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We are unable to provide photocopies of any the articles and reports abstracted below. Where possible, links have been provided to the publisher of the material and contact information for the corresponding author is listed. Many of the journals provide copies (usually for a fee) of reports online. Please consider asking your library to subscribe to the journals from which these abstracts have been gathered.

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• Br J Community Nurs 2002 Nov;7(11):581-6 Related Articles, Links Do baby walkers delay onset of walking in young children? Burrows P, Griffiths P. Southwark Primary Care Trust, Aylesbury Health Centre, Thurlow Street, London. Baby walkers have been a source of considerable controversy. Some people suggest developmental benefit from their use while others focus on the potential harm that stems from accidents and even suggest developmental delay. This mini-review aimed to determine if use of a baby walker delays affects the onset of walking. The Cochrane library, Embase, CINAHL and Medline were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and cohort studies, which compared the onset of walking in infants who used baby walkers with a group who did not. Two RCTs and two cohort studies were identified and available for consideration. All of the studies examined the effect of infant walkers on the onset of walking. The results of the two RCTs did not demonstrate a significant effect on the onset of walking. The cohort studies suggest that the use of infant walkers delayed the onset of walking in young children and a pooled analysis of the four studies suggested a delay of between 11 and 26 days. Although the quality of the studies was relatively poor these studies lend no support to the argument that walkers aid the development of walking. The significance of a delay of this magnitude is however unclear. Further work is required to determine whether walkers are an independent causal factor in accidents.

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• Work 2002;19(1):81-6 Related Articles, Links The best method for improving safety on the job for supported employees. Holzberg E. Boston University, Boston, MA, USA. This article addresses the best method for improving safety on-the-job for supported employees. A survey of common causes of accidents and the opinions of individuals involved in supported employment is presented. This is followed by an evaluation of types of safety skills training that is available. Most of the training programs discussed utilized a problem solving approach.

• No reports this week

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• S Afr Med J 2002 Oct;92(10):798-802 Related Articles, Links The malignant epidemic--changing patterns of trauma. Bowley DM, Khavandi A, Boffard KD, Macnab C, Eales J, Vellema J, Schoon H, Goosen J. Johannesburg Hospital Trauma Unit, Department of Surgery, University of the Witwatersrand. OBJECTIVES AND SETTING: The worldwide burden of trauma is increasing, but is unequally distributed between nations. Trauma in South Africa targets the young and productive in society and imposes a major burden on the health infrastructure. We undertook a review of injury trends among patients attending the Johannesburg Hospital Trauma Unit (JHTU) and the Johannesburg Medicolegal Laboratory (JMLL) in order to document the evolution in patterns of trauma over a 17-year period of great social and political change. DESIGN, SUBJECTS AND OUTCOME MEASURES: This was a retrospective review of all priority-one patients attending the JHTU from January 1985 to December 2001. The JHTU trauma database was used to retrieve information on patient demographics, wound mechanism and injury severity. The database at the JMLL, maintained since 1996, was examined and the manner and place of death were analysed. RESULTS: The JHTU has seen an unprecedented increase in the number of trauma patients over the last 17 years. The patients' demographic profiles have altered and injury is now predominantly due to interpersonal violence. Unnatural deaths examined at the JMLL have declined by 19% since 1996; however, the proportion of those deaths due to gunshot wounds has risen. CONCLUSIONS: The social and political changes in South Africa in recent years have led to changes in the injury profiles seen at the JHTU. Part of the increase can be explained by desegregation and a reduction in the provision of local hospital services; however, the impact of urbanisation within South Africa, cross-border migration and the high incidence of substance abuse are recognised. Evidence supports the implementation of legislative, environmental, social and behavioural interventions to contain and reduce the incidence and impact of violence and injury. Concerted efforts must be made at all levels to curb South Africa's trauma epidemic.
• Eur J Surg 2002;168(6):360-5 Related Articles, Links Injured moped riders who required admission to hospital in Sweden from 1987 to 1994. Bostrom L, Wladis A, Nilsson B. Correspondence: Lennart Bostrom, Department of General Surgery, Vasteras Hospital, Stockholm, SWEDEN, (email: lennart.bostrom@ltvastmanland.se).

