Reducing the risk of posttraumatic stress disorder in children following natural disasters

A significant number of children suffer long term psychological disturbance following exposure to a natural disaster. Evidence suggests that a dose-response relationship exists, so that children and adolescents who experience the most intense or extensive exposure to the risk factors for PTSD are likely to develop the most serious and persistent symptoms. Risk factors include gender, age, personality, extent of exposure to the natural disaster, amount of damage to property and infrastructure, witnessing injury or death of others or perceiving a threat to their own life. Knowing these factors enables various strategies to be put in place to decrease the risk of psychological disturbance following the aftermath of traumatic events. Re-establishing a sense of safety, security and normality is important in the aftermath of a natural disaster, and promoting social connectedness, positive family functioning, and effective coping mechanisms can make children more resilient in the face of catastrophic events. This paper examines the risk and protective factors associated with the development of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and considers how schools can use this knowledge to contribute to the recovery effort, and reduce the prevalence of PTSD amongst pupils in the wake of a natural disaster.

Motivation and perception factors influence buying home behaviour in Dilly, East Timor

Demand of low cost housing increased from 1995 to 1997 which is shown by the number of housing loan approval. In order to develop the most suitable marketing plan, developer needs to know some factors which influenced to the decision making process of buying house. This research used a residential development in PT Delta Comoro Permai, Dilly as a case study. A survey to homeowners has been done to evaluate the motivation and perception factors in buying home behaviour. The survey has been done on the 3rd August to 29th August 1998. In this study, four main components have been examined. Physical and linkage are not as important as environment and utilities for the homebuyer. Moreover, the result is consistent with developer’s motto ‘clean, secure, aesthetic, healthy and prosperity’. This study provides further recommendation in the environment and utilities components for the new development in the future.

Dealing with Post-GFC stress disorder : Bwembya Chikolwa quoted by Christine Retschlag for Property Australia magazine 4th March 2010

Has the GFC really changed the thinking of the property industry? Or are investment managers suffering from post-GFC stress disorder fated to repeat the mistakes of the past? Christine Retschlag reports on the mindset of the market.

Buying a sponsor's brand : the role of affective commitment to the sponsored team

Sponsorship is increasingly important in a firm's communication mix. Research to date has focused on the impact of sponsorship on brand awareness and its subsequent consequences for image congruency and consumer attitudes towards sponsors' brands. A lesser studied area is the effect of sponsorship on consumers' purchase intentions and behaviours. We argue that existing models of sponsorship driven purchase behaviour fail to account for affective commitment, which mediates relationship between affiliation with the team and social identification with the team. We propose a modified framework describing the effect of sponsorship on purchase intentions in the context of low and high performing sports teams. The framework is tested using structural equations modelling; employing PLS estimation and data collected via online survey of AFL chat room participants. Results confirm the role of affective commitment in sport sponsorship purchase intentions and indicate that team success has a significant influence on fans' purchase behaviours.

Phenyl-ring disorder in the two-dimensional hydrogen-bonded structure of the 1:1 proton-transfer salt of the diazo-dye precursor 4-(phenyldiazenyl)aniline (aniline yellow) with L-tartaric acid

The structure of the 1:1 proton-transfer compound from the reaction of L-tartaric acid with the azo-dye precursor aniline yellow [4-(phenylazo)aniline], 4-(phenyldiazenyl)anilinium hydrogen 2R,3R-tartrate C12H12N3+ . C4H6O6- has been determined at 200 K. The asymmetric unit of the compound contains two independent phenylazoanilinium cations and two hydrogen L-tartrate anions. The structure is unusual in that all four phenyl rings of both cations have identical 50% rotational disorder. The two hydrogen L-tartrate anions form independent but similar chains through head-to-tail carboxylic O--H...O~carboxyl~ hydrogen bonds [graph set C7] which are then extended into a two-dimensional hydrogen-bonded sheet structure through hydroxyl O--H...O hydrogen-bonding links. The anilinium groups of the phenyldiazenyl cations are incorporated into the sheets and also provide internal hydrogen-bonding extensions while their aromatic tails layer in the structure without significant interaction except for weak \p--\p interactions [minimum ring centroid separation, 3.844(3) \%A]. The hydrogen L-tartrate residues of both anions have the common short intramolecular hydroxyl O--H...O~carboxyl~ hydogen bonds. This work has provided a solution to the unusual disorder problem inherent in the structure of this salt as well as giving another example of the utility of the hydrogen tartrate in the generation of sheet substructures in molecular assembly processes.

