One Still Face,Many Visions

Tronick, Cohn, and Muir and Lee have strengthened and extended our history of the still‐face procedure by reflecting on important theoretical and methodological issues in the current literature, and by looking to the future of how the still face can inform and guide further investigations. These commentaries provide a wonderful illustration of how the use of a shared, if not fully standardized, paradigm can continue to inspire ever more sharing of ideas.     

State employee bargaining legislation

The authors test competing hypotheses drawn from the public versus private interest theories of regulation to determine the status of bargaining rights of state employees. N-chotomous probit is employed to predict legislation which is characterized as an ordinal scale ranging from prohibition to prescribed bargaining. The presence of voter coalitions rather than intent to remedy monopsonistic production inefficiency explains liberal legislation.     

Assessing the Impact of Social Factors on the Mental Health of Chinese at Risk Adolescents in Hong Kong

Correspondence to Dr Cindy Davis, University of Tennessee, College of Social Work, Nashville Campus, 193E Polk Avenue, Nashville, TN., 37210, USA. E-mail: cdavis3eutk.edu Summary The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship offamily, peer and school factors on the mental health of Chinesemale and female at risk adolescents and secondary school studentsin Hong Kong. Questionnaire surveys based on various standardizedassessment scales were conducted with 398 (183 female and 215male) Chinese at risk adolescents and 320 (160 female and 160male) Chinese secondary school students between 12 and 18 yearsof age in Hong Kong. Compared to secondary school students,at risk adolescents had poorer relations with parents, morenegative family and peer influence, a more negative school environment,and poorer social functioning. Findings also revealed that femaleparticipants had more somatic symptoms, anxiety, and depressioncompared to males. The importance of environmental factors onthe mental health of Chinese adolescents supports previous researchin Western countries. Implications for intervention and preventionwere discussed from a cross-cultural perspective.     

“I Amn Not a Utistivc on Thje Typ” (“I'm Not Autistic on the Typewriter”)

Facilitated communication involves hand-over-hand or hand-on-forearm support of students as they communicate through pointing at pictures, letters or other objects. Over time, it is expected that the hand and arm support can be faded back. This observational study describes an effort to introduce facilitated communication to 22 students, ranging in age from 3 years 10 months to 21 years, in several US public schools. The students are all labeled autistic and do not speak or speak only with echolalic phrases. The findings include observations of the students communicating with facilitation, language samples, and conversations by the students. The students reveal unexpected literacy and numeracy skills. The appearance of these abilities raises a number of questions concerning prior assumptions about autism, communication, independence and interdependence, and the education of students with and without disabilities.     

The Experiences of Sleep Disruption in Families of Technology‐dependent Children Living at Home

This paper examines the sleep disruption experienced by 36 families of technology‐dependent children living at home in the United Kingdom. The paper begins with an overview of the qualitative study in which parents' experiences of sleep disruption emerged as a major theme. We then describe the nature of and reasons for the sleep disruption, the help families received with care overnight, and the effects of sleep disruption on parents in particular. This is followed by discussion of the implications of the findings for policy and practice as well as future research.