  OBJECTIVES: To find out the incidence, extent of injury, medical consequences, and mortality rate of moped riders involved in crashes in Sweden. DESIGN: Retrospective case study. SETTING: The Swedish Hospital Discharge Register (SHDR). SUBJECTS: 4716 moped riders, a total of 5857 admissions to Swedish hospitals from 1987-94. INTERVENTIONS: Statistical analysis of the Register. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Incidence of injured moped riders in Sweden, mortality rate, types of injuries, and medical consequences. RESULTS: From 1987 to 1994, Swedish hospitals admitted 4716 moped riders (5857 admissions) injured in crashes, which corresponds to a mean of 8.5 injured/100 000 population a year. Of these 3993 were male (85%) and 723 female (15%), with a median age of 16 years (range 3-93). Twenty-four percent of those admitted to hospital spent more than a week there. The annual number of injured moped riders did not change significantly during this period. The total number of deaths in hospital was 59 (1%). Among those who died in hospital, 32 (54%) had head injuries, 16 (27%) fractures, and 5 (9%) abdominal or thoracic injuries. CONCLUSION: The number of injured moped riders in Sweden is low. Fractures of the extremities were most common, followed by injuries to the head and brain. The usual victim was a teenager or young man. Of the patients treated in hospital few died, most of whom were elderly men.

• Int J Gynaecol Obstet 2002 Sep;78 Suppl 1:S27-38 Related Articles, Links Establishing a one-stop crisis center for women suffering violence in Khonkaen hospital, Thailand. Grisurapong S. Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Mahidol University, Salaya Campus, Puthamonthon, Nakhonpathom, Thailand (email: shsgs@mahidol.ac.th) This paper discusses the experiences of the Khonkaen provincial hospital, which has been selected as an intervention case site for a one-stop crisis service for women who have been physically or sexually assaulted. It will be compared with another provincial hospital where no intervention has taken place.
• Int J Gynaecol Obstet 2002 Sep;78 Suppl 1:S111-7 Related Articles, Links 'A Practical Approach to Gender-Based Violence: A Programme Guide for Health Care Providers and Managers' developed by the UN Population Fund. Stevens L. Correspondence: Lynne Stevens, 159 West 95 Street, New York, NY, USA; (email:lynnes@earthlink.net). Gender-based violence (GBV) is a worldwide problem that can have serious physical and psychological consequences. Women need to be assessed for GBV and a logical place to do so would be where women go for health care, reproductive health facilities. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has developed 'A Practical Approach to Gender-Based Violence: A Program Guide for Health Care Providers and Managers' to assist reproductive health facilities in integrating GBV into their programs. This article briefly describes the project options and the steps that need to be taken in order to implement such projects.
• Int J Gynaecol Obstet 2002 Sep;78 Suppl 1:S5-S14 Related Articles, Links A global overview of gender-based violence. Heise L, Ellsberg M, Gottmoeller M. Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), Washington, DC, USA (lheise@path-dc.org). This paper provides an overview of the extent and nature of gender-based violence and its health consequences, particularly on sexual and reproductive health.
• Int J Gynaecol Obstet 2002 Sep;78 Suppl 1:S21-5 Related Articles, Links Violence against women and Brazilian health care policies: a proposal for integrated care in primary care services. Schraiber LB, d'Oliveira AF. Correspondence: A. F. P. L. d'Oliveira, Samuel Pessoa School Health Care Center, Department of Preventive Medicine of the Medical School, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil (email: aflolive@usp.br). Describes a counseling and support intervention in primary health care which is being piloted in a health center in Sao Paulo, Brazil. This proposal integrates sexual and domestic violence assistance and hospital and primary care, providing comprehensive care and intersectorial response for women.
• Int J Gynaecol Obstet 2002 Sep;78 Suppl 1:S15-20 Related Articles, Links Overview of international human rights standards and other agreements and responses of the judicial system to violence against women. Carrillo R. UNIFEM, New York, NY, USA (email: roxanna.carrillo@undp.org). This paper describes how violence against women has become part of the United Nations agenda. It focuses on violence as a human rights issue, analyzing the mechanisms and agreements relevant to addressing it. It also looks at implementation at a national level, focusing on national legislation and responses of the judicial system.

