Gender stereotypes and drinking cognitions as indicators of moderate and high risk drinking among young women and men

The study examined differences in gender stereotypes, restrained drinking and self-efficacy for alcohol refusal between moderate and high risk drinkers among a university sample of 301 women and 118 men. Both female and male high risk drinkers displayed a response conflict, typified by high scores on restrained drinking but low scores on self-efficacy. This pattern of response conflict was more pronounced for high risk drinking women, who also identified poorly with feminine trails (e.g. 'nurturing', 'love children', 'appreciative'). The findings are discussed in relation to society's double standard that accepts intoxication in men but condemns it in women. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Validation of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale for men, and comparison of item endorsement with their partners

Background: The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) has been validated and used extensively in screening for depression in new mothers, both in English speaking and non-English speaking communities. While some studies have reported the use of the EPDS with Fathers, none have validated it for this group, and thus the appropriate cut-off score for screening for depression or anxiety caseness for this population is not known. Method: Couples were recruited antenatally and interviewed at six weeks postpartum. EPDS scores and distress caseness (depression or anxiety disorders) for 208 fathers and 230 mothers were determined using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule. Results: Analyses of the EPDS for fathers using distress caseness (depression or anxiety disorders) as the criterion shows that a cut-off of 5/6 has optimum receiver operating characteristics. Furthermore acceptable reliability (split-half and internal consistency) and validity (concurrent) coefficients were obtained. For mothers the optimum cut-off screening value to detect distress caseness was 7/8. Item analysis revealed that fathers endorsed seven of the ten items at lower rates to mothers, with the most significant being that referring to crying. Conclusions: The EPDS is a reliable and valid measure of mood in fathers. Screening for depression or anxiety disorders in fathers requires a two point lower cut-off than screening for depression or anxiety in mothers, and we recommend this cut-off to he 5/6. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Religious beliefs and practice, and alcohol use in Thai men

Buddhism, the Thai state religion, teaches that use of intoxicants should be avoided. Nonetheless, many Thai people drink alcohol, and a proportion are alcohol-dependent or hazardous or harmful drinkers. This study examines the relationship between Buddhist upbringing and beliefs and alcohol use disorders in Thai men. Three groups, comprising 144 non/infrequent/light drinkers, 77 hazardous/harmful drinkers and 91 alcohol dependents were inter-viewed regarding their early religious life and current religious practices and beliefs. No protective association was shown between early religious life and later alcohol use disorders, indeed, having lived as a buy in a temple for a period was commoner in those with adult alcohol problems. Few subjects reported frequent involvement in current religious activities (9, 8 and 6% in the non/infrequent/light drinkers, hazardous/harmful drinkers, and alcohol dependents respectively). Hazardous/harmful drinkers [odds ratio (OR) = 0.4, 95% confidence interval (0) = 0.2-0.9] and alcohol dependents (OR = 0.5, 95% Cl = 0.2-0.9) were less likely to report being moderately to strongly religious, than were non/infrequent/light drinkers, Understanding the association between religious beliefs and drinking behaviour can potentially assist in the development of prevention and treatment programmes.

A comparison of the whole-body and segmental methodologies of bioimpedance analysis

Theory supports the use of a segmental methodology (SM) for bioimpedance analysis (BIA) of body water (BW). However, previous studies have generally failed to show a significant improvement when the SM is used in place of a whole-body methodology. A pilot study was conducted to compare the two methodologies in control and overweight subjects. BW of each subject was measured by D2O dilution and also estimated from BIA measurements. Bland and Altman analysis was used to compare the two values of BW. The SM resulted in a small but not significantly improved limits of agreement of measured and BIA estimated BW (psimilar to0.3). This and the results of previous studies suggest that improvements in prediction of BW obtained from application of the SM may be intrinsically small and may not justify the additional effort in application.

Methodologies for calibration and predictive analysis of a watershed model

The use of a fitted parameter watershed model to address water quantity and quality management issues requires that it be calibrated under a wide range of hydrologic conditions. However, rarely does model calibration result in a unique parameter set. Parameter nonuniqueness can lead to predictive nonuniqueness. The extent of model predictive uncertainty should be investigated if management decisions are to be based on model projections. Using models built for four neighboring watersheds in the Neuse River Basin of North Carolina, the application of the automated parameter optimization software PEST in conjunction with the Hydrologic Simulation Program Fortran (HSPF) is demonstrated. Parameter nonuniqueness is illustrated, and a method is presented for calculating many different sets of parameters, all of which acceptably calibrate a watershed model. A regularization methodology is discussed in which models for similar watersheds can be calibrated simultaneously. Using this method, parameter differences between watershed models can be minimized while maintaining fit between model outputs and field observations. In recognition of the fact that parameter nonuniqueness and predictive uncertainty are inherent to the modeling process, PEST's nonlinear predictive analysis functionality is then used to explore the extent of model predictive uncertainty.