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This article examines social workers' personal interpretations and position-taking in neoliberal and complex contexts. Personal position-taking of professionals is a powerful tool in guiding social workers' professional activity. The aim of this research is to make these common—but often unnoticed—positions visible. The research focuses on Estonia; a country strongly embedded in neoliberal ideology, and by that significantly influenced by market-based solutions to services and individualization of social risks. Data collection and analysis have been guided by a narrative research framework. The research highlights the challenging position of social workers. Such workers experience pressures caused by double constraints—quick intervention and access to services—and finding a way out from the complex social problems of the most vulnerable individuals. However, in the Estonian case, the pressure and control from outside is perhaps more dominating because the young profession is still weak. The claims of effectivity, evidence, and solving problems hinder the creation of a research-minded, reflective, and practical wisdom-oriented social worker. Awareness of the varied trajectories of positions shows the need for a social discussion about the role and added value of social work within the preconstituted frame and the relationship between the values of social work and the workfare state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grabbing property from the widows is a huge social problem in Zimbabwe. Despite recent changes and advances in policy frameworks in the country, once the husband dies, a widow still struggles to inherit the property accrued during the time of marriage irrespective of the kind of marriage entered into with the late husband. This paper discusses formal and informal social recourse experiences of the widows for grabbed property in Binga District in Zimbabwe. A qualitative research approach was adopted which purposely engaged ten widows in in-depth face-to-face interviews to gather their experiences on recourse. The results indicated that a few widows attempted locally available social recourse for grabbed property whilst many widows suffered in silence and never attempted to seek any recourse owing to various social and cultural reasons and expectations. Formal and informal locally available interventions have been found to have little significance as recourse for grabbed property. This state of affairs has proved to have dire psychosocial and socioeconomic consequences for widows and well-structured interventions proved vehemently needed. The conclusion was that locally available interventions for grabbed property were less viable social recourse measures for widows and did not serve to regain their lost property. This paper recommends the need for social work intervention at various levels to ameliorate the plight of widows in Binga District in Zimbabwe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The survey of machine learning algorithms for WSNs from the period 2014 to March 2018. • Machine learning (ML) for WSNs with their advantages, features and limitations. • A statistical survey of ML-based algorithms for WSNs. • Reasons to choose a ML techniques to solve issues in WSNs. • The survey proposes a discussion on open issues. Abstract Wireless sensor network (WSN) is one of the most promising technologies for some real-time applications because of its size, cost-effective and easily deployable nature. Due to some external or internal factors, WSN may change dynamically and therefore it requires depreciating dispensable redesign of the network. The traditional WSN approaches have been explicitly programmed which make the networks hard to respond dynamically. To overcome such scenarios, machine learning (ML) techniques can be applied to react accordingly. ML is the process of self-learning from the experiences and acts without human intervention or re-program. The survey of the ML techniques for WSNs is presented in [1], covering period of 2002–2013. In this survey, we present various ML-based algorithms for WSNs with their advantages, drawbacks, and parameters effecting the network lifetime, covering the period from 2014–March 2018. In addition, we also discuss ML algorithms for synchronization, congestion control, mobile sink scheduling and energy harvesting. Finally, we present a statistical analysis of the survey, the reasons for selection of a particular ML techniques to address an issue in WSNs followed by some discussion on the open issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We suggest that prior to school entry, our earliest "teachers" and "learning settings" —that is, our parents, caregivers, and homes—provide signals about our environmental conditions. In turn, our brains may interpret this information as cues indicating the types of environments we will likely face and adapt accordingly. We discuss ways in which two such early-life cues—bilingual exposure and sensitive caregiving quality, influence "domain general" neurocircuitry and associated functioning (e.g., temperament and emotional reactivity, emotion regulation, relational memory, exploratory play, and executive functioning), as well as pre-academic outcomes. We conclude by discussing the need for early upstream intervention programmes, as well as the need for additional research including our upcoming "BE POSITIVE" study, designed to help bridge the gap between the community, home, and school environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective : Sexual assault and intimate partner violence are problems on college campuses, yet few studies have examined campus-level factors that may be associated with their prevalence. This study examines campus-level factors that influence rates of sexual assault and intimate partner violence among college students. Method : Data are from 474 campuses that participated in the National College Health Assessment survey between 2011 and 2015. We used linear regression models to assess the impact of campus-level variables on campus rates of sexual assault and intimate partner violence. Results : Significant campus-level predictors of sexual assault rates included rates of binge drinking, proportions of sexual minority students, lower student mean age, and higher proportions of students reporting experiences of discrimination. The strongest campus-level predictors of intimate partner violence rates included greater average number of sexual partners, lower rates of binge drinking, older student mean age, and lower proportions of full-time students. Conclusions : Campus-level factors associated with rates of sexual assault and intimate partner violence provide intervention targets for college administrators and student support staff. Colleges should address both individual and college-level factors in their efforts to prevent and reduce sexual assault and intimate partner violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with pervasive social deficits as well as marked emotion dysregulation across the life span. Decreased social motivation accounts in part for social difficulties, but factors moderating its influence are not fully understood. In this paper, we (a) characterize social and emotional functioning among children and adolescents with ASD, (b) explore contributions of social motivation and emotion dysregulation to social skill , and (c) consider biological sex and intellectual functioning as moderators of these associations. In a sample of 2,079 children and adolescents