Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in DSM-5: New Criteria,New Measures,and Implications for Assessment

The diagnostic criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were substantially revised for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders—5th edition (DSM-5). This in turn necessitated revision of DSM-correspondent assessment measures of PTSD. We describe the various changes to the PTSD diagnostic criteria and the corresponding changes to National Center for PTSD measures. We also discuss the implications of the new criteria for assessment of trauma exposure and PTSD. Although the DSM-5 version of PTSD departs significantly in some respects from previous versions, we conclude that there is fundamental continuity with the original DSM-III conceptualization of PTSD as a chronic, debilitating mental disorder that develops in response to catastrophic life events.     

Intellectual Capital and Public Management： A Bibliometric Analysis

Starting from the premise that public management, in the context from the emergent knowledge society, needs new forms to act and new tools to reach its objectives, this paper aims to find evidence of the adoption of the principles of intellectual capital under the public management, by raising scientific articles about the subjects, and aims to select theoretical referential about intellectual capital and public management, by bibliometric analysis. The processes presented 100 constant articles in the final portfolio, available in the data base Web of Science, Science Direct and Scopus. The bibliometric indicators show that the studies were published as from 1969, released by 15 international periodicals, written by 164 authors, used 241 key words related to the constructs of this study. It is believed that the identification of the main references helps the understanding of the foundations of this research field. Additionally, this paper provides many inputs that contribute to the comprehension of the subject at an international level, and that can be utilised in the development of future works.     

Domestic Violence and Social Support in a Clinical Sample of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Women

The present study examined domestic violence and perceived social support in a clinical sample of Deaf and Hard of Hearing women. Forty-six adult Deaf and Hard of Hearing females receiving outpatient mental health services completed a modified version of the Conflict Tactics Scale and the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List. Results showed that nearly three-quarters (71.7%) of the sample related experiencing psychologically abusive behaviors, and over one-half (56.5%) reported a history of physical violence from a partner. In addition, participants reported experiences of domestic abuse directly related to their deafness. Level of perceived social support did not differ for participants with a history of domestic violence victimization compared to those with no such history. Findings underscore the need for increased awareness of Deaf and Hard of Hearing women as a population at high risk, and warranting further investigative attention, with regard to domestic violence.     

Consent forms in genomics: the difference between law and practice

Consent forms are the principal method for obtaining informed consent from biomedical research participants. The significance of these forms is increasing as more secondary research is undertaken on existing research samples and information, and samples are deposited in biobanks accessible to many researchers. We reviewed a selection of consent forms used in European Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) and identified four common elements that were found in every consent form. Our analysis showed that only two of the four most commonly found elements in our sample of informed consent forms were required in UK law. This raises questions about what should be put in informed consent forms for research participants. These findings could be beneficial for the formulation of participant information and consent documentation in the future studies.     

The murderer is the bed: an unusual case of death by traumatic asphyxia in a hotel folding bunk bed

This paper presents the first referenced case on a death by traumatic asphyxia in a folding bunk bed. A middle-aged man was found dead in a hotel room trapped into a lower folding bunk bed where he had been sleeping after a party. The autopsy showed signs of asphyxia and excluded signs of struggle and sexual intercourse. Toxicological analyses revealed alcohol intoxication. A differential diagnosis of the manner of death including a technical study of the bed which contributed to understand the circumstances of death was made. The medico-legal investigation of the case strongly supported the hypothesis of an accidental death by traumatic asphyxia.     

Postmortem hydroxychloroquine concentrations in nontoxic cases

Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) is a 4-aminoquinoline compound used to treat malaria and chronic autoimmune disorders and is not uncommonly found in the medical examiner setting. Studies have shown HCQ to have a long half-life (32-56 days in blood), high volume of distribution (580-815 L/kg), and therapeutic concentrations ranging from 0.03 to 15 mg/L, depending on the chronicity of treatment. Previous reports have shown that the toxic concentration of HCQ ranges from 3 to 26 mg/L, whereas the lethal concentration ranges from 20 to 104 mg/L. A report addressing nontoxic postmortem concentrations of HCQ in individuals known to be taking the medication, and in whom there is no evidence of toxicity, has not been previously undertaken. This study found that postmortem concentrations in nontoxic cases can range from 0.3 to 39 mg/L, which is well within the reported range of both lethal and toxic concentrations. It is recommended that all investigative and autopsy data be considered and that the cause of death not be certified based purely on blood HCQ concentrations.     

Conflict and Compliance in Swedish Health Care Governance: Soft Law in the ‘Shadow of Hierarchy’

Soft law, or non‐legislative modes of policy making, is becoming increasingly common today. The Nordic countries have a long tradition soft law, not least in central–local relations, where non‐binding agreements are frequently used to coordinate policies. A key question springing from soft law theory is that of compliance. Why do independent actors comply if they are not formally obliged to do so, and what happens if they do not comply? This article addresses the question of how compliance can be achieved during policy conflict between actors at different governing levels by investigating a case of health care reform in Sweden. An important finding in the study is that compliance was reached ‘in the shadow of hierarchy’. The central government resorted to the threat of regular legislation to force the county councils to comply. This finding points to the fact that sanctions and the presence of a hierarchical order may play an important role even in soft law governance. The study also shows that an additional important reason that the voluntary agreement between the county councils and central government was honoured in the end by both parties can be attributed to the efforts of a mediating actor: the organization representing the county councils in their negotiations with the government. Finally, the study also illustrates how various forms of informal social pressures such as shaming, peer pressure and moral responsibility can help enforce local compliance in a case of open policy conflict. Arguably, all these compliance mechanisms also have relevance outside the Nordic setting.     

The relationship among distributive and procedural justice and correctional life satisfaction, burnout, and turnover intent: An exploratory study

Distributive and procedural justice, two dimensions of organizational justice, have been found to be salient antecedents of many correctional staff attitudes, such as job stress, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment; however, little correctional research has examined their relationships with the life satisfaction, burnout, and turnover intent. Multivariate regression equations were estimated to determine the association of personal characteristics, distributive justice, and procedural justice with the life satisfaction, burnout, and turnover intent of correctional employees based on a survey of 160 staff at a private midwestern maximum security institution. Both distributive and procedural justice had a statistically significant inverse association with burnout and turnover intent, while procedural justice had a significant positive relationship with life satisfaction. Additionally, the results indicated that the association of procedural justice was larger than the association for distributive justice. Similar results were obtained using only responses from correctional officers.     

Emotional Intelligence: Painting Different Paths for Low-Anxious and High-Anxious Psychopathic Variants

Psychopathic individuals may be disaggregated into low-anxious (emotionally stable “primary psychopaths”) and high-anxious (emotionally disturbed “secondary psychopaths”) variants that may differ in their capacity for adaptive behavior. In turn, the skills encompassed by emotional intelligence (EI) predict social and business success. Based on a sample of 188 male undergraduates, we evaluate the performance of low-anxious psychopathic, high-anxious psychopathic, and low psychopathic comparison groups on a measure of EI. High-anxious psychopaths manifested significantly lower EI than the other two groups, particularly with respect to managing emotions and facilitating thoughts. In contrast, low-anxious psychopaths manifested intact EI, with skill in facilitating thoughts. High-anxious (but not low anxious) psychopaths were more likely than low psychopathic comparisons to manifest violence. These results are consistent with the notion that primary psychopaths have greater capacity to attain success in traditional society than secondary psychopaths, and invite a direct test of this hypothesis in future research.