Welfare Reform Sanctions and Financial Strain in a Food-Pantry Sample

Survey and interview data about life after welfare reform were collected from food pantry clients in upstate New York in 1997 and 1999. By 1999, respondents were increasingly likely to have no work or benefits. Having no work or benefits was also associated with having been penalized (sanctioned) for not working or for noncompliance with welfare rules. Sanctions for not working averaged 89 days. Clients sanctioned for job loss tended to report problems with health (including children\u27s health). Sanctioned individuals reported relatively high levels of financial strain, unstable housing, children\u27s changing schools, and lack of a phone. Implications for policy and practice are discussed

Water, the Community, and Markets in the West

12 p. ; 28 cmhttps://scholar.law.colorado.edu/books_reports_studies/1104/thumbnail.jp

Demonstrating the validity of the Video Game Functional Assessment-Revised (VGFA-R)

Problematic video play has been well documented over the course of the last decade. So much so the DSM-5 (APA, 2013) has included problematic video gaming as disorder categorized as Internet Gaming Disorder. The field of applied behavior analysis has been utilizing functional assessments for the last 30 years and has showed evidence of effective results across different populations and environments. Therefore, the purpose of this investigation (comprising three studies) was to validate an indirect functional assessment entitled the Video Game Functional Assessment-Revised (VGFA-R). Using academic experts in the field of video game addiction and applied behavioral analysis (n=6), the first study examined the content validity of the VGFA-R and was able to demonstrate the assessment exceeded the criterion for an established assessment. A second study comprising a survey of 467 gamers examined the factorability by using a confirmatory factor analysis, and found that VGFA-R had an overall variance above .60. Within the third laboratory-based study using gamers (n=11), the VGFA-R was examined for construct validity and found the VGFA-R was able to predict 85% of the appropriate function of behavior. Implications of the study are discussed along with the strengths and limitations of the study and future research directions

Comparison of the Video Game Functional Assessment-Revised (VGFA-R) and Internet Gaming Disorder Test (IGD-20)

Initially labeled as internet addiction in the mid-1990s (e.g., Griffiths, 1996; Young, 1996), researchers have since focused on how specific online activities result in negative consequences for those who overuse and have problems with online applications such as online gambling and online sex (Griffiths, 2000; Potenza, 2017). More recently, this has been applied to online problematic video game play, often used synonymously with terms such as online video game addiction, online gaming addiction, and Internet gaming disorder (IGD). With the publication of the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013), IGD was identified by the APA as warranting further study. The current proposed diagnostic criterion in the DSM-5 requires the presence of five of nine symptoms over a 12-month period. These include: (a) preoccupation or obsession with Internet games, (b) withdrawal symptoms when not playing Internet games, (c) an increasing need over time to spend more and more time playing video games, (d) failed attempts to stop or curb Internet gaming, (e) loss of interest in other activities such as hobbies, (f) continued overuse of Internet games even with knowledge of the impact of overuse on their life, (g) lying about extent of Internet game usage, (h) uses Internet games to relieve anxiety or guilt, and (i) has lost or put at risk an opportunity or relationship because of Internet games (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013). However, it is unclear if the disorder represents addiction to the internet or if IGD evaluates specific behaviors occurring within the context of the video gaming (Starcevic and Billieux, 2017; Young and Brand, 2017)

Adherence to HAART: A Systematic Review of Developed and Developing Nation Patient-Reported Barriers and Facilitators

