Modeling impact assessment of transport policies through a multiregional input-output integrated approach

El objetivo de esta investigación es desarrollar una metodología para estimar los potenciales impactos económicos y de transporte generados por la aplicación de políticas en el sector transporte. Los departamentos de transporte y otras instituciones gubernamentales relacionadas se encuentran interesadas en estos análisis debido a que son presentados comúnmente de forma errónea por la insuficiencia de datos o por la falta de metodologías adecuadas. La presente investigación tiene por objeto llenar este vacío haciendo un análisis exhaustivo de las técnicas disponibles que coincidan con ese propósito. Se ha realizado un análisis que ha identificado las diferencias cuando son aplicados para la valoración de los beneficios para el usuario o para otros efectos como aspectos sociales. Como resultado de ello, esta investigación ofrece un enfoque integrado que incluye un modelo Input-Output de múltiples regiones basado en la utilidad aleatoria (RUBMRIO), y un modelo de red de transporte por carretera. Este modelo permite la reproducción con mayor detalle y realismo del transporte de mercancías que por medio de su estructura sectorial identifica los vínculos de las compras y ventas inter-industriales dentro de un país utilizando los servicios del transporte de mercancías. Por esta razón, el modelo integrado es aplicable a diversas políticas de transporte. En efecto, el enfoque se ha aplicado para estudiar los efectos macroeconómicos regionales de la implementación de dos políticas diferentes en el sistema de transporte de mercancías de España, tales como la tarificación basada en la distancia recorrida por vehículo-kilómetro (€/km) aplicada a los vehículos del transporte de mercancías, y para la introducción de vehículos más largos y pesados de mercancías en la red de carreteras de España. El enfoque metodológico se ha evaluado caso por caso teniendo en cuenta una selección de la red de carreteras que unen las capitales de las regiones españolas. También se ha tenido en cuenta una dimensión económica a través de una tabla Input-Output de múltiples regiones (MRIO) y la base de datos de conteo de tráfico existente para realizar la validación del modelo. El enfoque integrado reproduce las condiciones de comercio observadas entre las regiones usando el sistema de transporte de mercancías por carretera, y que permite por comparación con los escenarios de políticas, determinar las contribuciones a los cambios distributivos y generativos. Así pues, el análisis estima los impactos económicos en cualquier región considerando los cambios en el Producto Interno Bruto (PIB) y el empleo. El enfoque identifica los cambios en el sistema de transporte a través de todos los caminos de la red de transporte a través de las medidas de efectividad (MOEs). Los resultados presentados en esta investigación proporcionan evidencia sustancial de que en la evaluación de las políticas de transporte, es necesario establecer un vínculo entre la estructura económica de las regiones y de los servicios de transporte. Los análisis muestran que para la mayoría de las regiones del país, los cambios son evidentes para el PIB y el empleo, ya que el comercio se fomenta o se inhibe. El enfoque muestra cómo el tráfico se desvía en ambas políticas, y también determina detalles de las emisiones de contaminantes en los dos escenarios. Además, las políticas de fijación de precios o de regulación de los sistemas de transporte de mercancías por carretera dirigidas a los productores y consumidores en las regiones promoverán transformaciones regionales afectando todo el país, y esto conduce a conclusiones diferentes. Así mismo, este enfoque integrado podría ser útil para evaluar otras políticas y otros países en todo el mundo. The purpose of this research is to develop a methodological approach aimed at assessing the potential economic and transportation impacts of transport policies. Transportation departments and other related government parties are interested in such analysis because it is commonly misrepresented for the insufficiency of data and suitable methodologies available. This research is directed at filling this gap by making a comprehensive analysis of the available techniques that match with that purpose. The differences when they are applied for the valuation of user benefits or for other impacts as social matters have been identified. As a result, this research presents an integrated approach which includes both a random utility-based multiregional Input-Output model (RUBMRIO), and a road transport network model. This model accounts for freight transport with more detail and realism because its commodity-based structure traces the linkages of inter-industry purchases and sales that use freight services within a given country. For this reason, the integrated model is applicable to various transport policies. In fact, the approach is applied to study the regional macroeconomic effects of implementing two different policies in the freight transport system of Spain, such as a distance-based charge in vehicle-kilometer (€/km) for Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs), and the introduction of Longer and Heavier Vehicles (LHVs) in the road network of Spain. The methodological approach has been evaluated on a case by case basis considering a selected road network of highways linking the capitals of the Spanish regions. It has also considered an economic dimension through a Multiregional Input Output Table (MRIO) and the existing traffic count database used in the model validation. The integrated approach replicates observed conditions of trade among regions using road freight transport systems that determine contributions to distributional and generative changes by comparison with policy scenarios. Therefore, the model estimates economic impacts in any given area by considering changes in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), employment (jobs), and in the transportation system across all paths of the transport network considering Measures of effectiveness (MOEs). The results presented in this research provide substantive evidence that in the assessment of transport policies it is necessary to establish a link between the economic structure of regions and the transportation services. The analysis shows that for most regions in the country, GDP and employment changes are noticeable when trade is encouraged or discouraged. This approach shows how traffic is diverted in both policies, and also provides details of the pollutant emissions in both scenarios. Furthermore, policies, such as pricing or regulation of road freight transportation systems, directed to producers and consumers in regions will promote different regional transformations across the country, and this lead to different conclusions. In addition, this integrated approach could be useful to assess other policies and countries worldwide.