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• Acta Psychiatr Scand 2002 Nov;106(5):387-93 Related Articles, Links Family history of suicidal behaviour: prevalence and significance in deliberate self-harm patients. Hawton K, Haw C, Houston K, Townsend E. Centre for Suicide Research, University of Oxford, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, UK. keith.hawton@psychiatry.ox.ac.uk OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether there are differences between the characteristics of deliberate self-harm (DSH) patients with and without a family history of suicidal behaviour. METHOD: In 146 DSH patients, those with and without a positive family history were compared with regard to the nature and repetition of their DSH episodes, and psychological and psychiatric characteristics. RESULTS: Fifty-two (35.6%) patients had a family history of suicidal behaviour. DSH was more frequent in patients' mothers (17.1%) than fathers (2.7%). Patients with a family history of suicidal behaviour, especially females, had higher state anger scores. CONCLUSION: Family history of suicidal behaviour appears to be associated with greater anger. Absence of other associations suggests that family history probably has less implication for individuals who have already engaged in DSH than in contributing to its initiation. Future studies should include patients with violent or life-threatening DSH acts
• Suicide Life Threat Behav 2002 Fall;32(3):256-71 Related Articles, Links Suicidal behavior among urban, African American young adults. Ialongo N, McCreary BK, Pearson JL, Koenig AL, Wagner BM, Schmidt NB, Poduska J, Kellam SG. Department of Mental Hygiene, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. nialongo@jhsph.edu The objectives of the present study were four-fold. First, to determine the lifetime, last year, and 6-month prevalence and demographic correlates of suicidal behavior in a defined population of urban, African American young adults. Second, to determine the degree of mental health service utilization among attempters. Third, to study the comorbidity between mental disorders and suicidal behavior, along with the variation in the numbers and types of psychiatric disorders associated with attempts versus ideation only. Fourth, to examine gender differences in the psychiatric diagnoses associated with attempts and ideation. Data relevant to each of these objectives were gathered through structured interviews of 1,157 economically disadvantaged, African American young adults. Lifetime, last year, and 6-month prevalence rates for attempts were 5.3%, 1.2%, and 0.4%, respectively, whereas the lifetime and 6-month prevalence of ideation were 14% and 1.9%, respectively. Approximately two thirds of those who reported lifetime ideation, and a similar proportion of those who reported lifetime attempts, had a history of at least one lifetime psychiatric disorder. There were no gender differences in terms of the degree of risk for suicidal behavior (ideation or attempts) associated with any of the comorbid psychiatric diagnoses assessed. Despite the severity of most attempts, few attempters received mental health services in their lifetime or at the time of their most recent attempt.
• Suicide Life Threat Behav 2002 Fall;32(3):284-300 Related Articles, Links Mental health professionals' determinations of adolescent suicide attempts. Wagner BM, Wong SA, Jobes DA. Department of Psychology, Catholic University of America, Washington, DC 20064, USA. wagnerb@cua.edu The degree of ambiguity in the term suicide attempt was examined among 14 expert suicidologists, and 59 general mental health clinicians who either did or did not receive a standard definition of the term. The participants judged whether each of ten vignettes of actual adolescent self-harm behaviors was a suicide attempt. Low levels of agreement were found within each group, although agreement was better for the most and least serious cases. Possible explanations were examined, including how professionals weight suicidal intent and medical lethality in their suicide attempt decisions, and the use of a "fuzzy," natural language conceptualization of suicide attempts was proposed.

• Accid Anal Prev 2002 Nov;34(6):753-62 Related Articles, Links The effect on accidents of technical inspections of heavy vehicles in Norway. Elvik R. Institute of Transport Economics, Oslo, Norway. rune.elvik@toi.no This paper presents a study of the effects on accidents of technical inspections of heavy vehicles (trucks and buses) in Norway. Multiple regression analysis is applied in order to estimate the effects of technical inspections, controlling for annual trend in accident rate, the number of new drivers and annual economic growth. It is found that abolishing inspections may result in an increase of 5-10% in the number of heavy vehicles involved in injury accidents; increasing the number of inspections by 100% is associated with a similar reduction in the number of accidents. These results are not statistically significant and highly uncertain. The study clearly illustrates many of the difficulties often encountered in non-experimental accident research.
• Accid Anal Prev 2002 Nov;34(6):815-23 Related Articles, Links The effects of standard enforcement on Michigan safety belt use. Eby DW, Vivoda JM, Fordyce TA. UMTRI-SBA, University of Michigan, Transportation Research Institute, Ann Arbor 48109-2150, USA. eby@umich.edu The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of standard enforcement legislation on safety belt use in Michigan through a series of seven statewide direct observation surveys. A secondary purpose of the study was to compare the results in Michigan to the results in other states that have changed the provision of their mandatory safety belt use law from secondary to standard enforcement. The study found that standard enforcement has been effective in increasing safety belt use in Michigan. Immediately following the implementation of standard enforcement, Michigan's belt use rate increased to 83.5%, 13.4 percentage points higher than the highest rate previously observed. One year after the change, safety belt use in Michigan was still nearly 10 percentage points greater than the highest observed rate before standard enforcement legislation was enacted. Results indicated that safety belt use decreased slightly in the year following the implementation of standard enforcement. This appears to be an overall trend across all observed groups, and not due to any single demographic category. The results also suggest that standard enforcement legislation appears to have a greater effect on groups with historically low belt use, such as young people, males, passengers, and Black/African-Americans. When compared with other states that have made the change from secondary to standard enforcement, the increase in the safety belt use rate in Michigan was comparable to the increase seen in states with relatively high safety belt use prior to standard enforcement. However, states that had low safety belt use rates prior to adopting standard enforcement legislation observed a larger percentage point increase in the year following their change to standard enforcement.
