POINT OF VIEW

No abstract available for this article.     

Measurement of partner compatibility: further validation and refinement of the CQ test

Abstract

The Compatibility Quotient (CQ) was developed to assess the degree of similarity within an established or potential couple across domains likely to be important in determining long-term happiness. Validity was supported by correlations with Locke–Wallace Marital Adjustment scores and norms presented that enabled CQ scores to be arranged on a normal curve similar to that used for IQ (intelligence) ratings. Here we replicate the validity findings with an independent, larger and more representative sample of British couples (N = 204), compare item validities with ratings of perceived importance of the various issues, and consider the claims of five new items for inclusion within the CQ. A revised (Mark 2) CQ questionnaire consisting of 25 revised items is recommended for future use.     

Social Adjustment of Women With and Without a Substance-Abusing Partner

Little normative information is available about the psychosocial functioning of women who have a substance-abusing intimate partner. This study examined whether the social adjustment of women who indicate that they have a substance-abusing partner (n=69) is compromised relative to that of women who indicate that their partner does not abuse substances (n=68). Women with a substance-abusing partner reported compromised social adjustment relative to a comparison sample both overall and in five of six life domains (work, social/leisure, primary relationship, parental, family). Results suggest the potential benefit of expanding the focus of research and treatment to include effects and outcomes for these women and to influence treatment-related policy.     

Dynamically adjustable foot-ground contact model to estimate ground reaction force during walking and running

Human dynamic models have been used to estimate joint kinetics during various activities. Kinetics estimation is in demand in sports and clinical applications where data on external forces, such as the ground reaction force (GRF), are not available. The purpose of this study was to estimate the GRF during gait by utilizing distance- and velocity-dependent force models between the foot and ground in an inverse-dynamics-based optimization. Ten males were tested as they walked at four different speeds on a force plate-embedded treadmill system. The full-GRF model whose foot-ground reaction elements were dynamically adjusted according to vertical displacement and anterior-posterior speed between the foot and ground was implemented in a full-body skeletal model. The model estimated the vertical and shear forces of the GRF from body kinematics. The shear-GRF model with dynamically adjustable shear reaction elements according to the input vertical force was also implemented in the foot of a full-body skeletal model. Shear forces of the GRF were estimated from body kinematics, vertical GRF, and center of pressure. The estimated full GRF had the lowest root mean square (RMS) errors at the slow walking speed (1.0 m/s) with 4.2, 1.3, and 5.7% BW for anterior–posterior, medial–lateral, and vertical forces, respectively. The estimated shear forces were not significantly different between the full-GRF and shear-GRF models, but the RMS errors of the estimated knee joint kinetics were significantly lower for the shear-GRF model. Providing COP and vertical GRF with sensors, such as an insole-type pressure mat, can help estimate shear forces of the GRF and increase accuracy for estimation of joint kinetics.     

Plan responses to diagnosis-based payment: Evidence from Germany’s morbidity-based risk adjustment

Many competitive health insurance markets adjust payments to participating health plans according to their enrollees’ risk − including based on diagnostic information. We investigate responses of German health plans to the introduction of morbidity-based risk adjustment in the Statutory Health Insurance in 2009, which triggers payments based on “validated” diagnoses by providers. Using the regulator’s data from office-based physicians, we estimate a difference-in-difference analysis of the change in the share and number of validated diagnoses for ICD codes that are inside or outside the risk adjustment but are otherwise similar. We find a differential increase in the share of validated diagnoses of 2.6 and 3.6 percentage points (3–4%) between 2008 and 2013. This increase appears to originate from both a shift from not-validated toward validated diagnoses and an increase in the number of such diagnoses. Overall, our results indicate that plans were successful in influencing physicians’ coding practices in a way that could lead to higher payments.     

可调式CT扫描多功能头托的设计

结合实际工作及临床经验,设计了一款可调式CT扫描多功能头托。该头托集角度调整及显示装置、头托升降装置及自锁装置为一体,具有一托多用、方便快捷的优点,可解决头颅CT扫描过程中需不断换用不同头托及调整扫描机架角度等繁琐的操作问题,进而在保证良好CT图像质量的前提下节省扫描时间。     

Daily mood and sleep: reciprocal relations and links with adjustment problems

Children's sleep problems are common and associated with increased risk for adjustment problems. We examined daily links between children's sleep and mood, using a daily diary method and actigraphy. We also tested children's daily mood as a mediator of relations among sleep and children's broader internalizing and externalizing symptoms. A community sample of 142 children (mean age = 10.69 years; 57% girls; 69% European American, 31% African American) and their parents participated. For 1 week, children wore actigraphs and parents completed a daily telephone interview about their child's mood. Following the week of actigraphy, mothers and fathers reported on their child's adjustment. Multi‐level models indicated within‐person relations between children's mood and subsequent sleep fragmentation (indicated by increased activity) and sleep latency, and between‐person relations between sleep latency and subsequent mood on the next day. Significant indirect effects were found such that a more negative daily mood (aggregated across diary days) mediated relations between poor sleep efficiency and longer sleep latency and parent‐reported internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Findings extend previous research by highlighting disruptions to children's daily mood as a potential mechanism linking sleep problems to children's mental health.     

Promoting Resilience Following Traumatic Brain Injury: Application of an Interdisciplinary,Evidence‐Based Model for Intervention

With an increasing instance of traumatic brain injury and little advancement over recent decades in the rehabilitation of brain injury survivors and their family members, focus has shifted toward the establishment of effective whole‐family resilience promotion interventions. Using the Brain Injury Family Intervention as a model, clinicians constructed two curriculum‐based interventions grounded in resilience theory and drawing from the interdisciplinary approaches of neuropsychology and marriage and family therapy: (a) the Resilience and Adjustment Intervention, for individual survivors of traumatic brain jury, and (b) the Therapeutic Couples Intervention, designed to increase relational satisfaction in couples following a traumatic brain injury. The present study outlines the need for the integration of resilience tenets into rehabilitation techniques, summarizes the empirical justification for the use of an interdisciplinary approach, and offers an overview with implementation specifics regarding these two newly designed interventions.     

Intraparental Inconsistency: The Influence of Parenting Behaviors on Aggression and Depression in Children

The authors examined several different predictive and mediation models of longitudinal parental inconsistency over a 3‐year time span. They hypothesized that parental behavior (communication/affection, kindness, and positive control) mediated the relationship between parental inconsistency (mother or father) and two emotional problems in children: (a) aggression and (b) depression. Data were obtained from a 3‐wave study (2007, 2008, and 2009) of 523 Spanish families with children ranging from 9–15 years of age at the beginning of Wave 1 (41.3% boys). Structural equation models revealed that multiple dimensions of parenting (mother or father) fully or partially mediated the relationship between longitudinal parental inconsistency and the child's adjustment. Communication/affection and kindness are the main processes through which parental inconsistency affects a child's aggression and depression. These results represent an important contribution to the improvement of parenting models of relationships between parental inconsistency and child adjustment.