Second international spectroradiometer intercomparison: preliminary results and impact on PV device calibration

This paper describes the preliminary results of an intercomparison of spectroradiometers for global (GNI) and direct normal incidence (DNI) irradiance in the visible (VIS) and near infrared (NIR) spectral regions together with an assessment of the impact these results may have on the calibration of triple-junction photovoltaic devices and on the relevant spectral mismatch calculation. The intercomparison was conducted by six European scientific laboratories and a Japanese industrial partner. Seven institutions and seven spectroradiometer systems, representing different technologies and manufacturers were involved, representing a good cross section of the todays available instrumentation for solar spectrum measurements.

Assessing the impact of adaptive accessibility on the optimal transport policy implementation by using an integrated land-use/transport model for Madrid

Accessibility is an essential concept widely used to evaluate the impact of land-use and transport strategies in transport and urban planning. Accessibility is typically evaluated by using a transport model or a land-use model independently or successively without a feedback loop, thus neglecting the interaction effects between the two systems and the induced competition effects among opportunities due to accessibility improvements. More than a mere methodological curiosity, failure to account for land- use/transport interactions and the competition effect may result in large underestimation of the policy effects. With the recent development of land-use and transport interaction (LUTI) models, there is a growing interest in using these models to adequately measure accessibility and evaluate its impact. The current study joins this research stream by embedding an accessibility measure in a LUTI model with two main aims. The first aim is to account for adaptive accessibility, namely the adjustment of the potential accessibility due to the effect of competition among opportunities (e.g., workplaces) as a result of improved accessibility. LUTI models are particularly suitable for assessing adaptive accessibility because the competition factor is a function of the number of jobs, which is related to land-use attractiveness and the number of workers which is related, among other factors, to the transport demand. The second aim is to identify the optimal implementation scenario of policy measures on the basis of the potential and adaptive accessibility and analyse the results in terms of social welfare and accessibility. The metropolitan area of Madrid is used as a case-study and two transport policy instruments, namely a cordon toll and bus frequency increase, have been chosen for the simulation study in order to present the usefulness of the approach to urban planners and policy makers. The MARS model (Metropolitan Activity Relocation Simulator) calibrated for Madrid was employed as the analysis tool. The impact of accessibility is embedded in the model through a social welfare function that includes not only costs and benefits to both road users and transport operators, but also costs and benefits for the government and society in general (external costs). An optimisation procedure is performed by the MARS model for maximizing the value of objective function in order to find the best (optimal) policy imp lementations intensity (i.e., price, frequency). Last, the two policy strategies are evaluated in terms of their accessibility. Results show that the accessibility with competition factor influences the optimal policy implementation level and also generates different results in terms of social welfare. In addition, mapping the difference between the potential and the adaptive accessibility indicators shows that the main changes occur in areas where there is a strong competition among land-use opportunities.