• Accid Anal Prev 2002 Nov;34(6):825-34 Related Articles, Links Effects of an afternoon nap on nighttime alertness and performance in long-haul drivers. Macchi MM, Boulos Z, Ranney T, Simmons L, Campbell SS. Institute for Circadian Physiology, White Plains, NY 10605, USA. mm1706@columbia.edu The effects of an afternoon nap on alertness and psychomotor performance were assessed during a simulated night shift. After a night of partial sleep restriction, eight professional long-haul drivers either slept (nap condition) or engaged in sedentary activities (no-nap condition) from 14:00 to 17:00 h. Alertness and performance testing sessions were conducted at 12:00 (pre-nap baseline), 24:00, 02:30, 05:00 and 07:30 h, and followed 2-h runs in a driving simulator. In the nap condition, the subjects showed lower subjective sleepiness and fatigue, as measured by visual analog scales, and faster reaction times and less variability on psychomotor performance tasks. Electrophysiological indices of arousal during the driving runs also reflected the beneficial effects of the afternoon nap, with lower spectral activity in the theta (4-7.75 Hz), alpha (8-11.75 Hz) and fast theta-slow alpha (6-9.75 Hz) frequency bands of the electroencephalogram, indicating higher arousal levels. Thus, a 3-h napping opportunity ending at 17:00 h improved significantly several indices of alertness and performance measured 7-14 h later.
• J Safety Res 2002 Fall;33(3):293-9 Related Articles, Links Awareness of zero tolerance laws in three states. Ferguson SA, Williams AF. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 1005 North Glebe Road, Arlington, VA 22201-4751, USA. research@iihs.org PROBLEM: A prior study indicated that zero tolerance laws differ in their enforceability and likelihood of enforcement, with California's law being easier to enforce than New York's, and New Mexico's being the hardest of all. The question is, do these differences in enforcement affect teenagers' knowledge and perception of these laws? METHOD: A telephone survey was conducted to investigate awareness of the laws among 17-20 year olds in these three states and perceptions of enforcement. RESULTS: Estimated percentages of teenagers who knew of the laws were much higher in New York and California (71% and 65%, respectively) than in New Mexico (34%). Perceptions that police were enforcing the law, that licenses could be suspended, and that penalties were often applied were also lowest in New Mexico. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: The potential of zero tolerance laws will not be realized without better awareness among young people. Full enforcement of the laws accompanied by publicity about the enforcement is recommended. Changes to the laws and their application may encourage enforcement efforts.
• Accid Anal Prev 2002 Nov;34(6):835-42 Related Articles, Links Responses of teenagers and their parents to California's graduated licensing system. Williams AF, Nelson LA, Leaf WA. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Arlington, VA 22201-4751, USA. awilliams@iihs.org In 1998, California adopted a strong graduated licensing system that lengthened the learner's permit stage from 1 month to a mandatory 6 months and introduced passenger and nighttime restrictions for initial license holders. The passenger restriction (no passengers younger than 20 for the first 6 months) is stronger than such restrictions in any other state; the nighttime ban is relatively weak, not beginning until midnight. Surveys were undertaken to learn what teenagers and their parents thought about the new requirements and how they responded to them. Two groups of beginning California license holders were surveyed three times during the first year of licensure; their parents were interviewed twice. One group (n = 543) was subject to the graduated licensing requirements, the other (n = 814) was not. Parents strongly endorsed the new system. The vast majority approved of the new permit requirements and the nighttime and passenger restrictions. Among parents whose children were subject to the new requirements, 79% were strongly in favor of the new system and only 4% were neutral or opposed. Teenagers were less favorable toward the new requirements. Most approved of the new learner's permit rules, and the majority of teenagers favored the night restriction, but only about one-third endorsed the passenger restriction. Compliance with the new rules was not close to universal, but the new licensing system resulted in young people holding their learner's permits longer, accumulating more practice driving prior to licensure and decreased the amount of reported driving after midnight and transportation of teenagers when initially licensed. Most teenagers subject to the new rules said they were able to do the activities they wanted despite the changes; almost three-quarters said they were not affected much by either the nighttime or passenger restriction. Overall the results indicate that the new licensing system is accepted favorably by teenagers and their parents and has substantially increased the types of behaviors that collectively should lead to crash and injury reductions.
