Preliminary Evaluation of the Validity and Reliability of the Spanish Version of the Therapeutic Alliance with Clinician (TAC) Questionnaire

As part of a broader study aimed at evaluating perceived alliance with service providers and level of satisfaction with services received, 103 monolingual Spanish speaking Hispanic women were interviewed. Participants were receiving ongoing behavioral health treatment at three different community service provider sites located in the greater New Haven area in Connecticut. These sites included a community health center (n = 40), a community behavioral health center (n = 40), and a faith-based agency (n = 23). As part of this study, the English version of the Therapeutic Alliance with Clinician (TAC) questionnaire was translated into Spanish and administered to our sample of Hispanic women. Results on the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the TAC are presented in this article.     

Differential Item Functioning of Pathological Gambling Criteria: An Examination of Gender, Race/Ethnicity, and Age

This study tested for the presence of differential item functioning (DIF) in DSM-IV Pathological Gambling Disorder (PGD) criteria based on gender, race/ethnicity and age. Using a nationally representative sample of adults from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC), indicating current gambling (n = 10,899), Multiple Indicator-Multiple Cause (MIMIC) models tested for DIF, controlling for income, education, and marital status. Compared to the reference groups (i.e., Male, Caucasian, and ages 25–59 years), women (OR = 0.62; P < .001) and Asian Americans (OR = 0.33; P < .001) were less likely to endorse preoccupation (Criterion 1). Women were more likely to endorse gambling to escape (Criterion 5) (OR = 2.22; P < .001) but young adults (OR = 0.62; P < .05) were less likely to endorse it. African Americans (OR = 2.50; P < .001) and Hispanics were more likely to endorse trying to cut back (Criterion 3) (OR = 2.01; P < .01). African Americans were more likely to endorse the suffering losses (OR = 2.27; P < .01) criterion. Young adults were more likely to endorse chasing losses (Criterion 9) (OR = 1.81; P < .01) while older adults were less likely to endorse this criterion (OR = 0.76; P < .05). Further research is needed to identify factors contributing to DIF, address criteria level bias, and examine differential test functioning.     

Mapping the Field of Donation-Based Crowdfunding for Charitable Causes: Systematic Review and Conceptual Framework

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - This study compiles the main findings in the field of academic research on pure donation-based crowdfunding (DCF)...     

Incorporating Struggles with Racism and Ethnic Identity in Therapy with Adolescents

Ethnic and racial minority adolescents enter therapy with the behavioral, emotional, social, familial, and educational problems common to clinical practice. However, therapy with these youth necessitates attention to the effects of racial discrimination on their psychological functioning and to matters of how their ethnic or racial identities are integrated. Of the myriad issues that become part of therapy with minority adolescents, the profound effects of racism and the process of ethnoracial identity development can be seen in adolescents' sense of self and behavior. Experiences with racism and with their own ethnic reference group and others may have led to distortions and partial understanding of their identities that may affect adaptation and functioning. In this paper, the author draws from experiences in clinical practice with minority youth to highlight issues of racism and ethnic identity emergent in treatment. Three cases illustrate discussions of struggles with racism and ethnic identity as they emerged in therapy. In each case, the struggles were made salient by the therapist's purposeful eliciting of them to clarify issues of transference, family relations, peer group relations, and achievement.     

Childrearing,social stress,and child abuse: Clinical considerations with Hispanic families

Child abuse in our multicultural society is a national emergency. As a nation, our approach to managing this societal crisis has been one of indifference to cultural variations among families and children, under the prevailing belief that cultural diversity does not play a part when serving a single society. Experience, however, shows that consideration of ethnocultural factors is warranted if we are to effectively treat and prevent child maltreatment. In this paper, a sociocultural perspective on child maltreatment in the United States Hispanic population is presented. Social stresses experienced by Hispanics along a continuum from emigration and migration, to arrival and adjustment to a new culture, and to the sociocultural and economic conditions they face in the United States are linked to factors of individual psychology. Traditional childrearing values and practices and factors of assessment and intervention are discussed with an emphasis on the changing characteristics of Hispanics.     