Social development benefits of hydroelectricity CDM projects in Brazil

In recent years, the concept of sustainable development has become increasingly recognized and important. Within organizations, sustainable development is often portrayed as a balancing act, and requires a combination of three elements to be considered: economy, environment, and society. Traditionally, organizational management research has been focused on economical and environmental fronts. However, social aspects are also important for organizations, especially those in emerging and developing countries. The goal of this paper is to investigate the potential of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects to deliver social benefits in Brazil?s hydroelectricity sector. The investigation involved the assessment of 46 registered hydro CDM projects under the Kyoto Protocol in terms of their potential impact on the envisaged social development goals. Two case studies were also examined. Results indicate that organizations managing hydroelectric initiatives in Brazil can provide the pathway towards achieving a number of important social benefits. Successful projects were found to have good community involvement and were managed by both cooperative ventures and money making corporations. The research also identified several challenges that are hindering hydro CDM projects from delivering more social benefits, and enabled a number of recommendations to be extracted for the organizations facing these challenges.

The impact of institutional environment and cultural context in the four different approaches to social enterprise

This article analyzes the characteristics of four different social enterprise schools of though (social economy, earned-income school in developed countries, earned-income in emerging countries, and social innovation) and the influence of the contextual elements (cultural, political, economic and social) on their configuration. This article draws on the qualitative discussions of social enterprise in different regions of the world. This paper is intended to contribute to the field of social enterprise by broadening the understanding of the influence of environment and institutions on the emergence of social enterprise.

Are team personality and climate related to satisfaction and software quality? Aggregating results from a twice replicated experiment

Research into software engineering teams focuses on human and social team factors. Social psychology deals with the study of team formation and has found that personality factors and group processes such as team climate are related to team effectiveness. However, there are only a handful of empirical studies dealing with personality and team climate and their relationship to software development team effectiveness. Objective We present aggregate results of a twice replicated quasi-experiment that evaluates the relationships between personality, team climate, product quality and satisfaction in software development teams. Method Our experimental study measures the personalities of team members based on the Big Five personality traits (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism) and team climate factors (participative safety, support for innovation, team vision and task orientation) preferences and perceptions. We aggregate the results of the three studies through a meta-analysis of correlations. The study was conducted with students. Results The aggregation of results from the baseline experiment and two replications corroborates the following findings. There is a positive relationship between all four climate factors and satisfaction in software development teams. Teams whose members score highest for the agreeableness personality factor have the highest satisfaction levels. The results unveil a significant positive correlation between the extraversion personality factor and software product quality. High participative safety and task orientation climate perceptions are significantly related to quality. Conclusions First, more efficient software development teams can be formed heeding personality factors like agreeableness and extraversion. Second, the team climate generated in software development teams should be monitored for team member satisfaction. Finally, aspects like people feeling safe giving their opinions or encouraging team members to work hard at their job can have an impact on software quality. Software project managers can take advantage of these factors to promote developer satisfaction and improve the resulting product.

Terremoto 2010 en Chile y vivienda social: resultados y aprendizajes para recomendación de políticas públicas

