Reduction of police vehicle accidents through mechaniically aided supervision

Tachograph recorders were installed in 224 vehicles of a metropolitan police department to monitor vehicle operation in an attempt to reduce the rate of accidents. Police sergeants reviewed each tachograph chart and provided feedback to officers regarding their driving performance. Reliability checks and additional feedback procedures were implemented so that upper level supervisors monitored and controlled the performance of field sergeants. The tachograph intervention and components of the feedback system nearly eliminated personal injury accidents and sharply reduced accidents caused by officer negligence. A cost-benefit analysis revealed that the savings in vehicle repair and injury claims outweighed the equipment and operating costs.     

OPIOID ABSTINENCE REINFORCEMENT DELAYS HEROIN LAPSE DURING BUPRENORPHINE DOSE TAPERING

A positive reinforcement contingency increased opioid abstinence during outpatient dose tapering (4, 2, then 0 mg/day during Weeks 1 through 3) in non‐treatment‐seeking heroin‐dependent volunteers who had been maintained on buprenorphine (8 mg/day) during an inpatient research protocol. The control group (n = 12) received $4.00 for completing assessments at each thrice‐weekly visit during dose tapering; 10 of 12 lapsed to heroin use 1 day after discharge. The abstinence reinforcement group (n = 10) received $30.00 for each consecutive opioid‐free urine sample; this significantly delayed heroin lapse (median, 15 days).     

The hope of the future: The experience of pregnancy influences women’s implicit space–time mappings

It has long been observed that speakers employ spatial concepts “front” and “back” to talk about temporal concepts “past” and “future.” However, the direction of space-time mappings varies across cultures. According to Temporal Focus Hypothesis (TFH), people’s implicit associations between space and time are conditioned by their temporal focus. Here we tested whether pregnancy can affect Chinese women’s temporal focus and thereby influence their space-time mappings. One of the most striking characteristics of pregnant women noted by previous research is their future-oriented thought. Based on this, we predicted that pregnant women should be more future-focused. Consistent with this prediction, the results demonstrated that pregnant women tended to be more future-focused than non-pregnant women and demonstrated a greater tendency to conceptualize the future as in front of them, supporting the TFH. The current research offers a new perspective that culture-external factors such as pregnancy can also influence people’s spatialization of time.     

Parenting programs during adolescence: Outcomes from universal and targeted interventions offered in real‐world settings

The aim of this naturalistic study was to explore short and long‐term outcomes of five different group‐based parenting programs offered to parents of 10 to 17‐year‐olds. Three hundred and fifteen parents (277 mothers and 38 fathers) who had enrolled in a parenting program (universal: Active Parenting, COPE ; Connect; targeted: COMET ; Leadership training for parents of teenagers [LFT ]) answered questionnaires at three measurement waves (baseline, post‐measurement, and one‐year follow‐up). The questions concerned parenting style, parental mental health, family climate and adolescent mental health. Results revealed small to moderate changes in almost all outcome variables and in all parenting programs. Overall, parents in COMET reported the largest short and long‐term changes. No substantial differences in change were seen between the other programs. The results support the general effectiveness of parenting programs for parents of adolescents.     

Be a Mom: Formative Evaluation of a Web-Based Psychological Intervention to Prevent Postpartum Depression

A formative evaluation (consisting of two phases: a scoping literature review and a focus group with mental health professionals) was conducted to inform the design of a web-based intervention to prevent postpartum depression, in terms of its characteristics and content: the Be a Mom program. The results showed that the web-based intervention should be short-term, delivered postnatally, and grounded in cognitive-behavior therapy principles. Moreover, the intervention should include weekly sessions targeting basic contents: motherhood changes, reorganizations and emotional experience; cognitions, self-criticism, and self-compassion; parenting values, social support, and assertive communication skills; couple relationship, negotiation and conflict resolution skills; and postpartum depression signs and professional help-seeking. These results may improve the Be a Mom’s adequacy, implementation success, and effectiveness.     

Crash avoidance and driver assistance technologies – Are they used?

Crash avoidance technologies have potential to mitigate collisions, and actual crash reductions have been identified for some systems. This study measured observed on-off rates of these technologies as an indicator of use, with a focus on lane maintenance systems (i.e., designed to keep vehicles within lanes by warning, braking, and/or steering) and studied factors that might increase their acceptance and use. Vehicles from nine manufacturers fitted with lane maintenance systems were observed at service departments during 2016. Systems were turned on in 51% of 983 vehicles. The activation rate was higher for systems with braking/steering interventions and vibrating warnings and decreased with total mileage. Large proportions of front crash prevention (93%), blind spot monitoring (99%), rear cross-traffic alert (97%), and driver monitoring alert (90%) systems were enabled, and most optional settings were set to factory defaults. Owner surveys linked to observations showed that drivers who had lane maintenance systems turned off believed warnings were distracting and unnecessary compared with drivers whose systems were on.     

核辐射对消化系统损害的防治策略

消化系统中多个器官具有细胞代谢快、易受核射线损伤的特点,成为骨髓以外最容易遭受核辐射破坏的身体部位。日本核电站的泄露事故,使核辐射再度成为世界的焦点。随着人们对电离辐射认识的增加,核辐射对消化系统的损害也逐渐受到重视。本文通过对消化系统的损害机制的研究,论述了核辐射对消化系统的损害的防护和治疗策略。     

应该发挥医院、医生在慢性病预防中的作用

从必要性分析、可行性分析、预防效果分析及存在的问题等方面探讨在我国必须要发挥医院、医生在慢性病预防中的作用,只有整合医疗资源与疾病预防控制资源,才能更好地预防慢性病。     

Motivating signage prompts safety belt use among drivers exiting senior communities

Senior drivers are vulnerable to automobile crashes and subsequent injury and death. Safety belts reduce health risks associated with auto crashes. Therefore, it is important to encourage senior drivers to wear safety belts while driving. Using an AB design, replicated five times, we evaluated the short- and long-term effects of a sign with the message "BUCKLE UP, STAY SAFE" attached to a stop sign at the exits of five different senior communities. Safety belt use was stable during two pretreatment assessments averaged across the five sites and 250 drivers (72% and 68% usage), but significantly increased following installation of these signs (94% usage). Six months after installation of the signs, the effect persisted (88% usage). Use of such signs may be a cost-effective way of promoting safety belt use.     

Subverting Culture: Promoting HIV/AIDS Prevention Among Puerto Rican and Dominican Women

This article discusses the challenges faced by researchers and interventionists when attempting to promote change in social norms and normative beliefs that promote HIV/AIDS risk-related behaviors among Puerto Rican and Dominican women. The article focuses on the role of culture in HIV/AIDS prevention with women by analyzing the sociohistorical context of some cultural beliefs and by illustrating the tension between risk-related and protective cultural beliefs in research conducted by the authors with women in both New York and Puerto Rico. The authors propose that promoting changes in sex-related social norms and normative beliefs might be constructed as a subversive act and present the challenge this analysis poses for community psychology. They conclude that this conceptualization might be construed as subversive because rather than idealizing culture, it promotes changes that respect diversity within the culture and foster participation in the development of new cultural values, beliefs and norms.