Anger feelings and anger expression as a mediator of the effects of witnessing family violence on anxiety and depression in Japanese adolescents

The effects of anger feelings (rated by the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory) and witnessing family violence on anxiety and depression (rated by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale) were examined in 457 junior high school students. Anxiety and depression scores were correlated with frequencies of witnessing family violence. In a regression analysis, however, after controlling for the demographic variables and depression score, the anxiety score was predicted by State Anger, Anger-Out, and Anger-Control; the depression score was predicted, after controlling for the demographic and anxiety score, by State Anger, Anger-In positively, and by Anger-Out and Anger-Control negatively. Witnessing family violence failed to add significant contribution in predicting anxiety or depression. These results were generally supported by structural equation modeling. The effects of witnessing family violence on dysphoric mood may be mediated by anger feelings. The style of dysphoric mood may be predicted by the style of anger expression.     

A prospective analysis of the relationship between childhood sexual victimization and perpetration of dating violence and sexual assault in adulthood

The majority of studies evaluating the relationship between childhood sexual assault and subsequent sexual assault perpetration by men have been conducted retrospectively and with incarcerated populations. The present study seeks to improve on previous research by prospectively investigating the relationship between childhood sexual assault and subsequent perpetration of dating violence in adulthood in men. Although there is a significant relationship between childhood sexual abuse and history of sexual assault perpetration at baseline, prospective analyses indicate that childhood sexual assault is not predictive of perpetration during the follow-up period. The role of family factors, including parental conflict resolution, is implicated in subsequent sexual aggression. These results are supportive of the idea that the effects of childhood sexual abuse may be mediated by a variety of factors.     

Protecting health information privacy in research: what's an ethics committee like yours doing in a job like this?

The Commonwealth and State legislation designed to protect the privacy of personal health information has attracted the criticism that the constraints imposed on the use of the information in research obstructs that research. A central and common feature of the legislation is the reliance upon the review by human research ethics committees of research that proposes to use personal health information for research without prior consent from those whose information it is. The origins of this reliance are explored and explained and it is suggested that this has proved to be an inappropriate policy choice. The extension of the reliance is then described and the conceptual, procedural, workload and structural consequences of requiring these voluntary committees to conform to legislative standards of review of issues of the public interest are critically examined. In recent reviews of the Commonwealth legislation, there is recognition of the underlying uncertainty as to the appropriate balance between protection of personal privacy and the promotion of beneficial research. In the further exploration of these matters that those reviews recommended, a close and critical examination of the wisdom of continuing to rely on ethics committees is needed.     

Interdisciplinary cooperation of forensic sciences--results of a simulation exercise

In a workshop held on the occasion of the foundation of the INFW, the Interdisciplinary Network of Forensic Sciences (www.infw.org), 14 scientists from 10 fields of expertise were allotted to 3 teams. Each team had to independently solve the same fictitious forensic case. In this, several corpses or skeletons in varying degrees of decomposition were found in the remains of an old bunker during a large building project. After a set time limit of 45 minutes, the approaches to the task were noted on individual flipcharts by each team. A comparison of the solutions suggested by the three very heterogeneously composed teams revealed a high degree of similarity. However, particularly the "exotic" disciplines developed surprising approaches. The experiment was an interesting and instructive experience for all participants and underscores the necessity of interdisciplinary cooperation in solving complex forensic questions.     

Incestuous paternity detected by STR-typing of chorionic villi isolated from archival formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded abortion material using laser microdissection

Microscopic examination of a blood clot expelled by a physically and mentally disabled woman taken to the emergency room because of genital bleeding revealed the presence of chorionic villi encircled by decidua, hemorrhage, and necrosis. In order to identify the father of the product of conception, sections of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded abortion material were subjected to laser microdissection: DNA extraction from chorionic villi selectively isolated from the surrounding tissues allowed successful STR-typing of fetal cells, which was otherwise prevented by excess maternal DNA. The large number of homozygous genotypes in the fetal profile suggested incestuous paternity. Analysis of reference DNA samples from male relatives excluded the woman's father, paternal grandfather, and maternal grandfather, whereas the obligate paternal alleles of the fetus were constantly present in the genotypes of the woman's brother, clearly demonstrating brother-sister incest (probability of paternity > 99.99999%).