Showing papers on "Poison control published in 1996"

The Revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2): Development and Preliminary Psychometric Data

Abstract: This article describes a revised Conflict Tactics Scales (the CTS2) to measure psychological and physical attacks on a partner in a marital, cohabiting, or dating relationship; and also use of negotiation. The CTS2 has (a) additional items to enhance content validity and reliability; (b) revised wording to increase clarity and specificity; (c) better differentiation between minor and severe levels of each scale; (d) new scales to measure sexual coercion and physical injury; and (e) a new format to simplify administration and reduce response sets. Reliability ranges from .79 to .95. There is preliminary evidence of construct validity.

Development of an upper extremity outcome measure: The DASH (disabilities of the arm, shoulder, and head)

Abstract: This paper describes the development of an evaluative outcome measure for patients with upper extremity musculoskeletal conditions. The goal is to produce a brief, self-administered measure of symptoms and functional status, with a focus on physical function, to be used by clinicians in daily practice and as a research tool. This is a joint initiative of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS), the Council of Musculoskeletal Specialty Societies (COMSS), and the Institute for Work and Health (Toronto, Ontario). Our approach is consistent with previously described strategies for scale development. In Stage 1, Item Generation, a group of methodologists and clinical experts reviewed 13 outcome measurement scales currently in use and generated a list of 821 items. In Stage 2a, Initial Item Reduction, these 821 items were reduced to 78 items using various strategies including removal of items which were generic, repetitive, not reflective of disability, or not relevant to the upper extremity or to one of the targeted concepts of symptoms and functional status. Items not highly endorsed in a survey of content experts were also eliminated. Stage 2b, Further Item Reduction, will be based on results of field testing in which patients complete the 78-item questionnaire. This field testing, which is currently underway in 20 centers in the United States, Canada, and Australia, will generate the final format and content of the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH) questionnaire. Future work includes plans for validity and reliability testing.

Flexible smoothing with B-splines and penalties

Abstract: B-splines are attractive for nonparametric modelling, but choosing the optimal number and positions of knots is a complex task. Equidistant knots can be used, but their small and discrete number allows only limited control over smoothness and fit. We propose to use a relatively large number of knots and a difference penalty on coefficients of adjacent B-splines. We show connections to the familiar spline penalty on the integral of the squared second derivative. A short overview of B-splines, of their construction and of penalized likelihood is presented. We discuss properties of penalized B-splines and propose various criteria for the choice of an optimal penalty parameter. Nonparametric logistic regression, density estimation and scatterplot smoothing are used as examples. Some details of the computations are presented.

Experiential avoidance and behavioral disorders: A functional dimensional approach to diagnosis and treatment.

Abstract: Syndromal classification is a well-developed diagnostic system but has failed to deliver on its promise of the identification of functional pathological processes. Functional analysis is tightly connected to treatment but has failed to develop testable. replicable classification systems. Functional diagnostic dimensions are suggested as a way to develop the functional classification approach, and experiential avoidance is described as 1 such dimension. A wide range of research is reviewed showing that many forms of psychopathology can be conceptualized as unhealthy efforts to escape and avoid emotions, thoughts, memories, and other private experiences. It is argued that experiential avoidance, as a functional diagnostic dimension, has the potential to integrate the efforts and findings of researchers from a wide variety of theoretical paradigms, research interests, and clinical domains and to lead to testable new approaches to the analysis and treatment of behavioral disorders.

