Panic on the streets of London

The terrorist attacks of 7 July 2005 resulted in a very large redeployment of police officers to central London boroughs. New research by Mirko Draca, Stephen Machin and Robert Witt looks at the impact of this increased security presence on criminal activity in the weeks and months after the bomb blasts

Understanding the differential benefits of training for the unemployed

[Abstract]: This study examined the connection between background variables (such as length of unemployment and number of previous training courses), contextual variables (perceptions of training climate), dispositional variables (positive affect and negative affect), and psychological outcomes for unemployed trainees who attended either a five week occupational skills training program (control group) or the same five week program with an additional two day intervention before the start of the program (treatment group). The trainees in both the treatment and control conditions were found to reduce their levels of psychological distress over the course of a five-week training program. Trainees in the treatment condition who started with the lowest levels of general self-efficacy and the highest levels of psychological distress showed the greatest improvements at time 2 (T2). The measures of length of unemployment, number of previous training courses, and the perceptions of the training climate (with one exception) did not account for any unique variance in either of the well-being measures at time 3 (T3). Positive and negative affect (PA and NA respectively) accounted for 30% of the variance in initial levels of general self-efficacy and 43% of the variance in initial levels of psychological distress. However, PA and NA measured at T1 did not account for any unique variance in the T3 levels of general self-efficacy and psychological distress, after the initial levels of each of the variables were controlled. It was concluded that components of dispositional affect are the main influence on how individuals perceive stimuli in the environment and subsequently regulate their emotional response

Evaluating a fatigue management training program for coach drivers

[Abstract]: A nonprescriptive fatigue management training program was developed that aimed at identifying specific factors contributing to coach driver fatigue and assisting coach drivers to develop more effective coping strategies to manage difficult or stressful work situations. The training program incorporated a strategy of presenting realistic, job related situations and multiple responses to drivers and asking them to indicate the effectiveness of each response in dealing with that situation. The advantage of using this methodology was that drivers were presented with stimulus material that was directly related to their work tasks, that is, had a high level of psychological fidelity. The evaluation of the training indicated that drivers who perceived the situational exercises as most realistic reported better training outcomes. Overall, the drivers reported positive reactions to the training, high levels of posttraining self efficacy, and strong level of transfer intentions

Patients with Essential thrombocythaemia have an increased prevalence of antiphospholipid antibodies which may be associated with thrombosis

A significant proportion of patients with Essential Thrombocythaemia (ET) have thrombotic complications which have an important impact upon the quality, and duration of their life. We performed a retrospective cross sectional study of the prevalence of antiphospholipid antibodies (APA) in 68 ET patients. Compared to 200 elderly controls (> 50 years) there was a significant increase in anticardiolipin IgM (p < 0.0001) and anti β2 glycoprotein I (anti-β2GPI) IgM (p < 0.0001) antibodies in ET. Thrombosis occurred in 10/20 with APA and 12/48 without, p = 0.04, relative risk 2.0 (95% confidence intervals 1.03-3.86); these patients did not differ in terms of other clinical features. The prevalence of thrombosis in patients with dual APA (6/7) was significant when compared to those with single APA (p = 0.02) and the remaining patients (p < 0.0002). Also anti-β2GPI IgM antibodies either alone, or in combination with another APA, were associated with thrombosis (p = 0.02). These results suggest that the prevalence of APA in ET and their influence upon thrombotic risk merit investigation in a larger study

Predicting employees' commitment to and support for organisational change

This study aimed to identify factors that predict employees' commitment to and support for organisational change. The three components of Herscovitch and Meyer's (2002) commitment to organisational change model were hypothesised to mediate the relationship between organisational climate and behavioural support for organisational change. Data were collected from a Queensland government department (N = 342). Analysis of correlations revealed that organisational climate, commitment to change, and behavioural support for change variables were all significantly related. Structural equation modelling demonstrated that affective, normative, and continuance commitment to change were all predictors of behavioural support for organisational change. Positive work climate also contributed directly to the prediction of behavioural support for change over and above the indirect influence through commitment to organisational change, indicating a partial mediation effect. These findings support Herscovitch and Meyer's (2002) three-component model of commitment to organisational change and extend their nomological network by showing the relevance of two types of organisational climate to the core components of the model. Affective commitment to organisational change is a positive influence on employees' behavioural support for change and also reflects healthy aspects of the organisational climate. However, continuance commitment to organisational change is detrimental influence on employees' behavioural support for change and is linked with unhealthy dimensions of the organisational climate