Sweden: income and suicide

Previous publications have reported two conflicting patterns describing the relationship between income and suicide in Sweden; positive and negative. Methodologically the studies have differed, and the analysis has been limited to a few areas. To better understand the relationship, a nationwide, cross-sectional, ecological study of the 290 municipalities in Sweden was planned. OLS regression analyses showed the overall and female suicide rates were negatively related to income, while the effect on male suicide rates was not statistically significant. The results confirm earlier findings of a negative relationship between income and suicide.     

Math weaknesses in survivors of acute lymphoblastic leukemia compared to healthy children.

Difficulties in math are the most frequently reported area of academic deficit in survivors of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and the most frequent academic complaint among parents of ALL survivors. However, previous studies that included measures of math skills have been limited by the use of only a single measure of math skills, most often a measure of written calculations, without any assessment of math reasoning or math application skills. Further, the nature of these math difficulties has not been adequately investigated. The purpose of this study was to examine the performance of ALL survivors using multiple measures of math skills. Performance was compared to a group of healthy controls matched for age and sex as well as to normative levels. Other measures of neuropsychological function were also administered, and the relationships between these measures and the math measures were explored. Converging evidence for math difficulties in ALL survivors compared to healthy controls and normative levels was found. While ALL survivors generally performed within the average range on measures of math skills, math performance was mostly related to memory function and dominant-hand psychomotor speed. By contrast, math performance of healthy children was mostly related to basic reading skills and visual-motor integration. These findings shed light on the nature of math difficulties in ALL survivors and have implications for intervention.     

Using ethnographic methods for development of culture-specific interventions

Cultural specificity is considered important in developing effective school- and community-based interventions. This article illustrates the use of ethnographic research to enhance understanding of students' cultural experiences and facilitate the development of culturally specific interventions. Ethnographic data were collected during formative and intervention phases of a school-based mental health promotion project. Data were coded using an interactive deductive-inductive process. Culture specificity was defined as the integration of etic (universal) and emic (culture-bound) perspectives. Four culture-specific themes were identified: adult-sanctioned behaviors and practices, adolescents' perspectives about the present and aspirations for the future, and societal factors. These themes encompassed code categories reflecting cultural attitudes, beliefs, customs, expectations, norms, and values; and reflected the ecological framework that guided the research. Future research is needed to address the use of combined etic-emic conceptualizations of culture in the development of culture-specific interventions.     

Varying response effort in the treatment of pica maintained by automatic reinforcement

Pica is a life-threatening behavior displayed by many individuals with developmental disabilities. In the current study, automatic reinforcement maintained the pica of 3 participants. Following functional analyses of pica, response-effort manipulations were conducted in which the effort to obtain pica or alternative items was varied systematically. Several general relations emerged as a result of the study. First, levels of pica were reduced relative to baseline when alternative items were available independent of the effort required to obtain alternative items or pica. Second, increasing the effort for alternative items resulted in increases in pica relative to when effort for alternative items was low. Third, increasing response effort for pica produced reductions in pica relative to baseline when alternative items were unavailable. Fourth, the highest levels of pica occurred when the effort to engage in pica was low or medium and no alternative items were available. These findings are discussed in terms of the relative effects of quality of reinforcement and response effort on behavior.     

Concave utility,transaction costs,and risk in measuring discounting of delayed rewards

Research has consistently found that the decline in the present values of delayed rewards as delay increases is better fit by hyperbolic than by exponential delay-discounting functions. However, concave utility, transaction costs, and risk each could produce hyperbolic-looking data, even when the underlying discounting function is exponential. In Experiments 1 (N = 45) and 2 (N = 103), participants placed bids indicating their present values of real future monetary rewards in computer-based 2nd-price auctions. Both experiments suggest that utility is not sufficiently concave to account for the superior fit of hyperbolic functions. Experiment 2 provided no evidence that the effects of transaction costs and risk are large enough to account for the superior fit of hyperbolic functions.     

EFFECTS OF WRIST WEIGHTS ON SELF-INJURIOUS AND ADAPTIVE BEHAVIORS

The effects of wrist weights on the self-injurious and adaptive behaviors of a young boy with profound mental retardation were evaluated. Application of wrist weights reduced SIB by 92% and was associated with either increases or stable levels of multiple novel and preexisting adaptive behaviors.     

Decision support systems effectiveness: Conceptual framework and empirical evaluation

Decision Support Systems (DSS) are designed to help human beings in solving problems more efficiently or making better decisions. While an increasing number of DSS have been and are developed, the effectiveness of such systems has not yet been demonstrated. This study proposes a conceptual framework for measuring the effectiveness of DSS and reports the results of a before-and-after study designed to compare two experimental groups of problem solvers assisted by one of two technologies for conflict resolution with a control group without any technology. The two technologies that are examined in this paper consist of a computerized DSS for conflict resolution, Resolve(!), and a videotape on conflict resolution, Video. Various measures of the problem solving episode were recorded, including both process and outcome measures. Overall, the groups with access to the technologies perceived a significantly better resolution of the problem they addressed than their control group counterpart. The two technologies differed essentially on two out of 11 variabales: subjects assigned to the computerized DSS technology generated more alternative solutions to the problem they tried to solve and reported a higher perceived progress in the resolution of the problem, than did subjects who were assigned to the videotape technology.