Cross-national epidemiology of major depression and bipolar disorder

Abstract: Objective. —To estimate the rates and patterns of major depression and bipolar disorder based on cross-national epidemiologic surveys. Design and Setting. —Population-based epidemiologic studies using similar methods from 10 countries: the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, France, West Germany, Italy, Lebanon, Taiwan, Korea, and New Zealand. Participants. —Approximately 38 000 community subjects. Outcome Measures. —Rates, demographics, and age at onset of major depression and bipolar disorder. Symptom profiles, comorbidity, and marital status with major depression. Results. —The lifetime rates for major depression vary widely across countries, ranging from 1.5 cases per 100 adults in the sample in Taiwan to 19.0 cases per 100 adults in Beirut. The annual rates ranged from 0.8 cases per 100 adults in Taiwan to 5.8 cases per 100 adults in New Zealand. The mean age at onset shows less variation (range, 24.8-34.8 years). In every country, the rates of major depression were higher for women than men. By contrast, the lifetime rates of bipolar disorder are more consistent across countries (0.3/100 in Taiwan to 1.5/100 in New Zealand); the sex ratios are nearly equal; and the age at first onset is earlier (average, 6 years) than the onset of major depression. Insomnia and loss of energy occurred in most persons with major depression at each site. Persons with major depression were also at increased risk for comorbidity with substance abuse and anxiety disorders at all sites. Persons who were separated or divorced had significantly higher rates of major depression than married persons in most of the countries, and the risk was somewhat greater for divorced or separated men than women in most countries. Conclusions. —There are striking similarities across countries in patterns of major depression and of bipolar disorder. The differences in rates for major depression across countries suggest that cultural differences or different risk factors may affect the expression of the disorder.

Relation of threatened egotism to violence and aggression: The dark side of high self-esteem.

Abstract: Conventional wisdom has regarded low self-esteem as an important cause of violence, but the opposite view is theoretically viable. An interdisciplinary review of evidence about aggression, crime, and violence contradicted the view that low self-esteem is an important cause. Instead, violence appears to be most commonly a result of threatened egotismwthat is, highly favorable views of self that are disputed by some person or circumstance. Inflated, unstable, or tentative beliefs in the self's superiority may be most prone to encountering threats and hence to causing violence. The mediating process may involve directing anger outward as a way of avoiding a downward revision of the selfconcept. Only a minority of human violence can be understood as rational, instrumental behavior aimed at securing or protecting material rewards. The pragmatic futility of most violence has been widely recognized: Wars harm both sides, most crimes yield little financial gain, terrorism and assassination almost never bring about the desired political changes, most rapes fail to bring sexual pleasure, torture rarely elicits accurate or useful information, and most murderers soon regret their actions as pointless and selfdefeating (Ford, 1985; Gottfiedson & Hirschi, 1990; Groth, 1979; Keegan, 1993; Sampson & Laub, 1993; .Scm'ry, 1985). What drives people to commit violent and oppressive actions that so often are tangential or even contrary to the rational pursuit of material self-interest? This article reviews literature relevant to the hypothesis that one main source of such violence is threatened egotism, particularly when it consists of favorable self-appraisals that may be inflated or ill-founded and that are confronted with an external evaluation that disputes them. The focus on egotism (i.e., favorable self-appraisals) as one cause of violent aggression runs contrary to an entrenched body of wisdom that has long pointed to low self-esteem as the root of violence and other antisocial behavior. We shall examine the arguments for the low self-esteem view and treat it as a rival hypothesis to our emphasis on high self-esteem. Clearly, there

Childhood and adolescent depression: a review of the past 10 years. Part I.

Abstract: Objective To qualitatively review the literature of the past decade covering the epidemiology, clinical characteristics, natural course, biology, and other correlates of early-onset major depressive disorder (MDD) and dysthymic disorder (DD). Method A computerized search for articles published during the past 10 years was made and selected studies are presented. Results Early-onset MDD and DD are frequent, recurrent, and familial disorders that tend to continue into adulthood, and they are frequently accompanied by other psychiatric disorders. These disorders are usually associated with poor psychosocial and academic outcome and increased risk for substance abuse, bipolar disorder, and suicide. In addition, DD increases the risk for MDD. There is a secular increase in the prevalence of MDD, and it appears that MDD is occurring at an earlier age in successive cohorts. Several genetic, familial, demographic, psychosocial, cognitive, and biological correlates of onset and course of early-onset depression have been identified. Few studies, however, have examined the combined effects of these correlates. Conclusions Considerable advances have been made in our knowledge of early-onset depression. Nevertheless, further research is needed in understanding the pathogenesis of childhood mood disorders. Toward this end, studies aimed at elucidating mechanisms and interrelationships among the different domains of risk factors are needed.

