Social Work Today E-Zine

New research from Cornell University indicates evidence of an environmental trigger for autism among genetically vulnerable children. The study, published in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, is the first peer-reviewed study to positively associate the prevalence of autism to a factor related to the levels of precipitation in the areas in which children live.

“This analysis is an important first step towards identifying a specific environmental trigger, or triggers, for autism,” says lead author Michael Waldman, PhD, an economics and management professor at the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University.

While many autism experts believe that the disorder is triggered by the combination of an environmental element and a genetic predisposition, previous literature provided few clues concerning what the important environmental triggers might be.

The researchers discuss several possible environmental triggers related to higher levels of precipitation, including increased rates of early childhood television and video viewing, increased rates of vitamin D deficiency, and an increased exposure to chemicals used in household cleaners that children who spend more time indoors would likely experience. The research team plans to conduct further statistical studies aimed at identifying which of these possibilities are actual triggers for autism.

The study involved analyzing data from counties in the California, Oregon, and Washington, and it found that county-level, school-age autism prevalence rates and autism prevalence counts are positively associated with a county’s average annual precipitation. Additionally, analysis showed that within a county, autism prevalence rates and autism prevalence counts were higher for age groups that were exposed to more precipitation prior to the age of 3. The findings suggest that as many as 30% or more of autism diagnoses may be due to an environmental trigger or triggers related to levels of precipitation where the children live.

— Source: Cornell University

The end the year is a time when many of us will make resolutions to lose weight or quit smoking. But instead of making resolutions that are often quickly forgotten, New Year’s is a good time to take personal inventory of our lives, says Temple University psychologist professor Frank Farley.

“In so many fields we take stock, we take inventory, we take a pulse at the end of the year,” says Farley. “But we are not so good at doing that about ourselves, reflecting and assessing how we’ve done this past year,” he says.

“I don’t think it is trivial this time of year to take psychological stock or personal stock of ourselves, and try to decide, ‘Ok, I’m going to work on this, I’m going to do that,’” he says. “The taking stock, whether you make resolutions or not, is very helpful at the end of the year.

Farley suggests making a list of things that are absolutely essential that you have to deal with in the coming year. “We do that in a sense everyday; lots of people keep ‘to do’ lists in one way or another, but this one should be more reflective and it often isn’t.” Making a list will give you more focus and direction in how you can concentrate on those items that you wish to deal with, he says.

“To me, New Year’s can be turned into something profound,” adds Farley. “It represents a benchmark in the history of the world and it should be a benchmark in an individual’s personal history. It is a time to reflect on where we’ve been and where we’re going next,” Farley says. “Our journey is not random. You can influence that journey and this is a good time to do it.”

— Source: Temple University

The best chance of “reeling-in” an unmarried father and building the foundations for a stable family life are the critical months of pregnancy, says new research from the University of Maryland.

“Unmarried dads are less likely to drift away if they are involved with their partner during this vital period when a family can begin to bond,” says University of Maryland human development professor Natasha J. Cabrera, PhD, the principal investigator and a researcher at the school’s Maryland Population Research Center.

The study, published in the Journal of Marriage and Family, is the first to explain the importance of the prenatal period in the formation of nontraditional family patterns. The researchers analyzed data, drawn from the Fragile Families Child Well Being Study, that mostly involved unmarried couples, totaling 1,686 couples in all. In their analysis, Cabrera and her colleague found that fathers involved during pregnancy were significantly more likely to remain involved in raising their child at age three.

“The unmarried father is much more likely either to maintain or move into a more committed relationship if he’s involved before the birth, and that’s the critical difference,” Cabrera says. The study found that marital status is not a critical predictor of a father’s involvement. “It is the decision that couples make to strengthen commitment and move in together that is important, rather than marital status per se,” Cabrera says. “You don’t need much imagination to see that a live-in dad is likely to be more involved in child care and family life. It’s the personal investment in the child’s and the mother’s future that counts the most, not the paperwork.”

— Source: University of Maryland, College Park

Children whose eyes are misaligned and point outward are at significantly increased risk of developing mental illness by early adulthood, according to findings of a Mayo Clinic study published this month in Pediatrics.

The retrospective study examined the medical records of 407 patients with strabismus (misaligned eyes) and compared them with records of children matched for age and sex but with normal eye alignment. Children with eyes that diverged (exotropia) were three times more likely to develop a psychiatric disorder than were the control subjects, while those with inward deviating eyes (esotropia) showed no increase in the incidence of mental illnesses.