El territorio chileno esta propenso, desde antes que se constituyera como nación, al impacto del comportamiento de la naturaleza que le es inherente y que también le produce daños. Está representado en los seísmos, los más dañinos. Todavía, la sociedad chilena no termina de comprender que esos daños, son parte de un desequilibrio de una convivencia armoniosa entre ella y esa naturaleza, puesto que el ser humano que vive y habita sobre ella, también lo es. Así entonces, cada vez que el territorio y su espacio son remecidos por los seísmos, la naturaleza, manifestada en la sociedad, adquiere nuevos aprendizajes para mejorar la respuesta al próximo evento. El terremoto 2010 de 8.8° Richter, fue el segundo de mayor magnitud después del otro que hasta ahora, es el más grande del planeta, y que pudo ser medido. Aquel, fue el terremoto de Valdivia de 9,5° Richter, ocurrido el 22 de mayo de 1960. Las sociedades no son estáticas, cambian, son dinámicas. Esta vez el seísmo del 2010, ocurrió en una sociedad que hace ya 35 años, adoptó un modelo de economía de libre mercado. La pobreza que tenía a 1990, era de aproximadamente, un 40%. La del 2010, de un 14%. Durante la dictadura militar hubo otro seísmo de 7,8° Richter, recién instalándose el modelo aludido. El del 2010, permite sacar conclusiones en el contexto de este modelo económico. Los resultados aparentemente son interesantes en cuanto a que hubo pocas víctimas pero por otra parte, hubo un gran daño económico. La tesis profundiza en el impacto del seísmo en la dimensión del parque habitacional construido y de la vivienda social y en los habitantes más pobres y vulnerables. Es la primera investigación sobre seísmos y vivienda social en Chile. Se asume la hipótesis que ciertas variables por una parte, y una cultura antisísmica por otra, están presentes y han penetrado en los sectores populares durante los últimos 50 años y que ello, podría estar en la base de los resultados obtenidos. Se plantea una suerte de “matrimonio bien avenido” entre el habitante y políticas públicas en vivienda. De ello, se derivan recomendaciones para mejorar los avances en el problema investigado que se contextualizan en referencia al marco teórico elaborado. Sin embargo, y no obstante lo investigado, lo ya avanzado no garantiza buenos resultados en el próximo evento, Por ello, los aprendizajes nutren a otros, nuevos, que acompañarán a la sociedad chilena en su esencia e identidad como nación. ABSTRACT Long before its establishment as an independent nation, the Chilean territory has been prone to the impact of nature, which is an inherent and damaging feature of this land. Such an impact is represented by earthquakes, which are regarded as the most damaging natural disasters. Today, the Chilean society is still unable to understand that these impacts are part of an unbalanced coexistence between individuals and nature since human beings, who live and inhabit this space, are also an element of nature. Therefore, each time this territory is hit by earthquakes, nature —represented by society— learns new lessons in order to provide a better response to future events. The 2010 earthquake, which rated 8.8 on the Richter scale, was the second largest earthquake after the most powerful earthquake ever recorded. Such an event was the Valdivia earthquake of May 22, 1960, which rated 9.5 on the Richter scale. Societies are not static as they are changing and dynamic. The 2010 earthquake took place within a context in which society operated under a free market economy model that had been running for 35 years. As of 1990, 40 per cent of the population lived in poverty; in 2010, such a figure was reduced to 14 per cent. Likewise, a magnitude 7.8 quake struck the country during the military regime period in the early days of the above model. The 2010 earthquake allows us to draw some conclusions within the context of this economic model. Results are interesting since there were few fatalities but significant economic loss. This thesis provides insights into the impact of the 2010 earthquake on the housing stock, social housing and those living in poverty and vulnerability. This is the first research on earthquakes and social housing conducted in Chile. The hypothesis is that certain variables and anti-seismic culture have permeated popular segments of the population over the last 50 years. The latter may be at the basis of the results obtained during this research. Likewise, this study proposes a certain “happy marriage” between the inhabitant and public policies on housing. The above offers some recommendations intended to further explore this issue; these suggestions are contextualized according to the theoretical framework developed in this research. However, current progress on this matter does not ensure positive results in the event of an earthquake. This is why these lessons will serve as models for future events, which are intrinsically tied to local society and Chilean identity.