Sudden death in young competitive athletes. Clinical, demographic, and pathological profiles.

Abstract: Objective. —To develop clinical, demographic, and pathological profiles of young competitive athletes who died suddenly. Design. —Systematic evaluation of clinical information and circumstances associated with sudden deaths; interviews with family members, witnesses, and coaches; and analyses of postmortem anatomic, microscopic, and toxicologic data. Participants and Setting. —A total of 158 sudden deaths that occurred in trained athletes throughout the United States from 1985 through 1995 were analyzed. Main Outcome Measures. —Characteristics and probable cause of death. Results. —Of 158 sudden deaths among athletes, 24 (15%) were explained by noncardiovascular causes. Among the 134 athletes who had cardiovascular causes of sudden death, the median age was 17 years (range, 12-40 years), 120 (90%) were male, 70 (52%) were white, and 59 (44%) were black. The most common competitive sports involved were basketball (47 cases) and football (45 cases), together accounting for 68% of sudden deaths. A total of 121 athletes (90%) collapsed during or immediately after a training session (78 cases) or a formal athletic contest (43 cases), with 80 deaths (63%) occurring between 3PMand 9PM. The most common structural cardiovascular diseases identified at autopsy as the primary cause of death were hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (48 athletes [36%]), which was disproportionately prevalent in black athletes compared with white athletes (48% vs 26% of deaths; P =.01), and malformations involving anomalous coronary artery origin (17 athletes [13%]). Of 115 athletes who had a standard preparticipation medical evaluation, only 4 (3%) were suspected of having cardiovascular disease, and the cardiovascular abnormality responsible for sudden death was correctly identified in only 1 athlete (0.9%). Conclusions. —Sudden death in young competitive athletes usually is precipitated by physical activity and may be due to a heterogeneous spectrum of cardiovascular disease, most commonly hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Preparticipation screening appeared to be of limited value in identification of underlying cardiovascular abnormalities.

THE LIMITS OF THE SOVEREIGN STATE Strategies of Crime Control in Contemporary Society

Abstract: The article offers a descriptive analysis of strategies of crime control in contemporary Britain and elsewhere. It argues that the normality of high crime rates and the limitations of criminal justice agencies have created a new predicament for governments. The response to this predicament has been recurring ambivalence that helps explain the volatile and contradictory character of recent crime control policy. The article identifies adaptive strategies (responsibilization, defining deviance down, and redefining organizational success) and strategies of denial (the punitive sovereign response), as well as the different criminologies that accompany them.

The Effect of School Resources on Student Achievement

Abstract: A universe of education production function studies was assembled in order to utilize meta-analytic methods to assess the direction and magnitude of the relations between a variety of school inputs and student achievement. The 60 primary research studies aggregated data at the level of school districts or smaller units and either controlled for socioeconomic characteristics or were longitudinal in design. The analysis found that a broad range of resources were positively related to student outcomes, with effect sizes large enough to suggest that moderate increases in spending may be associated with significant increases in achievement. The discussion relates the findings of this study with trends in student achievement from the National Assessment of Educational Progress and changes in social capital over the last two decades.

