Variability in Hormone Concentrations and Self-Reported Menstrual Histories in Young Adolescents: Menarche as an Integral Part of a Developmental Process

Menarche has been considered a marker for examining interindividual differences in biobehavioral development and for separating pubertal development into 2 stages. The purpose of this study was (1) to compare hormone concentrations in pre- and postmenarcheal girls to determine whether they fit a continuous or dichotomous model of pubertal development surrounding menarche; and (2) to address methodological issues of variability in self-reports of menstrual histories and reliability in reporting age at menarche. Girls (N = 52) ages 9 to 14 years were enrolled in a longitudinal study. Blood was drawn for hormone concentrations. Menstrual-cycle information was collected by questionnaire and oral report. Discrepancies in reporting of age at menarche ranged from 0 to 18 months and variability was noted in length of cycle. There was great overlap in hormones between pre- and postmenarcheal categories. Future studies might consider menarche as the culmination of underlying developmental processes rather than as a discrete event. Limitations of each measure of puberty should be considered by investigators conducting biobehavioral studies of adolescents.     

An approach to evaluating adolescent adaptive processes: Validity of an interview-based measure

The authors present an initial exploration, of the validity of 15 scales designed to assess adaptive ego processes in adolescence. These scales are rated solelyThis study was supported by the Youth Development Project of the Joslin DRTC (NIH AM 20530-01), grants from the Psychoanalytic Research Fund of the American Psychoanalytic Association, the Spencer Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, the Harris Trust, National Instutute of Mental Health, a Research Scientist Award (K-05-MH-70178) (Dr. Hauser), the Maternal and Child Health Research Grants Program, and a Faculty Scholar Award of the William T. Grant Foundation (Dr. Beardslee).Clinical director, Department of Psychiatry, The Children's Hospital; and assistnt professor in psychiatry, Harvard Medical School. Received M.D. from Case-Western Reserve University. Currently studying adaptation and intervention with youngsters at high risk for psychopathology.Chief of psychiatry, Joslin Diabetes Center; and associate professor in psychiatry, Harvard Medical School. Received M.D. from the University of Chicago. Currently studying psychosocial consequences of diabetes mellitus.Associate professor in psychiatry, Harvard Medical School. Received M.D. from Yale University and Ph.D. from Harvard University (psychology). Currently studying family contexts of adolescent development and outcomes in diabetic adolescents.Director of evaluation research, The Children's Unit of McLean Hospital. Received Dipl. Psych. from Freie Universitat, Berlin (clinical psychology); Ed.D. from Harvard University (School of Education). Currently studying relationships between psychopathology and development among adolescent psychiatric patients.Research associate, Henry A. Murray Research Center of Radcliffe Colleges; and instructor of psychology, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School. Received Ed.D. from Harvard University (School of Education). Currently studying adolescent and family coping processes in response to stressful events.Currentlyand tudying research methodology and statistics.M.S.W., Smith College School of Social Work. Currently attending Dartmouth Medical School.     

The prevalence of violence and relation to depression and illicit drug use among incarcerated women in Recife, Brazil

PurposeTo assess the prevalence and different types of violence experienced by women prisoners in Brazil and the effects of violence on women's depression and illicit drug use.MethodsParticipants (N = 377) were incarcerated women from a state prison in a northeastern city of Brazil. Multivariate logistic regression models (adjusted for age, education, partner status, prison history, drug related offense, and sentencing status) were used to assess associations between each type of violence (physical abuse, sexual abuse, and life threats) and each outcome variable: recent depression and illicit drug use.ResultsThe majority of participants (87%) reported experiencing some type of violence in their lifetime, including physical violence (83%), sexual victimization (36%), and threats on their life (29%.) Sexual violence was significantly related to both recent depression (Odds Ratio (OR) = 2.8; 95% Confidence Interval (CI) = 1.4–5.3) and recent substance use (OR = 2.7; 95% CI = 1.6–4.4) in adjusted models. Experiences of life threats were also significantly associated with illicit drug use (OR = 2.2; 95% CI: 1.3–3.7), as was physical violence (OR = 2.4; 95% CI: 1.2–4.9); however, neither of these latter two violence variables were significantly associated with depression.ConclusionReports of lifetime violence victimization among this incarcerated sample of women were extremely prevalent and relevant to women's depression and illicit drug use. Prison efforts to address women's depression and illicit drug use may be most effective by incorporating aspects related to women's history of victimization, especially given the high rates of violence experienced by women in this sample.     

