Heightened susceptibility to secondary traumatization: A meta-analysis of gender differences.

Although secondary traumatization has been extensively studied, gender difference in susceptibility has received limited attention. This study addressed the issue by a meta-analysis of published findings on male and female persons in close, extended relationships with trauma victims, namely, their spouses, parents, children, and therapists. The analysis included peer-reviewed studies, written in English and published between 1990 and January 2012. Twelve studies reporting 17 findings on 1,623 subjects were identified. All the studies showed females' higher susceptibility to secondary traumatization, with a mean effect size of 0.48 (95% CI [0.35, 0.60]). Moderator analysis revealed that studies conducted in the United States reported lower gender discrepancies than studies conducted elsewhere. The consistent finding that females are considerably more susceptible to secondary traumatization than males means that professionals must be made aware of the special vulnerability of girls and women and help them adopt ways of caring for the traumatized family member or clients while maintaining their own psychological boundaries.

Self-control, self-efficacy, role overload, and stress responses among siblings of children with cancer.

The study focuses on healthy children's responses to a sibling's cancer and its aftermath, with particular scrutiny directed toward these healthy siblings' stress factors, duress responses, and coping resources. The authors investigated role overload as these siblings' stress factor, anxiety and psychosomatic symptoms as their duress responses, and self-control (SC) and self-efficacy (SE) as their coping resources. Participants comprised 100 (53 boys and 47 girls) Israeli Jewish healthy siblings (ages 8 to 19 years) of a child with cancer. Outcomes revealed that the stress experienced by healthy siblings ofa child with cancer correlated significantly with those siblings' duress responses: Greater role overload was linked with higher levels of state anxiety and more psychosomatic symptoms. Likewise, these siblings' stress factor correlated significantly with one of their personal resources: Greater SC was linked with lower role overload. Furthermore, personal coping resources correlated significantly with healthy siblings' duress responses: Greater SC and SE were linked with lower levels of anxiety and fewer psychosomatic symptoms. In addition, hierarchical regression analyses showed that, among children older than age 12, greater SC was linked with milder anxiety. Limitations and implications are discussed.

Role of family resources and paternal history of substance use problems in psychosocial adjustment among school-aged children.

The present study examines the role of family resources (parenting style and family cohesion) and paternal history of substance abuse on the psychosocial adjustment of their school-aged children. Data were collected from 148 children aged 8-11 (72 of fathers with history of substance use disorder, 76 children of fathers with no substance use problems) and their mothers. Results draw attention to the differences between the subjective experiences of the child and those of the mother, and by indicating that the effect of the interaction between the father's and the mother's control parenting style on the child's psychosocial outcome is greater than the sum total of influences of each of them separately.

Smoking trends among adolescents from 1990 to 2002 in ten European countries and Canada.

BACKGROUND: Daily smoking adolescents are a public health problem as they are more likely to become adult smokers and to develop smoking-related health problems later on in their lives. METHODS: The study is part of the four-yearly, cross-national Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study, a school-based survey on a nationally representative sample using a standardised methodology. Data of 4 survey periods are available (1990-2002). Gender-specific daily smoking trends among 14-15 year olds are examined using logistic regressions. Sex ratios are calculated for each survey period and country. Interaction effects between period and gender are examined. RESULTS: Daily smoking prevalence in boys in 2002 ranges from 5.5% in Sweden to 20.0% in Latvia. Among girls, the daily smoking prevalence in 2002 ranges from 8.9% in Poland to 24.7% in Austria. Three daily smoking trend groups are identified: countries with a declining or stagnating trend, countries with an increasing trend followed by a decreasing trend, and countries with an increasing trend. These trend groups show a geographical pattern, but are not linked to smoking prevalence. Over the 4 surveys, the sex ratio has changed in Belgium, Switzerland, and Latvia. CONCLUSION: Among adolescents in Europe, three groups of countries in a different stage of the smoking epidemic curve can be identified, with girls being in an earlier stage than boys. In 2002, large differences in smoking prevalence between the countries have been observed. This predicts a high mortality due to smoking over 20-30 years for some countries, if no policy interventions are taken.