Psychiatric Diagnosis in Child and Adolescent Suicide

Abstract: Background: The age, sex, and ethnic distribution of adolescents who commit suicide is significantly different from that of the general population. The present study was designed to examine psychiatric risk factors and the relationship between them and demographic variables. Methods: A case-control, psychologic autopsy study of 120 of 170 consecutive subjects (age, Results: By using parent informants only, 59% of subjects who committed suicide and 23% of control subjects who metDSM-IIIcriteria for a psychiatric diagnosis, 49% and 26%, respectively, had had symptoms for more than 3 years, and 46% and 29%, respectively, had had previous contact with a mental health professional. Best-estimate rates, based on multiple informants for these parameters, for suicides only, were 91%, 52%, and 46%, respectively. Previous attempts and mood disorder were major risk factors for both sexes; substance and/or alcohol abuse was a risk factor for males only. Mood disorder was more common in females, substance and/or alcohol abuse occurred exclusively in males (62% of 18-to 19-year-old suicides). The prevalence of a psychiatric diagnosis and, in particular, substance and/or alcohol abuse increased with age. Conclusion: A limited range of diagnoses—most commonly a mood disorder alone or in combination with conduct disorder and/or substance abuse—characterizes most suicides among teenagers.

Heat-Related Deaths during the July 1995 Heat Wave in Chicago

Abstract: Background During a record-setting heat wave in Chicago in July 1995, there were at least 700 excess deaths, most of which were classified as heat-related We sought to determine who was at greatest risk for heat-related death Methods We conducted a case–control study in Chicago to identify risk factors associated with heat-related death and death from cardiovascular causes from July 14 through July 17, 1995 Beginning on July 21, we interviewed 339 relatives, neighbors, or friends of those who died and 339 controls matched to the case subjects according to neighborhood and age Results The risk of heat-related death was increased for people with known medical problems who were confined to bed (odds ratio as compared with those who were not confined to bed, 55) or who were unable to care for themselves (odds ratio, 41) Also at increased risk were those who did not leave home each day (odds ratio, 67), who lived alone (odds ratio, 23), or who lived on the top floor of a building (odds ratio, 47) Ha

The Role of Overt Aggression, Relational Aggression, and Prosocial Behavior in the Prediction of Children's Future Social Adjustment

Abstract: 2 limitations of past research on social adjustment were addressed: (1) the tendency to focus on forms of aggression that are typical of boys (e.g., overt aggression) and to neglect forms that are more typical of girls (e.g., relational aggression) and (2) the tendency to study negative behaviors (e.g., aggression), to the exclusion of positive behaviors (e.g., prosocial acts). Using a longitudinal design (n = 245; third- through sixth-grade children, 9-12 years old), assessments of children's relational aggression, overt aggression, prosocial behavior, and social adjustment were obtained at 3 points during the academic year. Findings showed that, as has been demonstrated in past research for overt aggression, individual differences in relational aggression were relatively stable over time. Additionally, relational aggression contributed uniquely to the prediction of future social maladjustment, beyond that predicted by overt aggression. Finally, prosocial behavior contributed unique information (beyond that provided by overt and relational aggression) to the prediction of future social adjustment.

Population and familial association between the D4 dopamine receptor gene and measures of Novelty Seeking

Abstract: Twin and adoption studies suggest that 30 to 60% of the variance in many personality traits is due to inherited factors. However, there is little knowledge of the number or identity of the responsible genes, how they differ between individuals, or how their gene products interact with the developing brain and with environmental and experiential factors to generate the complex blend of attitudes and actions that comprise human temperament1. In the accompanying paper, Ebstein et al.2 have found a population association between a long allele of polymorphic exon III repeat sequence of the D4 dopamine receptor gene (DADR) and the normal personality trait of Novelty Seeking. The possibility of a causal relationship between DADR and Novelty Seeking is further supported by studies showing that the number of exon III repeats can affect the binding of ligands to the receptor3,4; that DADR is expressed in lim-bic areas involved in cognition and emotion5,6; that dopamine mediates exploratory behaviour in experimental animals7–12; that the rewarding effects of amphetamines and cocaine are related to dopamine release13; and that Novelty Seeking is low in dopamine-deficient patients with Parkinson's disease14. We investigated the relationship between DADR exon III sequence variants and personality test scores in a population of 315 mostly male siblings, other family members and individuals from the United States. The association between long alleles of exon III and personality traits related to Novelty Seeking was confirmed. Moreover, family studies showed that this association is the result of genetic transmission rather than of population stratification.

