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The impact of alcohol-related violence on individuals and society continues to receive attention from both media and policy makers. However, the longitudinal relationship between alcohol consumption and violence is unclear, with findings from prospective studies producing mixed results. The current study utilized Australian data from the International Youth Development Study to examine longitudinal relationships between alcohol consumption and severe interpersonal violence across the developmental periods of early adolescence to late adolescence/emerging adulthood. The full sample comprised 849 adolescents (53.8 % female) who had been followed up over a 5 year period, from Grade 7 secondary school (age 13) until Grade 11 secondary school (age 17). Cross-lagged path analysis was used to examine reciprocal relationships between alcohol consumption and interpersonal violence; analyses controlled for a range of covariates considered to be common risk factors for both behaviors. Alcohol use during early and mid adolescence was found to predict violence 2 years later, whereas a bi-directional relationship between adolescent heavy episodic drinking and violence was observed. Some of these relationships were not significant when covariates such as family conflict and affiliation with antisocial and drug using friends were included in the models. These findings suggest that risk processes begin in late childhood or very early adolescence; efforts to reduce one problem behavior are likely to reduce the other. Further, the role that social and family contexts have in influencing the relationships between alcohol use and interpersonal violence should be considered in future research to better inform preventive efforts.

Online wagering has expanded significantly in recent decades and has emerged as a serious public health issue. Research investigating online wagering has predominantly used quantitative methods to explore the determinants that influence young men's engagement with these products, with fewer qualitative insights. Social practice theory offers a framework in which to qualitatively analyse how online wagering practices are shaped, modified, and evolve. This study explored the online wagering practices of sixteen, 18–24 year old, young men, in Victoria, Australia. In-depth, qualitative interviews explored the contexts and motivations in their early and current wagering practices and the influence of social and structural conditions. Data were interpreted using a reflexive approach to thematic analysis. The data were theoretically conceptualised through a social practice lens, focusing on materials, meanings, and competencies. Materials included social networks and spaces, and wagering infrastructure and marketing. Meanings encompassed peer belongingness and bonding. Perceived competencies included an exaggerated confidence that influenced the type of gambling chosen and perceived spending strategies to achieve financial gain. Importantly, these three elements intersected to form a bundle of wagering practices. Interrupting the interconnection of these bundles may form the basis of public health intervention. Public health research must also continue to monitor how online wagering practices evolve and change in response to a range of interacting determinants and move away from a focus on the individual. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that it is not just trust-generating but also trust-inhibiting mechanisms that operate in teams, and that these cooperative and competitive structures of interpersonal relations of trust within teams may affect team performance. Specifically, we propose that the presence of trust-generating structures (e.g., reciprocity, trusting in the referrals of others we trust, trusting in high performers and more experienced people) and the absence of trust-inhibiting structures (e.g., not trusting in the referrals of others we trust) are more likely to be associated with successful teams. Using exponential random graph models, a particular class of statistical model for social networks, we examine three professional sporting teams from the Australian Football League for the presence and absence of these mechanisms of interpersonal relations of trust. Quantitative network results indicate a differential presence of these postulated structures of trust relations in line with our hypotheses. Qualitative comparisons of these quantitative findings with team performance measures suggest a link between trust-generating and trust-inhibiting mechanisms of trust and team performance. Further theorization on other trust-inhibiting structures of trust relations and related empirical work is likely to shed further light on these connections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews how current social network analysis might be used to investigate individual and group behavior in sporting teams. Social network analysis methods permit researchers to explore social relations between team members and their individual-level qualities simultaneously. As such, social network analysis can be seen as augmenting existing approaches for the examination of intra-group relations among teams and provide detail of team members' informal connections to others within the team. Social network analysis is useful in addressing the issue of interdependencies in the data inherent in team structures. Social network terms are introduced and explained by way of an example team, software and resources are discussed, and a statistical approach to social network analysis is introduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Primary objective: To determine the type and severity of challenging behaviours among a cohort of brain-injured persons referred to a community-based behaviour management service; and to determine whether different behaviour profiles were associated with aetiology of brain injury. Methods and procedures: A sample of clients (n = 190) referred to the ABI Behaviour Consultancy for assessment and treatment of challenging behaviours was evaluated using the Overt Behaviour Scale (OBS) and other measures of disability and support needs. Main outcomes and results: The most common challenging behaviour categories were, in order of frequency: verbal aggression, inappropriate social behaviours and lack of initiation. Clients typically exhibited four categories of challenging behaviour and multiple kinds of the behaviours represented by each category. There was some evidence of differences in occurrence of specific behaviours associated with aetiology of brain injury, particularly for hypoxia and alcohol-related brain injury. Conclusions: A systematic assessment of challenging behaviours in community settings has revealed the profiles of broad behavioural disturbance that can occur following ABI. Assessing the breadth of disturbance is important in understanding a client's presentation and thus planning appropriate behaviour management interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives : The Overt Behaviour Scale (OBS) was designed as a comprehensive measure of common challenging behaviours observed after acquired brain injury (ABI) in community settings. The OBS comprises 34 items in nine categories that measure aggression, inappropriate sexual behaviour, perseveration, wandering, inappropriate social behaviour and lack of initiation. The aim of the current study was to determine the reliability, validity and responsiveness of the OBS. Method : Two adult community-based samples of people with ABI were recruited. Sample 1 ( n ?=?30) were concurrently evaluated on the OBS by two raters and again 1 week later to test stability. Other validating scales were also administered. Sample 2 ( n ?=?28) were clients of the ABI Behaviour Consultancy who were treated for challenging behaviours and were administered the OBS before treatment commenced and then again 4 months later. Results : Inter-rater reliability and stability coefficients for the OBS total score was strong (0.97 and 0.77, respectively). Initial evidence of convergent and divergent validity was shown by the differential pattern of correlations with other measures. Moderate-to-strong coefficients (range 0.37–0.66) were observed between the OBS and other measures that had behavioural content (i.e. Mayo-Portland Adaptability Inventory, Current Behaviour Scale, Neurobehavioural Rating Scale–Revised). Divergent validity was shown by the lack of correlation between the OBS and the sub-scales of these tools that do not measure challenging behaviour. Finally, responsiveness was demonstrated with a significant decrease in OBS scores in the expected direction over the 4-month period. This improvement was confirmed by corroborating evidence from key informants. Conclusion : The OBS shows promise as a reliable, valid and responsive measure that can be used for the systematic assessment of challenging behaviours in community settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]