with ASD from the Simons Simplex Collection, we document direct effects of social motivation, internalizing symptoms, aggression, attention problems, irritability, and self-injurious behavior on children's social skills. Furthermore, dysregulation in several domains moderated the association between social motivation and social skill, suggesting a blunting effect on social motivation in the context of emotional difficulties. Moreover, when considering only individuals with intellectual skills in the average range or higher, biological sex further moderated these associations. Findings add to our understanding of social–emotional processes in ASD, suggest emotion dysregulation as a target of intervention in the service of social skill improvements, and build on efforts to understand sources of individual difference that contribute to heterogeneity among individuals with ASD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High rates of discipline citations predict adverse life outcomes, a harm disproportionately borne by Black and Latino boys. We hypothesized that these citations arise in part from negative cycles of interaction between students and teachers, which unfold in contexts of social stereotypes. Can targeted interventions to facilitate identity safety—a sense of belonging, inclusion, and growth—for students help? Experiment 1 combined social-belonging, values-affirmation, and growth-mindset interventions delivered in several class sessions in 2 middle schools with a large Latino population (N = 669). This treatment reduced citations among negatively stereotyped boys in 7th and 8th grades by 57% as compared with a randomized control condition, 95% CI [−77%, −20%]. A growth-mindset only treatment was also effective (70% reduction, 95% CI [−84%, −43%]). Experiment 2 tested the social-belonging intervention alone, a grade earlier, at a third school with a large Black population and more overall citations (N = 137 sixth-grade students). In 2 class sessions, students reflected on stories from previous 7th-grade students, which represented worries about belonging and relationships with teachers early in middle school as normal and as improving with time. This exercise reduced citations among Black boys through the end of high school by 65%, 95% CI [−85%, −15%], closing the disparity with White boys over 7 years by 75%. Suggesting improved interactions with teachers, longitudinal analyses found that the intervention prevented rises in citations involving subjective judgments (e.g., “insubordination”) within 6th and 7th grades. It also forestalled the emergence of worries about being seen stereotypically by the end of 7th grade. Identity threat can give rise to cycles of interaction that are maladaptive for both teachers and students in school; targeted exercises can interrupt these cycles to improve disciplinary outcomes over years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We developed a comprehensive and spatially disaggregated typology to identify and locate major food security bottlenecks. • The typology is conceptually sound, operationally flexible, and less data intensive. • Intervention types and levels of production, access, and utilization efficiency were identified for rural areas in the DRC. • The efficiency profile of nine high-priority territories was discussed in more detail using secondary data. • The proposed approach can be adjusted to fit the conditions of most developing countries. In this paper we develop a typology to help design and improve spatial targeting of food and nutrition security (FNS) interventions. Using a comprehensive framework, the proposed approach allows for the broad identification and location of major food security bottlenecks. The resulting typology is based on an amendable demarcation of areas in a four-indicator diagram representing the four core dimensions of FNS. The proposed typology is applied to the rural territories of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Despite a continuum of heterogenous development challenges across the country, the typology helps identify clusters of territories that suffer from production, access, and utilization constraints. For the nine territories (out of 145) with the highest child stunting levels, we identify four broad intervention zones and analyze their efficiency profile in more detail. Despite its reductionist nature, our typology is conceptually sound, operationally flexible, and less data intensive, important features to promote evidence-based policymaking in contexts characterized by imperfect and scarce data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Limited information exists on the extent to which male perpetrators of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) are engaged in the use of human services for co-occuringpsychosocial and health issues. The current analysis uses administrative data from one batterer intervention program (BIP) and data from the local Department of Human Services to explore perpetrators' engagement with human services, and the relationship of that use to timing and completion of the BIP. Data for 330 adult male clients referred to the participating BIP from 2010 to 2015 were collected. A majority (63%) had engaged in at least one human service program. The most common kind of service was mental health (46%). The most specific service engagement was child welfare as a parent (41%). Engagement largely concluded prior to beginning the BIP. BIP completers had less service use overall. Future work should explore how these services could be utilized to improve the success of BIPs and reduce perpetration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the strategy that CEO - Compañía Energética de Occidente - developed and implemented to intervene and normalize the energy service to 41 subnormal settlements in Popayán; a complex management process due to the opposition of the community, which for more than 15 years lived in these areas and were not used to paying for the electricity they illegally consumed. Factors such as energy efficiency, assertive communication, leading technology and articulation with other actors in the process were key in achieving the proposed objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study contributes to literature that examines how much time typically passes between disability onset and application for disability-program benefits. It addresses two questions: How long after onset do people wait to apply? How might variation in time between onset and application help to identify potential target groups for early intervention? Using Social Security administrative data from the Adult Disability Report, we find that the median period from onset to application is 7.6 months. Younger applicants tend to have waited longer, particularly those diagnosed with back impairments or arthritis. Among both younger and older applicants, individuals diagnosed with intellectual disability or other mental disorders are potential targets for early intervention programs because those groups wait the longest to apply and are the most likely to continue working in the interim. