User's Views of an Outreaching Social Work Team in Hong Kong

This article reports the survey findings of a recent study on users’ views of the service provided by an outreaching social work team in Hong Kong. It attempts to explore how youth at risk can be jointly involved in evaluating the quality of the social service. Users appear to have favourable opinions towards the service received and would like to have greater involvement in programme planning, implementation and evaluation. Finally, recommendations on improving the understanding of the needs of users and encouraging greater user participation in future service delivery are suggested.

IBD sharing around the PPARG locus is not increased in dizygotic twins or their mothers

We observe no evidence of linkage to the region around the PPARG locus in several samples of DZ twins who have been genotyped at multiple markers on chromosome 3 (Fig. 1). Among 199 Australian DZ twins ascertained for a history of wheezing2, mean identity by descent (IBD) sharing at the position of PPARG is 0.463 (99% bootstrapped confidence interval=0.412−0.516). We obtained a similar result with 232 pairs of Australian adolescent DZ twins taking part in a longitudinal study of naevus development3 (0.444, 0.390−0.499), and a set of 125 Australian adult DZ twin pairs assessed for anxiety4 (0.508, 0.435−0.580). A Dutch scan of 160 DZ twin pairs5 obtained slightly more encouraging results (0.553, 0.482−0.587, peak maximum lod score (MLS)=0.57). Pooling all these samples gives 0.477 (0.454−0.512) at the position of PPARG. The test for heterogeneity of sharing between studies was not significant (P=0.10). In the combined dataset, the peak IBD sharing (MLS=0.70) is 50 cM closer to the centromere than PPARG. Finally, in a sample of 203 Australian and New Zealand sister pairs where each had given birth to DZ twins6, sharing across the region is also not increased (0.433). We do not replicate linkage in the populations we study to survival of a twin pregnancy or polyovulation.

Examining the effects of work externalization through the lens of social identity theory

This study examines whether dissimilarity among employees that is based on their work status (i.e., whether they are temporary or internal workers) influences their organization-based self-esteem, their trust in and attraction toward their peers, and their altruism. A model that is based on social identity theory posits that work-status dissimilarity negatively influences each outcome variable and that the strength of this relationship varies depending on whether employees have temporary or internal status and the composition of their work groups. Results that are based on a survey of 326 employees (189 internal and 137 temporary) from 34 work groups, belonging to 2 organizations, indicate that work-status dissimilarity has a systematic negative effect only on outcomes related to internal workers when they work in temporary-worker-dominated groups.

Comparison between Eysenck's and Gray's models of personality in the prediction of motivational work criteria

Impulsivity based on Gray's [Gray, J. A. (1982) The neuropsychology of anxiety: an enquiry into the function of the septo-hippocampal system. New York: Oxford University Press: (1991). The neurophysiology of temperament. In J. Strelau & A. Angleitner. Explorations in temperament: international perspectives on theory and measurement. London. Plenum Press]. physiological model of personality was hypothesised to be more predictive of goal oriented criteria within the workplace than scales derived From Eysenck's [Eysenck. H.J. (1967). The biological basis of personality. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thompson.] physiological model of personality. Results confirmed the hypothesis and also showed that Gray's scale of Impulsivity was generally a better predictor than attributional style and interest in money. Results were interpreted as providing support for Gray's Behavioural Activation System which moderates response to reward. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Work-related stress and occupational therapy

Occupational stress and burnout have been studied extensively in the human services. It has been suggested that healthcare professionals in particular are at risk of stress owing to the caring nature of their work. Articles related to occupational therapy and work-related stress were reviewed in regard to practice in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States and Sweden. Although the empirical literature is relatively weak for occupational therapy, it has been argued that occupational therapists in health care share risk factors with other healthcare professionals. These risk factors include repeated exposure to distress and difficult behaviour, prolonged interventions and uncertain outcome. Issues such as professional status, staffing issues and the nature of the profession have been identified as additional risk factors for occupational therapists. However, empirical studies that enable burnout rates of occupational therapists to be compared with those of related occupational groups suggest that this may not be the case. Occupational therapists may in fact be protected from some stress and burnout factors. Further research is recommended to clarify the nature of stress experienced by occupational therapists and to identify both risk and protective factors characteristic of the profession. Copyright © 2001 Whurr Publishers Ltd.

Do generalized visual training programmes for sport really work? An experimental investigation

We assessed the effectiveness of two generalized visual training programmes in enhancing visual and motor performance for racquet sports. Forty young participants were assigned equally to groups undertaking visual training using Revien and Gabor's Sports Vision programme (Group 1), visual training using Revien's Eyerobics (Group 2), a placebo condition involving reading (Group 3) and a control condition involving physical practice only (Group 4). Measures of basic visual function and of sport-specific motor performance were obtained from all participants before and immediately after a 4-week training period. Significant pre- to post-training differences were evident on some of the measures; however, these were not group-dependent. Contrary to the claims made by proponents of generalized visual training, we found no evidence that the visual training programmes led to improvements in either vision or motor performance above and beyond those resulting simply from test familiarity.

Client resistance in outreaching social work in Hong Kong

This paper reports the survey findings of a study on the outreaching social workers' perceptions of client resistance. In light of their social work practice 10th youth-at-risk in Hong Kong, resistance is generally recognised as a natural phenomenon in the counselling process and to a certain extent, is an obstacle to engaging in purposeful worker-client relationship as well as effecting behavioural changes. On Pipes and Davenport's (1990) classification, the respondents were more likely to classify client resistance as innocuous behaviours like missing appointments and refusing to discuss problems than disarming and proactive behaviours. The implications of these findings are discussed.