The cost‐effectiveness of UK parenting programmes for preventing children's behaviour problems – a review of the evidence

Parenting programmes are widely used in the UK, promoted in policy documents as a cost‐effective way for children's services to address behaviour problems and thereby the longer‐term costs associated with conduct disorders, particularly antisocial behaviour and criminality. To explore whether these programmes are a cost‐effective component of family intervention, this paper examines evidence from cost‐effectiveness studies based on randomized controlled trials, modelling studies estimating longer‐term costs and outcomes, and studies estimating costs of UK parenting programmes, including evidence from routine practice. Findings indicate that parenting programmes have the potential to be cost‐saving in the long term; however, gaps in the evidence include: lack of follow‐up of families who drop out of programmes, absence of control groups in longer‐term follow‐ups, and little information about costs and effects of programmes in routine practice. The size of savings resulting from implementation of effective parenting programmes will depend on the extent to which families likely to be most costly to society attend and experience lasting benefit.     

Pathways and transitions of gamblers over two years

Moderate-risk and problem gamblers represent 1.4% and 0.4% of the Québec population, respectively. Research on gamblers’ trajectories has been hampered by methodological shortcomings leading to heterogeneous results. The present research was conducted in the Province of Québec with a representative sample of adult gamblers and aims to explore how gamblers change over time according to the severity of their gambling problems. Using a 2-year follow-up prospective design (3 waves), 179 gamblers selected from a representative survey were divided into the 4 PGSI (Problem Gambling Severity Index) categories. Beyond the decreasing trend in PGSI scores detected within the overall sample using a linear growth model, our analyses revealed that moderate-risk gamblers are heterogeneous in their composition and evolution, comprising stable moderate-risk, recent cases and former problem gamblers. Over three waves, one-third of moderate-risk gamblers improved, one-third remained stable and one-third became problem gamblers. The subgroups transitioning in and out of the moderate-risk category differed in terms of reported changes in gambling behaviours and consequences. Problem gamblers remain vulnerable over time, being at risk of experiencing chronic problems. Results highlight the necessity of subgroup-specific prevention programmes and treatment services that address both the non-linearity of risky gambling and the chronicity of problem gambling.     

Knowledge and Skills of Sexual Abuse Prevention: A Study on School-Aged Children in Beijing,China

To examine the level of child sexual abuse prevention knowledge and skills in a sample of school-aged children, a total of 559 children from first to fifth grade were recruited from one primary school in Beijing, China. Participants were asked to finish a questionnaire surveying their knowledge and skills of child sexual abuse prevention. Results showed that accurate rate of knowledge on child sexual abuse prevention were between 44.0% and 80.0%. Percentage of participants having applied the self-protection skills of “saying ‘no,’” “going away,” and “telling adults” properly in hypothetical situations was 57.4%, 28.3%, and 48.3%, respectively. Third-to-fifth graders had a better performance than first-to-second graders, and girls performed better than boys. Findings suggest that Chinese school-aged children are in need of knowledge and skills related to child sexual abuse prevention, and education programs should be developed as soon as possible.     

地下钱庄行为的定性与防控——刑法与经济法互动的视角

地下钱庄并非规范的法律概念，我国对地下钱庄法律价值的判断是基于其组织的非正规性而非其行为的违法性，对地下钱庄行为更多地是借助刑法规制和执法严惩而非制度规范和监管指引。以刑法与经济法互动为视角，对地下钱庄所从事的三类主要业务进行具体分析，对相关法律法规予以细致梳理和客观评价，并结合我国金融生态环境和地下钱庄行为特点提出相应的立法建议和防控对策。提出在治理地下钱庄的过程中应当做到经济法规制在前、刑法惩治在后，监管在前、执法在后，宽严相济、疏堵结合。     

Missing value imputation method for disaster decision-making using K nearest neighbor

Due to destructiveness of natural disasters, restriction of disaster scenarios and some human causes, missing data usually occur in disaster decision-making problems. In order to estimate missing values of alternatives, this paper focuses on imputing heterogeneous attribute values of disaster based on an improved K nearest neighbor imputation (KNNI) method. Firstly, some definitions of trapezoidal fuzzy numbers (TFNs) are introduced and three types of attributes (i.e. linguistic term sets, intervals and real numbers) are converted to TFNs. Then the correlated degree model is utilized to extract related attributes to form instances that will be used in K nearest neighbor algorithm, and a novel KNNI method merging with correlated degree model is presented. Finally, an illustrative example is given to verify the proposed method and to demonstrate its feasibility and effectiveness.     