Assessing the accessibility impact of transport policy by a land-use and transport interaction model - The case of Madrid

Accessibility is an essential concept widely used to evaluate the impact of transport and land-use strategies in urban planning and policy making. Accessibility is typically evaluated by using separately a transport model or a land-use model. This paper embeds two accessibility indicators (i.e., potential and adaptive accessibility) in a land use and transport interaction (LUTI) model in order to assess transport policies implementation. The first aim is to define the adaptive accessibility, considering the competition factor at territorial level (e.g. workplaces and workers). The second aim is to identify the optimal implementation scenario of policy measures using potential and adaptive accessibility indicators. The analysis of the results in terms of social welfare and accessibility changes closes the paper. Two transport policy measures are applied in Madrid region: a cordon toll and increase bus frequency. They have been simulated through the MARS model (Metropolitan Activity Relocation Simulator, i.e. LUTI model). An optimisation procedure is performed by MARS for maximizing the value of the objective function in order to find the optimal policy implementation (first best). Both policy measures are evaluated in terms of accessibility. Results show that the introduction of the accessibility indicators (potential and adaptive) influence the optimal value of the toll price and bus frequency level, generating different results in terms of social welfare. Mapping the difference between potential and adaptive accessibility indicator shows that the main changes occur in areas where there is a strong competition among different land-use opportunities.

OTIMISMO, SUPORTE SOCIAL E VALORES DO TRABALHO COMO ANTECEDENTES DE BEM ESTAR SUBJETIVO DE TRABALHADORES

Este estudo teve por objetivo verificar a capacidade de otimismo, de suporte social e de valores do trabalho serem preditores de bem estar subjetivo, bem como analisar as relações de variáveis demográficas com essas variáveis de estudo, descrevê-las e examinar as relações entre elas. A amostra consistiu de 47 homens e de 101 mulheres com idade média de 41,00 anos (DP =10,72) que buscavam apoio em instituição para sua transição profissional. O instrumento de coleta de dados foi um questionário de autopreenchimento composto por cinco medidas que aferiram as variáveis incluídas no estudo: otimismo, percepção de suporte social, valores do trabalho, satisfação geral com a vida e afetos positivos e negativos, bem como variáveis demográficas: sexo, idade, estudo, trabalho, voluntariado, estado civil e permanência na instituição. Foram realizadas análises estatísticas descritivas, testadas diferenças entre médias, correlações, análise de variância e calculados modelos de regressão linear múltipla. As relações das variáveis de estudo com variáveis demográficas revelaram que as pessoas que não estudam percebem ter mais suporte prático e dão mais importância a motivações de autopromoção e de prestígio do que as que estudam. Os mais jovens com até 30 anos relataram que se percebem tendo mais apoio emocional e prático do que os mais velhos. Com o avanço da idade diminuem as percepções de suporte emocional e prático, contudo as pessoas com mais de 50 anos revelaram menos afetos negativos e maior satisfação com a vida do que os mais jovens. Casados revelaram dar menos importância do que separados, divorciados, viúvos, etc. à estabilidade no trabalho e segurança financeira; solteiros revelaram ter mais afetos negativos do que os casados. Homens relataram se sentir mais satisfeitos com a vida, ter mais afetos positivos e menos afetos negativos que mulheres. Quem realiza trabalho voluntário revelou ser mais otimista e ter menos afetos negativos do que aqueles que não realizam. Os dados revelaram que os pesquisados têm um bom nível de otimismo e uma percepção de suporte emocional maior do que a percepção de suporte prático; são motivados, principalmente por metas de realização no trabalho e de estabilidade e segurança financeira; sentem-se indiferentes quanto à satisfação com a vida; apresentam afetos positivos um pouco acima da indiferença; contudo sentem poucos afetos negativos. Disso decorre que um pouco mais de dois terços dos pesquisados apresentaram predominância de estados emocionais positivos sobre os negativos. O otimismo foi a variável que estabeleceu associações mais altas e em maior quantidade; correlacionou positivamente com valores de realização no trabalho, com valores de relações sociais, com valores do trabalho de prestígio, com satisfação com a vida e com afetos positivos; e correlacionou negativamente com afetos negativos. A percepção de suporte emocional correlacionou positivamente com valores de prestígio, afetos positivos e com satisfação com a vida; e correlacionou negativamente com afetos negativos. Percepção de suporte prático não apresentou correlações significativas com nenhuma variável de estudo. Afetos positivos correlacionaram-se positivamente com valores do trabalho de relações sociais e com valores do trabalho de prestígio. A partir da análise de três modelos preditivos encontrou-se que otimismo e suporte emocional repercutem positivamente sobre a satisfação com a vida e sobre afetos positivos. Otimismo repercute negativamente sobre afetos negativos. Valores do trabalho de prestígio repercutem positivamente sobre afetos positivos. Valores de estabilidade repercutem negativamente sobre satisfação com a vida e sobre afetos positivos; e positivamente sobre afetos negativos. Os resultados deste estudo mostraram que o estado otimista é um poderoso fator de impacto positivo sobre o estado de saúde denominado bem estar subjetivo.(AU)