Problems and service needs among ex-offenders with HIV risk behaviors entering sober living recovery homes

There is currently a nationwide effort to decrease the number of persons who are incarcerated in jails and prisons. However, many ex-offenders on probation or parole do not have access to affordable housing and larger proportions have histories of HIV risk as well as substance abuse problems. In California, sober living houses (SLHs) are becoming an increasingly popular housing option for these individuals. Based largely on the principles of alcoholics anonymous, SLHs require abstinence from alcohol and drugs and provide peer support for recovery. The current study examined the types of problems experienced among 330 ex-offenders with lifetime risk for HIV during the six months prior to entering SLHs. Nearly three fourths (74%) of all ex-offenders entering the houses had at least one HIV risk. The importance of housing was evident in the finding that housing status and participants’ perceptions of their housing situation were associated with a variety of problem areas, including substance use, HIV risk, psychiatric severity, and legal problems. SLHs represent an important housing option for ex-offenders, but many residents may need additional services to address various problems.     

Explaining Dosage Diffusion During Hot Spot Patrols: An Application of Optimal Foraging Theory to Police Officer Behavior

Drawing from the concepts of optimal foraging theory, this paper presents and tests the assumptions of a foraging theory of police behavior during hot spots patrols. The theory explains why, over time, officers involved in hot spots policing interventions would leave the hot spots they are assigned to police and begin working within other locations. We test what factors influence the amounts of activity that officers undertake outside of their assigned hot spots and at nearby streets using data gathered as part of the Philadelphia Foot Patrol Experiment. Officers performed more activity outside of their beats as the experiment progressed. Several theoretically relevant variables predict the level of activity that officers perform outside their beats, including the size of the target area and the amounts of crime occurring within and outside of the target area. “Dosage diffusion” might be one reason why hot spot interventions have diminishing effects over time. From an optimal foraging theory perspective, hot spots requiring police officers to constrain their actions to pre-defined areas can be perceived as counter-intuitive by the officers, especially over extended periods of time. The results of this study support the suggestion that hot spots patrols should be short-term and randomly rotated across hot spots.     

Is it Important to Examine Crime Trends at a Local “Micro” Level?: A Longitudinal Analysis of Street to Street Variability in Crime Trajectories

Over the last 40 years, the question of how crime varies across places has gotten greater attention. At the same time, as data and computing power have increased, the definition of a ‘place’ has shifted farther down the geographic cone of resolution. This has led many researchers to consider places as small as single addresses, group of addresses, face blocks or street blocks. Both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies of the spatial distribution of crime have consistently found crime is strongly concentrated at a small group of ‘micro’ places. Recent longitudinal studies have also revealed crime concentration across micro places is relatively stable over time. A major question that has not been answered in prior research is the degree of block to block variability at this local ‘micro’ level for all crime. To answer this question, we examine both temporal and spatial variation in crime across street blocks in the city of Seattle Washington. This is accomplished by applying trajectory analysis to establish groups of places that follow similar crime trajectories over 16 years. Then, using quantitative spatial statistics, we establish whether streets having the same temporal trajectory are collocated spatially or whether there is street to street variation in the temporal patterns of crime. In a surprising number of cases we find that individual street segments have trajectories which are unrelated to their immediately adjacent streets. This finding of heterogeneity suggests it may be particularly important to examine crime trends at very local geographic levels. At a policy level, our research reinforces the importance of initiatives like ‘hot spots policing’ which address specific streets within relatively small areas.     

An Investigation of Mental Health and Personality in Swedish Police Trainees upon Entry to the Police Academy

This study aimed at personality and mental health status of Swedish police trainees considering gender differences; and at relationships between personality and mental health. 103 individuals were investigated by means of the SCL-90-R and the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) upon entry to the police academy. By contrast, the police trainees were mentally much healthier than individuals from the general population. They reported low Harm Avoidance and their character dimensions were more developed in terms of strength, responsibility and reliability. Harm Avoidance (positively) and Self-Directedness (negatively) were found to be associated with all facets of psychopathology. The good mental health and mature personality characteristics reported by trainees, particularly the females, suggest that they have the strength to master the stressful situations which they will face in their professional lives. In order to prevent possible psychological disturbances later in life, due to the high level of distress in their work, the development of trainees’ personality in terms of particular coping skills should be regarded as an integral part of their professional training at the police academy.