Suicidal Risk at a College Counseling Center: Correlates at Intake and Therapeutic Outcomes

Suicidal risk is examined within the population of college students entering therapy. College student suicidal risk factors are examined among those entering therapy. Based on suicidal risk presented at intake, subsequent outcomes, with respect to treatment duration and mental health functioning, are evaluated. Participants include 1717 students aged 18-22 receiving therapy services at the Johns Hopkins University Counseling Center. Measures included the Personal Identification Form, Problem Checklist, and Behavioral Health Questionnaire-20. Various demographic (race/ethnicity), clinical (previous treatment and referral source), emotional (depression, anxiety, and substance abuse), and collegiate (thwarted belongingness, academic stress, and identity confusion) factors were associated with increased suicidal risk presented at intake. Initial suicidal risk was also associated with treatment duration and changes in self-reported levels of distress, symptoms, impairment, and global mental health. Implications and future directions are discussed

Brand Equity and Brand Equity Scale Developments: A Literature Review

Brand equity is perhaps the most important marketing concept in both academia and practice (Christodoulides and de Chernatony, 2010; Keller and Lehmann, 2006). Academics want to understand how brand equity is measured and what it means for a company, while practitioners want to understand how to influence consumer decisions with respect to different brand purchases in order to increase their brand equity. The term came into use during the late 1980’s; and the importance of conceptualizing, measuring, and managing brand equity has grown rapidly in the eyes of practitioners and academics alike (e.g. Aaker, 1991, 1996; Aaker and Keller, 1990; Ailawadi et al., 2003; Erdem et al., 2006; Keller, 1993, 2003; Netemeyer et al., 2004). This has resulted in “several often-divergent view-points on the dimensions of brand equity, the factors that influence it, the perspectives from which it should be studied, and the ways to measure it” (Ailawadi et al., 2003, p. 1). “Brand Equity is nice – until you have to use it” (Amoroso and Kover, 1992). The authors comment, “the search for brand equity sometimes feels like whacking at a piñata. It is blind; it is hit or miss.” This is the current situation in the marketing literature—the brand equity scales are nice, until you have to use them. The problem is that the majority of research on brand equity has used the same conceptualization of the construct based on previously determined dimensions (i.e., based on the theoretical framework of either Aaker 1991 or Keller 1993). Therefore, we need a new approach of measuring CBBE by tapping into the minds of consumers. This literature review maintains that, given the importance of the concept of brand equity in marketing, as well as the need for the measurement of brand equity, the literature lacks an empirically based consumer-derived/perceived brand equity scale. Since the “brand is the consumer’s idea” (David Ogilvy), the consumer is an active participant or equity partner in the creation of equity for the brand (Blackston, 2000). Therefore, we need to delve inside consumers’ minds in order to understand and manage the intangible equity directly. This leads us to the need to unearth the secrets of the “intangibility” of brand equity. In understanding consumers’ real perceptions of brand equity, we will close the gap between what consumers perceive and what we currently measure as brand equity. Therefore, the aim of future research will be to develop and validate a consumer-perceived, consumer-based brand equity scale. This scale will provide a new conceptualization of brand equity (other than the Aaker’s (1991) and Keller (1993) conceptualizations). Future research will serve as a building block for measuring consumer-perceived, consumer-based brand equity, and will benefit brand research in several ways, such as providing practitioners with a robust CBBE scale derived from consumer minds

TThe Effect of Acculturation on Franchise Relationships

Buyer-seller relationships and franchisee-franchisor relationships, have been studied excessively in the past. One of the causes of the growing importance of research on franchising has been the increased reliance on the service sector in many developed countries. However, the role of the franchisee has not been adequately studied in the literature outside of the buyer-seller relational framework, and especially not in conjunction with the concept of acculturation. Interpersonal relationships are critical in a service industry, offering an important reason to undergo a study of culture and acculturation within this industry, specifically from the franchisee perspective. The purpose of this research is to identify whether franchisee satisfaction with the franchise depends on the acculturation level of the franchisee, and whether this will affect the franchisee’s perception of the franchise brand equity

The Role of Ethgender Identity in the Relationship between Gendered Racism and Activism among Black Women

Black women face a unique intersectional form of discrimination, termed gendered racism (Essed, 1991). The purpose of this study was to determine whether experiences with gendered racism predict activism among Black women and to explore the roles of emotions and identity in this relationship. An online, national sample of 112 Black women provided self-reports of frequency of experiences with overt and covert forms of gendered racism and associated emotional responses, ethgender identity centrality, and activism. Results revealed that experiences with covert gendered racism predicted activism. Emotional responses to gendered racism were not found to predict activism. Ethgender identity was found to play a mediating role in the relationship between gendered racism and activism. Study limitations along with practical implications and directions for future research are discussed

MINDFUL CONSUMER BEHAVIOR: A CROSS-CULTURAL COMPARISON

We compare Lebanese and American consumers on mindful consumption behavior. We define mindful consumers as individuals who, in all stages of consumer behavior, are aware of themselves, their communities and the society at large and behave in ways that contribute to the well-being of all these entities. We conducted a two-phase survey on a total of 210 consumers, 97 in the USA and 113 in Lebanon. We found significant impacts of consumers’ life beliefs such as satisfaction with life, locus of control, and temporal focus and of life values on different aspects of their mindful behavior

Life, Character , Action

Purpose: Transitioning to IMSA is a time of new choices, responsibility, and freedom. As a result, sometimes, students’ intentions are not always the best for the individual or the situation. Throughout the IMSA experience, students are caught in the middle of the new community’s values in which they live. Students internalize what they see their peers and role models doing and decide how to live their own lives. Every interaction that students have during their IMSA years affects how they see themselves and how they see others—helping students understand why character matters will allow them to value kindness, cooperation, sharing, and compassion for others. Also, helping students recognize choice and accountability-making decisions, accept consequences, and be responsible for their choices

Qui a le plus profité de l’adoption des IFRS en France ?

