Portmanteau tests based on quadratic forms in the autocorrelations

Many white noise and goodness-of-fit tests are (asymptotically) written as quadratic forms in the ordinary autocorrelation estimates. The properties of such tests are studied by investigating the structure of the matrix of the quadratic form. We suggest to choose the matrix of the quadratic form in such a way that the power is maximized according to the information available about the alternative hypothesis. A simulation study sheds some light on the behavior of the test in finite samples. It is generally found more powerful than the most popular portmanteau tests, i.e., the Box and Pierce and the Ljung and Box tests.     

Supermigrative copulas and positive dependence

Recent investigations about notions of bivariate aging have underlined the need to introduce some new properties of positive dependence for a bivariate random vector. Here, by using the recent notion of supermigrativity of a bivariate copula, a?positive dependence property is introduced and investigated. Comparisons with other notions of positive dependence are also presented.     

The NICHD Investigative Interview Protocol: A Meta-Analytic Review

Systematic review and meta-analysis of literature were conducted examining the effectiveness of the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development Investigative Interview Protocol in improving the quality of child forensic interviews. Online databases were searched for journal articles published between the years 2000 and 2013. Measures of interview quality were the type of interviewer utterances and the amount of information provided by children. Five studies met criteria for inclusion in the meta-analysis. Weighted mean of the effect sizes was calculated for each outcome measure. Protocol interviews had more invitations (g = 1.60) and fewer option-posing (g = ?.95) and suggestive prompts (g = ?.63) than standard interviews. Children interviewed by the protocol provided more central details (g = .90) in response to invitations than controls. Meta-analyses of a subset of preschool children samples revealed that protocol interviews had more invitations (g = 1.46), fewer suggestive prompts (g = ?.61), and fewer option-posing prompts (g = ?1.05) than controls. Findings corroborate results from previous studies that suggested the benefits of the protocol on the interviewers’ performance and on children’s informativeness. However, protocol did not show the same performance with regard to preschool children.     

Friendship in children with internalizing and externalizing problems: A preliminary investigation with the Pictorial Assessment of Interpersonal Relationships

This study examined the relationship between friendship representation and internalizing and externalizing problems in school-aged children. One hundred Caucasian 6–7 year-old children (50 males and 50 females) and their mothers took part in the study. The Draw-a-Man Test, the Pictorial Assessment of Interpersonal Relationships, and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL/6-18) were used. Children with internalizing problems, externalizing problems, comorbid internalizing and externalizing problems, and a control group were compared on their pictorial representations of friendship. Results showed that children with externalizing problems included more pictorial indices of each friend's autonomy and a larger imbalance of importance between them; children with internalizing problems drew themselves as less similar to their friends. In conclusion, children's pictorial representation allows exploring some aspects of their tacit knowledge about the relationship with a best friend, which is not easily expressed verbally by young children. Finally, the implications of these findings for theoretical and empirical research development on friendship are discussed.     

Fratricide identities: the land conflict between indigenous Leco and peasant unions in Apolo,Bolivia

This article explores processes of identity-building and claims-making by rural social groups in the context of recent multicultural and plurinational reforms in Bolivia, focusing on an analysis of the narrative apparatus that underpins a paradigmatic land conflict between an indigenous organization and a peasant union in the Bolivian Amazon. The institutional shift that characterized the country after Evo Morales’ election has been reflected and absorbed at the local level. Here, however, the new claims for recognition cannot be understood only through the –often abused – lenses of ‘resistance struggle’, ‘cultural oppression’ and ‘political discrimination of minorities’. In fact, these claims are the result of a complex interaction between institutional changes, and social actors’ ability to respond to them, proposing powerful narratives that provide society and individuals with new shared meanings and mechanisms of self-identification.     

Estimating Traffic Emissions Using Demographic and Socio-Economic Variables in 18 Chilean Urban Areas

A macro-scale methodology for vehicle emissions estimation is described. The methodology is based on both correlations between activity level and PM, CO, THC and NO _x vehicle emissions and relationships between demographic and socio-economic variables and transportation activity level. First, pollutant emissions were correlated with transportation activity, expressed as vehicle-km/year, using existing data collected from mobile sources emission inventories in nine urban cities of Chile. Second, demographic and socio-economic variables were pre-selected from those that could intuitively be correlated with vehicle activity level and considering the data availability. Using the individual R ² correlation coefficient as variable selection criterion, population, the number of vehicles, fuel consumption, gross domestic product, average family incomes and road kilometers were finally chosen. A different set of explicative variables was considered for different vehicle categories, based on the selection criterion above mentioned. Then, correlation functions between these variables and transport activity were obtained by non-linear Gauss–Newton least square method. This methodology was applied to eighteen provinces of the country obtaining total annual emission for mobile sources, divided into six main vehicles categories.     

Not in the Same Mental Drawer: Internalized Sexual Stigma,Dissociation, and the Role of Religion in a Sample of Italian Gay Men

ABSTRACT

Several studies have highlighted the relationship between internalized sexual stigma (ISS) and dissociation. The aim of the present study was to empirically investigate this relationship through a quantitative study. The Measure of Internalized Sexual Stigma for Lesbians and Gay Men (MISS-LG) and the Dissociation Scale (DIS) of the Trauma Symptom Inventory (TSI) were administered to 120 Caucasian participants who self-identified as gay men. Findings suggested that dissociative symptomatology, as measured by DIS—an estimation of the use of dissociation as a defense mechanism—was positively associated with MISS general index and all dimensions of MISS, especially the sexuality dimension (ISS-S). Moreover, the effect of the ISS-S on DIS was amplified in Catholic participants, suggesting a moderating role of religiosity. Implications for future research and clinical practice are discussed.