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this review of preventive interventions to promote healthy families, we begin with an account of how sociology and psychology have helped shape conflicting interpretations of changes in families over the past 70 years as evidence of either family decline or positive diversity. We argue that in either case, well‐validated programs are needed to strengthen families across the economic spectrum. Most parenting interventions have been designed for, and attended by, mothers. We present an empirically based family risk and protection model to provide a rationale for interventions that also include fathers and focus on the coparenting relationship. Using an example of 7 clinical trials of a couples group intervention for parents from diverse economic and social backgrounds, we show that including fathers and addressing the coparental relationship as well as parenting contributes to healthier outcomes for mothers, fathers, and children. Finally, we discuss implications for the future of family research and policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the impact of the Building My Future program's implementation variables on attendance rate and on changes in personal, problem-solving, and community competencies. The program is run by local Social Services from Castile and Leon, Spain, and offers opportunities for adolescents to propose and carry out youth-led activities in their community. Data were accumulated from 356 participants, the majority experiencing negative psychosocial conditions, attending a total of 32 groups from 2013 to 2016. Using binary logistic regression and hierarchical linear regression analyses, results showed that having a facilitator with less professional experience, attending larger groups, having a high level of family involvement, and performing fewer modules and fewer extra activities predicted higher attendance rates and more positive task orientation, self-concept, social realization, and problem-solving competencies. Being younger, from an urban area, and having a facilitator with less professional experience predicted a higher score in community integration. These findings reveal that several program implementation components can contribute to the program's development and effectiveness and can also be considered across multiple programs in this field of practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inquiry-based lessons have been demonstrated to improve children's scientific thinking (i.e. reasoning abilities and domain-specific knowledge). Although empirical evidence shows that inquiry-based learning requires instruction, research comes from two approaches that have not been bridged yet: direct instruction of scientific reasoning and teacher training of verbal support. We investigated how these two types of instruction separately or combined strengthened children's scientific thinking by comparing four conditions: baseline, direct instruction, verbal support, and a combined approach. Effectiveness of an inquiry-based lesson series on scientific reasoning abilities, vocabulary, and domain-specific knowledge (near and far transfer) were studied among 301 fourth graders. Results showed that both approaches strengthened different components of scientific reasoning abilities, and that a combination of instructions was most effective for scientific reasoning abilities, vocabulary, and domain-specific knowledge. Domain-specific knowledge acquisition was strengthened only when both instructions were provided. It can thus be concluded that each type of instruction has unique contributions to children's science learning and that these instructions complement each other. Our study thus showed that inquiry-based lesson series when preceded by direct instruction of scientific reasoning and scaffolded with verbal support are most effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Specialized services for people in early stages of serious mental illness have positive effect on quality of life, general prognosis of the illness and on long-term costs of mental health system. Objective: The aim of the paper is to analyse care being provided by community social care services for clients in early stages of serious mental illness in the Czech Republic. Method: 28 semi-structured interviews with community service providers for people with serious mental illness were conducted. Interviews were focused on methods of interventions for people with serious mental illness and on accessible capacities of care network for the target group. Interviews were analysed qualitatively using thematic analysis. Results: Hospitalization in psychiatric hospital is usually the first contact with mental health services for people in early stages of serious mental illness. Minority of these people is contacted by community social services, although the services struggle with insufficient capacities for work with this target group. Insufficient cooperation with other relevant stakeholders, especially schools and general practitioners, and limited public knowledge about mental illnesses are the barriers for better early detection and early intervention. Discussion: Network of specialized care for people in early stages of serious mental illness is missing in the Czech Republic. Care for this target group is delivered late and most often through hospitalization. Community social services provide interventions similar to those being provided in specialized programmes for people in early stages of serious mental illness abroad. However, due to limited capacities, insufficient network of community services and lack of standardized manuals for this target group it is necessary to continuously develop services for people in early stages of serious mental illness. In context of ongoing psychiatric reform these specialized services could be prospectively implemented into evolving Mental Health Centres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of palm olein (POL), cocoa butter (CB) and extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) on the lipid profile and low-density lipoprotein subfractions in a young, healthy Chinese population. After screening, 72 subjects were randomly assigned to three groups, and an 18-week randomized crossover trial was conducted. The first phase was a 2-week run-in period, followed by three phases of the 4-week experimental periods with a 2-week washout period between experimental periods. Three groups of subjects alternately consumed a Chinese diet enriched with the different test oils. The various indices of subjects were collected before and after each experimental period. Sixty-seven subjects completed the study, and there were no significant differences in conventional indices amongst the three groups at the beginning of the three experimental periods (p > .05). Each test oil accounted for approximately 40% of total fat intake and approximately 11.3% of the total energy supply. After controlling for dietary interventions, only the serum triglyceride level of the POL-Diet was significantly lower than that of the EVOO-Diet (p = .034), and most indices did not significantly differ amongst the three test oil diets (p > .05). POL, CB and EVOO have almost identical effects on serum lipids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social inclusion is the level of community participation and interpersonal relationships that people experience, as individuals and as groups. Simplican, Leader, Kosciulek, and Leahy (2015) developed an ecological social inclusion models that we used to generate a measure for the social inclusion outcomes potentially achieved by a comprehensive intervention for families with adolescent parents in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional epidemic models of communicable diseases focus on the temporal dimension. We propose a framework for the epidemic forest approach to spatializing epidemic modeling. An epidemic forest is formed by epidemic trees, each using the tree structure to represent an