A review and update on the practice of evaluating Miranda comprehension.

This article summarizes recent developments in constitutional law relevant to the Miranda warning. We describe the origins of the warning, concerns about the use of the Miranda warning, perspectives on the utility of the warning, and the relevance of the warning. We describe how the warning has changed over time, requirements for administering the warning, and procedures that police use in delivering the warning and obtaining confessions. We review case law relevant to "coerced" Miranda waivers and confessions, changes over time in the court's interpretation of what constitutes "coercion," use of the warning with special populations, and the recent focus in case law on individual factors that might impair Miranda comprehension. We review empirical research on factors associated with deficits in Miranda comprehension. We integrate case law rulings and empirical research into suggested approaches to forensic assessment of Miranda comprehension.

Preadolescent adjudicative competence: methodological considerations and recommendations for practice standards.

This article examines developmental and legal issues directed toward a downward age extension of forensic evaluation practice standards for preadolescent defendants whose competence is questioned. Existing research and practice standards were developed for cases involving adolescents and adults, but they lack sufficient application to evaluations of young children because of the ways in which legal parameters affect young children. We review practice implications of the legal role of "immaturity" for adjudicative competence, alterations of Dusky in some juvenile courts, and the role of parens patriae in competence hearings held in juvenile court. We examine competence abilities in a developmental framework. Examining practice standards is timely because adjudicative competence in preadolescent defendants has taken on recent significance. The last decade saw changes in the stringency of delinquency statutes, increased emphasis on adversarial approaches to juvenile proceedings, and a de-emphasis on rehabilitation and parens patriae protections. Statutory changes and increased referrals have heightened inquiry into the meaning of preadolescent adjudicative competence.

Urinary incontinence as a risk factor for mortality.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether mortality is independently associated with urinary incontinence. DESIGN: 6-year prospective study that started in 1983/84. SETTING: A Midwestern County. PARTICIPANTS: Probability sample of 1956 community-residing persons 60 years of age and older in 1983/84. MEASUREMENTS: The independent variables of urinary incontinence, its types and severity, were measured by survey self-report, which was validated with clinical exams. The control variables of age, education, and health status were also self-reported. The dependent variable of death was established during follow-up interviews from reports of previously designated contact persons. RESULTS: Neither incontinence status nor its severity level or types were found to be positively associated with 6-year mortality in logistic regression analyses that adjusted for age, education, and health status. CONCLUSION: Whereas urinary incontinence can be an embarrassing and socially debilitating condition, it does not itself predict or contribute to mortality.