The striking Netherlands: time series analysis and models of socio-economic development and labour disputes, 1850-1995

In den vergangenen 150 Jahren fanden über 15.000 Streiks in den Niederlanden statt. Der vorliegende Artikel gibt einen Überblick über die Trends in der aggregierten Streikaktivität von 1850-1995. Es wird ein zusammengesetzter Index konstruiert, der die Zahl der Streiks, die Anzahl der Streikenden und die Anzahl der Streiktage widerspiegelt. Auf der Grundlage der Literatur wird ein theoretisches Modell entworfen, welches die Veränderungen in der Streikaktivität über die Zeit zu erklären versucht. Um das Modell zu testen, werden die Eigenschaften der Zeitreihen untersucht. Trotz einer Reihe von Mängeln bei den Daten wird der Versuch unternommen, das Modell mit Hilfe einer Korrelations- und Regressionsanalyse zu überprüfen. Dennoch kann das theoretische Modell nicht durch empirische Daten ersetzt werden. Die Streikaktivität scheint fast eine Random-Reihe zu sein (nach der log-Umwandlung und der Bereinigung des Trends). Es wird vorgeschlagen, die beobachteten Muster auf der Basis der Katastrophentheorie und vermittels nicht-linearer Modelle oder mit Hilfe von Chaos-Modellen zu untersuchen, aber die betrachtete Zeitreihe ist zu kurz für eine empirische Prüfung. (ICIÜbers)'In the past 150 years, about 15.000 strikes took place in The Netherlands. This article gives an overview of the trends in aggregate strike activity from 1850-1995. A composite index is constructed, which reflects the number of strikes, the number of strikers and number of strike days. On the basis of the literature, a theoretical model is constructed which seeks to explain variations in strike activity over time. In order to test the model, the properties of the time series are inspected. Despite a number of shortcomings in the data, an attempt is made to test the model using correlation and regression analysis. The theoretical model can however not be substantiated by the empirical data. The strike activity appears to be an almost random series (after log-transforming and removing the trend from the data). It is suggested that catastrophe theory and non-linear or chaotic models cast light an the patterns observed, but the series is considered too short an empirical testing.' (author's abstract

Predictors of workplace violence among ambulance personnel:A longitudinal study.

Abstract Aim To examine predictors of repeated confrontations with workplace violence among ambulance personnel, the proportion of exposure to potentially traumatic events that are aggression-related and to what extent personnel was able to prevent escalations. Although previous research assessed the prevalences among this group, little is known about predictors, to what extent PTE’s are WPV-related and their abilities to prevent escalations. Design A longitudinal study with a 6 months’ time interval (N = 103). Methods At T1 demographics, workplace violence and potentially traumatic events in the past year, mental health, personality, handling of rules, coping and social organizational stressors were assessed. Confrontations with aggression were also examined at T2. Results Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that only problems with superiors independently predicted repeated verbal aggression and that only the (absence of the) ability to compromise very easily predicted repeatedly being on guard and repeatedly confronted with any form of aggression. Due to very low prevalences, we could not examine predictors of repeated confrontations with physical aggression (N = 5) and serious threat (N = 7). A large majority reported that in most workplace violence cases they could prevent further escalations. About 2% reported a potentially traumatic event in the year before T1 that was WPV related and perceived as very stressful

The predictive value of trauma-related coping self-efficacy for posttraumatic stress symptoms:Differences between treatment seeking and non-treatment seeking victims

Objective: To assess and compare the (independent) predictive value of trauma-related coping selfefficacy (CSE) for posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) among a treatment sample and a comparison group of nontreatment seeking victims. Method: Both the treatment (N 54) and comparison group (N 144) were exposed to potentially traumatic events (PTEs), experienced a heightened level of PTSS (IES 19), and were matched on work status and time between PTE and first measurement (T1).Respondents completed both baseline (T1) and follow-up measures (T2) approximately 8 months after T1. Results: Multiple regression analyses among the treatment sample showed that neither PTSS at T1 (start of treatment) nor CSE levels at T1 predicted PTSS at T2 among the treatment group. Among the comparison group, higher CSE levels at T1 and younger age were significantly associated with lower PTSS at T2. In both the treatment group and the comparison group PTSS levels were significantly lower at T2 than at T1. As expected, treatment seeking victims have higher PTSS and lower CSE levels than nontreatment seeking victims. Conclusions: Pretreatment CSE did not affect recovery during treatment: higher pretreatment CSE perceptions do not give treated individuals an advantage while CSE is predictive of PTSS among untreated victims

