Does timing and sequencing of transitions to adulthood make a difference? Stress, smoking, and physical activity among young Australian women

The major changes of the transition to adulthood are argued to be stressful, and health-related behaviors such as smoking and physical activity may be adopted, consolidated, or abandoned at this time. On the other hand, research has suggested that the normative transitions of emerging adulthood, although involving considerable change, may be associated with low stress because they are perceived as both positive and normal at this life stage. This article examines relations between the timing and sequencing of life transitions and stress and health-related behaviors, focusing on the transition to young adulthood among Australian women. A total of 853 women aged 22 to 27 provided information about the timing and sequencing of 6 life transitions: moving out of home, stopping full-time education, starting full-time work, having the first live-in relationship, marriage, and motherhood-and stress, smoking, and physical activity. Most had moved out of home, stopped full-time education, and started full-time work, but only 14% had undertaken all 6 transitions. Overall, 70% of participants had made transitions in order Overall, the findings suggest that the relations between timing and sequencing of transitions, and indicators of health, are moderate for smoking, but small for stress and for physical activity. These effects remained after controlling for socioeconomic status of the participants' families of origin. Matching current social norms for the timing and sequencing of life changes may be of less importance for women's well-being than is commonly believed. Although the significant relations between early or out of order transitions and smoking are of concern, the smaller relations with stress and with sedentariness suggest that such transitions may have limited negative consequences, and support the view that individuals are active in choosing the life path that is appropriate for them and their circumstances.

What difference a writing centre makes:a small scale study

Purpose – Academic writing is often considered to be a weakness in contemporary students, while good reporting and writing skills are highly valued by graduate employers. A number of universities have introduced writing centres aimed at addressing this problem; however, the evaluation of such centres is usually qualitative. The paper seeks to consider the efficacy of a writing centre by looking at the impact of attendance on two “real world” quantitative outcomes – achievement and progression. Design/methodology/approach – Data mining was used to obtain records of 806 first-year students, of whom 45 had attended the writing centre and 761 had not. Findings – A highly significant association between writing centre attendance and achievement was found. Progression to year two was also significantly associated with writing centre attendance. Originality/value – Further, quantitative evaluation of writing centres is advocated using random allocation to a comparison condition to control for potential confounds such as motivation.

Does the balanced scorecard make a difference to the strategy development process?

A great number of strategy tools are being taught in strategic management modules. These tools are available to managers for use in facilitating strategic decision-making and enhancing the strategy development process in their organisations. A number of studies have been published examining which are the most popular tools; however there is little empirical evidence on how their utilisation influences the strategy process. This paper is based on a large scale international survey on the strategy development process, and seeks to examine the impact of a particular strategy tool, the Balanced Scorecard, upon the strategy process. The Balanced Scorecard is one of the most popular strategy tools whose use has evolved since its introduction in the 1990’s. Recently, it has been suggested that as a strategy tool, Balanced Scorecard can influence all elements of the strategy process. The results of this study indicate that although there are significant differences in some elements of the strategy process between the organisations that have implemented the Balanced Scorecard and those that have not, the impact is not comprehensive.

Third Ways and new centres - ideological unity or difference?

This chapter illustrates extratextual and intratextual aspects of ideology as related to translation with a case study, a policy document by Tony Blair and Gerhard Schröder, jointly published in English and German in June 1999. Textual features of the two language versions are compared and linked to the social contexts. Concepts and methods of critical discourse analysis and of descriptive and functionalist approaches to translation are applied for this purpose. In particular, reactions to the German text in Germany are explained with reference to the socio-political and ideological conditions of the text production, which was a case of parallel text production combined with translation. It is illustrated that decisions at the linguistic micro-level have had effects for a political party, reflected for example in the German Social Democratic Party debating its identity due to the textual treatment of ideological keywords. The subtle differences revealed in a comparative analysis of the two texts indicate the text producers' awareness of ideological phenomena in the respective cultures. Both texts thus serve as windows onto ideologies and political power relations in the contemporary world.

The effect of interocular phase difference on perceived contrast

Binocular vision is traditionally treated as two processes: the fusion of similar images, and the interocular suppression of dissimilar images (e.g. binocular rivalry). Recent work has demonstrated that interocular suppression is phase-insensitive, whereas binocular summation occurs only when stimuli are in phase. But how do these processes affect our perception of binocular contrast? We measured perceived contrast using a matching paradigm for a wide range of interocular phase offsets (0–180°) and matching contrasts (2–32%). Our results revealed a complex interaction between contrast and interocular phase. At low contrasts, perceived contrast reduced monotonically with increasing phase offset, by up to a factor of 1.6. At higher contrasts the pattern was non-monotonic: perceived contrast was veridical for in-phase and antiphase conditions, and monocular presentation, but increased a little at intermediate phase angles. These findings challenge a recent model in which contrast perception is phase-invariant. The results were predicted by a binocular contrast gain control model. The model involves monocular gain controls with interocular suppression from positive and negative phase channels, followed by summation across eyes and then across space. Importantly, this model—applied to conditions with vertical disparity—has only a single (zero) disparity channel and embodies both fusion and suppression processes within a single framework.

