research, can be valuable in other settings, both in Sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere.     

The Relationship Between Personal Financial Wellness and Financial Wellbeing: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach

We examined the construct of financial wellness and its relationship to personal wellbeing, with a focus on the role of financial literacy. Gender comparisons are made using a structural equation modeling analysis including personal wellbeing, financial satisfaction, financial status, financial behavior, financial attitude, and financial knowledge. Males ranked higher in financial satisfaction and financial knowledge whereas females ranked higher in personal wellbeing. Joo’s (2008) concept of financial wellness as multidimensional is supported though the result is improved when a causal model of sub-components is estimated. The relationship of all variables to personal wellbeing is mediated by financial satisfaction, with gender differences: In females the main source of financial satisfaction is financial status whereas in males it is financial knowledge.     

The Portuguese Version of the Hartford Geriatric Social Work Competency Scale II – Assessment Subscale: Factor Structure and Psychometric Properties

The current study aimed to test the fit of the Portuguese version of the Hartford Geriatric Social Work Competency Scale II – Assessment subscale (GSWCS-A) and explore its factor structure and psychometric properties in a sample of 534 social workers working in the gerontology field. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that all items presented good factor loadings and that the single-component model fit the data well. The GSWCS-A showed very good internal consistency. Despite the existence of different theoretical perspectives on Social Work, which frame the required competencies for professional practice, the GSWCS-A Portuguese version revealed similitudes with studies conducted in other countries. Nevertheless, the different factor structures (single-component vs. bi-factorial) may indicate that different competencies are being emphasised in terms of professional training. To sum, the GSWCS-A may be a short and useful self-report instrument for addressing social workers’ assessment competencies in the gerontology setting.     

Resident-to-resident elder mistreatment (R-REM): a study in residential structures for elderly people (ERI) in Portugal

This study explores patterns of resident-to-resident elder mistreatment (R-REM) in Portuguese Residential Structures for Elderly People (ERI: Estruturas Residenciais para Idosos). Results display a serious situation of R-REM, which occurs in different patterns.     

Fragility index of block tailed vectors

Financial crises are a recurrent phenomenon with important effects on the real economy. The financial system is inherently fragile and it is therefore of great importance to be able to measure and characterize its systemic stability. Multivariate extreme value theory provide us such a framework through the fragility index ( 11, 7 and 8). Here we generalize this concept and contribute to the modeling of the stability of a stochastic system divided into blocks. We will find several relations with well-known tail dependence measures in the literature, which will provide us immediate estimators. We end with an application to financial data.     

Extending the inference function for augmented margins method to implement trivariate Clayton copula-based SUR Tobit models

Abstract

In this paper, we perform the analysis of the SUR Tobit model for three left-censored dependent variables by modeling its nonlinear dependence structure through the one-parameter Clayton copula. For unbiased parameter estimation, we propose an extension of the Inference Function for Augmented Margins (IFAM) method to the trivariate case. The interval estimation for the model parameters using resampling procedures is also discussed. We perform simulation and empirical studies, whose satisfactory results indicate the good performance of the proposed model and methods. Our procedure is illustrated using real data on consumption of food items (salad dressings, lettuce, tomato) by Americans.     

Perceptions of Men on Puxa-Puxa,or Labia Minora Elongation,in Tete,Mozambique

Labia minora elongation has been documented as being practiced by 98.6% of the women in Tete province, Mozambique. Women engage in this procedure before the first menstruation. In this article we report on the findings from the male respondents from Tete province that participated in the qualitative component of the World Health Organization–supported multicountry Gender, Sexuality, and Vaginal Practices study. The men reported that the main motivation behind labia minora elongation is to enhance the sexual pleasure for both female and male partners. Researching what men know and perceive of labia minora elongation is crucial to understanding the contribution of this practice for sexual health. This knowledge is helpful to inform the development of new human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention technologies and culturally appropriate information, education, and communication interventions.     

Hurricane Isaac: A Longitudinal Analysis of Storm Characteristics and Power Outage Risk

In August 2012, Hurricane Isaac, a Category 1 hurricane at landfall, caused extensive power outages in Louisiana. The storm brought high winds, storm surge, and flooding to Louisiana, and power outages were widespread and prolonged. Hourly power outage data for the state of Louisiana were collected during the storm and analyzed. This analysis included correlation of hourly power outage figures by zip code with storm conditions including wind, rainfall, and storm surge using a nonparametric ensemble data mining approach. Results were analyzed to understand how correlation of power outages with storm conditions differed geographically within the state. This analysis provided insight on how rainfall and storm surge, along with wind, contribute to power outages in hurricanes. By conducting a longitudinal study of outages at the zip code level, we were able to gain insight into the causal drivers of power outages during hurricanes. Our analysis showed that the statistical importance of storm characteristic covariates to power outages varies geographically. For Hurricane Isaac, wind speed, precipitation, and previous outages generally had high importance, whereas storm surge had lower importance, even in zip codes that experienced significant surge. The results of this analysis can inform the development of power outage forecasting models, which often focus strictly on wind‐related covariates. Our study of Hurricane Isaac indicates that inclusion of other covariates, particularly precipitation, may improve model accuracy and robustness across a range of storm conditions and geography.