Brian Mohney, MD, the Mayo Clinic pediatric ophthalmologist who led the study, says the results can help alert physicians to potential problems in their pediatric patients. “Pediatricians and family practice physicians who see children with strabismus should be aware of the increased risk of mental illness,” says Mohney. “They can hopefully be alert to the earliest signs of psychiatric problems in patients with exotropia, so they can consider having them seen by a psychologist or psychiatrist.”

— Source: Mayo Clinic

Employees with high levels of job autonomy and control over their schedules are more likely to bring their work home with them, according to surprising new research from the University of Toronto.

Using data from a 2002 nationally representative survey of more than 2,600 American workers, sociology professor Scott Schieman, PhD, and doctoral student Paul Glavin examined the impacts of schedule control and job autonomy on work-family role blurring. Role blurring is measured by how often employees bring work home and how often they receive work-related contact outside of normal working hours.

The study found the following:

• having great schedule control is associated with more frequent work-family role blurring and this pattern is stronger among men;


• having greater job autonomy is associated with more frequent work-family role blurring among both women and men;


• men in autonomous jobs are more likely than women in similarly autonomous jobs to receive work-related contact outside of normal work hours;
and

• among both genders, receiving work-related contact outside of normal work hours increases work-to-family conflict, but only among individuals who have less autonomy at work.

“These patterns are somewhat unexpected because they identify a potential downside of work-related resources like schedule control and job autonomy,” says Schieman, lead author of the study.

— Source: University of Toronto

A multi-institution team of investigators led by researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) has received $19 million in funding from the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) for a groundbreaking effort to collect genetic information on tens of thousands of patients in order to study the genetic risks for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

The USC Center for Genomic Psychiatry and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) together received more than $25 million in grant funding to lead an international network of academic medical centers in creating the Genomic Psychiatry Cohort. Blood and DNA from 40,000 subjects will be deposited in the NIMH repository, along with clinical and phenotypic data.

Research will attempt to collect data on 10,000 patients with schizophrenia, as well as 10,000 individuals without the disorder. They will study 5,000 patients with bipolar disorder as part of a coordinated effort led by MGH investigators to collect an additional 19,000 patients with bipolar disorder.

The cohort will be the largest coordinated effort ever undertaken to understand the underlying genetic risks for these illnesses, says Carlos Pato, MD, PhD, chair of the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at USC, and who directs the Center for Genomic Psychiatry at the Keck School of Medicine.

“Our focus is on both determining genetic risks for serious mental illnesses and in developing a new model of care for these diseases,” he says. “This will be the major national effort in this area for the next five years. We expect a number of important studies to result from this effort.”

USC researchers will not only conduct large-scale genomic investigations in this population, but will also have a unique ability to follow patients for long-term studies.

— Source: University of Southern California Health Sciences

Psychiatric disorders appear to be common among 18 to 24 year olds, with overall rates similar among those attending or not attending college, according to a report in the Archives of General Psychiatry. Almost one half of college-aged individuals meet criteria for substance abuse, personality disorders, or another mental health condition during a one-year period, but only one fourth of those seek treatment. Overall, the authors noted, the rate of psychiatric disorders is high among young adults, who are at a vulnerable stage of development.

To compare the mental health status of college-enrolled 18 to 24 year olds to that of individuals the same age not enrolled in college, researchers analyzed data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. In this national survey, individuals aged 19 to 25 who were attending (2,188) or not attending (2,904) college during the previous year were interviewed and assessed for psychiatric disorders between 2001 and 2002.

A total of 45.8% of college students and 47.7% of young adults not in college met the criteria for at least one psychiatric disorder. The most common disorders in college students were alcohol use disorders (20.4%) and personality disorders (17.7%), whereas those not in college most frequently met criteria for personality disorders (21.6%) and nicotine dependence (20.7%). College students were less likely to have a diagnosis of drug use disorder, nicotine dependence, or bipolar disorder and were less likely to have used tobacco. However, their risk of alcohol use disorders was significantly greater.

Treatment rates were low for all psychiatric disorders. College students were significantly less likely to receive treatment for alcohol or drug use disorders than those not in college. “In view of the high prevalence and low rate of treatment of alcohol use disorders in college students, greater efforts to implement screening and intervention programs on college and university campuses are warranted,” the authors wrote. “The centralized delivery of campus student health services might offer an advantageous structure for carrying out such screening and interventions.”