• J Safety Res 2002 Winter;33(4):445-62 Related Articles, Links An analysis of motorcycle injury and vehicle damage severity using ordered probit models. Quddus MA, Noland RB, Chin HC. Mohammed A. Quddus, Centre for Transport Studies, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, SW7 2BU, London, UK; (email:m.quddus@ic.ac.uk). PROBLEM: Motorcycles constitute about 19% of all motorized vehicles in Singapore and are generally overrepresented in traffic accidents, accounting for 40% of total fatalities. METHOD: In this paper, an ordered probit model is used to examine factors that affect the injury severity of motorcycle accidents and the severity of damage to the vehicle for those crashes. Nine years of motorcycle accident data were obtained for Singapore through police reports. These data included categorical assessments of the severity of accidents based on three levels. Damage severity to the vehicle was also assessed and categorized into four levels. Categorical data of this type are best analyzed using ordered probit models because they require no assumptions regarding the ordinality of the dependent variable, which in this case is the severity score. Various models are examined to determine what factors are related to increased injury and damage severity of motorcycle accidents. RESULTS: Factors found to lead to increases in the probability of severe injuries include the motorcyclist having non-Singaporean nationality, increased engine capacity, headlight not turned on during daytime, collisions with pedestrians and stationary objects, driving during early morning hours, having a pillion passenger, and when the motorcyclist is determined to be at fault for the accident. Factors leading to increased probability of vehicle damage include some similar factors but also show some differences, such as less damage associated with pedestrian collisions and with female drivers. In addition, it was also found that both injury severity and vehicle damage severity levels are decreasing over time.
• Nippon Hoigaku Zasshi 2002 Sep;56(2-3):236-47 Related Articles, Links [Medicolegal and compensation scientific approach to automobile accident] [Article in Japanese] Yamanouchi H. Division of Legal Medicine, Niigata University Graduate School of Medicine and Dental Science. Multiple injuries are frequently observed over the whole body of traffic victims in medico-legal autopsy cases. The assessment of a traffic casualty must include not only the victim but also the vehicle and the circumstances of the accident. Only consideration of all available data permits a better assessment of the mechanism of the crash and causation of injuries. J. M. Thevenet drove the first car carried from France to Japan on February 6, 1898. On October 28th, 1905, the first death by a road traffic accident occurred in Osaka. We performed a retrospective analysis of 279 traffic fatalities examined by medico-legal autopsy in Niigata that occurred over a twenty-two-year period from 1980 to 2001. All persons who had an ICD-10 code were grouped by 153 pedestrians, 43 pedal cyclists, 20 motorcycle riders, 45 car occupants, 11 occupants of pick-up trucks or vans, 4 occupants of heavy transport vehicles and 3 others. The average of ISS (injury scale score) is 40.7 in pedestrians, 26.7 in pedal cyclists, 32.4 in motorcycle riders, 25.1 in car occupants, 16.5 in occupants of pick-up trucks or vans, 24.0 in heavy transport vehicles and 69.0 in others. Rib fractures were observed in 170 cases (60.9%) and the frequency of other injuries was shown in Table 2. Criminal Punishment for drivers involved in 261 traffic accidents amounted to 35 sentences of imprisonment (13.4%), 46 suspension of execution of sentence (17.6%) and 60 sentence of fine (23.0%). Forty prone pedestrians run over by cars showed high ethanol levels in their blood. It was necessary to identify the driver of a vehicle in twelve car accidents and simulation with a computer is very useful. The average of ISS was 34.0 in ten drivers and 22.0 in fourteen fellow passengers. Four sudden natural deaths of drivers at the wheel, eight cases of death immediately after and from one day to five months after road traffic accidents, nine suicides and one intentional accident are excluded from traffic death. Both a medico legal and scientific compensation approach to automobile accident is now necessary.

