Monitoring the complexities: Nuclear power and public opinion

Interaction between organizations and stakeholders today takes place on virtual and physical ‘issue arenas’. This study examined opinions on nuclear power and asked who are the players discussing nuclear power in Finland? Through content analysis, surveys and interviews, the study concluded that politicians, power companies and regulators were the ones with voice, as NGOs and citizens were hardly heard. The paper suggests the future role of PR practitioners to be to find the right issue arenas and facilitate corporate voice and reputation on those arenas.     

Testing for heteroscedasticity occuring at unknown points

This paper considers procedures for the detection of heteroscedasticity when it occurs at unknown points. First the number of points is assumed known apriori and then this assumption is relaxed so that both the position and the number of possible aberrant observations is unknown. Monte Carlo evidence is provided on the performance of both tests and they are found to perform reasonably.     

Help, Not Harm: Psychological Foundation for a Nondieting Approach Toward Health

This article reviews the literature on the psychological consequences of dieting. In particular, the authors examine the impact of dieting on mood, self-esteem, cognition, and eating behavior. The famous Keys study of starvation is discussed in relations to impaired concentration, food preoccupation, negative affect, and binge eating behavior. Overall, the literature indicates that dieting has a negative impact on psychological well-being. As a result, alternative nondieting approaches toward eating are presented and recommended to promote psychological health.     

A Parametric Estimation Procedure for Relapse Time Distributions

In a relapse clinical trial patients who have recovered from some recurrent disease (e.g.,ulcer or cancer) are examined at a number of predetermined times. A relapse can be detected either at one of these planned inspections or at a spontaneous visit initiated by the patient because of symptoms. In the first case the observations of the time to relapse, X, is interval-censored by two predetermined time-points. In the second case the upper endpoint of the interval is an observation of the time to symptoms,Y . To model the progression of the disease we use a partially observable Markov process. This approach results in a bivariate phase-type distribution for the joint distribution of (X,Y). It is a flexible model which contains several natural distributions for X, and allows the conditional distributions of the marginals to smoothly depend on each other. To estimate the distributions involved we develop an EM-algorithm. The estimation procedure is evaluated and compared with a non-parametric method in a couple of examples based on simulated data.     

Acculturation Gap,Intergenerational Conflict,Parenting Style,and Youth Distress in Immigrant Chinese American Families

This study examined mother–child acculturation gaps in relationship to youth distress and the possible mediating role of parent–child conflict and parenting style in a sample of 81 Chinese American families. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses provided partial support for a relationship between acculturation gaps and youth distress. No mediators of this relationship were found; however, post-hoc analyses indicated that intergenerational conflict and parenting style were associated with youth distress above and beyond acculturation gaps. These results suggest that interventions developed to reduce parent–child conflict and increase parental bonding (increase parental warmth and decrease parental overprotection) may be valuable for Chinese American adolescents, regardless of acculturation gap status.     

Naturally Occurring Retirement Community (NORC) Residents Have a False Sense of Security That Could Jeopardize Their Safety in a Disaster

High-rise apartments bring unique challenges in emergency situations. To better understand the needs of apartment-dwelling seniors in emergency situations and potential sources of support available, a novel collaborative community development approach was used with seniors living in a naturally occurring retirement community (NORC) in London, Ontario, Canada (N = 2500; mean ± SD age = 79 ± 9.53 years). A surprising finding was a false sense of security, with seniors expecting that management would take care of all needs. This finding reinforces the critical need for better public messaging for seniors, as well as targeted emergency management plans for frailer older individuals living in the community.     

Possibilities for Intervention in Domestic Violence: Frame Analysis of Health Care Professionals’ Attitudes

ABSTRACT. Violence is a serious problem, and social and health care providers are in a key position for implementing successful interventions. This qualitative study of 6 focus groups with professionals (n = 30) examines the health care professionals’ ways of framing a domestic violence intervention. Of special interest here is how professionals see their own roles in the process of recognizing and helping victims of domestic violence. By using Erving Goffman's frame analysis, this study identifies several frames that either: a) emphasize the obstacles to intervention and justify nonintervention, or on the contrary, b) question these obstacles and find justifications for intervention. The possibilities for intervention are further explored by analyzing the ways in which the dynamics between the different frames allow redefinition of domestic violence interventions. Despite the challenges involved in a domestic violence intervention, there seems to be potential for change in personal attitudes and reform of professional practices. The research findings underline the role of social and health care professionals as members of a larger chain of service providers working collaboratively against domestic violence. Implications for practice and directions in policy and future research are suggested.