Shippee, Nathan D.

Perceptions of control over one's life represent a vital topic in social research: They capture the interaction between the individual and society and reflect the structures and adversities in people's lives. This study uses longitudinal data to examine how victimization, an event with established consequences for social functioning, interacts with fear of crime and perceived risk to influence sense of personal control (SPC). It posits a vulnerability model, wherein victimization affects SPC directly and amplifies the effects of fear and perceived risk. Linear regression models predicting baseline SPC, and longitudinal change in SPC, reveal mixed results. Victimization intensifies fear's effects at baseline, but actually increases SPC and desensitizes against perceived risk; subsample analyses suggest resilience as one explanation. Fear and perceived risk both attack SPC, with perceived risk having particularly consistent effects. Findings suggest that resilience may operate alongside cumulative adversity and that related social experiences can have divergent impacts.

OBJECTIVE Patients with diabetes may experience high burden of treatment (BOT), including treatment-related effects and self-care demands. We examined whether patients with type 2 diabetes and their clinicians discuss BOT, the characteristics of their discussions, and their attempts to address BOT during visits. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Two coders independently reviewed videos of 46 primary care visits obtained during a practice-based trial and identified utterances concerning BOT, classifying them by topic and by whether BOT was addressed (i.e., whether statements emerged aimed at alleviating BOT). RESULTS Of the 46 visits, 43 (93.5%) contained BOT discussions. Both coders identified 83 discussions: 12 involving monitoring, 28 treatment administration, 19 access, and 24 treatment effects. BOT was unambiguously addressed only 30% of the time. CONCLUSIONS BOT discussions usually arise during visits but rarely beget problem-solving efforts. These discussions represent missed opportunities for reducing treatment-related disruptions in the lives of patients with diabetes, which may affect adherence and well-being.

Adherence to recommended preventive services and immunizations in adults is suboptimal and often associated with socioeconomic status, race, and access to care. The aim of this study is to evaluate adherence in a cohort without these barriers to ascertain realistically optimal adherence rates and to examine remaining barriers among relatively advantaged individuals. Specifically, it employed a sample of 6889 patients presenting for executive health care from 2005 to 2009. Adherence varied across colorectal cancer screening (79%), mammography (89%), cervical cancer screening (91%), tetanus immunization (82%), and pneumococcal vaccination (62%). Multivariate logistic regressions revealed that age, education, alcohol use concerns, and being married were positively associated with adherence to certain services. Individuals without the usual barriers to care have variable, less-than-ideal rates of adherence to preventive services, which correlate with some health behaviors and demographics. Understanding the predictors of adherence may inform quality improvement processes aimed at optimizing disease prevention. ( Population Health Management 2012;15:65–70)

Employing general strain theory, the authors examine gender differences in the dynamic strain-and-coping relations between GPA, depression, and drinking. Using longitudinal high school data from the Youth Development Study, the authors test five hypotheses. GPA negatively affects drinking (confirming Hypothesis 1), but without consistent gender differences (Hypothesis 1a). GPA also negatively affects depression (Hypothesis 2), and more strongly for girls (Hypothesis 2a). Depression's positive effect on drinking supports Hypothesis 3, but gender comparisons refute Hypothesis 3a. Conversely, drinking positively affects lagged depression (Hypothesis 4), and more strongly for girls (Hypothesis 4a). Finally, drinking's largely absent effect on GPA rejects Hypothesis 5a, whereas depression's negative effect on lagged GPA, stronger among girls, supports Hypothesis 5b and Hypothesis 5c. A deleterious chain of effects occurs across high school, but mostly for girls only, possibly implicating gendered behavioral norms and socialization. This study informs general strain theory by suggesting that alcohol may provide divergent behavioral and emotional coping functions, respectively, for boys and girls.