Social climate within secure inpatient services for people with intellectual disabilities

Background The social climate of inpatient facilities is thought to be an important contributor to treatment outcome. However, little research has focused on this construct within secure forensic services for people with intellectual disabilities (ID). Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the social climate of two different types of secure units (‘low’ secure vs. ‘medium’ secure) contained within the same facility for offenders with ID. Two hypotheses were generated: (1) residents would rate the social climate of the whole facility in a more negative direction than staff, and (2) residents and staff would rate the social climate of the ‘low’ secure unit in a more positive direction than that of the ‘medium’ secure unit. Method Using a 2 (factor ‘Participant’ = Staff or Resident) × 2 (factor ‘Unit’ = ‘Low’ or ‘Medium’ Secure Unit) between‐subjects design, 18 residents and 37 staff members were recruited and completed the Correctional Institutions Environment Scale (CIES), a measure of social climate. Results Residents tended to rate the units in a more positive direction than staff on some sub‐scales. Participants rated the ‘low’ secure unit in a more positive direction than the ‘medium’ secure unit on two sub‐scales of the CIES. However, on selected sub‐scales there were differences. The findings of this study suggest that the CIES may be a valid instrument for use within forensic services for people with ID, and further suggests that residents and staff have different perceptions of the shared social climate, which may have implications for service development.     

Health and social service use among old people in the last 2 years of life

This study focuses on differences in health and social service use in the last 2 years of life among Finnish people aged 70–79, 80–89, and 90 or older and on the variation in service use in the various municipalities. The data set, derived from multiple national registers, consists of 75,578 people who died in 1998–2001. The services included hospitals and long-term-care facilities, use of regular home care, and prescribed medicines. General hospital and public long-term care were the services most commonly used: general hospitals for younger age groups and public long-term care for older groups. The number of inpatient days in hospital was lower with increasing age, but older age groups used long-term care more frequently. Men had more hospital inpatient days than women, but women used more long-term care. The number of hospital inpatient days increased rapidly in the last months of life, almost doubling in the final month. Days in public long-term care increased regularly in the last 2 years of life. Variation in both hospital and long-term care by municipality was remarkable. The results indicate that, among people aged 70 years and older, age is a major determinant of care in the last 2 years of life. The variation in the use of care by municipality and the differences between men and women deserve more detailed analysis in future.     

社会支持对考试应激的影响

目的了解社会支持对考试应激的影响。方法采用焦虑自评量表和社会支持量表分别对７２７个学生考试前１个月、考试期间考试焦虑分数及社会支持情况进行调查，比较分析考试焦虑分数与社会支持因素的关系。结果考试焦虑分数与客观支持、来自同学和老师的主观支持以及社会支持的利用度成反比。结论家长和学校给予学生足够的社会支持，以及让学生参加适当的社会活动，培养他们利用社会支持的能力，有助于让学生减缓考试应激的水平     

失眠症患者心理防御机制与社会支持的相关研究

目的　探讨失眠症患者心理防御特征和社会支持 ,并分析两者的关系。方法　采用心理防御方式问卷 (DSQ )、社会支持评定量表 (SSRS)对失眠症患者和正常健康者各 5 0例进行评定。结果　患者组心理防御方式 (不成熟型、中间型防御因子和掩饰因子的因子分高 ,成熟防御因子分低 )和社会支持 (社会支持总分、主观支持分、对支持利用度低 )与对照组相比差异有显著性 (P <0 .0 5或 0 .0 1) ;相关分析发现 ,患者组不成熟防御机制与SSRS的支持总分、主观支持分、对支持利用度呈负相关 (P均 <0 .0 5 ) ,中间型防御机制与SSRS的主观支持呈负相关 (P <0 .0 5 )。结论　失眠症患者心理防御机制的成熟程度较正常人低 ,社会支持差 ,两者存在一定的关系。     

The Fort McMurray demonstration project in social marketing: health- and safety-related behaviour among oil sands workers