OTIMISMO, SUPORTE SOCIAL E VALORES DO TRABALHO COMO ANTECEDENTES DE BEM ESTAR SUBJETIVO DE TRABALHADORES

Este estudo teve por objetivo verificar a capacidade de otimismo, de suporte social e de valores do trabalho serem preditores de bem estar subjetivo, bem como analisar as relações de variáveis demográficas com essas variáveis de estudo, descrevê-las e examinar as relações entre elas. A amostra consistiu de 47 homens e de 101 mulheres com idade média de 41,00 anos (DP =10,72) que buscavam apoio em instituição para sua transição profissional. O instrumento de coleta de dados foi um questionário de autopreenchimento composto por cinco medidas que aferiram as variáveis incluídas no estudo: otimismo, percepção de suporte social, valores do trabalho, satisfação geral com a vida e afetos positivos e negativos, bem como variáveis demográficas: sexo, idade, estudo, trabalho, voluntariado, estado civil e permanência na instituição. Foram realizadas análises estatísticas descritivas, testadas diferenças entre médias, correlações, análise de variância e calculados modelos de regressão linear múltipla. As relações das variáveis de estudo com variáveis demográficas revelaram que as pessoas que não estudam percebem ter mais suporte prático e dão mais importância a motivações de autopromoção e de prestígio do que as que estudam. Os mais jovens com até 30 anos relataram que se percebem tendo mais apoio emocional e prático do que os mais velhos. Com o avanço da idade diminuem as percepções de suporte emocional e prático, contudo as pessoas com mais de 50 anos revelaram menos afetos negativos e maior satisfação com a vida do que os mais jovens. Casados revelaram dar menos importância do que separados, divorciados, viúvos, etc. à estabilidade no trabalho e segurança financeira; solteiros revelaram ter mais afetos negativos do que os casados. Homens relataram se sentir mais satisfeitos com a vida, ter mais afetos positivos e menos afetos negativos que mulheres. Quem realiza trabalho voluntário revelou ser mais otimista e ter menos afetos negativos do que aqueles que não realizam. Os dados revelaram que os pesquisados têm um bom nível de otimismo e uma percepção de suporte emocional maior do que a percepção de suporte prático; são motivados, principalmente por metas de realização no trabalho e de estabilidade e segurança financeira; sentem-se indiferentes quanto à satisfação com a vida; apresentam afetos positivos um pouco acima da indiferença; contudo sentem poucos afetos negativos. Disso decorre que um pouco mais de dois terços dos pesquisados apresentaram predominância de estados emocionais positivos sobre os negativos. O otimismo foi a variável que estabeleceu associações mais altas e em maior quantidade; correlacionou positivamente com valores de realização no trabalho, com valores de relações sociais, com valores do trabalho de prestígio, com satisfação com a vida e com afetos positivos; e correlacionou negativamente com afetos negativos. A percepção de suporte emocional correlacionou positivamente com valores de prestígio, afetos positivos e com satisfação com a vida; e correlacionou negativamente com afetos negativos. Percepção de suporte prático não apresentou correlações significativas com nenhuma variável de estudo. Afetos positivos correlacionaram-se positivamente com valores do trabalho de relações sociais e com valores do trabalho de prestígio. A partir da análise de três modelos preditivos encontrou-se que otimismo e suporte emocional repercutem positivamente sobre a satisfação com a vida e sobre afetos positivos. Otimismo repercute negativamente sobre afetos negativos. Valores do trabalho de prestígio repercutem positivamente sobre afetos positivos. Valores de estabilidade repercutem negativamente sobre satisfação com a vida e sobre afetos positivos; e positivamente sobre afetos negativos. Os resultados deste estudo mostraram que o estado otimista é um poderoso fator de impacto positivo sobre o estado de saúde denominado bem estar subjetivo.(AU)