— Source: American Medical Association

People who have a sibling with a mental illness are more likely to suffer episodes of depression at some point in their lives, say researchers who analyzed four decades of data. The data for this study were obtained from the 46-year Wisconsin Longitudinal Study. Additionally, they found people with a sibling with low IQ are more likely to live near that brother or sister—but be somewhat emotionally detached from that sibling, according to the findings in the Journal of Family Psychology.

“So little is known about the impact that a person with low IQ or mental illness has on the psychological and social development of his or her siblings, especially beyond childhood,” says the study’s lead author, Julie Lounds Taylor, PhD. “Our findings highlight the need for families of the mentally ill, specifically siblings, to be more aware of their own mental health needs throughout their lifetimes.”

The researchers identified 351 people who had at least one sibling with a mental disability, which were later broken into two groups: those whose siblings had a mental illness and those whose siblings had a low IQ. The researchers also looked at results from a comparison group of 791 people who did not have a sibling who was mentally disabled.

The researchers found people who had siblings with mental illnesses were 63% more likely to report having a depressive episode during their lifetime. They also found the brothers and sisters of the people with low IQs were 18% more likely to live in the same state as the disabled brother or sister than those in the comparison group. However, they were significantly less likely to have contact with the disabled sibling, reporting an average of 13 fewer contacts a year with their disabled sibling than the comparison group. In addition, they reported feeling less emotionally close to their siblings.

The researchers also found those who had a brother with a mental illness had lower levels of psychological well being than those in the comparison group. They did not see this effect when looking at those who had a sister with a mental illness. This suggests genetics may not be the only link to poor mental health among siblings of the mentally ill, but the social relationship is also important.

— Source: American Psychological Association

A new study led by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University has clarified how two major variants of HIV differ in their ability to cause neurologic complications. The finding, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, highlights a new target for drugs that could prevent HIV-associated dementia, an incurable and increasingly common complication in people with AIDS. Even with antiretroviral drug therapies, up to one half of people infected with HIV will develop mild to moderate neurological complications, according to some estimates.

Earlier this decade, scientists observed that people with AIDS in India developed dementia at a far lower rate than comparable populations in the United States and western Europe. Most cases of AIDS in India are due to infection with a subtype (clade) of HIV known as clade C, while most cases in the United States and western Europe are due to clade B.

Based on these observations, in 2004, a team of researchers led by Vinayaka R. Prasad, PhD, professor of microbiology and immunology at Einstein, searched for genetic variations between the two clades that could explain the differing rates of HIV-related dementia.

To determine whether this variation makes a practical difference in HIV’s neurotoxicity, the researchers injected either clade B or clade C HIV into the brain of a special strain of immunodeficient mice. After six days—enough time for the viruses to cause neurologic damage—the mice were tested in a complex water maze that challenged their long-term memory as well as their short-term working.

Mice infected with clade B performed significantly worse in the maze than those infected with clade C. Moreover, when the researchers examined the mouse brains, they found more damage to neurons in the brains of mice injected with clade B than with clade C. These results were in line with the
fact that people infected with clade B HIV are at greater risk for dementia than people infected with clade C.

— Source: Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University

As the Iowa Supreme Court hears a case that could clear the way for gay marriage in Iowa, a poll shows nearly 60% of voters in the state favor some type of legal recognition of same-sex relationships in Iowa.

In the random, statewide poll of 586 voters, University of Iowa political scientists found that 28% of Iowans support same-sex marriage. Another 30% support civil unions, not gay marriage. About one in three oppose both.

"Iowans are not yet ready to support gay marriage completely, but they are clearly ready to legally acknowledge same-sex relationships," says David Redlawsk, PhD, associate professor of political science in the University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Results, drawn from the Big Ten Battleground Poll, indicate that support for gay marriage will get a notable boost if the state's high court rules in favor of it. And, a majority of Iowa voters under the age of 30 are already in favor of gay marriage, suggesting that support for it could grow as time goes on.

Because of the pending Iowa Supreme Court case, the poll asked Iowans to consider what the state should do if the Supreme Court upholds a constitutional right to marriage for same-sex couples.

Thirty-five percent of respondents favored accepting a Supreme Court ruling to allow gay marriage. That means if the court rules in favor of gay marriage, support for it increases by 7 percentage points. Another 27% support the creation of civil unions as an acceptable alternative.
Even larger shifts in support are observed among independents, ideological moderates, and moderate church attendees. If the court sanctions gay marriage, support from those groups grows by 13 to 15 percentage points.