This is the first round in a series of surveys conducted inFort McMurray as part of the Fort McMurray Demonstration Projectin social marketing. This component of the survey was intendedto focus on the most prominent group of employed workers inthe community and to compare their patterns of response withthe community as a whole. Respondents to the survey were overwhelminglymale (96%), married (72.9%) and living in households of twoto five persons (87.9%). They were predominantly aged 30–44(55%) and graduates of high school (53.5%). Younger male workers(below age 30) were more likely to have a high school diploma(78.3%) or some additional technical or vocational training(21.7% compared to 12.5% overall) and to be unmarried or separated.Attitudes toward safety-related behaviours were stronger thanfor respondents from the community as a whole. Approximately70–100% of all age groups and both sexes showed strongagreement with attitudes involving child car seats and the unacceptabilityof drinking and driving. These attitudes include strong advocacyof vigorous enforcement of occupational health and safety standards.However, they showed a variability similar to the communityas a whole in behaviour at home compared to work, generallyreporting more consistent use of personal protection on thejob than in their own homes, particularly hearing protection.Even so, they were much less likely to perform stretching andwarm-up exercises prior to exertion than community residentsin general. The potential may exist to transfer the technologyand attitudes from workplace health and safety to communitysafety. One possible strategy to accomplish this is to involveworkers in this industry directly in community initiatives.This strategy may be generalizable to any community in whichthere are major employers who place a heavy emphasis on riskcontrol and occupational health and safety.     

Stress-induced changes in behavior and function of the neurohormonal systems in monkeys differing in social rank

Research Institute of Experimental Pathology and Therapy, Sukhumi. (Presented by Academician of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences B. A. Lapin.) Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 114, No. 11, pp. 457–459, November, 1992.     

Changing the College AOD Environment for Primary Prevention

Identifying environmental factors reflected to alcohol use is important for program planning and evaluation in college alcohol and drug prevention programs. Little has been written concerning uses of data in environmental prevention efforts. This paper presents four brief interrelated case studies of how environmental modifications were used by a college alcohol prevention project to 1) change the marketing practices and service policies of a student-oriented bar, 2) alter the sales practices of a campus bookstore concerning alcohol paraphernalia, 3) to develop a campaign with the goal of reducing risk factors related to heavy drinking at private student parties, and 4) stop an unsafe bus from transporting students to bars in Mexico. Creative use of such environmental prevention approaches has potential benefit to colleges and universities concerned with the primary prevention of alcohol-related problems experienced by students.     

Drawing the Boundaries: Exploring gender issues in young children's classifications of work using visual representations

This study examines young children's perceptions of work through a specific example. Reception class children at an inner city school were shown pictures of the same figure washing in four different contexts, ranging from housework to paid employment, in order to examine early classifications and conceptual systems relating to the concept of work and to ascertain whether these were gender related. Individual children varied in the complexity of their ideas, but the majority had not yet began to form hierarchical classifications of work which favour paid employment. There was evidence however that some children were beginning to devalue traditional women's work, suggesting that gender stereotypes are still prevalent amongst this age group, despite efforts by the educational system to counter this.     

Social problem solving as a moderating variable between negative life stress and depressive symptoms

The present study sought to investigate the moderating function that social problem-solving effectiveness serves in relation to negative stressful life events and depressive symptomatology. It was also hypothesized that knowledge of problem solving would improve upon the prediction of level of depressive symptoms beyond the assessment of stressful events. Results involving 462 undergraduate students provide support for both predictions. Specifically, findings from a multiple regression analysis indicated that (1) differences in reported depressive mood between subjects under high and low stress levels were minimal for individuals characterized as effective problem-solvers, relative to those persons with problem-solving scores reflective of ineffective problem solving; and (2) assessment of problem-solving scores and their interaction with stress level provided for an additional three times the amount of explained variance in predicting depression scores beyond life stress scores. Additionally, a cross-validation of the regression analysis was conducted and found to result in a minimal amount of shrinkage that could be due to samplespecific characteristics.We would like to extend our appreciation to two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of this article. The study was supported in part by a grant funded by Fairleigh Dickinson University to the first author.