Introduction and Aims: Using the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory - III (MCMI-III), this study aimed to determine what personality factors, if any, would predict retention within therapeutic community (TC) treatment for residents presenting with Amphetamine-type stimulant (ATS) use disorders. The MCMI-III identifies the deeper and pervasive personality characteristics underlying a person's overt symptoms; and assists the practitioner to gain an integrated understanding of the relationship between personality characteristics and clinical syndromes in order to facilitate treatment decisions. Design and Methods: Participants were 247 residents from 10 TCs in Australia. The MCMI-III was administered at the commencement of the study and follow-up discharge information was obtained from TCs at 12 months post-baseline to determine which residents had completed the treatment program and the reason for discharge - including program completion and premature discharge from treatment. Results: In line with other studies, it was hypothesised that the presence of personality disorders (PD) would have an adverse effect on the treatment of Axis 1 Disorders, including Substance Use Disorders, and that those residents who had higher scores at the commencement of treatment would show higher drop-out rates. Results from this study showed high drop-out rates amongst residents in both conditions. Discussion and Conclusion: The presence of personality disorders in substance using populations is well-known, and has implications for treatment in both residential and outpatient settings. The additional introduction of a specialised ATS intervention is discussed in light of the results of this study, with suggestions of treatment approaches for clients presenting with high PD scores.

A Client Outcomes Study of the Solaris Program, housed within the Alexander Maconochie Centre (AMC).

The aim of the study was to develop a measure identifying specific skill sets of effective witness protection (WP) officers. Two representative groups produced a job analysis for WP officers from which we generated a pool of items forming a Behavioural Observation Scale (BOS). Supervisors of 50 Australian WP officers (40 men) completed the BOS. Exploratory factor analysis produced a 38-item BOS resolving into three factors, Policing skills, Partition skills and Interpersonal skills, explaining > 69% of the variance with excellent internal consistency of >.90. The BOS represents a reliable and valid tool for selecting WP officers.

As teachers, we want to motivate our students to learn during a unit and to continue learning about the topic after the unit ends. This article describes about a hundred methods we use to help motivate students to learn. The methods form 12 categories: (1) making content relevant to student values and goals, (2) helping students achieve their goals through learning, (3) providing potent models of learning, (4) prompting and persuading students to learn, (5) establishing a positive relationship with students. (6) rewarding student achievement and learning efforts, (7) not de-motivating students, (8) enhancing student learning self-efficacy, (9) using engaging teaching methods, (10) using an appealing teaching style, (11) giving motivational feedback, and (12) monitoring student motivation levels and adjusting motivation methods as needed. Teachers at any level of the educational system may be able to increase their motivational impact by using the methods that suit their personality, their topic, their students, and their setting.

Although wood smoke pollution has been linked to health problems, wood burning remains a popular form of domestic heating in many countries across the world. In this paper, we describe the rhetoric of resistance to wood heater regulation amongst citizens in the regional Australian town of Armidale, where wood smoke levels regularly exceed national health advisory limits. We discuss how this is related to particular sources of resistance, such as affective attachment to wood heating and socio-cultural norms. The research draws on six focus groups with participants from households with and without wood heating. With reference to practice theory, we argue that citizen discourses favouring wood burning draw upon a rich suite of justifications and present this activity as a natural and traditional activity promoting comfort and cohesion. Such discourses also emphasise the identity of the town as a rural community and the supposed gemeinschaft qualities of such places. We show that, in this domain of energy policy, it is not enough to present 'facts' which have little emotional association or meaning for the populace. Rather, we need understand how social scripts, often localised, inform identity and practice.

This research examined the extent to which psychological distress is associated with satisfaction with life, and investigated whether trait emotional intelligence moderates this relationship. In a broad-based international sample of 370 adults, psychological distress predicted satisfaction with life after controlling for age, gender, country of origin, and trait emotional intelligence. Trait emotional intelligence was related to lower levels of psychological distress and greater life satisfaction. The relationship between psychological distress and life satisfaction was moderated by trait emotional intelligence. Trait emotional intelligence may act as an adaptive coping resource in that the negative association between psychological distress and life satisfaction became significantly weaker for respondents with high trait emotional intelligence.