• J Adolesc Health 2002 Dec;31(6):449-454 Links Adolescent exposure to extremely violent movies. Sargent JD, Heatherton TF, Ahrens MB, Dalton MA, Tickle JJ, Beach ML. Department of Pediatrics (J.D.S., M.B.A., M.A.D.), Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA To determine exposure of young adolescents to extremely violent movies.Cross-sectional school-based survey of middle school students at 15 randomly selected New Hampshire and Vermont middle schools. Each survey contained a unique list of 50 movies, randomly selected from 603 top box office hits from 1988 to 1999, 51 of which were determined by content analysis to contain extremely violent material. Movie titles only were listed, and adolescents were asked to indicate which ones they had seen. Each movie appeared on approximately 470 surveys. We calculated the percentage of students who had seen each movie for a representative subsample of the student population. We also examined characteristics associated with seeing at least one extremely violent movie. Complete survey information was obtained from 5456 students. The sample was primarily white and equally distributed by gender.On average, extremely violent movies were seen by 28% of the students in the sample (range 4% to 66%). The most popular movie, Scream, was seen by two-thirds of students overall and over 40% of fifth-graders. Other movies with sexualized violent content were seen by many of these adolescents. Examples include The General's Daughter (rated R for "graphic images related to sexual violence including a rape scene and perverse sexuality") and Natural Born Killers (rated R for "extreme violence and graphic carnage, shocking images, language, and sexuality"), seen by 27% and 20%, respectively. Older students, males, those of lower socioeconomic status, and those with poorer school performance were all significantly more likely to have seen at least one extremely violent movie.This study documents widespread exposure of young adolescents to movies with brutal, and often sexualized, violence. Given that many of these films were marketed to teens, better oversight of the marketing practices of the film industry may be warranted.
• J Adolesc Health 2002 Dec;31(6):446-448 Links Adolescent violent behavior and ego development. DiNapoli PP. School of Health and Human Services, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire, USA The guiding hypothesis of this study was that there is an association between violence and ego development. Exploratory factor analysis was used to generate summed scales used as proxy measures for the major construct components, ego development and violence. The results of this study support the hypothesis.
• J Adolesc Health 2002 Dec;31(6):463-468 Links Parenting style and adolescent's reaction to conflict: is there a relationship? Miller JM, DiIorio C, Dudley W. Department of Health Policy and Management, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, (J.M.M.), Baltimore, Maryland, USA To determine if the reactions of adolescents toward hypothetical situations that can lead to conflict and violence varied by parenting style of their mothers.This study was part of a larger research project involving adolescents and their mothers participating in a longitudinal HIV-prevention program. Mothers and their adolescents were recruited from a community-based organization (CBO) and interviewed separately. Data were analyzed using the responses of 439 African-American adolescents ranging from ages 11 to 14 years. The responses of adolescents to questions about parenting were used to classify mothers into one of three parenting styles: authoritative, authoritarian, or permissive. The "anticipated reactions to hypothetical situations" scale consists of 11 items with 6 response categories. The six responses were reclassified into three categories ranging from "not at all violent" to "extremely violent." Higher scores indicate more violent reactions to the hypothetical situations. The parenting scale consists of two subscales: a 13-item parental involvement scale and a 13-item parental control scale. Items were rated on a 5-point Likert scale from "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree." Analysis of variance was used to determine if the anticipated reactions of adolescents toward hypothetical situations varied by parenting style of their mothers.Adolescent participants who reported a more permissive parenting style expressed more intense negative reactions toward the hypothetical situations that can provoke conflict. Male adolescents also expressed more intense reactions than females to the situations. There was no difference in intensity of reaction by age after controlling for gender and parenting style.Parenting style is associated with adolescents' reactions to hypothetical situations that can provoke conflict. This finding highlights the importance of considering parents and their approach to child-rearing as a factor in the adolescent's ability to react to conflict.
• Can J Public Health 2002 Nov-Dec;93(6):416-20 Related Articles, Links Health and use of health services of children exposed to violence in their families. Onyskiw JE. University of Alberta, Perinatal Research Centre, #4510 Children's Centre, Royal Alexandra Hospital, 10240 Kingsway Avenue, Edmonton, AB T5H 3V9. jonyskiw@ualberta.ca OBJECTIVE: To obtain baseline data on the health status and use of health services of children exposed to violence in their families. METHOD: The study used data from the first cycle of the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (1994/95). According to parental reports, 8.6% of children (n = 1,648; representing 329,657 children) aged 2 to 11 years witnessed some violence in their families. They were compared to children who were reported to have never witnessed any violence at home. FINDINGS: Children exposed to domestic violence had lower health status and more conditions or health problems which limited their participation in normal age-related activities than children in non-violent families. Despite this, they had no more contacts with family practitioners in the previous year and even fewer contacts with pediatricians than comparison children. They did, however, have more contacts with "other medical doctors," public health nurses, child welfare workers, and other therapists than comparison children. In addition, more child witnesses regularly used prescription medication than children not exposed to violence at home. CONCLUSION: These baseline findings suggest that exposure to domestic violence has an adverse impact on children's health and use of health services. As future cycles become available, these children will be followed to determine the long-term impact on these outcomes.