Stability of psychological resilience of police officers:A three-wave latent class analysis

Psychological resilience is considered a capacity to handle severe stressors. However, little is known about the stability of psychological resilience and to what extent changes in resilience are associated with confrontations potentially traumatic events among police officers. To determine classes of psychological resilience trajectories over a 9-month period among officers (n = 305; mage = 51.0; 72.8% male) and investigate associations with potentially traumatic events (PTE's). Two psychological resilience scales (Resilience Scale-nl and Mental Toughness Questionairre-48; RS-nl and MTQ-48) were administered at baseline (T1), at 3-months (T2) and 9-month (T3) follow-up. Latent-class growth analysis determined classes of psychological resilience trajectories. Mixed-effects modelling with a time*class interaction examined stability. Chi2 between class-membership and PTE experience were assessed. For both scales a five-class solution yielded the best fit. These trajectories mainly differed on levels of psychological resilience. In the RS-nl one class (n = 11; 4%) was identified that slightly declined, then increased. Other classes did not change over time. Class membership was not associated with PTE experience prior to T1 and PTE experience between T1 and T3. Psychological resilience is a stable capacity of police officers across a 9-month period. PTE experience is not associated with changes in psychological resilience

Modelling of dishing for metal chemical mechanical polishing

In this paper, a physical model for the development of dishing during metal chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) is proposed. The main assumption of the model is that material removal occurs predominantly at the pad/wafer contacts. The distribution of pad/wafer contact size is studied first. This distribution is used as an input for a model of the dependence for the material removal rate on the line width. A relation that describes the development of dishing as a function of overpolish time will be presented. The model describes to a great accuracy the observed dishing effects, using one free paramete

Victims of medical errors and the problems they face:a prospective comparative study among the Dutch population

Background: A large number of studies is devoted to medical errors, but only a few focused on the problems victims of these errors face. Prospective comparative studies on this topic are absent. Aim of the present prospective comparative study is to fill this gap of scientific knowledge that may help to improve the care for victims. Methods: Data were collected in the Longitudinal Internet studies for the Social Sciences (LISS) panel, based on a random sample of the Dutch population. Surveys were conducted in March-April 2018 (T1 response=82.1%) and March-April 2019 (T2response=80.1%,). We assessed medical errors and potentially traumatic or stressful events between T1 and T2, and mental health, work, financial, religious, family, legal/administrative and physical problems at T1 and T2 (Ntotal=4,711). Results: In total, 79 respondents were affected by medical errors between T1 and T2, and 2,828 were not affected by any event. Of the victims, 28% had high PTSD symptom levels at T2. Stepwise multivariate logistic regression entering all problems at T1 and demographics showed that victims compared to controls significantly more often had all assessed problems at T2, except family problems. For instance, victims more often had mental health problems (29.5% versus 9.3%; adj. OR=3.04, p=0.002) and financial problems (30.4% versus 6.6%; adj. OR=4.82, p<0.001) at T2. Conclusions: Victims of medical errors more often face various non-physical problems than others. Care for victims should therefore, besides physical health, also include the assessment and targeting of their problems regarding mental health, work, religion, legal issues, and finance

Social network responses to victims of potentially traumatic events:A systematic review using qualitative evidence synthesis