BACKGROUND: Adherence to highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) medication is the greatest patient-enabled predictor of treatment success and mortality for those who have access to drugs. We systematically reviewed the literature to determine patient-reported barriers and facilitators to adhering to antiretroviral therapy. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We examined both developed and developing nations. We searched the following databases: AMED (inception to June 2005), Campbell Collaboration (inception to June 2005), CinAhl (inception to June 2005), Cochrane Library (inception to June 2005), Embase (inception to June 2005), ERIC (inception to June 2005), MedLine (inception to June 2005), and NHS EED (inception to June 2005). We retrieved studies conducted in both developed and developing nation settings that examined barriers and facilitators addressing adherence. Both qualitative and quantitative studies were included. We independently, in duplicate, extracted data reported in qualitative studies addressing adherence. We then examined all quantitative studies addressing barriers and facilitators noted from the qualitative studies. In order to place the findings of the qualitative studies in a generalizable context, we meta-analyzed the surveys to determine a best estimate of the overall prevalence of issues. We included 37 qualitative studies and 47 studies using a quantitative methodology (surveys). Seventy-two studies (35 qualitative) were conducted in developed nations, while the remaining 12 (two qualitative) were conducted in developing nations. Important barriers reported in both economic settings included fear of disclosure, concomitant substance abuse, forgetfulness, suspicions of treatment, regimens that are too complicated, number of pills required, decreased quality of life, work and family responsibilities, falling asleep, and access to medication. Important facilitators reported by patients in developed nation settings included having a sense of self-worth, seeing positive effects of antiretrovirals, accepting their seropositivity, understanding the need for strict adherence, making use of reminder tools, and having a simple regimen. Among 37 separate meta-analyses examining the generalizability of these findings, we found large heterogeneity. CONCLUSIONS: We found that important barriers to adherence are consistent across multiple settings and countries. Research is urgently needed to determine patient-important factors for adherence in developing world settings. Clinicians should use this information to engage in open discussion with patients to promote adherence and identify barriers and facilitators within their own populations

La cetrería en los ejemplos, símiles y metáforas de san Vicente Ferrer

Vincent Ferrer used in his sermons many and varied resources to make your message intelligible to its many listeners. One such resource was hunting activities and especially the form of hunting with birds. On the one hand, this activity was provided appropriate elements to construct analogies that facilitate the understanding of the word of God. However, on the other hand, it seems that perhaps other reasons may explain this preference of the speaker, more related to their own experience and the reality of the society to which he was going. And, in addition to the textual sources, father Vincent often drew on his own experience and, indeed, to those aspects of the daily lives of his audience. From the references we find in the sermons of saint Vincent we can deduce that the preacher should know first hand the various aspects of falconry, so it should not be hard to use something familiar to construct analogies that enable their audience understand the complex theological concepts and achieve the transformation of their lives, according to the moral that the preacher sought to implement.Vicente Ferrer utilizó en sus sermones numerosos y variados recursos para poder hacer inteligible su mensaje a su nutrido auditorio. Uno de estos recursos fueron las actividades venatorias y, especialmente, la modalidad de caza con aves de presa. Por un lado, esta actividad le proporcionó elementos adecuados para construir las analogías que facilitarían la comprensión de la palabra de Dios. Sin embargo, por otro lado, parece que otras razones podrían explicar esta preferencia del predicador, más relacionadas con su propia experiencia y con la realidad de la sociedad a la que se dirigía. Y es que, además de las fuentes textuales, a menudo el padre Vicente recurrió a sus vivencias y, más aún, a aquellos aspectos de la vida cotidiana de su auditorio. A partir de las referencias que encontramos en los sermones de san Vicente podemos deducir que el predicador debía conocer de primera mano los diferentes aspectos relacionados con la cetrería, por lo que no debía resultarle difícil recurrir a algo familiar para construir las analogías que permitirían a su auditorio comprender los conceptos teológicos y conseguir la transformación de sus vidas, de acuerdo con la moral que el predicador pretendía implantar

Identifying and protecting community values in western water : a survey of community leaders' perceptions towards rural-to-urban water transfers

The degree to which policymakers should facilitate or regulate water transfers is a controversial new issue on the western water policy agenda. While contemporary emphasis favors market solutions to water supply-and-demand problems, the reallocation of water from rural agricultural uses to urban municipal and industrial uses has generated interregional competition and conflict. Proponents praise water transfers as being economically efficient; other interests criticize market mechanisms for failing to protect community values. This thesis presents the results of a survey of 317 community leaders from Arizona, New Mexico and West Texas regarding water transfer impacts. Results indicate that both urban and rural leaders perceive that rural areas face significant losses from water transfers. The over-all perception of leaders that community losses are not compensable implies that assigning water decisions solely to the marketplace is unlikely to reduce social conflict and lower the transaction costs associated with water transfers.hydrology collectio