The Impact of Shyness on Loneliness, Social Anxiety, and School Liking in Late Childhood

Author: Charity M. Walker Title: THE IMPACT OF SHYNESS ON LONELINESS, SOCIAL ANXIETY, AND SCHOOL LIKING IN LATE CHILDHOOD Advisor: Maria T. Riva, Ph.D. Degree Date: August 2011 ABSTRACT Shyness is associated with several emotional, social, and academic problems. While there are multiple difficulties that often accompany shyness, there appear to be some factors that can moderate negative effects of shyness. Research has demonstrated that certain parenting factors affect the adjustment of shy children in early childhood, but there is minimal research illuminating the effect of parenting factors in older age groups. The first purpose of this study was to examine relationships between shyness and loneliness, social anxiety, and school liking. The second purpose was to investigate whether the quality of the relationship between a parent and a 10- to 15-year-olds child influences the amount of loneliness or social anxiety a shy child experiences or how the child feels about school. Parent-child dyads served as participants and were recruited from public and private middle schools and church youth groups in Colorado and Indiana. Child participants completed several self-report surveys regarding their relationship with a parent, shyness, loneliness, social anxiety, and their attitude toward school. Parents completed a survey about their relationship with their child and responded to questions related to their perceptions of their child's shyness. Data was analyzed with a series of correlation and regression analyses. Greater degrees of self-reported shyness were found to be associated with higher levels of loneliness and social anxiety and less positive feelings about school. Due to a problem with multicollinearity during data analysis, this study was not able to explore the effect of the parent-child relationship quality on the associations between shyness and adjustment factors. Overall, these findings imply that shyness remains an important issue as children approach adolescence. Further research is needed to continue learning about the potential importance of parent-child interactions in reducing maladjustment for shy children during late childhood.

Habilidades funcionais de autocuidado, mobilidade e função social em crianças com fissura labiopalatina e Espectro Óculo-Aurículo-Vertebral (EOAV)

As anomalias craniofaciais ocasionam comprometimentos estéticos e funcionais com grande impacto na saúde e na integração social da criança, com interferência no desenvolvimento global e social. Das anomalias craniofaciais este estudo abordou as Fissuras Labiopalatinas (FLP) e o Espectro Óculo Aurículo Vertebral (EOAV). As FLP constituem malformações resultantes de falta do fechamento completo dos tecidos que compõe o lábio e o palato. O EOAV, também conhecido como Síndrome de Goldenhar, é uma anomalia congênita de etiologia desconhecida, com manifestação genética variável e de causa bastante heterogênea. Conhecer as habilidades funcionais e o impacto destas no desenvolvimento global de crianças com EOAV e FLP pode otimizar o desenvolvimento de programas de prevenção e intervenção para promover a saúde e a integração social destes indivíduos. Este estudo foi delineado com objetivo de verificar e comparar o desempenho em habilidades funcionais quanto ao desempenho nas áreas de autocuidado, mobilidade, função social e nível de independência entre crianças com EOAV, crianças com FLP e um grupo comparativo, de crianças sem anomalias. O modelo de pesquisa foi observacional descritivo transversal com uma casuística de 39 pais/responsáveis de crianças na faixa etária entre três anos e sete anos e seis meses, de ambos os gêneros. Foram convidados para participar pais/responsáveis de crianças em tratamento no Hospital de Reabilitação de Anomalias Craniofaciais da Universidade e São Paulo (HRAC-USP) os quais foram divididos em três grupos: dois experimentais e um grupo comparativo. O instrumento para coleta dos dados das habilidades funcionais foi o Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI), em sua versão adaptada para o português. A avaliação é realizada por meio de entrevista com o cuidador, o qual deve saber informar sobre o desempenho da criança em atividades e tarefas típicas da rotina diária. Os dados foram apresentados por análise descritiva com medidas de tendência central (média aritmética), dispersão (desvio-padrão) e distribuição de frequência, nas variáveis: idades, gênero e nível socioeconômico da família e caracterização da casuística. Para as análises das pontuações bruta e normativa do questionário PEDI no que se refere às habilidades funcionais e a assistência do cuidador nas três áreas de função autocuidado, mobilidade e função social, foi utilizado o teste de variância One Way, e para o teste de normalidade foi utilizado Shapiro Wilk para variável dependente. A análise comparativa foi realizada pelo teste de Kruskal-Wallis, adotando-se o valor de significância de p< 0,05. Os resultados deste estudo na análise comparativa nas habilidades funcionais na mobilidade, houve diferença estatisticamente significante na comparação entre os grupos GC vs GEEOAV, no escore bruto, e entre os grupos GC vs GEEOAV e GC vs GEFLP, no escore normativo.Na assistência do cuidador no autocuidado, houve diferença estatisticamente significante na comparação entre os grupos GC vs GEEOAV, no escore normativo. Na assistência do cuidador na mobilidade, houve diferença estatisticamente significante na comparação entre os grupos GC vs GEEOAV nos escores bruto e normativo.Na assistência do cuidador na função social houve diferença estatisticamente significante na comparação entre os grupos GC vs GEFLP.

