The clustering of health-related occupational stressors among contemporary wage-earners

In this study, it is investigated whether a typology can be imposed upon a sample of wage-earners, based on their exposure to a broad number of occupational stressors: quantitative, emotional, and physical demands, repetitive movements, atypical schedules, low job control, relationships with superiors, job insecurity, and bullying behaviour. Also associations between this typology and measures of emotional problems (EP) and musculoskeletal complaints (MC) are tested. Logistic regression and a latent class cluster analysis are performed on a representative sample of 10,074 Flemish (Belgian) employees. Five clusters are revealed: “low stress”, “high stress”, “manual-passive”, “human contact”, and “high demand”. These clusters are showing a clear socioeconomic distribution and distinct associations with EP and MC—with the “high stress cluster” being the most problematic. Health-damaging occupational stress clusters are prevalent at both higher and lower socioeconomic positions. This is suggesting a complex relationship between occupational stressors and socioeconomic health variations.     

The Criminal Liability of Child Soldiers: In Search of a Standard

Despite the recent focus on the problem of the recruitment and use of child soldiers, there is still no clarity on the criminal liability of child soldiers who participate in conflict. In this article, we analyze the criminal liability of child soldiers against the historical background child soldiers. This aritle reports on its prevalence, and discusses the international legal framework liability. We pose the question whether the dual status of child soldiers as victims and perpetrators negatively impacts their criminal liability and whether it may in fact hamper the attainment of justice.     

Analysis of Variance of Multiply Imputed Data

As a procedure for handling missing data, Multiple imputation consists of estimating the missing data multiple times to create several complete versions of an incomplete data set. All these data sets are analyzed by the same statistical procedure, and the results are pooled for interpretation. So far, no explicit rules for pooling F tests of (repeated-measures) analysis of variance have been defined. In this article we outline the appropriate procedure for the results of analysis of variance (ANOVA) for multiply imputed data sets. It involves both reformulation of the ANOVA model as a regression model using effect coding of the predictors and applying already existing combination rules for regression models. The proposed procedure is illustrated using 3 example data sets. The pooled results of these 3 examples provide plausible F and p values.     

Chronic Stressors and Adolescents’ Externalizing Problems: Genetic Moderation by Dopamine Receptor D4. The TRAILS Study

The existing literature does not provide consistent evidence that carriers of the Dopamine D4 Receptor 7-repeat allele are more sensitive to adverse environmental influences, resulting in enhanced externalizing problems, compared to noncarriers. One explanation is that the adverse influences examined in prior studies were not severe, chronic, or distressing enough to reveal individual differences in sensitivity reflected by DRD4–7R. This study examined whether the 7-repeat allele moderated the association between chronic stressors capturing multiple stressful aspects of individuals’ lives and externalizing problems in adolescence. We expected that chronic stressor levels would be associated with externalizing levels only in 7-repeat carriers. Using Linear Mixed Models, we analyzed data from 1621 Dutch adolescents (52.2% boys), obtained in three measurement waves (mean age approximately 11, 13.5, and 16 years) from the TRacking Adolescents’ Individual Lives Survey (TRAILS) population-based birth cohort and the parallel clinic-referred cohort. Across informants, we found that higher levels of chronic stressors were related to higher externalizing levels in 7-repeat carriers but not in noncarriers, as hypothesized. Although previous studies on the 7-repeat allele as a moderator of environmental influences on adolescents’ externalizing problems have not convincingly demonstrated individual differences in sensitivity to adverse environmental influences, our findings suggest that adolescent carriers of the Dopamine D4 Receptor 7-repeat allele are more sensitive to chronic, multi-context stressors than noncarriers.     

ADHD Symptoms in Middle Adolescence Predict Exposure to Person-Related Life Stressors in Late Adolescence in <Emphasis Type="Italic">5-HTTLPR</Emphasis> S-allele Homozygotes

Literature suggests that life stressors predict attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms and that this relationship is moderated by the serotonin transporter polymorphism (5-HTTLPR). It is less clear whether, on reverse, ADHD symptoms may influence the risk of exposure to life stressors. Furthermore, the role of life stressors may vary across development depending on the type of life stressor. We used threewave longitudinal data of 1,306 adolescents from the general population and clinicreferred cohort of the TRacking Adolescents’ Individual Lives Survey. The 5-HTTLPR genotype (SS, LS, LL), parent-reported ADHD symptoms at three time points (T1: Mage?=?11.2; T2: Mage?=?13.5; T3: Mage?=?16.2 years), and the number of personrelated (‘dependent’) and environment-related (‘independent’) life stressors occurring between measurements (T1-T2, T2-T3) were assessed. Using path analyses, we examined bidirectional relations between exposure to these life stressors and ADHD symptoms between the separate waves moderated by 5-HTTLPR status. Exposure to life stressors did not predict ADHD symptoms. Rather, we found that in 5-HTTLPR Sallele homozygotes, ADHD symptoms in middle adolescence (T2) predicted exposure to the number of person-related life stressors later in adolescence (T2-T3, p?=?0.001). There was no relation with environment-related life stressors. Our study suggests that S-allele homozygotes with higher levels of ADHD symptoms in middle adolescence are more vulnerable to becoming exposed to person-related (‘dependent’) life stressors in late adolescence. Findings emphasize the need to be aware of social-emotional adversities that may occur in genetically vulnerable adolescents with ADHD symptoms in the transition into adulthood.     

Automatic stimulus‐goal comparisons: Support from motivational affective priming studies

In three studies, we found that responses to positive targets were facilitated when the preceding prime was an exemplar belonging to the semantic category (i.e., animal or profession) that was rewarded on that particular trial, whereas responses to negative targets were facilitated when the prime belonged to the nonrewarded category. These findings indicate that the match between an actual (the prime) and a desired state (the rewarded category) can be determined automatically at the time of stimulus presentation, as is assumed in several appraisal theories of emotion (e.g., Frijda, 1986, 1993; Lazarus, 1991; Scherer, 1993).     

Trust recovery following voluntary or forced financial compensations in the trust game: The role of trait forgiveness

One of the major challenges that actors in economic exchange relations face today concerns dealing with defection and overcoming the erosion of trust and cooperation that may result from a transgression. As transgressions in these relations usually entail a monetary loss for the victim, a common restorative approach involves providing a financial compensation to the victim. This research examines whether compensations that were provided voluntarily (rather than forced) would promote more trust among victims. In contrast to standard economic theory, we predict that individual differences exist that determine the degree to which victims are susceptible towards information about how the financial compensation is delivered in their decision to trust and cooperate again. Experimental data from a trust game confirmed our hypotheses by showing that whereas receiving a voluntary compensation from the transgressor communicates more repentance to victims than when this compensation was imposed, particularly people with a low tendency to forgive discount this repentance in their decision to trust again.