Psychologically and biochemically assessed stress in a follow-up study of long-term unemployed

Abstract

It has been suggested that psychological stress is one of the reasons for the high morbidity among unemployed people in Western countries. The same may apply to the well-documented high mortality. It would be expected that increased levels of biological stress would be found in these people. In the present study a sample of 310 long-term unemployed people from Norway was followed for 2 years. Psychologcal stress was assessed by medical examination and by the psychometric tests GHQ-28 and HSCL-30, the latter compared with a reference population of employed people. Serum levels of cortisol, prolactin and testosterone, together with immunoglobulins IgA, IgG and IgM, were compared with working controls. The unemployed had a high level of psychological distress at the first examination, the sanie for men and women. At the 2-year follow up distress was reduced by re-employment. This fits the ‘causation hypothesis' which explains the high distress level as caused by unemployment. The other direction of causation, ‘the selection hypothesis', assuming that distressed persons have an increased chance of continuous unemployment, was also confirmed in the present study. As for biological stress, significant differences were not found between the unemployment, the re-employed and the working controls.     

Imagined interactions,family money management patterns and coalitions,and attitudes toward money and credit

This study explores the imagined interactions college students have with their parents about money and credit, their attitudes toward credit and money, the ways they say their parents deal with financial decisions, and the communication coalitions regarding finances they perceive existing within their family. Students’ imagined interaction pleasantness is greatest when parents jointly form a plan for paying off credit card debt and lowest when parents argue. When family coalitions exist, students report more frequent imagined interactions. Imagined interaction frequency and pleasantness are related to credit and money attitudes.

Using clinical signs of neglect to identify elder neglect cases

Elder neglect is the one of the most pervasive forms of mistreatment, and often the only place outside of the individual’s residence to identify and assist neglected individuals is in a medical setting. However, elder neglect cases treated in hospitals do not present with a single diagnosis or clinical sign, but rather involve a complex constellation of clinical signs. Currently, there is a lack of comprehensive guidelines on which clinical signs to use in screening tools for neglect among patients treated in hospitals. Using the DELPHI method, a group of experts developed and tested a scale to be used as a pre-screener that conceptually could be integrated into electronic health record systems so that it could identify potential neglect cases in an automated manner. By applying the scale as a pre-screener for neglect, the tool would reduce the pool of at-risk patients who would benefit from in-depth screening for elder neglect by 95%.     

Sexually Experienced Adolescents’ Thoughts About Sexual Pleasure

Little research on adolescents has examined developmentally normative facets of sexuality that are not obviously linked to physical health. The purpose of this secondary data analysis was to qualitatively analyze adolescents’ thoughts about and experiences with sexual pleasure. The study sample consisted of 56 sexually experienced, ethnically diverse, predominantly female adolescents who were participating in a Web-based intervention to promote healthy sexual decision making. Comments on one message board, “Sexual Pleasure: Does It Matter to You?,” provided an opportunity to examine adolescents’ thoughts about and experiences with sexual pleasure, as well as their communication with partners about that topic. Adolescents’ comments demonstrated that they experience difficulties with pleasure in their sexual relationships. Adolescents generally believed that men are more likely than women to feel pleasure due to differences that include biology, understanding of one’s body, and control over partnered sexual behavior. Adolescents defined inequality of received pleasure differently and discussed contexts in which inequality may be acceptable. Adolescents expressed motivation to communicate with partners about sexual pleasure. However, their statements suggested they often lack the skills to do so. Future prevention and intervention programs should equip adolescents with skills to communicate with partners about sexual pleasure.     

The Understudied Case of Black Professional Men: Advocating an Intersectional Approach

This paper considers potential new areas for sociology of work research. Specifically, we review some key studies in the sociology of work that identify the processes by which workplaces and labor markets recreate racial and gendered inequality. We then examine the ways that intersectionality theory has generated additional insights into how certain groups are disadvantaged at work. Finally, we make the case that using an intersectional approach to explore the occupational challenges, opportunities, and issues facing black professional men offers a new and important direction for research in the sociology of work.     

A fig tree in a concrete jungle: fine-scale population genetic structure of the cluster fig Ficus racemosa in an urban environment

Urban Ecosystems - Urban vegetation is an essential requirement in cities for mitigating pollution, heat island effects and providing food and shelter to urban fauna. Efforts to conserve and...     

Perspectives on workplace disability management: a review of the literature

Work-related musculoskeletal injuries represent a major source of work disability. While many employers recognize the importance of workplace disability management approaches and are assuming greater responsibility for preventing and minimizing work-related disability, questions about the effectiveness of these interventions exist. The purposes of this article are to: 1) describe the essential components of workplace disability management programs related to musculoskeletal injuries; 2) review the literature on disability management practices based on research evidence by focussing on workplace-based interventions and the role of the workplace; and 3) provide recommendations for disability management in the prevention and reduction of disability, and the rehabilitation of injured workers with musculoskeletal work injuries. The literature suggests that employer participation, a supportive work climate and cooperation between labour and management are crucial factors in facilitating return to work. Given the complexity of the disability management process and the numbers of individuals involved, it is essential that all workplace parties work together to achieve the goal of safe and early return to work.