Failure to Respond Autonomically to Anticipated Future Outcomes Following Damage to Prefrontal Cortex

Abstract: Following damage to specific sectors of the prefrontal cortex, humans develop a defect in real-life decision making, in spite of otherwise normal intellectual performance. The patients so affected may even realize the consequences of their actions but fail to act accordingly, thus appearing oblivious to the future. The neural basis of this defect has resisted explanation. Here we identify a physiological correlate for the defect and discuss its possible significance. We measured the skin conductance responses (SCRs) of 7 patients with prefrontal damage, and 12 normal controls, during the performance of a novel task, a card game that simulates real-life decision making in the way it factors uncertainty, rewards, and penalties. Both patients and controls generated SCRs after selecting cards that were followed by penalties or by reward. However, after a number of trials, controls also began to generate SCRs prior to their selection of a card, while they pondered from which deck to choose, but no patients showed such anticipatory SCRs. The absence of anticipatory SCRs in patients with prefrontal damage is a correlate of their insensitivity to future outcomes. It is compatible with the idea that these patients fail to activate biasing signals that would serve as value markers in the distinction between choices with good or bad future outcomes; that these signals also participate in the enhancement of attention and working memory relative to representations pertinent to the decision process; and that the signals hail from the bioregulatory machinery that sustains somatic homeostasis and can be expressed in emotion and feeling.

Reducing Frailty and Falls in Older Persons: An Investigation of Tai Chi and Computerized Balance Training

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of two exercise approaches, Tai Chi (TC) and computerized balance training (BT), on specified primary outcomes (biomedical, functional, and psychosocial indicators of frailty) and secondary outcomes (occurrence of falls). DESIGN: The Atlanta FICSIT (Frailty and Injuries: Cooperative Studies of Intervention Techniques), a prospective, randomized, controlled clinical trial with three arms (TC, BT, and education [ED]). Intervention length was 15 weeks, with primary outcomes measured before and after intervention and at 4-month follow-up. Falls were monitored continuously throughout the study. SETTING: Persons aged 70 and older living in the community. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 200 participants, 162 women and 38 men; mean age was 76.2. MEASUREMENTS: Biomedical (strength, flexibility, cardiovascular endurance, body composition), functional (IADL), and psychosocial well-being (CES-D scale, fear of falling questionnaire, self-perception of present and future health, mastery index, perceived quality of sleep, and intrusiveness) variables. RESULTS: Grip strength declined in all groups, and lower extremity range of motion showed limited but statistically significant changes. Lowered blood pressure before and after a 12-minute walk was seen following TC participation. Fear of falling responses and intrusiveness responses were reduced after the TC intervention compared with the ED group (P = .046 and P = .058, respectively). After adjusting for fall risk factors, TC was found to reduce the risk of multiple falls by 47.5%. CONCLUSIONS: A moderate TC intervention can impact favorably on defined biomedical and psychosocial indices of frailty. This intervention can also have favorable effects upon the occurrence of falls. Tai Chi warrants further study as an exercise treatment to improve the health of older people.

Outcomes of a Field Trial to Improve Children's Dietary Patterns and Physical Activity: The Child and Adolescent Trial for Cardiovascular Health (CATCH)

Abstract: grade intervention including school food service modifications, enhanced physical education (PE), and classroom health curricula. Twenty-eight additional schools received these components plus family education. Main Outcome Measures.\p=m-\Atthe school level, the two primary end points were changes in the fat content of food service lunch offerings and the amount of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity in the PE programs. At the level of the individual student, serum cholesterol change was the primary end point and was used for power calculations for the study. Individual level secondary end points included psychosocial factors, recall measures of eating and physical activity patterns, and other physiologic measures. Results.\p=m-\Inintervention school lunches, the percentage of energy intake from fat fell significantly more (from 38.7% to 31.9%) than in control lunches (from 38.9% to 36.2%)(P<.001 ). The intensity of physical activity in PE classes during the Child and Adolescent Trial for Cardiovascular Health (CATCH) intervention increased significantly in the intervention schools compared with the control schools (P<.02). Self-reported daily energy intake from fat among students in the intervention schools was significantly reduced (from 32.7% to 30.3%) compared with that among students in the control schools (from 32.6% to 32.2%) (P<.001). Intervention students reported significantly more daily vigorous activity than controls (58.6 minutes vs 46.5 minutes; P<.003). Blood pressure, body size, and cholesterol measures did not differ significantly between treatment groups. No evidence of deleterious effects of this intervention on growth or development was observed. Conclusion.\p=m-\TheCATCH intervention was able to modify the fat content of school lunches, increase moderate-to-vigorous physical activity in PE, and improve eating and physical activity behaviors in children during 3 school years.

