Government E‐Recruiting Web Sites: The influence of e‐recruitment content and usability on recruiting and hiring outcomes in US state governments

This research examines both the content and usability of e‐recruiting web sites on a government's ability to attract individuals to apply for government positions and on government's ability to retain new hires. Building on previous studies evaluating corporate recruiting web pages, this study evaluates the e‐recruiting efforts of state governments in the United States. Our study shows that governments with more usable hiring web site receive significantly more applications per job opening; whereas states with higher quality content on their recruiting web pages have significantly less voluntary turnover of new hires.     

Comparing Cognitive Behavior Therapy,Problem Solving Therapy,and Treatment as Usual in a High Risk Population

Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), problem‐solving therapy (PST), or treatment as usual (TAU) were compared in the management of suicide attempters. Participants completed the Beck Hopelessness Scale, Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation, Social Problem‐Solving Inventory, and Client Satisfaction Questionnaire at pre‐ and posttreatment. Both CBT and PST indicated significant improvements over time within the majority of measured variables; when compared to TAU, both groups showed significant differences on satisfaction. When PST was compared to TAU, results indicated significant differences on suicidal ideation, indicating overall efficacy of brief therapies with suicide attempters.     

Predictors of perceived susceptibility of breast cancer and changes over time: a mixed modeling approach

OBJECTIVE: To examine predictors of perceived susceptibility to breast cancer and assess differences across three dependent measures. DESIGN: Annual surveys were completed by US women veterans (N = 3,758) participating in a repeat mammography intervention trial. Multivariable non-linear mixed model analyses examined individual- and group-level changes in perceived susceptibility to breast cancer. DEPENDENT MEASURES: Three single-item measures of perceived susceptibility to breast cancer (percent risk, ordinal risk, and comparative risk likelihood). Predictors included demographic, health status, health behavior, affect, knowledge, and subjective norm variables. RESULTS: Breast symptoms and greater cancer worry increased perceived susceptibility for all three measures. Other predictors varied by dependent measure. Random change, indicating individual variability, was observed for percent risk only. CONCLUSION: Despite small model effect sizes, breast symptoms and cancer worry were consistent predictors and may be good targets for messages designed to influence women's perceived susceptibility to breast cancer. Researchers may benefit from using measures of perceived susceptibility with larger response scales, but additional measurement research is needed. Combining indicators of perceived susceptibility may be undesirable when different predictors are associated with different measures.     

Neural Mechanisms in Dyslexia

ABSTRACT— Within the last two decades, evidence from many laboratories has converged to indicate the cognitive basis for dyslexia: Dyslexia is a disorder within the language system and, more specifically, within a particular subcomponent of that system, phonological processing. Converging evidence from a number of laboratories using functional brain imaging indicates that there is a disruption of left-hemisphere posterior neural systems in child and adult dyslexic readers when they perform reading tasks. The discovery of a disruption in the neural systems serving reading has significant implications for the acceptance of dyslexia as a valid disorder—a necessary condition for its identification and treatment. Brain-imaging findings provide, for the first time, convincing, irrefutable evidence that what has been considered a hidden disability is "real," and these findings have practical implications for the provision of accommodations, a critical component of management for older children and young adults attending postsecondary and graduate programs. The utilization of advances in neuroscience to inform educational policy and practices provides an exciting example of translational science being used for the public good.     

‘I think motherhood for me was a bit like a double‐edged sword’: the narratives of older mothers

It is assumed in Western society that women want to become mothers. This desire is situated within the ideology of the ‘perfect mother’. However, feminists have highlighted contradictions between this ideology and the reality of mothering. A trend towards later motherhood has recently been identified. Delayed motherhood has been associated with a number of advantages such as a sense of psychological readiness, however this may mask some of its negative aspects. The aim of the study reported here was to explore the transition to, and lived experience of, delayed motherhood. Five women who were over 30 prior to the birth of their first child were interviewed. A narrative analysis at the personal, interpersonal and societal levels was conducted. At the personal level, diverse stories which contained both problems in adapting to motherhood and also progressive aspects of positive experiences and integration of maternal identities were told. At the interpersonal level, the prominence of the ‘double‐edged’ tone conveyed maternal ambivalence. At the societal level, dominant ideologies of the ‘good mother’ and normative development were identified. Though the women actively constructed their stories and attempted to resist dominant representations, this analysis emphasises the need for more realistic portrayals of delayed motherhood. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Environmental Influences on Fighting Versus Nonviolent Behavior in Peer Situations: A Qualitative Study with Urban African American Adolescents

This qualitative study explored environmental factors that influence adolescents’ responses to problem situations involving peers. Interviews were conducted with 106 middle school students (97% African American) from an urban school system. Participants were asked to describe factors that would make it easier and those that would make it more difficult for adolescents to make specific responses to problem situations. Two types of responses were presented: nonviolent responses identified as effective in a previous study, and fighting responses. Qualitative analysis identified 24 themes representing family, peer, school, and neighborhood and broader social factors that were related to both nonviolent behavior and fighting. The identification of environmental influences on fighting and nonviolent responses has important implications for efforts to reduce aggression and promote effective nonviolent responses to problem situations encountered by adolescents.