Communicating Actionable Risk for Terrorism and Other Hazards⋆

We propose a shift in emphasis when communicating to people when the objective is to motivate household disaster preparedness actions. This shift is to emphasize the communication of preparedness actions (what to do about risk) rather than risk itself. We have called this perspective “communicating actionable risk,” and it is grounded in diffusion of innovations and communication theories. A representative sample of households in the nation was analyzed using a path analytic framework. Preparedness information variables (including content, density, and observation), preparedness mediating variables (knowledge, perceived effectiveness, and milling), and preparedness actions taken were modeled. Clear results emerged that provide a strong basis for communicating actionable risk, and for the conclusion both that information observed (seeing preparedness actions that other have taken) and information received (receiving recommendations about what preparedness actions to take) play key, although different, roles in motivating preparedness actions among the people in our nation.     

The use of vignettes to empower effective responses to attempted sexual assault

Objective: Women assertively resisting sexual aggression have the best chances of avoiding completed rape. Especially with acquaintances, there are significant social and psychological barriers to resistance. Novel vignettes depicting acquaintance rape were designed to enhance self-efficacy, reduce unrealistic optimism, and empower assertive resistance. Participants: The data were collected using a Web-based survey of 449 female college students from multiple universities in August–October 2014. Methods: Between-subjects mixed-methods design. Participants were randomly assigned to read one of four vignettes and complete self-report measures of personal vulnerability, self-efficacy, and beliefs and intention about resistance. Results: Although vignettes did not impact self-efficacy, one vignette enhanced perceived controllability and decreased unrealistic optimism. Women who read about completed acquaintance rape described intention to use physically assertive responses at double the rate of women reading about successful resistance. Conclusions: As low-cost, easily disseminated materials, vignettes about sexual assault may enhance campus prevention efforts.     

侵权人不明的高楼落物侵权的法律规制

《侵权责任法》第87条对侵权人不明的高楼落物侵权责任的承担进行了规定,具有保障受害人得到补偿、统一司法实践、降低致害概率的积极意义。但是,该规定也存在许多不足之处,主要表现为不利于社会和谐、容易引发道德风险、预防功能不充分、适用前提不明确等,没有很好地解决高楼落物侵权所面临的困境。采取社会救济、高楼落物赔偿基金、保险赔偿等多种途径相结合的救济方式,行政法、刑法与《侵权责任法》相配合的惩罚制度,不仅可以使受害人得到及时的、充分的补偿,而且可以有效预防此类侵权损害的发生。     

‘You Get More Respect,’ Reasons for Sex Among African American High School Youth: A Qualitative Study

ABSTRACT

African American adolescents continue to be disproportionately impacted by HIV, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and unanticipated pregnancies. In-depth, face-to-face interviews among a convenience sample of 32 African American adolescents (16 male and 16 female) were used to explore the reasons why some adolescents decided to engage in sex while others chose to delay sexual debut. Data were analyzed using a thematic analysis. Among the overall sample, psychological motivations, external pressure, physical pleasure seeking, and relationship-related motivations were the major themes cited for engaging in sex by participants and their friends. External support, motivation to avoid negative consequences, not feeling ready or lacking interest in sex, and having negative views about sex were among the major reasons for delaying sex. Several of the emergent themes showed gender differences. Suggestions for future research include the need for sexual education, and STI/HIV prevention programs that are gender sensitive and flexible enough to accommodate multiple factors related to sexual debut.     

现浇混凝土板的裂缝分析与防治

在建筑结构中，随着商品混凝土的大量使用，混凝土楼面板出现裂缝的机率大大增加，并日益受到人们的关注。裂缝出现的原因复杂，既有温度变化、混凝土收缩、地基不均匀沉降等原因，也有设计、施工、材料和使用等方面的问题。本文根据工程实践经验，对现浇混凝土板的裂缝在设计、施工、材料等方面的成因进行了分析，并提出了相应的裂缝防治措施。