"Clearly opinion on the issue of gay marriage will change if the Iowa Supreme Court rules that the state's constitution requires it," Redlawsk says. "Overall support remains below 50% even then, but those in the political middle become much more likely to support gay marriage if the court rules in favor."

— Source: University of Iowa Health Sciences

A study in the Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Science found that older people tend to feel about 13 years younger than their chronological age. The researchers analyzed the responses of 516 men and women aged 70 and older who participated in the Berlin Aging Study, tracking how their perceptions about age and their satisfaction with aging changed over a six-year period.

"People generally felt quite a bit younger than they actually were, and they also showed relatively high levels of satisfaction with aging over the time period studied," says Jacqui Smith, PhD, a psychologist at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research.

"We examined individual changes over time, and expected the gap to increase. But we were surprised to find that it was maintained, on average. Perhaps feeling about 13 years younger is an optimal illusion in old age," Smith says.

Smith and colleagues found that some of the oldest participants did feel even younger over time. But poor health reduced the gap between felt age and actual age.

In general, women perceived their appearance as being closer to their actual age, Smith says. "Women saw themselves as about four years older than their male peers," she says. "There are several likely reasons for this gender gap in subjective physical age. One is that women may be more aware of their appearance than men, especially given the negative stereotypes of older bodies."

Initially, men were more satisfied than women with their own aging. But over the six-year period studied, men's satisfaction decreased more than women's. Poor health magnified these patterns, Smith says.

"Feeling positive about getting older may well be associated with remaining active and experiencing better health in old age," she says. "Thus, studies on self-perceptions of aging can contribute to our understanding of potential indicators of resilience in older adults and the aging self."

— Source: University of Michigan Institute for Social Research

Single mothers come surprisingly close in the number of hours they spend caring for their children compared with married mothers, and the difference is explained almost entirely by socioeconomic factors and the kind of jobs they hold, say University of Maryland sociologists in a new study published in the Journal of Marriage and Family. The researchers conclude public policy focuses too heavily on the mother’s marital status.

The study finds that single mothers who may lack a large support network still manage to provide 83% to 90% of child-rearing time as their married counterparts. While the difference is statistically significant, the researchers expected a greater gap.

The researchers analyzed American Time Use Survey data collected between 2003 and 2004. The study is based on responses from 1,821 single mothers and 4,309 married mothers with children less than 13 years of age.

• Single mothers, on average, spend between three and five hours less time per week on child care than married mothers. These differences were statistically significant.


• Unmarried mothers who live with the father spend about the same time on child care as married mothers.


• The reduced amount of time single mothers spend on child care are accounted for by differences in available resources—type and hours of employment, education, maternal age, age of children. When these factors are statistically controlled, the differences disappear.


• Some mothers are more “single” than others—they differ in the support network available to them, such as help from the father or relatives.


— Source: University of Maryland, College Park

A new study found that adolescents were at the greatest risk of smoking when their parents began smoking at an early age and the parents' smoking quickly reached high levels and persisted over time. 
The study, published in Health Psychology, draws from the long-running Indiana University (IU) Smoking Survey and builds on previous research that suggests smoking behavior is influenced by both genetics and the environment.

"This particular study focuses more on the genetic influence in the specific case of a parent's smoking behavior impacting a teenage son or daughter's smoking," says Jon Macy, project director of the IU Smoking Survey in the department of psychological and brain sciences.

"The study findings suggest that the characteristics of early onset and high levels of long-term smoking are great candidates for behavioral and molecular genetic studies of the causes of smoking and how smoking behavior is passed from one generation to the next.

"Of course, environmental influences on adolescents such as parenting practices, availability of cigarettes in the home, and parents' attitudes about smoking are equally as important and can be addressed with effective public health interventions including family-based smoking prevention programs," he says.

"This study used a more informative description of parental smoking behaviors," Macy adds. "We've found that these descriptions might do a better job than current parental smoking status of predicting risk of their adolescent children starting to smoke."

— Source: Indiana University

During the holiday season and these difficult economic times, finding the perfect gift for any child can be a challenge. For family and friends looking for the right toy for a child with special needs, this process can cause even more anxiety and frustration.

According to Elisa Delia, a trained play therapist at the Kennedy Krieger Institute who coordinates toy testing, “People can spend an unnecessary amount of money on expensive toys marketed specifically to children with special needs, not knowing that there are many inexpensive toys available in average toy and superstores that will not only be loved by children with special needs, but act as learning and skill-building tools.”