epidemic starting from a primary case. Each node on the tree represents an individual case, and each link represents a parent–child transmission linkage and can be modeled with the spatiotemporal and other information about the cases. Structural, spatiotemporal, and epidemiological information can be extracted from constructed trees to characterize the epidemic they represent and to correspond to environmental data. When multiple primary cases can be determined, the forest is ready to build. We applied this method to the 2013 dengue fever epidemic in Guangzhou City, China. With the constructed forest, we particularly calculated the case reproduction ratio (Rt), an index widely used for characterizing epidemics, at the global, tree-wise, and pixel-wise scales. We further calculated correlation coefficients between these Rts and climate variables. Rts at different scales, as well as their associations with climate variables, offer information at different levels that is all important in epidemiological studies and disease control practices. Through this study, we explored and demonstrated how to spatialize epidemic modeling, what information can be extracted from this spatialization, and then how to use the extracted information. We also point out that spatialization of Rt is the essential process of mapping a communicable disease, corresponding to the spatialization of incidence or prevalence in mapping a chronic disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question concerning the relation between thinking and the university is the starting point of this paper. After a very brief outline of some reflections on this topic, the case of Campus in Camps, a Palestinian experimental university, is presented to shed light on this issue. Inspired by Isabelle Stengers' ecology of practices, it is possible to discern four requirements on thinking in the work of Campus in Camps, namely storytelling, comparing, mapping, and using. It will be argued that the particularity of thinking at the university, is that it is done via artifices that initiate processes of composition, problematization, and attention. In the concluding section, the paper proposes to understand the study practice of Campus in Camps as an adventure that activates a sense of the possible, and hence opens up futures that are different from the ones that present themselves as obvious or unavoidable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When are we morally obligated as a society to help the homeless, and is coercive interference justified when help is not asked for, even refused? To answer this question, we propose a comprehensive taxonomy of different types of homelessness and argue that different levels of autonomy allow for interventions with varying degrees of pressure to accept help. There are only two categories, however, where paternalism proper is allowed, be it heavily qualified. The first case is the homeless person with severely diminished autonomy as a result of mental illness, and the second case is the homeless person who runs a risk of serious and imminent harm to self. In the first case, namely, that of soft paternalism, we argue that coercive intervention in the case of a refusal to accept help should be focused on the provision of housing that meets basic needs—needs that we outline in the article. In the case of imminent and severe harm to self, the case of hard paternalism, we argue that forced intervention can only be allowed if it is temporary and local, namely focused on getting someone out of harm's way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Research highlights neural correlates of MDD, however it is unclear whether these correlates reflect the state of depression or a pre-existing risk factor. • We found that resting-state functional connectivity abnormalities in the default mode and cognitive control network that differentiated high-risk from low-risk youth predicted the onset of MDD during adolescence. • Increased functional activation to both happy and fearful faces was also associated with greater decreases in self-reported symptoms of depression. • This preliminary evidence could be used to identify youth at-risk for depression and inform future early intervention strategies to reduce the development of depression. Abstract Although research highlights neural correlates of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), it is unclear whether these correlates reflect the state of depression or a pre-existing risk factor. The current study examined whether baseline differences in brain activations, resting-state connectivity, and brain structural differences between non-symptomatic children at high- and low-risk for MDD based on familial depression prospectively predict the onset of a depressive episode or increases in depressive symptomatology. We re-assessed 44 participants (28 high-risk; 16 low-risk) who had undergone neuroimaging in a previous study 3–4 years earlier (Mean age at follow-up = 14.3 years, SD = 1.9 years; 45% females; 70% Caucasian). We investigated whether baseline brain imaging data (including an emotional face match task fMRI, resting-state fMRI and structural MRI) that differentiated the risk groups also predicted the onset of depression. Resting-state functional connectivity abnormalities in the default mode and cognitive control network that differentiated high-risk from low-risk youth at baseline predicted the onset of MDD during adolescence, after taking risk status into account. Increased functional activation to both happy and fearful faces was associated with greater decreases in self-reported depression symptoms at follow-up. This preliminary evidence could be used to identify youth at-risk for depression and inform early intervention strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Situated as they are in a national context of epistemological and historical contestation, many South African narrative nonfiction texts must include performances of textual authority in order to be read as trustworthy. Such performances usually consist of text producers being seen to source the information they use and to foreground the terms of the text's construction. Can a text be seen as reliable, however, when it exists in a vacuum of reliable sources and without a reliable narrator? This paper argues that within the South African context—in which many narratives are contested and contestable—this is not necessarily so. By analyzing Jacob Dlamini's text about apartheid collaboration, Askari , and particularly its performance of facticity, this paper asserts that textual authority is a function of factors other than the conventional presentation and utilization of reliable sources and/or narrators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although field education is considered the signature pedagogy in social work, few studies examine preparing field supervisors for clinical supervision. This study describes findings from a 3-year project during which field education supervisors were trained to supervise students' use of screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment (SBIRT) and motivational interviewing. The core components of the supervisory training model are described (i.e., didactic training, coaching, in-person visits), and self-reported field supervisor outcomes are examined using pre-training and post-training assessments. On our 30-day post training assessment, field supervisors (n = 79) reported increased personal use of motivational interviewing (86.5% vs. 73.9% at baseline) and SBIRT (43.2% vs.17.4% at baseline) in their own practice, as well as increased agency-level use of these models. Field supervisory trainings focused on implementing specific empirically-supported treatments to promote their dissemination in social work practice. The next generation of field supervisory training research should link supervisory trainings to both student performance and client-level outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Costa and Shrapnel ([ 2016 ]) have recently proposed an interventionist theory of quantum causation. The formalism generalizes the classical methods of Pearl ([ 2000 ]) and allows for the discovery of quantum causal structure via localized interventions. Classical causal structure is presented as a special case of this more general framework. I introduce the account and consider whether this formalism provides a causal explanation for the Bell correlations. 