Children's responses to interpersonal obstacles as a predictor of social competence

Children's responses to interpersonal obstacles and the relationship of these responses to social competence were investigated using the Social Problem Situation Analysis Measure. In this procedure, children respond to standard vignettes and then have their initial response negated by the examiner. The data showed that indices of problem-solving skills instandard andobstacle situations were indeed complementary. Problem solving in response to obstacles was the strongest predictor of self-concept and teachers' ratings of studients' adjustment. Expectancies in standard situations were most predictive of behavioral problem solving and social isolation. The discussion emphasized implications for theory and research into the way in which social problem solving under obstacle conditions relates to different indices of social competence.This study was supported in part by grants to the first author from the William T. Grant Foundation (with John Clabby) and NIMH.Received Ph.D. from University of Connecticut. Research interests include primary prevention and social competence promotion.Received Ph.D. from Rutgers University. Research interests include stress and coping processes.Received Ph.D. from Rutgers University. Research interests include theory and assessment, self and psychopathology.     

Sudden and unexpected death resulting from splenic artery aneurysm rupture: two case reports of pregnancy-related fatal rupture of splenic artery aneurysm

Rupture of a splenic artery aneurysm is a rare and usually catastrophic event, most commonly associated with pregnancy. In spite of increasingly common reliance on abdominal angiography, magnetic resonance imaging, and computerized tomography during the past quarter century, clinicians uncommonly recognize any of the various splanchnic arterial aneurysms absent premonitory signs or symptoms. Accordingly, rupture of a visceral aneurysm, including splenic artery aneurysm, typically presents as sudden, unexpected obtundation or death. As a consequence, the initial recognition and diagnosis of splenic artery aneurysm rupture take place only at autopsy. This report presents two such cases of sudden death resulting from splenic artery aneurysm in a pregnant woman and a postpartum woman, respectively.     

Helping Friends or Influencing Foes: Electoral and Policy Effects of Campaign Finance Contributions

Campaign finance contributions may influence policy by affecting elections or influencing the choices of politicians once in office. To study the trade‐offs between these two paths to influence, we use a game in which contributions may affect electoral outcomes and signal policy‐relevant information to politicians. In the model, a campaign donor and two politicians each possess private information correlated with a policy‐relevant state of the world. The donor may allocate his or her budget to either an ally candidate who has relatively similar preferences or a moderate candidate whose preferences are relatively divergent from the donor's preferred policy. Contributions that increase the likelihood of the moderate being elected can signal good news about the donor's preferred policy and influence the moderate's policy choice. However, when the electoral effect of contributions is too small to demand sufficiently high costs to deter imitation by groups with negative information, this informational effect breaks down.     

Evaluation of structured cognitive–behavioural treatment programmes in reducing criminal recidivism

This paper reports the outcome of a 17-month follow-up of structured, community-based, offence-focused, intervention programmes designed to reduce rates of re-conviction amongst adjudicated offenders under probation supervision. Three separate programmes were examined, all derived from a cognitive social learning model of risk factors for repeated involvement in crime. Using a quasi-experimental design, the study compared male offenders who had completed programmes (n = 215) with a non-completion group (n = 181), a group allocated to programmes but who had not commenced them (n = 339), and a control sample (n = 194) not allocated to the programmes. Outcome data analysis employed (a) an “intent to treat” between-group comparison, (b) “treatment received” methodology. In order to take account of selection bias, data were further analysed using instrumental variables and propensity scores; results suggested a possible treatment effect for moderate and higher-risk cases. Factors influencing different interpretations of these findings were considered.

Hostage-taking incidents: An organizational response

Behavioral Litigation Support Services     

The regular article tracking developments at the national level in key European countries in the area of IT and communications – Co-ordinated by Herbert Smith LLP and contributed to by firms across Europe

This column provides a concise alerting service of important national developments in key European countries. Part of its purpose is to compliment the Journal's feature articles and Briefing Notes by keeping readers abreast of what is currently happening “on the ground” at a national level in implementing EU level legislation and international conventions and treaties. Where an item of European National News is of particular significance, CLSR may also cover it in more detail in the current or a subsequent edition.