Delia says family and friends should consider the following when buying games and toys for children with special needs:

1. Buy toys that are developmentally appropriate, or match the child’s motor and cognitive skill level.

2. Balance the child’s developmental age with their calendar age. Avoid hurt feelings and embarrassment by finding toys that are developmentally appropriate but not age-specific.

3. Choose toys that are engaging and help build skills. Simple, inexpensive toys such as balls, finger paints, blocks, and play dough can build motor skills and coordination. Board games or toys that involve the whole family help build social skills.

4. Make sure the toy is durable and doesn’t have a lot of small pieces. Small pieces or easily broken toys can be a safety hazard, and some disabilities can make working with small pieces difficult.

5. Avoid toys that put kids in a “win or lose” situation. Pick toys and games that can build the child’s self-esteem, and that you know they can succeed in.

— Source: Kennedy Krieger Institute

A new study shows that women who take the epilepsy drug valproate while pregnant may significantly increase their child’s risk of developing autism. The preliminary research is published in Neurology.

The ongoing study involves 632 children, nearly half of whom were exposed to epilepsy drugs during gestation. Of the children whose mothers took epilepsy drugs while pregnant, 64 were exposed to valproate, 44 to lamotrigine, 76 to carbamazepine, and 65 to other epilepsy drugs. Of the 632 children in the study, nine have been diagnosed with autism and one has shown symptoms of the disorder. The children were tested at one, three, and six years old. Two thirds of the children were six years old by the end of the study.

The study found seven of the children with autism had mothers who took an epilepsy drug while pregnant, four of those children were exposed to valproate while a fifth child’s mother took a combination of valproate and lamotrigine. The children whose mothers were given valproate during pregnancy were seven times more likely to develop autism compared with children whose mothers did not take an epilepsy drug while pregnant. This risk was not seen with the other epilepsy drugs. None of the children in the study had any known family history of autism.

“The potential risk for autism in this study was substantial for children whose mothers took valproate while pregnant, but more research needs to be done since these are early findings,” says study author Gus Baker, PhD, FBPsS, of the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom.

— Source: American Academy of Neurology

Fifteen years after they completed an intervention program designed to help their social development in elementary school, young adults reported better mental health, sexual health, and higher educational and economic achievement than a control group of young adults who didn’t receive the intervention, according to a new study. The results are being published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

“We are seeing that the intervention appears to affect developmentally important outcomes that change as people age,” says J. David Hawkins, PhD, lead author of the study and founding director of the University of Washington’s Social Development Research Group.

“The effects of working with children in elementary school show up in their teen years as their rates of violence, heavy alcohol use, and dropping out of school are reduced. By age 21 more of them have completed high school and have better jobs. And by ages 24 and 27 they are above the median in socioeconomic status and education and they are having less mental health and sexual health problems.”

The study involved 598 students from 15 Seattle public schools serving high-crime neighborhoods. One group of 146 students received the intervention in grades one through six. A second group of 251 students received a partial intervention only in the fifth and sixth grades, and the third group of 201 children was not exposed to the program. The young adults surveyed in this study were evenly split between males and females. Forty-six percent were white, 26% black, 22% Asian American, and 6% Native American.

Those people who received the full intervention in grades one through six showed the strongest effects and the most positive functioning in young adulthood. Those who received the partial intervention showed lesser effects, though they fared somewhat better than people who did not receive either intervention.

— Source: University of Washington

People who have attempted suicide at some point in their lives are more likely to actually succeed in committing suicide at a later date. The risk is particularly high for people with serious psychiatric disorder, according to a new study from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet.

One in ten suicide attempters actually commit suicide later on in life. However, knowledge of the factors affecting the risk of suicide is limited, which makes it hard to identify, and help, the people who are at the greatest risk.

A group of researchers at Karolinska Institutet performed a longitudinal follow-up of almost 40,000 people who have been admitted to the hospital after an attempted suicide. Their results show that the risk of later actually committing suicide differs significantly for each of the diagnostic groups. The risk was especially high for people diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or clinical depression on their first attempt.

The study, which followed people over a period of 21 years or more, also shows that many of the completed suicides were committed in the first years after the first suicide attempt. The short-term prognosis was particularly poor for people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or clinical depression.