1   Introduction 2   Classical Causal Models 3   What's the (Quantum) Problem? 4   Quantum Causal Models: Why Bother? 5   Markov Quantum Causal Models 6   The Bell Experiment 7   Bell's Objections [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Workplace bullying is endemic to the nursing profession and it threatens nurses' health and ability to work safely. However, effective interventions to prevent workplace bullying are lacking. A sample of hospital nurses (n = 15) explored experiences of bullying and ideas for intervention via four focus groups in 2016. Four main themes emerged from the qualitative content analysis: (a) characteristics that define bullying behavior; (b) facilitators of bullying; (c) consequences of bullying; and (d) possible interventions. Although personal characteristics played a role, bullying was primarily facilitated by workplace and organizational factors that hindered the establishment of collegiality and team trust among nurses. Findings have informed a conceptual model for prevention of nurse-to-nurse bullying with ethical leadership and communication, trust, and social cohesion in work teams as key elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Batterer intervention programs' (BIPs) curriculum have been criticized for their one-size-fits-all approach to rehabilitation with recent research suggesting specialized and client-centric approaches to batterer intervention may be more effective than traditional programming. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been examined as a risk factor for intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration and numerous studies suggest a relationship between ACEs and low mental health treatment engagement. However, absent from the conversation is how ACEs may influence BIP treatment engagement and more specifically how ACEs influence BIP program attendance and attrition. The current study used administrative data from a sample of 268 men enrolled in a county-operated BIP to explore this question. BIP participants who experienced any ACEs, only household dysfunction ACEs, and/or both household dysfunction ACEs and child abuse/neglect ACEs had decreased odds of BIP attrition compared to participants with no ACEs. These findings have practical implications regarding screening, service delivery, and BIP curricula and highlight additional research needed on this topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of EURE is the property of Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Work environment investments are important in order to create a healthy and safe workplace. This article presents findings from a seven-step interventions process aimed at examining and following-up work environment investments in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with a particular focus on air contaminants. Three different cases were analyzed and included in the study: (a) an educational center for welding; (b) a paint station in furniture manufacturing; (c) a joinery in furniture manufacturing. The results show that the work environment investments were highly appreciated by the employees and managers, but at the same time the investment could be optimized through markedly decreased exposure levels for the worker. Factors such as follow-ups of the investment, education and training in how to use the equipment, worker involvement in the process and leadership engagement are important in order to optimize work environment investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Jornal de Pediatria is the property of Sociedade Brasileira de Pediatria and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

No individual exists without exhibiting prosociality in one or another situation during their lifetime. The argument however, is to what extent? Does it arise spontaneously, out of true empathy and compassion for others, or it is goal-oriented with some hidden motive? Here, our primary intention is to convey that, though various meditation-based interventions can be utilized for different purposes like cultivating prosocial behaviors such as compassion, empathy etc., one's underlying motive and intent seems to play a crucial role in an individual's development. Most of the studies exploring prosociality, in the context of meditation, usually do not consider the role of hidden or underlying motivation in one's prosocial expression. By considering an example of how mindfulness may sometimes lead to the wrong consequences, we try to analyze why it is important to include the aspect of inner motivation in future studies exploring the effects of meditation on prosociality. We also propose that while practicing meditation one may need traditional assistance and ethical/moral teachings in addition to those merely isolated techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In Cambodia, HIV infection remains high among female entertainment and sex workers (FESW) and the use of amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) is an independent risk factor for unprotected sex and sexually transmitted infections among this group. For decades public health approaches to HIV prevention in low and middle income countries (LMIC) have attempted to target the macro-power relations that shape risk behaviour with structural interventions. Recent research has highlighted that interventions that combine ATS risk reduction, in the form of financial incentives for abstinence, with existing HIV prevention programmes, may also play an important role. However, whether this approach goes far enough as a response to structural drivers of risk requires further examination.Methods: Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 30 FESW (mean age 25 years) from five provinces in Cambodia, as part of formative research for the implementation of the Cambodia Integrated HIV and Drug Prevention (CIPI) trial. The aim was to explore the contexts and drivers of ATS use. Data were analysed using grounded theory.Results: In addition to increasing occupational functionality, ATS were used to control pervasive feelings of 'sadness' in relation to the lived experience of poverty, family and relationship problems. Feeling sad could be viewed as an expression of social suffering, in response to competing priorities and seemingly inescapable constraints imposed by a lack of options for income generation, gender inequalities and stigma. Participants expressed interest in microenterprise (ME) opportunities, particularly vocational training, that could create new work opportunities beyond sex work and ATS use.Conclusion: In addition to reducing ATS use, HIV prevention interventions need to target sources of sadness and social suffering as drivers of risk among