BACKGROUND: A substantial number of qualitative studies examined how adult victims of potentially traumatic events (PTEs) experienced support provided by family members, friends, colleagues, and other significant others in the informal network. Importantly, the large majority of qualitative studies focused on the perceived support of victims of specific events such as sexual offences, partner violence, homicide, accidents and disasters. Although it is likely that across specific PTEs there are similarities as well as differences in experienced support from the informal network, to date no systematic review synthesized the results of qualitative studies on support from the informal network following various types of PTEs. The aim of the present systematic review is to fill this gap in the scientific knowledge, which is also highly relevant for victim services, policymakers, and the informal network. METHODS: A literature search of qualitative studies was conducted using the electronic databases of PubMed, Web of Science, CINAHL, Psych INFO, Scopus, Criminal Justice Abstracts and Picarta. The quality of the identified studies was assessed with the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative research (COREQ) checklist, followed by analysis of the results of the identified studies using Qualitative Evidence Synthesis. FINDINGS: Seventy-five papers were included in the synthesis, involving 2799 victims of PTEs such as accidents, disasters, homicide, intimate partner violence (IPV), and sexual offences. Saturation was only achieved for IPV. Overall, four major categories of perceived social support were identified, namely, support perceived as supportive, supportive but insufficient, unsupportive, and absent from informal support providers, which included friends, family, neighbors, (if applicable) offender’s family, religious group members, work/school colleagues, fellow victims, the local community, and the social network in general. Across the PTE groups, there were similarities in experiencing positive forms of support (particularly empathy and sharing experiences) as well as negative forms of support (abandonment, avoidance, lack of empathy, and not experiencing support despite victim’s request for help). There were also differences across PTE groups, in particular, victims of sexual and intimate partner violence mentioned a number of other supportive (mobilizing support, no unsupportive responses) and non-supportive (e.g., justification or normalization of violence and minimizing responses) responses. CONCLUSIONS: The review showed that different actors within the social informal network can play an important role in providing support after victims experience violence, homicide, accidents, and disasters. However, the review revealed that the large majority of qualitative studies were aimed at victims of IPV, and only for this type of PTE was saturation achieved. This indicates that, although this synthesis identified several similarities and differences, it is still too early to draw more definitive conclusions on similarities and differences in experienced social support after various PTEs and that future qualitative studies focusing on other PTEs are much needed

Differences in mental health problems, coping self-efficacy and social support between adults victimised before and adults victimised after the COVID-19 outbreak:Population-based prospective study

Background Victims of violence, accidents and threats are at risk for mental health problems. Lower coping self-efficacy and social support levels increase this risk. Although highly relevant, it is unknown if the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic amplifies these risks. Aims To examine if the prevalence, incidence and/or mean scores for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety and depression symptoms, general mental health problems, coping self-efficacy, lack of emotional support and social acknowledgement are higher among adults victimised in the year after the COVID-19 outbreak compared with adults victimised in a similar period before the outbreak. Also, to compare symptoms, problems and support within non-victims during the same period. Method Data was extracted from four surveys of the VICTIMS study (March 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021), based on a random sample of the Dutch population. Multivariate logistic regression analyses and mixed-effects models were used to examine differences between the two victim groups (2019: n = 421, 2021: n = 319) and non-victims (n = 3245). Results Adults victimised after the outbreak more often had PTSD, anxiety and depression symptoms, general mental health problems and lower coping self-efficacy than those victimised before. They did not differ in lack of support and acknowledgement. Both victim groups differed from non-victims, where mental health problems and lack of support levels were much lower and almost stable. Conclusions The COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the mental health and coping self-efficacy levels of victims, whereas mental health problems among non-victims remained virtually stable. Mental healthcare workers, general practitioners and victim services should take this impact into account

Health-related quality of life and mental health problems after a disaster: Are chronically ill survivors more vulnerable to health problems?

Studies have shown that the chronically ill are at higher risk for reduced health-related quality of life (HRQL) and for mental health problems. A combination with traumatic events might increase this risk. This longitudinal study among 1216 survivors of a disaster examines whether chronically ill survivors had a different course of HRQL and mental health problems compared to survivors without chronic diseases. HRQL and mental health problems were measured 3 weeks, 18 months and 4 years post-disaster. Data on pre-disaster chronic diseases was obtained from the electronic medical records of general practitioners. Random coefficient analyses showed significant interaction effects for social functioning, bodily pain and emotional role limitations at T2 only. Chronically ill survivors did not consistently have a different course of general health, physical role limitations, and mental health problems. In conclusion, chronic diseases were not an important risk factor for impaired HRQL and mental health problems among survivors