"These results can be of use in acute risk assessments following attempted suicide," says Bo Runeson, MD, PhD, a professor in the department of clinical neuroscience, who led the study. "Psychiatric disorder is a key factor in the planning of patient aftercare and evaluation. The medical treatment given and the psychological support provided must both take account of the diagnosis and be personalised."

— Source: Karolinska Institutet

Purse strings are tightening for individuals and corporations alike this holiday season, and donations may be the first to be cut from holiday budgets. Nonprofit organizations should take steps to ensure they stay afloat during the current economic recession, says Ray Sarnacki, visiting assistant professor of management at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.

According to the Giving USA Foundation, nonprofits historically receive most of their donations from individuals. In 2007, nearly 82% of all charitable giving came from individuals. Corporations accounted for only 5.1% of all donations, with foundational contributions slightly higher at 12.6%.

In times of recession, charitable giving decreases. In 2001, the last time the economy condensed, donations fell by 2.3%, according to the Giving USA Foundation.

Sarnacki says that for nonprofits to weather the recessional storm, they must receive funding from many different sources.

“Nonprofits need to develop multiple and diverse funding streams to sustain them if one source drops off,” explains Sarnacki. “They must invest in strengthening and expanding relationships with influential people, especially board members, who can help them generate additional revenue during tough economic times.”

In order to prevent marginal nonprofit organizations from going by the wayside, Sarnacki suggests they merge together with similar nonprofits to strengthen their support systems.

“Strong nonprofits have a network of people—both individuals and corporations—to sustain them,” Sarnacki explains.

— Source: Saint Joseph's University

A study published by researchers at Yeshiva University and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, strongly suggests that regular attendance at religious services reduces the risk of death by approximately 20%. The findings, published in Psychology and Health, were based on data drawn from participants who spanned numerous religious denominations.

The researchers evaluated the religious practices of 92,395 postmenopausal women aged 50 to 79 participating nationwide in the Women's Health Initiative (WHI). The women answered questions about baseline health conditions and religiosity and were followed by WHI researchers for an average of 7.7 years, with potential study outcomes of cardiovascular events and mortality adjudicated by trained physicians.

To evaluate the impact of religiosity on mortality and morbidity, the investigators looked at variables including self-reports of religious behavior in relation to coronary heart disease and death. It is important to note that the study did not attempt to measure spirituality; rather, it examined self-report religiosity measures (irrespective of the participant’s religion). Participants answered three key questions at registration, regarding religious affiliation; 
how often services were attended;
and if religion provided strength and comfort.

Although the study showed as much as a 20% decrease in the overall risk of mortality for those attending religious services, it did not show any consistent change in rates of morbidity and death specifically related to cardiovascular disease, with no explanation readily evident.

The study adjusted for participation of individuals within communal organizations and group activities that promote a strong social life and enjoyable routines, behaviors known to lead to overall wellness. However, even after controlling for such behavior and other health-related factors, the improvements in morbidity and mortality rates exceeded expectations.

The study investigators concluded that although religious behavior (as defined by the study’s criteria) is associated with a reduction in death rates among the study population, the physical relationships leading to that effect are not yet understood and require further investigation. “The next step is to figure out how the effect of religiosity is translated into biological mechanisms that affect rates of survival,” says coauthor Sylvia Wassertheil-Smoller, PhD, a professor of epidemiology and population health at Einstein.

— Source: Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University

A new study by sociologists at the University of Maryland concludes that unhappy people watch more TV, while people who describe themselves as very happy spend more time reading and socializing. The study appears in Social Indicators Research.

Analyzing 30-years worth of national data from time-use studies and a continuing series of social attitude surveys, the researchers report that spending time watching television may contribute to viewers’ happiness in the moment, with less positive effects in the long run. They analyzed two sets of data spanning nearly 30 years (1975-2006) gathered from nearly 30,000 adults.

“TV doesn’t really seem to satisfy people over the long haul the way that social involvement or reading a newspaper does,” says University of Maryland sociologist John P. Robinson, PhD, the study coauthor and a pioneer in time-use studies. In their study, Robinson and his coauthor, University of Maryland sociologist Steven Martin, PhD, set out to learn more about the activities that contributed to happiness in people’s lives.

From the General Social Survey, the researchers found that self-described happy people were more socially active, attended more religious services, voted more, and read more newspapers. By contrast, unhappy people watched significantly more television in their spare time—an estimated 20% more television even after taking into account their education, income, age, and marital status, as well as other demographic predictors of both viewing and happiness.

