Deactivating the Buttons: Integrating Radical Exposure Tapping with a Family Therapy Framework

The purpose of this paper is to describe and illustrate with case examples a brief intervention termed Radical Exposure Tapping (RET). RET can be integrated with family therapy to address stuck points where the therapy is hindered by a family member's affective block, an intense and unchangeable emotional reactivity to a specific trigger. RET draws from the methodology of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and combines it with the tapping sequence of the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) to produce an intervention that is more flexible than EMDR, provides greater rigor than using the EFT technique alone and can be effective in a single session within the context of family therapy. The paper puts this work into context by first over viewing definitions of trauma and Post‐Traumatic Stress Disorder, arguing that family members' emotional reactivity may be a symptom of PTSD even when they would not qualify for the diagnosis because they had not experienced a life threatening event.     

Pitman closeness,monotonicity and consistency of best linear unbiased and invariant estimators for exponential distribution under Type II censoring

Comparisons of best linear unbiased estimators with some other prominent estimators have been carried out over the last 50 years since the ground breaking work of Lloyd [E.H. Lloyd, Least squares estimation of location and scale parameters using order statistics, Biometrika 39 (1952), pp. 88–95]. These comparisons have been made under many different criteria across different parametric families of distributions. A noteworthy one is by Nagaraja [H.N. Nagaraja, Comparison of estimators and predictors from two-parameter exponential distribution, Sankhyā Ser. B 48 (1986), pp. 10–18], who made a comparison of best linear unbiased (BLUE) and best linear invariant (BLIE) estimators in the case of exponential distribution. In this paper, continuing along the same lines by assuming a Type II right censored sample from a scaled-exponential distribution, we first compare BLUE and BLIE of the exponential mean parameter in terms of Pitman closeness (nearness) criterion. We show that the BLUE is always Pitman closer than the BLIE. Next, we introduce the notions of Pitman monotonicity and Pitman consistency, and then establish that both BLUE and BLIE possess these two properties.     

Bayesian adaptive dose‐escalation designs for simultaneously estimating the optimal and maximum safe dose based on safety and efficacy

The main purpose of dose‐escalation trials is to identify the dose(s) that is/are safe and efficacious for further investigations in later studies. In this paper, we introduce dose‐escalation designs that incorporate both the dose‐limiting events and dose‐limiting toxicities (DLTs) and indicative responses of efficacy into the procedure. A flexible nonparametric model is used for modelling the continuous efficacy responses while a logistic model is used for the binary DLTs. Escalation decisions are based on the combination of the probabilities of DLTs and expected efficacy through a gain function. On the basis of this setup, we then introduce 2 types of Bayesian adaptive dose‐escalation strategies. The first type of procedures, called “single objective,” aims to identify and recommend a single dose, either the maximum tolerated dose, the highest dose that is considered as safe, or the optimal dose, a safe dose that gives optimum benefit risk. The second type, called “dual objective,” aims to jointly estimate both the maximum tolerated dose and the optimal dose accurately. The recommended doses obtained under these dose‐escalation procedures provide information about the safety and efficacy profile of the novel drug to facilitate later studies. We evaluate different strategies via simulations based on an example constructed from a real trial on patients with type 2 diabetes, and the use of stopping rules is assessed. We find that the nonparametric model estimates the efficacy responses well for different underlying true shapes. The dual‐objective designs give better results in terms of identifying the 2 real target doses compared to the single‐objective designs.     

Using Work Values to Predict Post‐Retirement Work Intentions

Work values might be proximal predictors of individuals' late‐career intentions because they serve as guiding principles for the selection, evaluation, and justification of vocational behavior. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between work values and post‐retirement work intentions. The authors investigated individual work values within the structure of 4 higher order values elaborated on by Schwartz et al. ( 2012 ). Relationships between work values and 4 types of post‐retirement work intentions were examined. Data from 1,071 employees of a German logistics company were used to test the hypotheses. The results of a structural equation model indicated that work values were differentially related to the 4 types of post‐retirement work intentions. The identified work value–work type combinations add to the literature on post‐retirement work. Practice implications for promoting positive individual and organizational outcomes are drawn from the results.     

Micro‐investment perspective and the potential of the universal basic income

The article evaluates prospects of the Basic Income (BI) as a development policy tool. While BI is a relatively new initiative within development policy, the article argues that it should be seen as a serious option in the future, given the changing geography of poverty and the findings from existing cash transfer schemes. The analysis is carried out as a synthesis of existing findings on BI pilot programmes, along with cash transfer instruments more generally. While not including new empirical data, the synthesis allows preliminary estimates on the likely impacts of abolishing conditioning and targeting in cash transfer schemes. Particular attention is paid to the notion of micro‐investment and the psychological conditions of micro‐investment.     

Nonparametric Shrinkage Estimation for Aalen's Additive Hazards Model

Aalen's nonparametric additive model in which the regression coefficients are assumed to be unspecified functions of time is a flexible alternative to Cox's proportional hazards model when the proportionality assumption is in doubt. In this paper, we incorporate a general linear hypothesis into the estimation of the time‐varying regression coefficients. We combine unrestricted least squares estimators and estimators that are restricted by the linear hypothesis and produce James‐Stein‐type shrinkage estimators of the regression coefficients. We develop the asymptotic joint distribution of such restricted and unrestricted estimators and use this to study the relative performance of the proposed estimators via their integrated asymptotic distributional risks. We conduct Monte Carlo simulations to examine the relative performance of the estimators in terms of their integrated mean square errors. We also compare the performance of the proposed estimators with a recently devised LASSO estimator as well as with ridge‐type estimators both via simulations and data on the survival of primary billiary cirhosis patients.     

Who is a Distracted Driver? Associations between Mobile Phone Use while Driving,Domain‐Specific Risk Taking,and Personality

Mobile phone use while driving (MPUWD) is an increasingly common form of distracted driving. Given its widespread prevalence, it is important for researchers to identify factors that may predict who is more likely to engage in this risky behavior. The current study investigates associations between MPUWD risk behaviors, domain‐specific risk perceptions, and broad personality dimensions. An Italian community sample (n = 804) completed a survey regarding MPUWD risk perceptions and engagement in MPUWD, in addition to the HEXACO‐PI‐R, a broad six‐factor personality inventory (honesty‐humility, emotionality, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness to experience), and the DOSPERT, a six‐factor domain‐specific self‐report risk‐taking measure (health/safety, recreational, social, ethical, gambling, and investment). With respect to domain‐specific risk taking, greater frequency of SMS use while driving most strongly was associated with greater risk taking for the health/safety, gambling, and ethical risk domains. Further, greater honesty‐humility and conscientiousness, two traits related to cognitive control and risk behaviors, and to a lesser extent openness to experience, were associated with less frequent MPUWD, and positively associated with MPUWD risk perceptions. With growing public safety concern surrounding MPUWD, understanding associated personality factors is not only important for identifying psychological mechanisms underlying risk behavior, but also for more effective prevention and intervention programs.     

And I Still Love Them: On Touching Loss

In this article, the author performs a re‐membering practice that incorporates a relational materialist theory. It traces the disturbances that follow in the wake of three deaths in her family. Written in an autoethnographic voice, the article is a polyphonic composition of the narrative therapy approach of re‐membering entangled with the spacetimematter of silence, speaking, sitting, staying, presence, absence, loss of momentum, dreams, trees, books, cardiac pace‐makers, writing, breath, ashes, murmuring, suffering. Thus, the dispersed agencies of bodies, human and non‐human, reinvigorate a linguistic practice and the author's personal and professional life.