FESW in this context. The inclusion of ME opportunities in HIV prevention, to alleviate social suffering, warrants further investigation through qualitative and ethnographic research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent surveys have found a strong decrease in alcohol consumption among young people and this trend has been identified in European countries, Australia and North America. Previous research suggests that the decline in alcohol consumption may be explained by changes in parenting style, increased use of social media, changes in gender identities or a health and fitness trend. We use qualitative interviews with drinking and non-drinking young people from Sweden (N = 49) to explore in what way and in what kinds of contexts these explanations may hold true and how they alone or together may explain declining alcohol consumption among young people. By using the pragmatist approach, we pay attention to what kinds of concerns, habits, practices, situations and meanings our interviewees relate to adolescents' low alcohol consumption or decline in drinking. By analyzing these matters, we aim to specify the social mechanisms that have reduced adolescents' drinking. Our paper discovers social mechanisms similar to previous studies but also a few that have previously been overlooked. We propose that the cultural position of drinking may have changed among young people so that drinking has lost its unquestioned symbolic power as a rite of passage into adulthood. There is less peer pressure to drink and more room for competing activities. This opening of a homogeneous drinking culture to the acceptance of differences may function as a social mechanism that increases the success of other social mechanisms to reduce adolescents' drinking. Furthermore, the results of the paper suggest a hypothesis of the early maturation of young people as more individualized, responsible, reflective, and adult-like actors than in earlier generations. Overall, the paper provides hypotheses for future quantitative studies to examine the prevalence and distribution of the identified social mechanisms, as well as recommends directions for developing effective interventions to support young people's healthy lifestyle choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes an innovative training program enabling the qualification of peer carers, working within the sector of 'social inclusion'. Since the French national debate on social work conducted within the 'Estates General' of 2015, peer workers have become key players in training programs in virtue of their experiential knowledge and their understanding of issues related to the process of social exclusion. This article addresses the role of peer helpers' experiential knowledge in the training process. Because of their 'experiential' and 'empirical' knowledge about questions linked to the process of exclusion, peer helpers have become key players in social work teams and within social institutions, thus contributing to new methods of socio-educational intervention. What impact will this recognition of peer helpers' and service users' experiential knowledge have on education in social work? This article gives an account of an 8-month training program for peer helpers examined on the methodological level through a process of Participant observation, and based on data from comprehensive interviews carried out with a panel of peer helpers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To report the outcomes of a Health at Every Size (HAES) intervention in a real-world setting.Design: Quasi-experimental design evaluating eating behaviors and psychological factors.Setting: The HAES intervention is offered in Health and Social Services Centers in Québec (Canada).Participants: For this study, 216 women (body mass index [BMI]: 35.76 [6.80] kg/m2) who participated to the HAES intervention were compared to 110 women (BMI: 34.56 [7.30] kg/m2) from a comparison group.Intervention: The HAES intervention is composed of 14 weekly meetings provided by health professionals. It focuses on healthy lifestyle, self-acceptance, and intuitive eating.Measures: Eating behaviors (ie, flexible restraint, rigid restraint, disinhibition, susceptibility to hunger, intuitive eating, and obsessive-compulsive eating) and psychological correlates (ie, body esteem, self-esteem, and depression) were assessed using validated questionnaires at baseline, postintervention, and 1-year follow-up.Analysis: Group, time, and interaction effects analyzed with mixed models.Results: Significant group by time interactions were found for flexible restraint ( P = .0400), disinhibition ( P < .0001), susceptibility to hunger ( P < .0001), intuitive eating ( P < .0001), obsessive-compulsive eating ( P < .0001), body-esteem ( P < .0001), depression ( P = .0057), and self-esteem ( P < .0001), where women in the HAES group showed greater improvements than women in the comparison group at short and/or long term.Conclusion: The evaluation of this HAES intervention in a real-life context showed its effectiveness in improving eating-, weight-, and psychological-related variables among women struggling with weight and body image. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The high numbers of Aboriginal children placed in provincial and territorial care demonstrate the need for effective interventions that directly address the legacy of trauma from colonialization. This paper argues that healing is a critical component of any intervention seeking to help Aboriginal Peoples and their children. Research on healing and recent government initiatives and legislation directed at preserving traditional Aboriginal healing practices are discussed. This article concludes with recommendations for various community members involved in the healing of Aboriginal Peoples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To expand the evidence base of the Supporting Father Involvement (SFI) intervention to include child welfare families. Background: Taking a preventive father‐inclusive approach, SFI aims to strengthen coparenting, parent–child relationships, and child outcomes. This study replicates 4 prior iterations of the program using the same 32‐hour curriculum facilitated by clinically trained staff, case managers, and onsite child care and family meals. Method: Participants (N = 239) included low‐income (median = $24,000) coparenting pairs, typically mothers and fathers/father figures, half of whom were Mexican American, with toddlers (median age < 3 years). Questionnaires assessing multiple family domains were administered verbally over an 18‐month period. Intervention effectiveness was tested through a randomized control trial with immediate treatment or waitlist–control groups using a moderated mediator structural equation model. Results: The model explained 49% to 56% of the variance in children's problem behaviors (intervention and autoregressive effects). The intervention reduced couple conflict, which reduced anxious and harsh parenting, leading to better child outcomes. The intervention was equally effective for community and child welfare–referred families and family dynamics pathways were similar across conditions. Conclusion: With its intentional outreach and inclusion of fathers, SFI offers an effective intervention for lower risk child welfare–involved families. Implications: Results argue for the utility of treating community and child welfare parents in mixed‐gender prevention groups that focus on strengthening multiple levels of family relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Substance