Data from time-diaries told a somewhat different story. Responding in “real time,” much closer to daily events, survey respondents tended to rate television viewing more highly. “What viewers seem to be saying is that ‘While TV in general is a waste of time and not particularly enjoyable, the shows I saw tonight were pretty good,’” Robinson says.

— Source: University of Maryland, College Park

According to an article published in Psychological Science, proper spacing of lessons, the researchers report, can dramatically enhance learning. And larger gaps between study sessions result in better recall of facts.

In light of the study, coauthors Hal Pashler, PhD, and John T. Wixted, PhD, professors of psychology at the University of California San Diego, wrote, “it appears no longer premature for psychologists to offer some rough practical guidelines to those who wish to use study time in the most efficient way possible to promote long-term retention.”

More than 1,000 subjects participated in three sessions. In the first session, they were taught a set of obscure but true facts. The second session was a review of the same facts. The time between the sessions ranged from several minutes to several months. Study time was held constant in all the conditions. After some further delay, up to about one year, subjects were then tested.

Not surprisingly, when the interval between the second session and the test was increased, memory got worse, reflecting the familiar curve of forgetting. However, increasing the time between the study sessions reduced the rate of forgetting. This reduction in forgetting was very large, sometimes increasing the likelihood that information would be recalled in the final session by 50%.

The results suggest, Pashler says, that the optimal amount of time over which learning should take place depends upon how long the information needs to be retained: “If you want to remember information for just a week, it is probably best if study sessions are spaced out over a day or two. On the other hand, if you want to remember information for a year, it is best for learning to be spaced out over about a month.”

— Source: University of California, San Diego

As Americans are struggling to make ends meet with rising costs, they are grappling more than ever with what's appropriate when it comes to rewarding service providers with tips, gifts, and other token gratuities, suggests Leonard Green, PhD, a psychology professor in arts and sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.

In recent research, Green and colleagues compiled data from nearly 1,000 tips left in restaurants, hair salons, and with cab drivers. Their analysis determined that the larger the bill, the smaller the tip percentage that food servers, hair stylists, and cab drivers receive. Their findings indicate that the percent of the tip actually decreases with the amount of the bill across all three tipping situations.

The researchers also found that with bills more than $100, the percent of the tip levels off—if the bill is $200, the server is likely to receive about the same percentage of tip as if the bill was $100.

Green, who comes from New York, says he has lots of friends back home who spent hours anguishing over how to distribute their holiday tipping budget—how much to give and to whom?

"I think the decision often comes down to how much control the person really has over your life," Green says. "When it comes down to it, getting your newspaper every day is not that important. But, if there's no heat in your apartment, who do you contact for help. If someone, like a building superintendent, provides essential services, then a person might think that a nice tip helps ensure that the service will be there the next time you need it. Some people tip because they don't want to take the risk that not tipping may cause someone to hold back on an essential service. A holiday tip might not get you better service, but it may reduce the chances of getting worse service."

— Source: Washington University in St. Louis

Despite common assumptions, new research suggests that women are not more likely to be sexually harassed when they are the minority or majority in a work group. Instead, researchers found that in most cases, women were sexually harassed at work when their work group had a similar proportion of males and females.

A study looking at 110 work groups from around the world found that women who work in relatively equally matched gender groups were more likely to be harassed than women who worked in predominantly male or female groups. Women in these situations were more likely to experience taunting, patronizing, and predatory behaviors. Workplaces ranging from less than 50 employees to more than 5,000 employees were included to more accurately represent the general workforce. The results were published recently in Work and Occupations.

“Some people argue that women are more likely to be harassed when there are just a few women, and other people argue that women are harassed when they are the dominant group in an occupation. But we found that actually was not the case. Most sexual harassment occurs in situations in equally mixed gender groups,” says Randy Hodson, coauthor of the study and professor of sociology at The Ohio State University.

Hodson says the logic behind the finding is simple: sexual harassment occurs where there is more opportunity. “There is a lot more opportunity in these groups because you have a lot of men who have contact on a regular basis with a lot of women, and that’s going to create more opportunities for sexual harassment,” he says.

More than one third of the work groups studied did not have any incidents of sexual harassment. But when sexual harassment was observed, it was found more often in groups with a nearly equal mixture of men and women than in groups with a lone female in a predominately male environment.

Compounding the issue, formal grievance procedures were also less effective in combating the less severe forms of sexual harassment. Hodson says most organizational policies are clearly defined to protect workers from the most extreme behaviors but many of the other, less severe forms of sexual harassment may be left out or less clearly defined, creating uncertainty among some workers on what can be considered sexual harassment.