Does the balanced scorecard make a difference to the strategy development process?

A great number of strategy tools are being taught in strategic management modules. These tools are available to managers for use in facilitating strategic decision making and enhancing the strategy development process in their organisations. A number of studies have been published examining which are the most popular tools; however there is little empirical evidence on how their utilisation influences the strategy process. This paper is based on a large scale international survey on the strategy development process, and seeks to examine the impact of a particular strategy tool, the Balanced Scorecard (BSC), upon the strategy process. Recently, it has been suggested that as a strategy tool, the BSC can influence all elements of the strategy process. The results of this study indicate that although there are significant differences in some elements of the strategy process between the organisations that have implemented the BSC and those that have not, the impact is not comprehensive.

Master and apprentice or difference and complementarity? Local government practioners, doctoral studies and co-produced research

In their search for innovative policy solutions to complex social problematics, local governance practitioners will look to synergising specific policy guidance from government departments with conceptual scientific research outputs. UK academics are also now expected to emphasise the relevance of their research and to increase its utilisation by practitioners. Away from utilitarian pressures, academics from applied discipline, such as Public Administration and Local Government Studies are increasingly drawn to the benefits of co-produced research. Despite the pressure for more co-research there are few opportunities for practitioners and academics to nurture relationships that would support close collaboration. This paper looks at the opportunity for closer collaboration when practitioners undertake research degrees, in order to enhance their cognitive skills and develop greater scientific knowledge of particular policy domains. If this route to closer collaboration is to succeed, it will require academics to think differently about their relationship with practitioner-students.

Adolescent-parent disagreement on health-related quality of life of food-allergic adolescents:who makes the difference?

Background: Food-allergic adolescents are at highest risk for food allergy fatalities, which may be partly due to compromised self-management behavior. Such behavior may be negatively influenced by conflictual situations caused by adolescent–parent disagreement on the adolescent’s health-related quality of life (HRQL). Comparisons of adolescent-self-reported and parent-proxy-reported HRQL of food-allergic adolescents have never extensively been studied. The aims of this study were to investigate disagreement in adolescent-self-reports and parent-proxy-reports on the HRQL of food-allergic adolescents and to investigate the factors influencing adolescent–parent disagreement. Methods: Teenager Form (TF) and Parent Form (PFA) of the Food Allergy Quality of Life Questionnaire (FAQLQ), Food Allergy Independent Measure (FAIM), and Brief-Illness Perception Questionnaire (Brief-IPQ) were sent to food-allergic Dutch adolescents (13–17 years) and their parents. ICCs, t-tests, and Bland–Altman plots were used to investigate adolescent–parent disagreement. Participant characteristics, illness expectations, and illness perceptions influencing adolescent–parent disagreement were studied using regression analysis. Results: Seventy adolescent–parent pairs were included. There were a moderate correlation (ICC = 0.61, P < 0.001) and no significant difference (3.78 vs 3.56, P = 0.103) between adolescent-self-reported and parent-proxy-reported HRQL at group level. However, Bland–Altman plots showed relevant differences (exceeding the minimal important difference) for 63% of all adolescent–parent pairs. Adolescent’s age (>15 years), poorer adolescent-reported illness comprehension (Brief-IPQ-TF, coherence), and higher adolescent-reported perceived disease severity (Food Allergy Independent Measure-Teenager Form & -Parent Form) were associated with adolescent–parent disagreement. Conclusions: Adolescent–parent disagreement on the adolescent’s HRQL was mainly associated with adolescents’ rather than parents’ perceptions and characteristics. Illness comprehension of the adolescent may be an important target for intervention aimed at reducing adolescent–parent disagreement.

Bridging difference - national and organisational adaptation for responsible performance

This special issue draws together a selection of articles built around a theme of bridging difference. We argue that the effective transfer of learning across boundaries is crucial in enabling the dissemination of good, and ethical, HR practice. How that transfer might occur, with respect both to the mechanisms to enable or inhibit transfer and to the nature of learning that underpins that transfer, provides the focus of what is discussed here. This is framed against a concern for the nature and future of HRM, in particular its role in ensuring responsible organisational performance. © 2013 Taylor & Francis.