use disorders (SUD) are prevalent among veterans, and the relapse rate is estimated at ≥60% within one year of treatment. Exercise's broad health benefits make it an appealing adjunctive component to interventions preventing relapse among individuals with SUDs. After conducting formative research, we designed and conducted the Go-VAR! (Veterans Active Recovery) pilot study to examine the feasibility and acceptability of a multi-component exercise-based intervention for veterans seeking SUD treatment through the outpatient Alcohol & Drug Treatment Program (ADTP) at the VA San Diego Healthcare System (VASDHS). Participants (N = 15; mean age = 45 [SD = 9.7]; 13% Hispanic, 60% White) from the La Jolla VASDHS outpatient ADTP were enrolled in this 12-week one-arm pilot study. Feasibility and acceptability were established: 70% of participants attended weekly psychoeducation groups, wore their Fitbit Charge HR, increased their weekly physical activity, and used their study-provided YMCA memberships, group exercise training sessions, and Fit4Me personal training program. Lower use of both alcohol and drugs were reported at the end of the study (p < .0001). Significant increases in daily steps as measured by the Fitbit HR and improvements in measures of physical fitness were also achieved (p < .05). Future work should focus on potential integration within the VA system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complex systems approaches to social intervention research are increasingly advocated. However, there have been few attempts to consider how models of intervention science, such as the UK's Medical Research Council complex interventions framework, might be reframed through a complex systems lens. This article identifies some key areas in which this framework might be reconceptualized, and a number of priority areas where further development is needed if alignment with a systems perspective is to be achieved. We argue that a complex systems perspective broadens the parameters of 'relevant' evidence and theory for intervention development, before discussing challenges in defining feasibility in dynamic terms. We argue that whole systems evaluations may be neither attainable, nor necessary; acknowledgment of complexity does not mean that evaluations must be complex, or investigate all facets of complexity. However, a systems lens may add value to evaluation design through guiding identification of key uncertainties, and informing decisions such as timings of follow-up assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • conducted interventions on 16 social networks in Sumatran villages and analysed the outcomes with ERGMs. • individuals' exposure to the external world is associated with opinion leadership in remote communities. • boundary-spanners are opinion leaders. Abstract Are boundary spanners opinion leaders in ethnically segregated remote low-income communities or are they shunned? Can external exposure create opinion leaders in such peripheral communities? To answer these questions, we invited randomly selected farmers from 16 randomly selected communities in Sumatra to three-day networking and training events outside of their villages. The substantive purpose of these events was for the farmers to learn new practices from their peers in the visited locations. Eighteen months later, we conducted a sociocentric survey of information-sharing networks in the 16 communities. These 16 networks included 380 members, of which 117 participated in our randomized intervention and 263 were in the control group. We found that participants of our randomized intervention had an average indegree that was double that of the control group (2.8 vs 1.4). We applied Exponential Random Graph Models to the 16 networks to account for endogenous network tendencies. We treated participation in the intervention and the number of boundary-spanning links of each actor as node covariates. Results from our models show that actors who participated in the intervention had higher levels of influence in their communities than the control group, and actors with more boundary spanning links were more popular sources of advice. The results suggest that network interventions do not always need to rely on opinion leaders. Under certain conditions, interventions can create opinion leaders by changing local social networks. We conclude with methodological implications for using interventions in social network research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the psychosocial challenges of widows in the Binga District in Zimbabwe. The feminist and ecological perspectives were used as theoretical frameworks to elucidate the various challenges faced by the widows in the district. Using a qualitative research approach which locates the participants in their cultural contexts and habitats, a phenomenological research design was employed. Aiming at providing a bifocal perspective on the psychosocial plight of widows, samples were drawn from populations of both widows and social service providers. Purposive sampling was used for selecting three categories of participants, namely ten widows for in-depth interviews, two focus group discussants with each group consisting of seven widows, and nine social service providers who were individually interviewed as key informants. Data were thematically analysed with predetermined themes and emerging themes. The results showed that widows in the Binga District were vulnerable and experienced intense psychosocial problems, which need systematic, interconnected, professional and localised social interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We collaborated with UNICEF and launched a field experiment in Panama to test the effectiveness of communicating different means-goal associations in promoting children's consumption of water. This research is the first to examine whether interventions that operate by highlighting strong means-goal associations have real consequences outside the lab in the noisy real world. Also important, means-goal associations have previously been examined exclusively among adults. Because prior research reveals that children and adults often respond differently to persuasion attempts, important theoretical insight is gained by investigating whether children's use of a means can be increased by interventions that highlight means-goal associations. This research is also the first to explore whether highlighting means-goal associations of different strengths can produce not only positive but also potentially negative effects. Together, the current research advances the extant understanding of the divergent impact of means-goal associations on behavior, uncovers an intervention that increases children's consumption of water, and provides valuable managerial implications as well as food for thought for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theatre has always given a platform to the common people to share their emotions, feelings as well as express their discomfort on the happenings around them. There are various forms of theatre which has emerged historically; they can be classified broadly as -- Proscenium theatre i.e. theatre for the stage and flexible theatre for the field and of/for oppressed. Theatre of the oppressed initiated by Augusto Boal has been used in different forms for the development of the community. Different forms of theatre are used to address the social issues in the communities for their development. They are third theatre, street theatre, forum theatre, playback theatre, intimate theatre, invisible