Gender and crime: Toward a gendered theory of female offending.

Abstract: Criminologists agree that the gender gap in crime is universal: Women are always and everywhere less likely than men to commit criminal acts. The experts disagree, however, on a number of key issues: Is the gender gap stable or variant over time and across space? If there is variance, how may it best be explained? Are the causes of female crime distinct from or similar to those of male crime? Can traditional sociological theories of crime explain female crime and the gender gap in crime? Do gender-neutral or gender-specific theories hold the most explanatory promise? In this chapter we first examine patterns of female offending and the gender gap. Second, we review the “gender equality hypothesis” as well as several recent developments in theorizing about gender differences in crime. Third, we expand on a gendered paradigm for explaining female crime first sketched elsewhere. We conclude with recommendations for future work.

Inhibitory control in young children and its role in emerging internalization

Abstract: We examined inhibitory control as a quality of temperament that contributes to internalization. Children were assessed twice, at 26-41 months (N = 103) and at 43-56 months (N = 99), on repeated occasions, in multiple observational contexts and using parental reports. Comprehensive behavioral batteries incorporating multiple tasks were designed to measure inhibitory control at toddler and preschool age. They had good internal consistencies, corresponded with maternal ratings, and were developmentally sensitive. Individual children's performance was significantly correlated across both assessments, indicating stable individual differences. Girls surpassed boys at both ages. Children's internalization was observed while they were alone with prohibited objects, with a mundane chore, playing games that occasioned cheating, being induced to violate standards of conduct, and assessed using maternal reports. Inhibitory control was significantly associated with internalization, both contemporaneously and as a predictor in the longitudinal sense. The implications for considering children's temperament as a significant, yet often neglected contributor to developing internalization are discussed.

Beyond the Tower of Babel: A Nomenclature for Suicidology

Abstract: Suicidology finds itself confused and stagnated for lack of a standard nomenclature. This paper proposes a nomenclature for suicide-related behavior in the hope of improving the clarity and precision of communications, advancing suicidological research and knowledge, and improving the efficacy of clinical interventions.

The effects of divided attention on encoding and retrieval processes in human memory

Abstract: The authors examined the effects of divided attention (DA) at encoding and retrieval in free recall, cued recall, and recognition memory in 4 experiments. Lists of words or word pairs were presented auditorily and recalled orally; the secondary task was a visual continuous reaction-time (RT) task with manual responses. At encoding, DA was associated with large reductions in memory performance, but small increases in RT; trade-offs between memory and RT were under conscious control. In contrast, DA at retrieval resulted in small or no reductions in memory, but in comparatively larger increases in RT, especially in free recall. Memory performance was sensitive to changes in task emphasis at encoding but not at retrieval. The results are discussed in terms of controlled and automatic processes and speculatively linked to underlying neuropsychological mechanisms.