Vulnerability factors for disaster-induced child post-traumatic stress disorder : the case for low family resilience and previous mental illness

Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate whether parent report of family resilience predicted children’s disaster-induced post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and general emotional symptoms, independent of a broad range of variables including event-related factors, previous child mental illness and social connectedness. ---------- Methods: A total of 568 children (mean age = 10.2 years, SD = 1.3) who attended public primary schools, were screened 3 months after Cyclone Larry devastated the Innisfail region of North Queensland. Measures included parent report on the Family Resilience Measure and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)–emotional subscale and child report on the PTSD Reaction Index, measures of event exposure and social connectedness. ---------- Results: Sixty-four students (11.3%) were in the severe–very severe PTSD category and 53 families (28.6%) scored in the poor family resilience range. A lower family resilience score was associated with child emotional problems on the SDQ and longer duration of previous child mental health difficulties, but not disaster-induced child PTSD or child threat perception on either bivariate analysis, or as a main or moderator variable on multivariate analysis (main effect: adjusted odds ratio (ORadj) = 0.57, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.13–2.44). Similarly, previous mental illness was not a significant predictor of child PTSD in the multivariate model (ORadj = 0.75, 95%CI = 0.16–3.61). ---------- Conclusion: In this post-disaster sample children with existing mental health problems and those of low-resilience families were not at elevated risk of PTSD. The possibility that the aetiological model of disaster-induced child PTSD may differ from usual child and adolescent conceptualizations is discussed.

Comment on “The spreading of disorder”

Keizer, Lindenberg and Steg (2008) conduct six interesting field experiments and report that their results provide evidence of the broken windows theory. Such an analysis is highly relevant as the (broken windows) theory is both controversial and lacking empirical support. Keizer et al.’s key aim was to conceptualize a disorderly setting in such a way that it is linked to a process of spreading norm violation. The strength of the study is the exploration of cross-norm inhibition effects in a controlled field experimental environment. Their results show that if norm violating behavior becomes more common, it negatively affects compliance in other areas. Nevertheless, this comment paper discusses several shortcomings or limitations and provides new empirical evidence that deals with these problems.

Order and disorder in the structures of two crystal polymorphs of the adduct bis(quinolinium-2-carboxylate) DL-malic acid

The structures of two polymorphs of the anhydrous cocrystal adduct of bis(quinolinium-2-carboxylate) DL-malic acid, one triclinic the other monoclinic and disordered, have been determined at 200 K. Crystals of the triclinic polymorph 1 have space group P-1, with Z = 1 in a cell with dimensions a = 4.4854(4), b = 9.8914(7), c = 12.4670(8)Å, α = 79.671(5), β = 83.094(6), γ = 88.745(6)deg. Crystals of the monoclinic polymorph 2 have space group P21/c, with Z = 2 in a cell with dimensions a = 13.3640(4), b = 4.4237(12), c = 18.4182(5)Å, β = 100.782(3)deg. Both structures comprise centrosymmetric cyclic hydrogen-bonded quinolinic acid zwitterion dimers [graph set R2/2(10)] and 50% disordered malic acid molecules which lie across crystallographic inversion centres. However, the oxygen atoms of the malic acid carboxylic groups in 2 are 50% rotationally disordered whereas in 1 these are ordered. There are similar primary malic acid carboxyl O-H...quinaldic acid hydrogen-bonding chain interactions in each polymorph, extended into two-dimensional structures but in l this involves centrosymmetric cyclic head-to-head malic acid hydroxyl-carboxyl O-H...O interactions [graph set R2/2(10)] whereas in 2 the links are through single hydroxy-carboxyl hydrogen bonds.

Attachment in relation to affect regulation and interpersonal functioning among substance use disorder inpatients

Attachment theory has been conceptualised as an affect regulation theory, proposing that attachment is associated with the expression and recognition of emotions as well as interpersonal functioning. Previous research has reported affect regulation difficulties in substance use disorders and addiction has been considered an attachment disorder. However, scarce empirical research exists on the relationship of attachment in relation to affect regulation and interpersonal functioning in those with substance use problems. Thus, the objective of the present study was to investigate potential associations between attachment, negative mood regulation (NMR) expectancies, fear of intimacy and self-differentiation in substance abusers. The revised adult attachment scale (RAAS), the NMR expectancies scale, the fear of intimacy scale and the differentiation of self inventory were administered to a sample of 100 substance use disorder inpatients. Attachment accounted for significant variance in NMR expectancies and was also a strong predictor of fear of intimacy. The predictive utility of attachment also extended to self-differentiation, suggesting that attachment was strongly related to overall self-differentiation score, Emotional reactivity, Emotional cut-off and I position. These findings support attachment theory suggesting that attachment is associated with and predicts affect regulation abilities and difficulties in interpersonal functioning in a sample of substance use disorder inpatients. The inclusion and assessment of attachment appears to be important in the development of treatment programmes for substance abusing individuals.

A case of intention deficit disorder? ICT policy, disadvantaged schools, and leaders

Since the mid-1990s, government policies in the USA, Canada, England, and Australia have promoted the need to produce an ICT skilled workforce in order to ensure national competitiveness in globalised economic conditions. In this article, we examine the ways in which these policy intentions in 1 state in Australia were translated into a techno-determinist and technocentric plan which focused primarily on getting wired up and connected. We summarise the findings from 2 projects: an investigation of a state-wide principals' professional development programme and an action research study investigating literacy, educational disadvantage, and information technologies. We found significant differences in the distribution of the physical and human capabilities between schools which made the task of engaging with ICT harder for some than others. Nevertheless, we suggest that some school leaders did develop innovative practice. We suggest that policy deficits made it difficult for school leaders to grapple with the dimensions of and debates about the kinds of educational changes that schools and school systems should be making. © 2006 Taylor & Francis.