theatre and others. These form of theatre play a relevant role in social awareness and community transformation. It is a medium for empowering the communities, a medium to voice their problems and encourage them to solve their problem with the help of their own resources. The present paper presents reflections from case study of Jana Sanskriti, an organization who are using theatre as a method of social intervention and bringing about social change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sanitation is an essential component of health and overall social wellbeing. The government has implemented several programmes from time to time to ensure total sanitation for all, but the goal has not been achieved so far. Launching of 'Swachh Bharat Mission' (Clean India Mission) has ushered in lot of prospects and opened up new opportunities to intervene and make India a healthy place to live. Under the overall ambit of this mission, West Bengal has been implementing 'Mission Nirmal Bangla' (Clean Bengal Mission), which has made steady progress on construction of toilets but usage situation has not changed significantly. Based on the secondary data, this article reviews the situation in West Bengal, locates the present challenges and suggests some strategies under the broad framework of rights-based approach to ensure the usage of toilets to make the state clean and healthy in near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Development involves synergistic interplay among genotypes and the physical and cultural environments, and integrating genetics into experimental designs that manipulate the environment can improve understanding of developmental psychopathology and intervention efficacy. Consistent with differential susceptibility theory, individuals can vary in their sensitivity to environmental conditions including intervention for reasons including their genotype. As a consequence, understanding genetic influences on intervention response is critical. Empirically, we tested an interaction between a genetic index representing sensitivity to the environment and the Family Check-Up intervention. Participants were drawn from the Early Steps Multisite randomized prevention trial that included a low-income and racially/ethnically diverse sample of children and their families followed longitudinally (n = 515). As hypothesized, polygenic sensitivity to the environment moderated the effects of the intervention on 10-year-old children's symptoms of internalizing psychopathology, such that children who were genetically sensitive and were randomly assigned to the intervention had fewer symptoms of child psychopathology than genetically sensitive children assigned to the control condition. A significant difference in internalizing symptoms assessed with a clinical interview emerged between the intervention and control groups for those 0.493 SD above the mean on polygenic sensitivity, or 25% of the sample. Similar to personalized medicine, it is time to understand individual and sociocultural differences in treatment response and individualize psychosocial interventions to reduce the burden of child psychopathology and maximize well-being for children growing up in a wide range of physical environments and cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Culture plays a pivotal role in adaptive and maladaptive development. However, culture remains disconnected from theory, research, training, assessment, and interventions in developmental psychopathology, limiting our understanding of the genesis and epigenesis of mental health. Cultural development and psychopathology research can help overcome this limitation by focusing on the elucidation of cultural risk, protective, and promotive factors, at the individual and social levels, that initiate, derail, or maintain trajectories of normal and abnormal behavior. The goal of this Special Issue is to showcase research on the association between culture, development, and psychopathology that investigates equifinality and multifinality in cultural development, the interplay between culture and biology, cultural assessment and interventions, and cultural differences and similarities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study extends prior research on the link between neighborhood disadvantage and chronic illness by testing an integrated model in which neighborhood characteristics exert effects on health conditions through accelerated cardiometabolic aging. Hypotheses were tested using a sample of 408 African Americans from the Family and Community Health Study. Using four waves of data spanning young adulthood (ages 18–29), we first found durable effects of neighborhood disadvantage on accelerated cardiometabolic aging and chronic illness. Then, we used marginal structural modeling to adjust for potential neighborhood selection effects. As expected, accelerated cardiometabolic aging was the biopsychosocial mechanism that mediated much of the association between neighborhood disadvantage and chronic illness. This finding provides additional support for the view that neighborhood disadvantage can influence morbidity and mortality by creating social contexts that becomes biologically embedded. Perceived neighborhood collective efficacy served to buffer the relationship between neighborhood disadvantage and biological aging, identifying neighborhood-level resilience factor. Overall, our results indicate that neighborhood context serves as a fundamental cause of weathering and accelerated biological aging. Residing in a disadvantaged neighborhood increases biological wear and tear that ultimately leads to onset of chronic illness, but access to perceived collective efficacy buffers the impact of these neighborhood effects. From an intervention standpoint, identifying such an integrated model may help inform future health-promoting interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding adolescents’ translation of HIV and AIDS-related behaviour change interventions (BCI) knowledge and skills into expected behavioural outcomes helps us appreciate behaviour change dynamics among young people and informs evidence-based programming. We explored the effects of adolescents’ exposure to BCI on their HIV risk reduction in selected schools in Nkhatabay and Mzimba districts and Mzuzu city in Northern Malawi. The study used questionnaires as instruments. Data were collected between January and April 2017. Adolescent boys and girls [n = 552], ages 11-19 were randomly sampled to participate. Data analysis was through multiple regression and content analysis. Respondents included 324 female [58.7%] and 228 male [41.3%]. Multiple regression analysis indicated that exposure to BCI did not affect risk reduction in the study area. The best stepwise model isolated sexual experience ([Beta = .727, p = .0001, p < .05]) as having the strongest correlation with the dependent variable - risk reduction. BCI exposure was stepwise excluded ([Beta = −.082, p = .053, p > .05]). There was therefore no evidence against the null hypothesis of no relationship between adolescent exposure to BCI and their HIV risk reduction. Overall there was limited BCI knowledge and skills translation to behavioural risk reduction. The study points to the need to evaluate and redesign adolescent BCI in line with current behavioural dynamics among young people in Malawi. The findings have been used to inform the design and programming of a model to be tested for feasibility through a quasi-experiment in the second phase of our project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]