Patterns and Drivers of Emigration of the Turkish Second Generation in the Netherlands

European Journal of Population - Using unique longitudinal data from the Dutch population registers, this study investigates the patterns and drivers of emigration of the Turkish second generation...     

Critical Reflection on the Ethics of Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a way to achieve mental wellbeing that has been widely adopted as part of counselling and mental health treatment. However, there is a distinct lack of critical reflection about the origins of this technique, how it is used, and the implications it has for the beliefs of clients. The purpose of this paper is to provide a carefully considered response to the use of humanistic mindfulness. Social workers need to explain why they recommend mindfulness, and explore culturally consistent and sensitive practice, so that they are abiding by the Australian Association of Social Workers Code of ethics.

IMPLICATIONS

• The use of mindfulness in social work practice requires careful consideration as to its impact and relevance to clients’ needs.

• Mindfulness originates in philosophical traditions distinct from mental health treatment.

• In choosing to use mindfulness social workers require consistent and sensitive understanding of clients’ needs, world views, and culture.

     

Reliability of accelerometric measurement of physical activity in older adults-the benefit of using the trimmed sum

There is general consensus that physical activity is important for preserving functional capacities of older adults and positively influencing quality of life. While accelerometry is widely accepted and applied to assess physical activity in studies, several problems with this method remain (e.g., low retest reliability, measurement errors). The aim of this study was to test the intra-instrumental retest reliability of a wrist-worn accelerometer in a 3-day measurement of physical activity in older adults and to compare different estimators. A sample of 123 older adults (76.5?±?5.1?years, 59?% female) wore a uniaxial accelerometer continuously for 1?week. The data were split into two repeated measurement values (week set) of 3?days each. The sum, the 80?C99th quantiles and the 80?C99th trimmed sums were built for each week set. Retest reliability was assessed for each estimator and graphically demonstrated by Bland?CAltman plots. The intraclass correlation of the retest reliability ranged from 0.22 to 0.91. Retest reliability increases when a more robust estimator than the overall sum is used. Therefore, the trimmed sum can be recommended as a conservative estimate of the physical activity level of older adults.     

Does Society Matter? Life Satisfaction in the Enlarged Europe

Life satisfaction is quite heterogeneously distributed across countries of the enlarged European Union. Previous research has shown how living conditions within individual countries, such as access to material and emotional resources, are important for personal well-being, but it has been less successful in explaining differences between countries. This article investigates whether it matters in which political and economic circumstances people live, as well as whether their particular perception of the quality of their societal environment plays a role. People are well aware that the institutional and cultural settings in which their lives are embedded create opportunities and limitations: within individual countries, perceptions of society influence life satisfaction outcomes irrespective of access to resources. However, their importance for well-being differs across Europe: perceptions of societies are highly decisive in countries that provide only a minimum of social security and in which the reliability of political institutions is poor. In rich and stable countries, the impact is weaker and private social support becomes more important. In addition to these country-specific weights of life satisfaction determinants, life satisfaction variations between countries can be explained to a large extent by taking into consideration the economic performance, the social security level, and the political culture in a country—all in all, general conditions that enable people to live a respectable life.     

Die deutschen Gewerkschaften: Ein Review der aktuellen Forschungsliteratur

Unions, particularly in Germany, are the subject matter of intense public debates as well as discussions in academic research, which corroborate the former. The last systematically conducted analysis of the status quo in academic research was done in spring 2001. In view of the rather dramatic symptoms of the crisis German unions are facing, it is time to incorporate the latest results of scientific research. This paper addresses this task against the background of a systematic literature review. Three application areas are distilled out of a total of 79 pieces of research that are considered relevant and intensively discussed: (1) the membership in German unions, (2) the unions in the German system of industrial relations and (3) the reformation of the German unions. The detected symptoms of the unions' crisis are impressively documented and explained by the studies. However, shortcomings regarding the respective research questions and the development of recommendations for future courses of action for the unions can also be identified.     

Time to Diagnosis: Accounting for Differential Endpoint Follow-up in Multi-Cohort Studies

Cox regression is widely used to analyze discrete survival time data. Differential endpoint follow-up across sub-cohorts where distribution of a covariate varies may cause typical estimators to be biased or inefficient. We demonstrate that with Cardiovascular Health Study data for incident type 2 diabetes. Two cohorts with extremely different race distribution have differential follow-up for fasting glucose levels. We study various scenarios of Cox regression. We suggest an alternative approach, Poisson generalized estimating equations with an offset to accommodate the differential follow-up. We use simulations to contrast the methods.     

Semiparametric log-linear regression for longitudinal measurements subject to outcome-dependent follow-up

A common problem for longitudinal data analyses is that subjects follow-up is irregular, often related to the past outcome or other factors associated with the outcome measure that are not included in the regression model. Analyses unadjusted for outcome-dependent follow-up yield biased estimates. We propose a longitudinal data analysis that can provide consistent estimates in regression models that are subject to outcome-dependent follow-up. We focus on semiparametric marginal log-link regression with arbitrary unspecified baseline function. Based on estimating equations, the proposed class of estimators are root n consistent and asymptotically normal. We present simulation studies that assess the performance of the estimators under finite samples. We illustrate our approach using data from a health services research study.