The influence of societal level factors on men's and women's alcohol consumption and alcohol problems.

AIMS: To identify the pattern of gender differences in drinking across societies, and to its association with other societal characteristics. METHODS: The aggregated results of GENACIS project surveys in 29 countries were examined and were compared with other characteristics of these societies. RESULTS: In all the participating societies men's drinking was more prevalent and heavier than women's drinking. Differences between countries in the gender gap in drinking were strongly associated with women's position in society, as well as with modernization. Similar results were obtained for indicators of alcohol's adverse consequences. CONCLUSIONS: Gender differences should be studied not only as individual behaviours, but also as societal traits, associated with other characteristics of the social system.

Israel 2000: immigration and gender differences in alcohol consumption.

The present study addresses the association between immigration from the former Soviet Union (FSU) and gender and alcohol consumption among a representative sample of young adults in Israel 2000. Previous studies that were conducted on FSU immigrants to Israel indicate higher consumption than that of resident Israelis and immigrants of earlier periods. The current study aims to assess alcohol consumption among FSU and resident Israelis five years later to determine whether the discrepancy in alcohol consumption stays consistent or reduces. In addition, gender differences in alcohol consumption among the Israeli society were examined as well, as a special case of socio-culture differences. The data came from the 2000 national survey of drinking in Israel. Of 5,004 Jewish Israelis, 532 were immigrants from the FSU who arrived since 1989, and 4,472 were resident Israelis. The FSU group was compared with resident Israelis, and males were compared to females on several drinking variables. Logistic regression was the principal method of analysis. Demographics and cultural variables as main effects or in interaction with FSU and gender were controlled. The FSU group was significantly more likely to report drinking in the last twelve months plus drinking in the last thirty days than resident Israelis. Women's reported drinking in the last twelve months was one fourth of men's and during the past thirty days was one fifth of men's. Further investigation on the associations between the success of FSU acculturation in the Israeli society and drinking patterns as well as attitudes toward women and gender differences in alcohol consumption may provide explanations for gender and immigration gaps in alcohol consumption.

Socio-economic status and binge drinking in Israel.

Modern Israeli society is comprised primarily of two nationality groups-Jews and Arabs, with disparate religious and cultural attitudes toward alcohol drinking. We recently described higher rates of past-month drinking among Jewish adults, although Arabs who drink were more likely to report binge drinking. The goal of the present study is to examine the relationship between binge drinking and socio-economic status (SES) among Arab and Jewish adults in Israel. Data from a 1995 nationally representative household survey on drug and alcohol use were analyzed. Participants included male and female Arabs (n=982) and Jews (n=4,972) aged 18-40 living in Israel. SES was assessed using education, household income, and occupation. The prevalence of binge drinking was highest among Arab men (21.4%) followed by Jewish men (15.2%), Arab women (7.3%), and Jewish women (4.0%). Prevalence rates and odds ratios (ORs) from logistic models controlling for age, gender, marital status and religiosity show that increased household income and occupation are associated with increased binge drinking among Arabs (OR>2.0) and decreased binge drinking among Jews (OR congruent with 0.6). Higher educational achievement was protective against binge drinking in both nationality groups. Varied results for income and occupation, and education indicate the need to examine the association between each SES indicator and alcohol consumption independently, especially in culturally diverse populations.

Testing Gateway Theory: do cigarette prices affect illicit drug use?

We test the causal Gateway Theory of drug use dynamics by way of a natural experiment. We randomize cigarette smoking by birth cohort and cigarette prices. We use data for Israel to show that while cigarette smoking causes cannabis use, the evidence that cannabis use causes hard drug use is much weaker. These results are based on various econometric methodologies including two-stage logit (2SL), bivariate probit, and frailty analysis for survival data.