Are the Homeless Mentally Ill?

In Australia, it is widely believed that most homeless people have mental health issues and that mental illness is a primary cause of homelessness. This paper uses information from a study of 4,291 homeless people in Melbourne to investigate these propositions. The research found that 15 per cent of the homeless had mental health issues prior to becoming homeless. This challenges the community perception that mental illness is the primary cause of homelessness. The research also found that 16 per cent of the sample developed mental health issues after becoming homeless. Homelessness causes mental health issues for some people, particularly anxiety and depression. The claim that most homeless people are mentally ill sends the wrong message to policy makers about the services that are needed to assist homeless people.     

Detection and Prevalence of Abuse of Older Males: Perspectives from Family Practice

SUMMARY

Family doctors' frequent contact with seniors put them in reasonable positions to detect elder abuse and initiate referral to adult protective services. Since doctor reporting is low, however, this paper explores whether the gender of patient and/or doctor impacts on identification of elder mistreatment, or creates differential detection of one gender over the other. Use of the validated Elder Abuse Suspicion Index (EASI), and a structured social work evaluation, is described to provide some gender-based data from Canadian family practice. Specifically, while the prevalence of elder abuse is estimated to range from 12.0% to 13.3%, the specific prevalence was found for females to be 13.6% to 15.2% and for males 9.1% to 9.7%.     

Classification of Gamblers According to the NODS and a Clinical Interview1

Since the social and personal implications of excessive gambling are important, it becomes necessary to assess the extent of the problem within the population. Accordingly, the use of an instrument that evaluates gamblers accurately is essential. This study, carried out with 200 adults, investigates the potential differences in classification of gamblers when using the NORC DSM-IV Screen for gambling problems (NODS) versus a clinical interview. The results show that 50 of the 200 participants were not categorised in the same way with the NODS as with the clinical interview; 47 participants were identified as having a more severe gambling problem according to the NODS than with the clinical interview, providing a 23.5% difference in the concordance rate. This result is discussed in terms of measurement problems in assessing gambling behaviours.     

Eating Disorder Symptoms Among College Students: Prevalence,Persistence, Correlates,and Treatment-Seeking

Abstract

Objective: To examine the prevalence, correlates, persistence, and treatment-seeking related to symptoms of eating disorders (EDs) in a random sample of college students. Participants: A random sample of students at a large university were recruited for an Internet survey in Fall 2005 and a follow-up survey in Fall 2007. Methods: ED symptoms were measured using the SCOFF screen and adjusted for nonresponse using administrative data and a nonresponse survey. Results: 2,822 (56%) students completed the baseline survey. Among undergraduates the prevalence of positive screens was 13.5% for women and 3.6% for men. Among students with positive screens, 20% had received past-year mental health treatment. In the follow-up sample (N = 753), ED symptoms at baseline significantly predicted symptoms 2 years later. Conclusions: Symptoms of EDs were prevalent and persistent among college students in this study. These findings suggest that brief screens can identify a large number of students with untreated EDs.     

春秋战国文化传播的历史进步

春秋战国时期史官文化向普及型、开放型文化的迅速转变,促进了文化传播。其中,口传文化主要有游说诸侯和聚徒讲学两种形式;书面文化的主要传播方式是著书立说。春秋战国文化传播,开创了书籍编纂体例,积累了书籍编纂经验,总结了图书传播理论,为我国编辑出版事业奠定了坚实的发展基础。     

Australian Service Providers' Responses to Elder Abuse

This article presents the findings of a survey of 175 service providers in Sydney, Australia, the majority of whom were doctors in general practice. Thirty-two percent of respondents had encountered cases of physical, psychological, or financial abuse or caregiver neglect of people 65 years old and over. Community nurses and social/welfare workers were particularly likely to have encountered cases of abuse. The findings suggest that coordination between health, welfare, and criminal justice agencies in Australia needs improvement. Policies to address elder abuse and neglect in Australia are in their infancy. As a priority governments should work towards effective training of professionals and appropriate intervention guidelines for services.     

Was there a neolithic mortality crisis?

The case that mortality rose either with the Neolithic Revolution or subsequent urbanization is made by both medical ecologists and anthropologists. The former point out that only dense farming or urban populations could sustain epidemic disease. Many anthropologists believe that Palaeolithic society either controlled population numbers or experienced low natural fertility, and that both fertility and mortality rose with denser, sedentary populations. Given that the evidence for low hunter-gatherer fertility is unsatisfactory, and that the balance of fertility and mortality was inevitably approximately maintained into the Neolithic period, it is possible that there was no Neolithic mortality crisis. This paper examines how the case was built for near-consensus on such a mortality crisis, and the implications of this case being wrong.     

Access or adaptation? A meta-analysis of surveys of problem gambling prevalence in Australia and New Zealand with respect to concentration of electronic gaming machines

It is widely believed that greater availability of electronic gaming machines (EGMs) has led to increases in problem gambling prevalence and related harms. It has also been proposed that individuals and populations adapt to exposure over time and that prevalence rates plateau or decline, even in the face of increasing availability. This study examines both hypotheses using a combined data set of 34 problem gambling surveys conducted in Australia and New Zealand since 1991. Strong statistically meaningful relationships were found for an increase in prevalence with increasing per capita density of EGMs, consistent with the access hypothesis and supported by no evidence of plateauing of prevalence with increasing density of EGMs. A decrease in prevalence over time with availability held constant is also evident, partially consistent with adaptation. It is likely that both forces are at work simultaneously, with implications for appropriate policy responses to gambling harm minimisation.