Relation between adverse psychosocial risks, assessed by means of the DECORE Multidimensional Questionnaire, and deficient occupational health

This paper describes our search for the possible relationship between workers' health and quality of life and several psychosocial risks: Cognitive demands, Control, Rewards and Organizational support. These psychosocial risks were assessed by means of the DECORE Multidimensional Questionnaire, which provides five scores, one for each factor, plus a global score. Workers' health was assessed with the following variables: job satisfaction, stress perception, fatigue perception, medical leave, occupational accidents, and disease. 614 workers from various business sectors were examined. Results show that workers who feel more fatigued, stressed, and less satisfied perceive their work environment more adversely. Similar results were obtained for workers who went on medical leave, had an occupational accident, or suffered from disease.     

Self-reported emotional intelligence, burnout and engagement among staff in services for people with intellectual disabilities

This study examined the relationship among dimensions of self-reported Emotional Intelligence, Engagement and Burnout, using the Trait Meta-Mood Scale, Maslach Burnout Inventory and Utrecht Work Engagement Scale in a sample of Spanish professionals who work at institutions for people with intellectual disabilities. The results showed that Emotional Clarity was significantly associated with Personal Accomplishment (r=.25) and Dedication (r=.25). Further, Repair to moods was significantly correlated with all Engagement dimensions (.20 Vigor, .30 Dedication, .36 Absorption) and with Personal Accomplishment (.31). These findings extend previous research with college students in which Clarity and Repair to moods subscales were relevant predictors of well-being indexes and interpersonal functioning and suggest that the Trait Meta-Mood Scale subscales also show significant relationships with emotional functioning and work-related variables in a professional sample.     

Can small lesions induce language reorganization as large lesions do?

Shift of the cortical mechanisms of language from the usually dominant left to the non-dominant right hemisphere has been demonstrated in the presence of large brain lesions. Here, we report a similar phenomenon in a patient with a cavernoma over the anterolateral superior temporal gyrus associated with epilepsy. Language mapping was performed by two complementary procedures, magnetoencephalography, and electrocorticography. The maps, indicated right temporal lobe dominance for receptive language and left frontal lobe dominance for expressive language. These results indicate that a small lesion, associated with epilepsy, may produce selective shifting of receptive language mechanisms as large lesions have been known to produce.     

Brief strategic family therapy: lessons learned in efficacy research and challenges to blending research and practice

In this article, we present key lessons that we have learned from (1) a long program of research on an empirically supported treatment, brief strategic family therapy (BSFT), and (2) our ongoing research and training efforts related to transporting BSFT to the front lines of practice. After briefly presenting the rationale for working with the family when addressing behavior problems and substance abuse in adolescent populations, particularly among Hispanic adolescents, we summarize key findings from our 30-year program of research. The article closes by identifying barriers to the widespread adoption of empirically supported treatments and by presenting current work within the National Institute on Drug Abuse's Clinical Trials Network that attempts to address these barriers and obstacles.     

Social inequalities in suicide mortality: Spain and France, 1980-1982 and 1988-1990

In this study we analyzed the socioeconomic differences in mortality from suicide in the economically active male population aged 25-64 years in Spain and France in 1980-1982 and 1988-1990; in the case of Spain the data came from the Eight Provinces Study (Regidor, Gutierrez-Fisac, & Rodríguez, 1995). Individuals were grouped into four categories: professional/managerial, clerical/sales/ service, agricultural, and manual workers. For 1980-1982, among those aged 25-44, professionals and managers had the lowest risk of mortality in Spain, and clerical/sales/service workers in France. These socioeconomic differences in mortality increased in 1988-1990. In 1980-1982, among those aged 45-64, clerical/ sales/service workers had the lowest risk of mortality from suicide relative to the other occupational groups in both countries, but this difference was not maintained in 1988-1990. Thus, differences in suicide mortality for men by occupational status depended in the present study upon both the nation studied and the time period chosen for study.     

Self-talk and affective problems in college students: valence of thinking and cognitive content specificity

The aim of this study was to develop a Self-Talk Inventory for young adults. This inventory consisted of two scales. The Negative Self-Talk Scale included three categories of self-talk (depressive, anxious, and angry thoughts) and the Positive Self-Talk Scale, three categories (minimization, positive orientation, and coping self-instructions). Participants were 982 undergraduate students (Mean age = 20.35 years, SD = 2.16). They completed the self-talk scales together with the following scales to measure symptoms of affective disorders: the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI-T). Factor analyses confirmed the hypothesized structure for the Self-Talk Inventory. The relations between self-talk and symptoms of affective disorders (depression, anxiety, and anger) were also evaluated. In general, states-of-mind -SOM- ratios and negative cognitions showed a greater association with psychological symptoms than did positive cognitions. Results concerning the cognitive characteristics of depression, anxiety, and anger were mixed and partially supported the cognitive content specificity theory.     

Determinantes familiares,escolares y grupales del consumo de drogas en la adolescencia. Implicaciones para el Tratamiento

Resumen

El propósito del presente artículo es el de llamar la atención acerca de la necesidad de recoger los datos que señalan la importancia de los grupos familiar, escolar y de iguales, de cara a la elaboration de programas concretos de prevención y tratamiento de incidencia en estos tres entornos del adolescente. Con este fin, en primer lugar se analizarán los principales hallazgos de las investigaciones que relacionan la familia, la escuela y el grupo de iguales con la aparición de drogodependencias en los adolescentes. Como segundo paso se apuntarán las líneas generales de aplicación de estos hallazgos en programas de prevención e intervención.     

Postmodeling Sensitivity Analysis to Detect the Effect of Missing Data Mechanisms

Incomplete or missing data is a common problem in almost all areas of empirical research. It is well known that simple and ad hoc methods such as complete case analysis or mean imputation can lead to biased and/or inefficient estimates. The method of maximum likelihood works well; however, when the missing data mechanism is not one of missing completely at random (MCAR) or missing at random (MAR), it too can result in incorrect inference. Statistical tests for MCAR have been proposed, but these are restricted to a certain class of problems. The idea of sensitivity analysis as a means to detect the missing data mechanism has been proposed in the statistics literature in conjunction with selection models where conjointly the data and missing data mechanism are modeled. Our approach is different here in that we do not model the missing data mechanism but use the data at hand to examine the sensitivity of a given model to the missing data mechanism. Our methodology is meant to raise a flag for researchers when the assumptions of MCAR (or MAR) do not hold. To our knowledge, no specific proposal for sensitivity analysis has been set forth in the area of structural equation models (SEM). This article gives a specific method for performing postmodeling sensitivity analysis using a statistical test and graphs. A simulation study is performed to assess the methodology in the context of structural equation models. This study shows success of the method, especially when the sample size is 300 or more and the percentage of missing data is 20% or more. The method is also used to study a set of real data measuring physical and social self-concepts in 463 Nigerian adolescents using a factor analysis model.