The Role of Life Satisfaction in Predicting Youth Violence and Offending: A Prospective Examination

Life satisfaction in adolescence has been shown to protect against numerous negative outcomes (e.g., substance use, sexual risk-taking), but limited work has directly explored the relationship between life satisfaction and youth violence and offending. As such, we conducted a prospective assessment to explore this relationship among community (n = 334) and at-risk youth (n = 99). Findings suggest life satisfaction is significantly associated with decreased offending and violence within both samples and adds incremental value above established risk factors in predicting violent and total offending among community youth. Furthermore, moderation analyses indicate that the protective value of life satisfaction is greater for youth with high callous–unemotional traits. Mediation analyses suggest that youth who are unsatisfied with their lives may seek out substance use, in turn elevating risk of offending. Together, these findings indicate that efforts to improve overall life satisfaction may help prevent adolescent offending. However, future research is needed

Analysis of queries sent to PubMed at the point of care: Observation of search behaviour in a medical teaching hospital

Contains fulltext : 69801.pdf ( ) (Open Access)BACKGROUND: The use of PubMed to answer daily medical care questions is limited because it is challenging to retrieve a small set of relevant articles and time is restricted. Knowing what aspects of queries are likely to retrieve relevant articles can increase the effectiveness of PubMed searches. The objectives of our study were to identify queries that are likely to retrieve relevant articles by relating PubMed search techniques and tools to the number of articles retrieved and the selection of articles for further reading. METHODS: This was a prospective observational study of queries regarding patient-related problems sent to PubMed by residents and internists in internal medicine working in an Academic Medical Centre. We analyzed queries, search results, query tools (Mesh, Limits, wildcards, operators), selection of abstract and full-text for further reading, using a portal that mimics PubMed. RESULTS: PubMed was used to solve 1121 patient-related problems, resulting in 3205 distinct queries. Abstracts were viewed in 999 (31%) of these queries, and in 126 (39%) of 321 queries using query tools. The average term count per query was 2.5. Abstracts were selected in more than 40% of queries using four or five terms, increasing to 63% if the use of four or five terms yielded 2-161 articles. CONCLUSION: Queries sent to PubMed by physicians at our hospital during daily medical care contain fewer than three terms. Queries using four to five terms, retrieving less than 161 article titles, are most likely to result in abstract viewing. PubMed search tools are used infrequently by our population and are less effective than the use of four or five terms. Methods to facilitate the formulation of precise queries, using more relevant terms, should be the focus of education and research

Predicting youth reoffending after incarceration: added value of protective factors and heart rate variability

This study examined a biopsychosocial approach on risk assessment in a clinical sample of youth offenders. In search of enhancing the validity of prediction of recidivism through risk factors alone, the added value of protective and neurobiological factors was measured. In 209 male youth offenders (age 15-24), risk and protective factors were assessed with the Structured Assessment of Violence in Youth (SAVRY) and the Structured Assessment of Protective Factors for violence risk-Youth Version (SAPROF-YV). Autonomic nervous system (re)activity was assessed, and cortisol and testosterone levels were measured in saliva. Recidivism data were obtained from official criminal records. As expected, risk factors alone provided moderate predictive validity for general and violent recidivism. Incorporating protective factors and Heart Rate Variability (HRV) reactivity significantly improved prediction models. Risk assessment may gain by adopting a broader, biopsychosocial perspective. Including neurobiology and protective factors in risk assessment could improve release decision-making, offer guidance for better tailored interventions, and enhance chances of successful community reintegration

Decreasing incidence of adenotonsillar problems in Dutch general practice: real or artefact?

Contains fulltext : 80028.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access

Answers to Questions Posed During Daily Patient Care Are More Likely to Be Answered by UpToDate Than PubMed

Contains fulltext : 69818.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)BACKGROUND: UpToDate and PubMed are popular sources for medical information. Data regarding the efficiency of PubMed and UpToDate in daily medical care are lacking. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this observational study was to describe the percentage of answers retrieved by these information sources, comparing search results with regard to different medical topics and the time spent searching for an answer. METHODS: A total of 40 residents and 30 internists in internal medicine working in an academic medical center searched PubMed and UpToDate using an observation portal during daily medical care. The information source used for searching and the time needed to find an answer to the question were recorded by the portal. Information was provided by searchers regarding the topic of the question, the situation that triggered the question, and whether an answer was found. RESULTS: We analyzed 1305 patient-related questions sent to PubMed and/or UpToDate between October 1, 2005 and March 31, 2007 using our portal. A complete answer was found in 594/1125 (53%) questions sent to PubMed or UpToDate. A partial or full answer was obtained in 729/883 (83%) UpToDate searches and 152/242 (63%) PubMed searches (P < .001). UpToDate answered more questions than PubMed on all major medical topics, but a significant difference was detected only when the question was related to etiology (P < .001) or therapy (P = .002). Time to answer was 241 seconds (SD 24) for UpToDate and 291 seconds (SD 7) for PubMed. CONCLUSIONS: Specialists and residents in internal medicine generally use less than 5 minutes to answer patient-related questions in daily care. More questions are answered using UpToDate than PubMed on all major medical topics