EPPIC: An Evolving System of Early Detection and Optimal Management

Abstract: Early intervention at the onset of psychotic disorders is a highly attractive theoretical notion that is receiving increasing international interest. In practical terms, it amounts to first deciding when a psychotic disorder can be said to have commenced and then offering potentially effective treatment at the earliest possible point. A second element involves ensuring that this intervention constitutes best practice for this phase of illness and is not merely the translation of standard treatments developed for later stages and the more persistently ill subgroups of the disorder. Furthermore, it means ensuring that this best practice model is actually delivered to patients and families. The relative importance of these elements in relation to outcome has not yet been established. This article outlines a framework for preventive intervention in early psychosis, based on more than a decade of experience initially gained within a first-generation model. This experience has been followed, after a prolonged gestation, by the birth of the Early Psychosis Prevention and Intervention Centre (EPPIC), a comprehensive "real-world" model of care targeting the multiple clinical foci underpinning the preventive task. Data are reported to illustrate the topography and impact of delay in treatment in our regional setting, and the results of an initial evaluation of the EPPIC model are presented. The latter demonstrate a significant improvement in symptomatic and functional outcome when the second-generation model is contrasted with the first. The implications of these findings and future developments are discussed.

Peer victimization : Cause or consequence of school maladjustment?

Abstract: Past research has shown that peer victimization and school maladjustment are related, but it is unclear whether victimization is a cause or consequence of such difficulties. This study examined whether (a) peer victimization is a precursor of school maladjustment, (b) the effects are limited to the period of victimization, and (c) stable peer victimization experiences compound adjustment difficulties. Toward this end, data were collected on 200 5- and 6-year-old children (105 males, 95 females) in the fall and spring of kindergarten. Findings supported the hypothesis that victimization is a precursor of children's loneliness and school avoidance. Whereas children's feelings of loneliness were more pronounced while victimization was occurring, delayed effects were found for school avoidance. Furthermore, the duration of children's victimization experiences was related to the magnitude of their school adjustment problems.

Insult, Aggression, and the Southern Culture of Honor: An "Experimental Ethnography"

Abstract: Three experiments examined how norms characteristic of a "culture of honor" manifest themselves in the cognitions, emotions, behaviors, and physiological reactions of southern White males. Participants were University of Michigan students who grew up in the North or South. In 3 experiments they were insulted by a confederate who bumped into the participant and called him an "asshole". Compared with northerners--who were relatively unaffected by the insult--southerners were (a) more likely to think their masculine reputation was threatened, (b) more upset (as shown by a rise in cortisol levels), (c) more physiologically primed for aggression (as shown by a rise in testosterone levels), (d) more cognitively primed for aggression, and (e) more likely to engage in aggressive and dominant behavior. Findings highlight the insult-aggression cycle in cultures of honor, in which insults diminish a man's reputation and he tries to restore his status by aggressive or violent behavior.

Statistics for near independence in multivariate extreme values

Abstract: We propose a multivariate extreme value threshold model for joint tail estimation which overcomes the problems encountered with existing techniques when the variables are near independence. We examine inference under the model and develop tests for independence of extremes of the marginal variables, both when the thresholds are fixed, and when they increase with the sample size. Motivated by results obtained from this model, we give a new and widely applicable characterisation of dependence in the joint tail which includes existing models as special cases. A new parameter which governs the form of dependence is of fundamental importance to this characterisation. By estimating this parameter, we develop a diagnostic test which assesses the applicability of bivariate extreme value joint tail models. The methods are demonstrated through simulation and by analysing two previously published data sets.

Childhood sexual abuse and psychiatric disorder in young adulthood: II. Psychiatric outcomes of childhood sexual abuse.

Abstract: Objective This is the second in a series of articles that describe the prevalence, correlates, and consequences of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) in a birth cohort of more than 1,000 New Zealand children studied to the age of 18 years. This article examines the associations between reports of CSA at age 18 and DSM-IV diagnostic classifications at age 18. Method A birth cohort of New Zealand children was studied at annual intervals from birth to age 16 years. At age 18 years retrospective reports of CSA prior to age 16 and concurrently measured psychiatric symptoms were obtained. Results Those reporting CSA had higher rates of major depression, anxiety disorder, conduct disorder, substance use disorder, and suicidal behaviors than those not reporting CSA ( p Conclusions The findings suggest that CSA, and particularly severe CSA, was associated with increased risk of psychiatric disorder in young adults even when due allowance was made for prospectively measured confounding factors.