Screening out accident-prone Iranian drivers: Are their at-fault accidents related to driving behavior?

To provide a scientific background in road safety domain a better understanding of human risk factor is crucial. The aims of the present study were the following: (1) developing an accident prediction model for estimating the at-fault accidents of drivers (2) controlling for the regression-to-the-mean and screening out the accident-prone drivers (3) identification of significant behavioral predictors in at-fault accident occurrences and delving into the relationship between the aberrant driving behaviors and at-fault accidents of those identified as accident-prone. A questionnaire survey compiling various measures of personality type, aberrant driving behavior, demographic and accident history information of 1762 Iranian drivers was conducted in which 1375 male and 387 female participants were of the average age of 35.6 (S.D. = 11.987). To analyze the obtained data, the generalized linear modeling (GLM) approach was taken resulting in four models with various independent variables. The results indicated that age, gender, education level, years of active driving, and especially exposure had an effect on drivers’ at-fault accidents while there was no discernible effect from income level, personality type and area of residence. In the screening procedure, 715 drivers were identified as accident-prone. Behavioral comparison analyses indicated that the lapses, errors, ordinary and aggressive violations are different for the accident-prone drivers. A comparison between the accident-prone and non-accident-prone drivers revealed that the ordinary violations have considerably higher effect than the others on at-fault accidents. Implications of the results are discussed with regard to insurance policies and education interventions.     

Episodic memory function is affected by lifestyle factors: a 14-year follow-up study in an elderly population

Understanding the relationship between memory function and lifestyle offers great opportunities for promoting beneficial lifestyle choices to foster healthy cognitive aging and for the development of intervention programs for older adults. We studied a cohort of older adults (age 65 and older) enrolled in the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam, an ongoing prospective population-based research project. A total of 1,966 men and women participated in an episodic memory test every 3 years over a period of 14 years. Lifestyle habits were repeatedly assessed using self-report measures. Physical activity, light-to-moderate alcohol consumption, difficulties staying asleep, and social engagement were associated with better memory function over the course of 14 years. In contrast, smoking and long sleep duration were associated with worse memory function. These findings suggest that certain lifestyle factors can have long-term protective or harmful effects on memory function in aging individuals.     

Daily life with early orphanhood from HIV/AIDS: An exploratory study

This study explored the everyday lived life by South African early adolescents orphaned by HIV/AIDS. Informants were ten early adolescents (age range 12 to 14 years; females?=?6; males?=?4) from a low socioeconomic status neighbourhood of Johannesburg. The adolescents completed autobiographical essays and in-depth individual interviews on their quality of life in the school, home, and community. Thematic analysis of the data revealed the early adolescents, orphaned due to HIV/AIDS, to experience extreme sadness, anxiety, and fear. Their sense of emotional distress was compounded by living in material and relational poverty, with frequent exposure to bullying at school, and crime in their neighbourhood. Integrated psycho-social interventions addressing both material and relational poverty might enhance the physical and psycho-social well-being of adolescents with orphanhood from HIV/AIDS.     

Personality patterns of physicians in person-oriented and technique-oriented specialties

This study investigated differences in personality patterns between person-oriented and technique-oriented physicians. It tested an integrative framework by converting the scores on the Personality Research Form (PRF) to the Big-Five factors and built a predictive model of group membership in clinical specialty area. PRF scores from 238 physicians (153 person-oriented and 85 technique-oriented) were used for this retrospective study. Significant personality differences between group means existed for seven of the traits on the PRF and two Big-Five factors. Results of a stepwise discriminant analysis indicated that two PRF traits and one Big-Five factor had the greatest ability to discriminate between person-oriented and technique-oriented physicians. Findings of this study provide support for establishing personality profiles of physicians interested in person-oriented versus technique-oriented specialties. Examining personality differences among male and female physicians is discussed as an area for future research.     

影响城镇知识女性健康因素的调查

探讨影响知识女性健康的因素;自拟调查表,随机调查了359名城镇知识女性,用SPSS软件对调查资料进行了统计分析,城镇知识女性的健康与家庭因素和自身因素有关,家庭因素是影响知识女性健康的主要因素.     

分散注意条件下前瞻记忆的完成水平及其影响因素初探

本研究试图探讨在分散注意条件下前瞻记忆的完成水平及其影响因素。被试为98名大学生。在实验中,当前任务为数字听写,同时放映一段无声动画短片,将前瞻记忆任务(即看到某一靶线索画面时在相应数字上做记号)嵌入其中,动画片结束后要求被试完成若干与动画片内容有关的问题(事先通过指导语告知)。结果发现：1、前瞻记忆任务的成绩与被试的性别几乎无关,与材料熟悉程度也无显著相关;2、与被试对材料的喜好程度显著相关,提示即使在分散注意条件下,被试在完成前瞻记忆任务时也可能会根据偏好自动调整注意的分配。     

工读学校学生的心理健康状况及其影响因素研究

本研究以工读学校和普通学校七～九年级学生为研究对象,研究工读学校学生的心理健康状况及其影响因素。结果表明：(1)工读学校学生的总体焦虑水平和抑郁水平显著高于普通中学生,存在更多的心理健康问题;(2)工读学校学生的心理健康水平不存在显著的年级差异,而普通中学生的心理健康水平存在显著的年级差异;(3)父母的教养方式与工读学校学生的心理健康水平存在显著的相关。工读学校学生的父母更多地采取消极的教养方式;(4)生活事件应激与工读学校学生的心理健康水平存在极其显著的负相关。工读学校学生负性生活事件所带来的应激强度显著高于普通中学生。     

Victims of Abuse by Priests: Some Preliminary Observations

This paper describes the results of psychological assessments of 25 adult males who were victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests as children or early adolescents. Preliminary data suggest that premorbid personality patterns in these victims put them at greater risk for abuse and also exacerbated the effects of their victimization. These observations are considered in the context of prevalent explanatory models of the traumagenic effects of child sexual abuse.