Some issues related to the topological aggregation of preferences

This paper deals with the topological approach to social choice theory initiated by Chichilnisky. We study several issues concerning the existence and uniqueness of Chichilnisky rules defined on preference spaces. We show that on topological vector spaces the only additive, anonymous, and unanimous aggregation n-rule is the convex mean. We study the case of infinite agents and show that an infinite Chichilnisky rule might be considered as the limit of rules for finitely many agents. Finally, we show that under some restrictions on the preference space, the existence of a Chichilnisky rule for every finite case implies the existence of a weak Chichilnisky rule for the infinite case.     

La investigación-acción en la frontera del siglo XXI

Resumen

Se realizaron dos investigaciones empíricas siguiendo una estrategia de observación pasiva con modelos causales; sobre dos muestras de 339 y 95 sujetos, respectivamente. El objetivo de las mismas es poner a prueba la hipótesis de la relación negativa entre privacidad y comunidad; así como estudiar la incidencia de algunas características psicológicas, sociales y ambientales sobre ambos conceptos. Los resultados ratifican la esperada relación negativa entre privacidad y comunidad. Se confirma la importancia del impacto sobre dichos fenómenos de las variables consideradas como determinantes, pero sorprende el efecto contrario al esperado de las variables relacionadas con la densidad de población, que fue inverso al que proponía nuestro modelo.     

Body mass index and functional status in community dwelling older Turkish males

Abstract

Objectives: To assess sex hormones in men with obesity and prostate cancer (PCa) and to study association between androgens and the pathogenesis biology of PCa in vitro.

Subjects and methods: One hundred and eighty-one men older than 45?years selected from of a population attending to Urology departments screening for PCa, (78 participants without PCa and 103 patients with PCa). All participants were assessed for body mass index (BMI), age, Gleason score, and PSA. Endocrine profile was determined for LH, total testosterone (TT), 17β-estradiol (E2), prolactin and leptin. Biochemical profile (HbA1c, triacylglycerols and lipoproteins) was also determined. In vitro experiments were also performed, involving the study of 5α-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and E2 in the presence of adipocyte-conditioned medium (aCM).

Results: All variables were continuous and described a Gaussian distribution unless mentioned. To determine the relation of aggressiveness, variable were transformed into categories. Thus, PCa aggressiveness is associated with the increase of age and BMI (p?<?.0001) but with is decreased with TT and E2 (p?<?.05). Moreover, adipocyte-secreted molecules increase aggressiveness of PCa cells in vitro. Lastly, DTH but not E2 enables invasiveness in vitro.

Conclusions: It was observed a coexistence of hormone axis profile alteration with sex hormones and BMI in PCa patients, in accordance with the new perspective of PCa pathogenesis.     

Contentment and Affect in the Estimation of Happiness

How do we assess how happy we are? One theory is that we compare life-as-it-is with standards of how-life-should-be. In this view, happiness emerges from a cognitive evaluation that draws on socially constructed standard of the good life. Another theory holds that we rather infer happiness on the basis of how well we feel most of the time. In that view, happiness is an unreasoned affective experience that roots in the gratification of universal human needs. One question that emerges from this discussion is whether these are really independent ways of evaluating life. If so, a next question is what their relative weight is in the evaluation. These questions are addressed at the nation level using data of the Gallup World Poll over the years 2006–2010. This survey in 127 nations involves not only a question on overall life satisfaction, but also a more cognitively focused question on how close one’s life is to the best possible and a series of questions on yesterday’s mood. Analysis of average scores in nations shows that mood and contentment are much intertwined, but also add to overall life satisfaction independently, the former more than the latter.     

Structural and contextual approaches to ambidexterity: A meta-analysis of organizational and environmental contingencies

This meta-analysis examines the conditions under which structural and contextual approaches help balance exploration and exploitation. Drawing on heterogeneous samples of prior ambidexterity studies, we apply moderated meta-analytic regression methods to 33,492 organizations sampled in 114 primary studies from 1991 to 2017 to test a contingency model. Our findings suggest that structural separation helps firms of all sizes to balance exploration and exploitation, and that structural separation is more conducive for balancing exploration and exploitation in high technology environments. Also, avoiding a structural separation approach benefits service firms. As research on ambidexterity enters the maturity stage we discuss the implications for future theory development, methodology, and for managers interested in developing ambidextrous organizations.