— Source: The Ohio State University

When Temple University political science professor Gary Mucciaroni looked across the spectrum of gay rights issues, he saw a puzzle: Why have gays and lesbians been so successful in achieving some of their goals and not others?

In trying to put the puzzle pieces together, Mucciaroni initially looked at the role of public opinion and explored whether or not gays simply are more successful when the general public is not feeling threatened by gay rights issues. “That helped to explain the outcome in three cases: marriage, hate crimes, and civil rights,” Mucciaroni says.

But, it does not account for the outcome on the question of military service, where there had been high public support in favor of ending the ban. Conversely, in the area of adoption and the legalization of homosexual conduct, gays and lesbians have gained those rights, despite the lack of public support.

Closer examination of gay rights in the area of adoption led Mucciaroni to understand the critical role third-party stakeholders play. Mucciaroni found that social workers and judges were important allies in the fight for adoption rights for gays and lesbians. According to Mucciaroni, the vagueness of adoption laws—along with studies that say same sex parents are as successful as heterosexual couples and the societal need to give children stable, permanent homes—has allowed stakeholders, such as social workers, adoption agencies, family court judges, and lawyers to have a real impact in this arena.

Given his findings, Mucciaroni speculates that LGBT rights advocates may want to rethink some of their strategies. He argues that they have fared much better when issues are resolved at state and local levels rather than in Washington.

— Source: Temple University

A new study in the journal Appetite finds that obese women display significantly weaker impulse control than normal-weight women, but between obese and normal-weight men, the impulsivity levels are nearly the same. The study was conducted by researchers in the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) psychology department.

UAB researchers conducted the study to see how obese and normal-weight men and women differed in their decision-making skills, specifically in delay discounting, the measure of how much an individual is driven by immediate gratification vs. the willingness to wait for delayed but greater rewards.

In the study of 95 men and women, UAB researchers gave the participants the choice of receiving varying hypothetical amounts of money immediately or fixed hypothetical amounts of money to be received after delays of two weeks; one month; six months; or one, three, five, or 10 years.

The researchers found that obese women discounted the value of future rewards at a rate three-to-four times greater than that of normal-weight women, suggesting greater impulsivity. However, obese men and the male and female control subjects all showed similar levels of delay discounting.

“Our study found that obese men have more impulse control than obese women. So, obese men may be protected from more impulsive behavior on the delay-discounting task by having lower disinhibition in general. Obese women may have the double whammy of being female and having higher body mass index,” Weller says.

— Source: University of Alabama at Birmingham

In contrast to recent findings, two of the most common medications used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) do not appear to cause genetic damage in children who take them as prescribed, according to a new study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and Duke University Medical Center.

The study, published online in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, provides new evidence that therapeutic doses of stimulant medications, such as methylphenidate and amphetamine, do not cause cytogenetic (chromosomal) damage in humans. The researchers looked at three measures of cytogenetic damage in white blood cells of each child participating in the study and found no evidence of any changes after three months of continuous treatment.

The researchers involved emphasize that the findings should not be interpreted as final proof of the long-term safety of stimulant drugs for the treatment of ADHD. "More research and close monitoring of children taking these medications for extended periods of time is needed to fully evaluate the physical and behavioral effects of prolonged treatment with stimulants," notes Scott H. Kollins, PhD, director of the Duke ADHD Program and a coauthor of the paper.

The current study included 63 children, aged 6 to12, who met full criteria for ADHD but who had not previously been treated with stimulant medications. Children in the study were divided into two groups and treated by a board-certified child psychiatrist with either methylphenidate or with mixed amphetamine salts. Blood samples were taken before the medication was started to establish baseline values for the cytogenetic measures that were analyzed in the study, and a second sample was collected after three months of continuous treatment. Forty-seven children completed the full three-month treatment schedule.

The researchers looked at three standard indicators of chromosomal damage: structural chromosomal aberrations (breaks in chromosomes), micronuclei (small nuclei consisting of chromosome fragments produced by breakage or whole chromosomes lost from the main nucleus after the cell divides), and sister chromatid exchanges (exchanges of genetic material between a pair of identical chromosomes). "We did not see any significant treatment-related increases in any of these three endpoints," says Donald R. Mattison, MD, senior advisor to the director at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. "These results add to a growing body of evidence that therapeutic levels of these medications do not damage chromosomes," he says.

— Source: The National Institutes of Health