Social risk factors in Spanish youth and their impact on self-concept construction

This paper presents evidence from a psychosocial framework about the relationship among youth, work, and identity construction. The aims of this research were twofold. The first one was to analyze the working conditions of Spanish youth and their impact on individuals' biographies. The second one was to examine the effect of labor-related variables on construction / change of identity elements in Spanish youth. For this purpose, two research techniques were used: the Delphi method (103 experts sample from several entities and organizations closely related to our topic) and deep interviews (15 interviews with youths classified according to their relationship with the work market). Copyright 2007 by The Spanish Journal of Psychology.

Looking twice at the gender equity index for public health impact

Background: It has been shown that gender equity has a positive impact on the everyday activities of people (decision making, income allocation, application and observance of norms/rules) which affect their health. Gender equity is also a crucial determinant of health inequalities at national level; thus, monitoring is important for surveillance of women’s and men’s health as well as for future health policy initiatives. The Gender Equity Index (GEI) was designed to show inequity solely towards women. Given that the value under scrutiny is equity, in this paper a modified version of the GEI is proposed, the MGEI, which highlights the inequities affecting both sexes. Methods: Rather than calculating gender gaps by means of a quotient of proportions, gaps in the MGEI are expressed in absolute terms (differences in proportions). The Spearman’s rank coefficient, calculated from country rankings obtained according to both indexes, was used to evaluate the level of concordance between both classifications. To compare the degree of sensitivity and obtain the inequity by the two methods, the variation coefficient of the GEI and MGEI values was calculated. Results: Country rankings according to GEI and MGEI values showed a high correlation (rank coef. = 0.95). The MGEI presented greater dispersion (43.8%) than the GEI (19.27%). Inequity towards men was identified in the education gap (rank coef. = 0.36) when using the MGEI. According to this method, many countries shared the same absolute value for education but with opposite signs, for example Azerbaijan (−0.022) and Belgium (0.022), reflecting inequity towards women and men, respectively. This also occurred in the empowerment gap with the technical and professional job component (Brunei:-0.120 vs. Australia, Canada Iceland and the U.S.A.: 0.120). Conclusion: The MGEI identifies and highlights the different areas of inequities between gender groups. It thus overcomes the shortcomings of the GEI related to the aim for which this latter was created, namely measuring gender equity, and is therefore of great use to policy makers who wish to understand and monitor the results of specific equity policies and to determine the length of time for which these policies should be maintained in order to correct long-standing structural discrimination against women.