CAHIER DE RECHERCHE n°2014-05 E2Les études des effets de l’adoption obligatoires des IFRS sont nombreuses. Elles ne montrent pastoutes une amélioration significative de la qualité de l’information comptable. En revanche, elless’accordent à reconnaître les bienfaits de cette adoption pour les investisseurs (meilleure liquiditédes titres et réduction de l’asymétrie informationnelle) et pour les entreprises (réduction du coût deleur capital). Les effets mis en évidence par ces études ne sont toutefois que des effets moyens,aucune étude n’ayant considéré les caractéristiques de l’entreprise. L’étude que nous proposons viseà combler cette lacune. Elle montre que toutes les entreprises n’ont pas identiquement bénéficié del’adoption des IFRS. Se focalisant sur l’asymétrie d’information qui caractérise l’entreprise, variableclé puisque les IFRS visent à accroître la transparence des firmes et par conséquent réduire leurdéficit informationnel, l’étude montre que les entreprises qui ont bénéficié des IFRS sont celles quidivulguent le plus sur une base volontaire et celles qui sont le plus activement suivies par lesanalystes financiers. Les firmes peu suivies et celles qui divulguent peu ont été pénalisées parl’adoption des nouvelles normes. Les entreprises présentant les actifs et les activités les pluscomplexes, et donc les plus difficiles à décrire au moyen de l’information comptable, ont égalementtiré avantage de l’adoption des IFRS. Enfin, les entreprises qui souffraient du plus fort déficitinformationnel ont vu ce déficit s’accroître suite à cette adoption. En revanche, et paradoxalement,les entreprises qui avaient le moins à gagner de l’adoption des IFRS du fait d’un faible déficitinformationnel ont vu ce déficit se réduire un peu plus

Qui a le plus profité de l’adoption des IFRS en France ?

CAHIER DE RECHERCHE n°2014-05 E2Les études des effets de l’adoption obligatoires des IFRS sont nombreuses. Elles ne montrent pastoutes une amélioration significative de la qualité de l’information comptable. En revanche, elless’accordent à reconnaître les bienfaits de cette adoption pour les investisseurs (meilleure liquiditédes titres et réduction de l’asymétrie informationnelle) et pour les entreprises (réduction du coût deleur capital). Les effets mis en évidence par ces études ne sont toutefois que des effets moyens,aucune étude n’ayant considéré les caractéristiques de l’entreprise. L’étude que nous proposons viseà combler cette lacune. Elle montre que toutes les entreprises n’ont pas identiquement bénéficié del’adoption des IFRS. Se focalisant sur l’asymétrie d’information qui caractérise l’entreprise, variableclé puisque les IFRS visent à accroître la transparence des firmes et par conséquent réduire leurdéficit informationnel, l’étude montre que les entreprises qui ont bénéficié des IFRS sont celles quidivulguent le plus sur une base volontaire et celles qui sont le plus activement suivies par lesanalystes financiers. Les firmes peu suivies et celles qui divulguent peu ont été pénalisées parl’adoption des nouvelles normes. Les entreprises présentant les actifs et les activités les pluscomplexes, et donc les plus difficiles à décrire au moyen de l’information comptable, ont égalementtiré avantage de l’adoption des IFRS. Enfin, les entreprises qui souffraient du plus fort déficitinformationnel ont vu ce déficit s’accroître suite à cette adoption. En revanche, et paradoxalement,les entreprises qui avaient le moins à gagner de l’adoption des IFRS du fait d’un faible déficitinformationnel ont vu ce déficit se réduire un peu plus

INVESTIGATION OF THE EXPERIMENTAL AND NUMERICAL FLEXURAL BEHAVIOR OF INNOVATIVE TOTALLY ENCASED COMPOSITE BEAMS

Composite steel-concrete beams have been widely used in long span construction and high rise buildings due to their favorable behavior in terms of high strength, stiffness, and ductility. In this research, the flexural behavior of an innovative steel-concrete composite section is investigated experimentally and verified numerically using ABAQUS software. The studied section is composed of steel tubular specimen or steel hollow pipe totally encased in concrete in the absence of any flexural or shear reinforcement. Instead, steel mesh wraps are used around the tubular steel specimen to provide sufficient steel-concrete bond. All of the studied beams have the same 3m length and T-section dimensions to provide adequate comparison of results. The influence of using different percentages of steel mesh wraps around the steel specimen and the structural steel shape effect on the failure mode and ultimate flexural capacity were investigated. It was found that the ABAQUS model has provided excellent simulation of the flexural response of the studied beams with acceptable difference in results as compared to those obtained from experimental testing. Besides, the presence of steel mesh wraps at highly compressive damaged locations have prevented concrete spalling and crushing in these zones by ensuring sufficient steel-concrete bond