The psychological impact of motor vehicle accidents : a New Zealand study : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Psychology at Massey University

PLEASE NOTE Pages 72-73 are missing from the original copyThe present research attempted to identify those factors which predispose victims of severe motor vehicle accidents to develop PTSD, and explored the relationship between mental health and health care utilisation. A multistage probability sample of 167 New Zealand victims of motor vehicle accidents were included for analysis, the data being obtained as part of a larger nation-wide study looking at trauma and health care utilisation. Past research has identified factors which predispose the development of PTSD, such as prior psychological disorders, prior trauma, intensity, and extent of injury. The main statistical technique employed was multiple regression analysis, with the dependant variables being mental health and health care utilisation of the victims. Findings indicated that victims of MVAs are more likely to experience physical and mental health difficulties. The results showed a relationship between experience of trauma and the existence of PTSD, with victims of motor vehicle accidents suffering from more ill-health and PTSD-related symptoms than non-victims. Adverse life events, disclosure of feelings, extent of injury, and especially physical symptoms were all significant predictors of PTSD symptoms, however experience of previous trauma and intensity of the accident were not. A relationship between PTSD symptoms and health care utilisation also exists, with accident victims having more days confined to bed

Summation formula inequalities for eigenvalues of the perturbed harmonic oscillator

We derive explicit inequalities for sums of eigenvalues of one-dimensional Schr\"{o}dinger operators on the whole line. In the case of the perturbed harmonic oscillator, these bounds converge to the corresponding trace formula in the limit as the number of eigenvalues covers the whole spectrum.Comment: 15 pages, to appear in Osaka J. Mat

‘Advancing Professionalism in Teaching’? An exploration of the mobilisation of the concept of professionalism in the McCormac Report on the Review of Teacher Employment in Scotland

The report of the recent review of teacher employment in Scotland, commonly known as ‘the McCormac Report’ was published in 2011.This article explores the conceptualisation of professionalism inherent in the Report. Using a critical discourse analysis approach we interrogate the text in relation to three key issues: professionalism; the notion of teacher ‘flexibility’; and the extent to which economic pressures have driven the direction of the Report. The analysis suggests that the dominant form of professionalism being employed in the Report is managerial, and that there is little evidence of alternative conceptions. We conclude that while there is no explicit definition of professionalism in the text of the Report, there is some evidence of the concept being mobilised as a form of control over teacher behaviour