• Int J Gynaecol Obstet 2002 Dec;79(3):269-77 Related Articles, Links Domestic violence during pregnancy in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Moraes CL, Reichenheim ME. Correspondence: C. L. Moraes, Departamento de Epidemiologia, Instituto de Medicina Social Nucleo de Pesquisa das Violencias-NUPEVI, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil clmoraes@ims.uerj.br OBJECTIVES: To estimate the prevalence and risk groups of domestic violence during pregnancy among public health care users in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The study focuses on violence perpetrated by both women and partners. METHOD: 526 women giving birth at term in public maternities from March to October 2000 were randomly selected and interviewers used the Revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2). RESULTS: 33.8% [95% confidence interval (CI): 28.8-37.0%] of the respondents reported some form of physical violence and 16.5% (95% CI: 13.3-19.8%) referred to severe forms. A total of 78.3% (95% CI: 74.8-81.8%), 9.9% (95% CI: 7.5-12.7%) and 15.6% (95% CI: 12.6-18.9%) reported psychological aggression, sexual coercion and injuries, respectively. Physical violence mainly occurred among adolescent women with less schooling, who did not work outside the home, with fewer prenatal appointments, and with little social support. Families with more under-five children, alcohol and drug abuse, and low socio-economic status were also involved more frequently. CONCLUSION: High prevalence rates for various forms of domestic violence in Brazil suggest that the issue should be viewed as a major public health problem.
• Accid Emerg Nurs 2002 Jul;10(3):143-8 Related Articles, Links Paediatric trauma: when it is not an accident. Spencer D. Danielle Spencer, 16 Sunblest Court, Eatons Hill, Queensland, 4037, Australia. Tel: +61-7-36368641; E-mail address: radspencer@ozemail.com; spencerd@health.qld A portion of childhood trauma seen in any emergency department will be non-accidental in origin. Child abuse is a world-wide phenomenon that transcends race, religion, colour and socio-economic status. Any aspect of child abuse is likely to interfere with the child's normal social, cognitive and spiritual development. A variety of injuries may be seen in the abused child and the emergency nurse is placed in a strategic position to identify and intervene in these cases. This paper aims to review some of the current research and literature, specifically in regard to physical child abuse, risk factors, presentation patterns and links with domestic violence.
• Med Law 2002;21(3):495-520 Related Articles, Links Reflections on dangerousness and its prediction--a truly tantalizing task? Bauer A, Gruszniewski A, Khawaled R, Grinshpoon A, Mark M, Mester R. School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Faculty of Family Medicine. Risk or dangerousness is a problem which, of its very nature, must occupy the minds of all mental health and law enforcement professionals. Papers and research studies without number have attempted to define its extent and constituent elements and plumb the secrets of its assessment. Defining the tools and skills needed to analyze and predict dangerousness is a key contribution to helping psychiatrists and lawyers take their critical decisions on compulsory hospitalization, issuing or refusing a gun or driving license, etc. Members of other professions too have not only to decide whether or not to curtail an individual's civil rights but to be able to put forward rational and coherent grounds for their decision. And yet time after time mistaken decisions are made, frequently causing the subject of the decision unnecessary suffering and sometimes leading to a tragic outcome. The difficulty of risk assessment is its complexity, the result of a multitude of contributing and interacting variables. The 'dangerous person' does not have a single profile: there is no individual who under certain circumstances cannot become dangerous. That being so, the focus of our study must not be the factors capable of making a person violent but correctly managing the circumstances and situations in which violence can occur. For the purposes of this paper we concern ourselves only with the physical aspects of dangerousness. Although the risk we analyze here is bound up with an act of violence, we must keep in mind that dangerousness and violence are two separate concepts. After reviewing existing theory and current knowledge on risk assessment and prediction, we shall describe how the Israeli judicial and legislative systems deal with risk and attempt the task of forecasting the use of violence in a divided society in the throes of modernization. To close we propose an explorative study, designed to develop a short- and medium-range risk assessment instrument.
• J Occup Health Psychol 2002 Apr;7(2):174-88 Related Articles, Links Sexual assault and other types of sexual harassment by workplace personnel: a comparison of antecedents and consequences. Harned MS, Ormerod AJ, Palmieri PA, Collinsworth LL, Reed M. Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 61820, USA. mharned@s.psych.uiuc.edu Although sexual assault by workplace personnel is widely viewed as a type of sexual harassment, little is known about whether these overlapping constructs may possess some unique characteristics. This article compares the theoretical antecedents and consequences of sexual assault by workplace personnel and other types of sexual harassment among 22,372 women employed in the U.S. military. Path analysis revealed that low sociocultural and organizational power are associated with an increased likelihood of both types of victimization. Organizational climate and job gender context are directly associated with sexual harassment but are only indirectly associated with sexual assault by workplace personnel. Both types of victimization are associated with a variety of negative outcomes, but the pattern of negative consequences differs.
