PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

M A Straus

Publications and source records attributed to M A Straus.

30 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

Capital intensive hospital technology and illness: an analysis of American state data.

This paper: describes the development of a 'hospital technology index' to measure the level of capital intensive medical technology in each of the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, reports differences between states in scores on this index, and tests the hypothesis that there is a low but significant negative correlation between the level of capital intensive medical technology and the level of illness. The three subscales of the hospital technology index have high alpha coefficients of reliability, are reasonably orthogonal, and there is at least some evidence of construct and discriminant validity for each. The multiple regression analysis suggests that there is either no relation between capital intensive medical technology and the rate of illness or that there is a slight tendency for the illness rate to increase as the level of technology increases. Eight possible explanations for the findings are discussed.

Financing, Government↗
PubMed1986

Drinking norms and alcohol-related problems in the United States.

One of Bales's three related hypotheses concerning how cultures or social structures influence the level of alcoholism in a population--that culturally determined attitudes toward drinking and intoxication determine whether alcohol will be used to relieve the stress generated in a society--is examined in the first systematic test of that hypothesis based on American data. A proscriptive norm index was computed for each of the 50 states based on percentage population residing in legally dry areas, the degree of legal restrictions on the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages and the percentage population of Mormons and Fundamentalists. The most proscriptive states are located in the southern region of the United States. Proscriptive norms are significantly correlated with all of the indicators of alcohol-related problems studied. Most of the correlations remain significant when five other variables are controlled. Proscriptive norms are negatively correlated with the indicators of heavy drinking, but positively correlated with the "social disruptiveness" of alcohol (arrest data). Thus driving while intoxicated and other alcohol-related arrests do not appear to arise as a response to the total amount of drinking. Instead, such alcohol-related problems appear to be a response to the strong cultural disapproval of drinking, with the proscriptively oriented states experiencing the highest rates of disruptive behaviors related to alcohol. The findings are consistent with a social control explanation for this link.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1986

Marital power, conflict, and violence in a nationally representative sample of American couples.

Data on a nationally representative sample of 2,143 couples are used to study the relationship to marital violence of the power structure of marriage, power norm consensus, and the level of marital conflict. The couples were classified as equalitarian, male-dominant, female-dominant, or divided power. Equalitarian couples had the lowest rates of conflict and violence and male-dominant and female-dominant couples had the highest rates. Although consensus about the legitimacy of a male-dominant and female-dominant power structure reduced conflict and violence in such families, when conflict did occur in such families, it was associated with a much higher risk of violence than a similar level of conflict in equalitarian families. Since equality in marriage is associated with low rates of intrafamily conflict and violence, laws, administrative decisions, and services that empower women and encourage men to value an equal partner are likely to be important steps to reducing violence and strengthen the family.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Stressful events, stressful conditions and alcohol problems in the United States: a partial test of Bales's theory.

Bales's theory that sociostructural factors that produce stress for members of a society increase the rate of alcoholism is examined to explain variations in the levels of alcoholism in the 50 states. Two types of social stress are conceptualized and measured at the state level: The first, the "life events" model, is based on life changes that require adaptation. An index is described in which (negative) personal life events in 15 categories (e.g., divorce and plant closings) are aggregated for each state using macro measures. The second model is based on the idea of chronic stressful conditions, and is measured through the Measure of Status Integration and the Index of Relative Opportunities. Alcohol-related problems are measured by death rates for cirrhosis, alcoholism and alcoholic psychosis, and by per capita alcohol consumption. Both stressful events and stressful conditions are correlated with all indicators of alcoholism at the state level, 19 of 20 correlations being in the theoretically expected direction. Correlations are enhanced when age, urbanicity, the percentage of Blacks, low income and education are controlled for. The three macro measures of stress taken together explain 27% of the variation in cirrhosis death rates, 14% of the variation in alcoholism and alcoholic psychosis death rates and 47% of the variation in alcohol consumption rates.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1980

Make love not war? Sex, sexual meanings, and violence in a sample of university students.

Some previous studies show that sexual arousal heightens aggression, some show no relationship, and others show that sex inhibits aggression. It is suggested that the contradictions can be explained by the failure of these studies to consider the subjective meaning of sexual acts. To empirically test this notion, questionnaires were given to 190 students in three New England colleges. It was found that a high level of sexual activity is associated with a low level of violence, but only if the meaning of that activity is one of a warm, affectionate act. For men who follow the traditional male stereotype of sex as a dominant and exploitative act, higher levels of sexual activity are associated with the aggression and violence typically associated with attempts to dominate. For women, these relationships were weak or nonexistent. Reasons for the sex differences are discussed.

Dominance-Subordination↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Mother's age and risk for physical abuse.

It is widely believed that young mothers are at greater risk of engaging in physical abuse. However, this relationship is not clearly supported by previous empirical research. This study reexamines the issue using a nationally representative sample of 1,997 mothers. All analyses controlled for family income, race, number of minor children in the home, age of abused child, mother's education, and whether mother was a single parent. Physical abuse was measured with the Conflict Tactics Scales. Using mother's age at time of birth of the abused child, the younger the mother, the greater the rate of child abuse; however, there was not a significant relationship when mother's age was measured at age at time of abuse. Large families and minority group children were also found to be at greater risk of abuse. The paper discusses implications for further research and for prevention of child abuse.

Adolescent↗