Current empirical assessment methods for adolescents and children who sexually abuse others

The assessment of adolescents and children who commit sexually abusive behavior is a complex and challenging task. Incorporating empirically based assessment methods into psychosexual evaluations promises appropriate coverage of relevant domains, sound interpretation of the meaning of data, reduced clinician biases and error, and greater certainty in decision-making. In this paper we review empirically-based assessment methods currently available for use in psychosexual assessment of adolescents and children who sexually abuse others. Our review describes the robustness of these measures and provides guidance for their appropriate use in assessment. The review highlighted that several empirically-based measures are suitable for clinical use with adolescents, but very little is available to guide assessment of children\u27s abusive behavior per se. </i

Stress ocupacional no ensino : um estudo com professores dos 3º ciclo e ensino secundário

Este trabalho foi realizado com 689 professores portugueses, a leccionarem nos terceiro ciclo e ensino secundário. Foram avaliados indicadores de stress, “burnout”, saúde física e satisfação profissional. Observaram-se valores significativos de stress ocupacional (perto de 40%), e de “burnout” (10% na exaustão emocional, 3% na baixa realização pessoal e 1% na despersonalização), vários problemas de saúde física e valores de insatisfação profissional perto dos 20%. As análises de regressão múltipla apontaram diferentes variáveis preditoras para as três dimensões do “burnout” (62% de variância explicada na exaustão emocional, 16% na realização pessoal e 13% na despersonalização). As análises discriminantes e “t-test” para amostras independentes demonstraram maior stress ocupacional nas mulheres, nos professores mais velhos, nos profissionais com vínculos profissionais mais precários, nos professores com mais horas de trabalho e com mais alunos em sala de aula. No final, apresentam-se as limitações do estudo e as implicações para a investigação futura.(undefined

Interacting with the public as a risk factor for employee psychological distress

Background: The 1-month prevalence of any mental disorder in employees ranges from 10.5% to 18.5%. Mental disorders are responsible for substantial losses in employee productivity in both absenteeism and presenteeism. Potential work related factors contributing to mental difficulties are of increasing interest to employers. Some data suggests that being sales staff, call centre operator, nurse or teacher increases psychological distress. One aspect of these occupations is that there is an interaction with the public. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether employees who interact with the public are at greater risk of psychological distress

Were Adolescent Sexual Offenders Children with Sexual Behavior Problems?

This article compares responses of three groups of incarcerated adolescents who admitted to sexual offending in an anonymous survey project on measures of trauma, sexual offending, the relationship between trauma and perpetration, and adjudication status. The first group admitted to sexual offending before the age of 12 only ( n = 48), the second after the age of 12 only ( n = 130), and the third before and after the age of 12 ( n = 65). More than 46% of the sexually aggressive adolescents began their deviant behaviors before the age of 12. Level and complexity of perpetration acts were more severe for the continuous offenders than for the other groups. Victimization and perpetration were significantly correlated for all three groups. This study supports a social learning hypothesis for the development of sexual offending by adolescents. Implications for research and clinical practice are drawn.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45557/1/11194_2004_Article_220864.pd

Do teachers have more health problems? Results from a French cross-sectional survey

BACKGROUND: Although only a few studies have been published on teachers' health, certain ideas are widely accepted, such as for example, the preconceived notion that teachers suffer from an excessively high rate of mental health problems. The objective of this study is to compare teachers' mental and physical health to that of a control group. METHODS: A cross-sectional postal survey was conducted among a sample of 3,679 teachers and 1,817 non-teachers aged 20 to 60 years old. RESULTS: No lifetime prevalence of any psychiatric disorder (with the exception of undifferentiated somatoform disorder in men) or mean scores of psychological distress were found to be significantly higher in teachers. However, multiple analyses, adjusted for all confounding variables, revealed a higher risk of lifetime anxiety disorders in male teachers. On the other hand, significant differences were observed for some physical ailments: a higher lifetime prevalence of rhinopharyngitis/laryngitis in both male and female teachers, of conjunctivitis and lower urinary tract infection in male teachers and of bronchitis, eczema/dermatitis and varicose veins in female teachers. No significant difference was found for chronic pain between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Teachers do not seem to have poorer mental health. However, their physical condition is characterized by a higher prevalence of health problems related to the ENT tract, and to a lesser extent, depending on the gender, to skin, eyes, legs and lower urinary tract

Employee and workplace well-being: a multi-level analysis of teacher personality and organizational climate in Norwegian teachers from rural, urban and city schools

Although teaching is frequently cited as a stressful profession, limited recent Norwegian data is available. This study addressed the extent to which organizational climate and individual and organizational well-being outcomes vary between schools in rural, urban, and city locations. Participants were predominantly female (68%), aged 45+ years(63.2%) and reported 20+ years of teaching experience (51%). Teachers from rural schools reported smaller student and teacher numbers, a more positive organizational climate and better organizational well-being. Multi-level analyses, with teachers grouped within school location, indicated that personality is most strongly associated with employee well-being, and organizational climate most strongly related to school morale and distress. Schools in rural locations are smaller and possess workplace climates that are conducive to positivity in the workplace, and subsequently better workplace wellbeing outcomes