• Am J Public Health 2002 Dec;92(12):1921-30 Related Articles, Links Vodka and violence: alcohol consumption and homicide rates in Russia. Pridemore WA. The author is with the Department of Sociology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Okla. In Russia, rates of alcohol consumption and homicide are among the highest in the world, and already-high levels increased dramatically after the breakup of the Soviet Union. Rates of both, however, vary greatly among Russia's 89 regions. We took advantage of newly available vital statistics and socioeconomic data to examine the regional covariation of drinking and lethal violence. Log-log models were employed to estimate the impact of alcohol consumption on regional homicide rates, controlling for structural factors thought to influence the spatial distribution of homicide rates. Results revealed a positive and significant relationship between alcohol consumption and homicide, with a 1% increase in regional consumption of alcohol associated with an approximately 0.25% increase in homicide rates. In Russia, higher regional rates of alcohol consumption are associated with higher rates of homicide.
• Soc Work 2002 Oct;47(4):389-400. Breaking the web of abuse and silence: voices of battered women in Japan. Yoshihama M. Correspondence: Mieko Yoshihama, School of Social Work, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109-1106, USA. miekoy@umich.edu This article presents the findings of a focus group research project with battered women in Tokyo, Japan. Participants' narratives of their experience with their partners' violence suggest a web of entrapment, from which women saw little possibility of escape. The partners' physical violence, interference with the women's social participation, isolation from supportive networks, and degradation and debasement entrapped participants. The victim-blaming attitudes of family, friends, and professionals, as well as the lack of assistance programs and police protection often reinforced the web. When these women took the risk of exposing what was long considered private and shameful, isolation was broken. Designed as an action research project, the study resulted in the formation of the Japan's first community-based support group for battered women. The article discusses implications for social work practice and research with immigrant battered women, those from Japan in particular.
• J Adolesc Health 2002 Dec;31(6):455-462 Links The relationship among violence victimization, witnessing violence, and youth distress. Howard DE, Feigelman S, Li X, Cross S, Rachuba L. Donna Howard, Dr.P.H., Department of Public and Community Health, College of Health and Human Performance, University of Maryland, , College Park, MD 20742, , USA; email: dhoward192@umail.umd.edu To explore whether violence victimization and witness experiences of predominantly African-American, low-income, urban adolescents were associated with distress and whether psychosocial factors contributed to symptomatology.Data for this study were obtained from a cross-sectional survey of 349 youth between the ages of 9 and 15 years who resided in any of 10 low-income public housing communities in an East Coast city. Survey instruments assessed exposure to violence, distress symptomatology, youth psychosocial functioning, and family dynamics. Data were analyzed by computing Pearson correlation coefficients and a series of multiple linear regression models.Witnessing violence was related to youth reports of intrusive thoughts and feelings, difficulties with concentration, and vigilant or avoidant behavior. Violence victimization was correlated with feelings of despondency about having either a happy or long life, as well as feelings of being unloved, uncared for, and afraid. Younger youth, boys, and active problem solvers were more likely to report intrusive thoughts. Problematic family communication was related to intrusive thoughts, distraction, feeling a lack of belonging, and expressions of emotional numbing.The act of witnessing violence may be associated with a set of distinct symptoms. Youth who witness violence also need to be identified so they may be aided in dealing with their distress. Family communication, particularly problematic family communication, and problem solving also contribute to symptomatology.
• J Health Commun 2002 Oct-Dec;7(5):401-25 Related Articles, Links The effects of news stories that put crime and violence into context: testing the public health model of reporting. Coleman R, Thorson E. Correspondence: Renita Coleman , Manship School of Mass Communication, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803-7202, USA. rcoleman@lsu.edu The purpose of this study is to examine whether changing the way newspaper stories report crime and violence can induce shifts in readers' perceptions of the problem. Using an experiment that manipulates the framing and graphic presentation of newspaper stories on crime and violence, we seek to discover whether the public health model that calls for news stories to incorporate information on context, risk factors, and prevention strategies will help readers learn more about the context in which crime and violence occurs, endorse prevention strategies in addition to punishment, and become more attuned to societal risk factors and causes of crime and violence.

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Rev. 17 Nov 2002