A large body of health care literature points to the importance of considering the effects of socioeconomic inequalities on health (Marmot, 2004). The primary aim of the present study is to investigate the role of both objective and subjective indicators of socioeconomic status (SES) in explaining health disparities over time among older adults. Data were drawn from the New Zealand Longitudinal Study of Aging, with complete data available for 1765 participants (Mean age = 61.16 years; SD=4.47). SES and demographic data were taken from 2006 (Time 1) and health data from 2006 and 2008 (Time 2). SES Markers: objective SES was assessed by two proxies - income and education, and subjective SES was measured by economic living standards index. Health Markers: Physical and mental health from Short Form 36, self-rated health and health-risk behaviours were used to assess health status. Various demographic variables were also measured. In comparison to objective SES (assessed by income and education), subjective SES (assessed by perceived economic living standards) came out to be a significant predictor of an array of health outcomes. Hierarchical linear regressions suggested that low subjective SES at Time 1 significantly predicted decrements in health at Time 2, after controlling for sociodemographic characteristics and baseline scores of health outcomes. The concept of economic living standards (as indexed by subjective SES) takes into account the different daily living circumstances and social experience in which people may use income and assets, including different needs and subjective aspirations. Thus, subjective SES is a better longitudinal predictor in explaining the health disparities in older adults than objective SES.

Dual-process cognitive profiles associated with depression were identified in an undergraduate sample (N = 306) and dysphoric sub-sample (n = 57). Two Latent Profile Analyses (LPAs) were conducted on four implicit and four explicit cognitions associated with depression (self-esteem, negative memory, positive memory and dysfunctional beliefs). The first LPA, performed on the total sample, produced a three-profile solution reflecting quantitative shifts from generally negative, through intermediate, to generally positive biases on both implicit and explicit indicators. Patterns of biases across the profiles were associated with incremental decreases in current depressive symptoms, and logistic regression revealed that profile membership significantly predicted depression status 3 months later. Sequential logistic regression indicated that implicit self-esteem was the strongest predictor of subsequent dysphoria. The second LPA, focusing on a subgroup of dysphoric participants, identified two qualitatively distinct profiles that may represent cognitive subtypes of depression: (1) a schematic profile with multiple negative biases and (2) a profile dominated by implicit negative memory. These results are consistent with the dual-process premise that implicit and explicit cognitive processes are involved in depression and suggest that treatment efficacy may be improved by incorporating strategies that address implicit cognitive biases.

Anthropogenic climate change is defined as "a change of climate which is attributed either directly or indirectly to human activity, which alters the composition of the atmosphere" (UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, Article 1, as cited in Pielke, 2004, p. 515). Approximately two-thirds of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are generated by the combustion of fossil fuels within the energy sector (International Energy Agency, 2015). The dominant contribution of fossil fuel combustion to anthropogenic emissions began around 1920 and has increased up to the present (Le Quere et al., 2015). These anthropogenic emissions are over and above the naturally occurring carbon cycle, which results in carbon being released into the atmosphere, hydrosphere and terrestrial biospheres (Archer et al., 2009). One of the primary drivers of global anthropogenic climate change is carbon dioxide, of which approximately 35 billion tonnes was released globally during 2011 (Peters et al., 2012). Globally, total greenhouse gas emissions were estimated to have reached 49.5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO₂eq) in 2010 (Victor et al., 2014). However, carbon dioxide is not the only anthropogenic greenhouse gas. The bacterial processing of both organic and inorganic inputs, and residual outputs of agriculture results in the release of a significant amount of methane, and nitrous oxide into the atmosphere (Smith et al., 2014). These agricultural non-CO₂ gases are estimated to contribute 5.2-5.8 billion tonnes CO₂eq/yr, or 10-12% of the total anthropogenic emissions (Smith et al., 2014).

Winter levels of air pollution in Armidale regularly exceed the national standard for airborne particulate matter. Most of these winter emissions come from wood heaters, the main source of heat for about one third of all households in the city. The present study evaluated the effectiveness of two strategies: the first involving education materials and the second involving a technological intervention using SmartBurn canisters, which are designed to help fires burn more efficiently and reduce emissions. 316 participating households (Participants' Mean age=48.80 years, SD=14.64) were randomly assigned to one of the four experimental conditions: (1) Education only, (2) SmartBurn only, (3) Education and SmartBurn, and (4) No intervention (control group). Household wood smoke emissions were assessed at pre- and post-intervention. A 2 (Education/No Education) x 2 (SmartBurn/No SmartBurn) analysis of covariance (ANCOVA - with pre-test scores of smoke emissions used as a covariate) was conducted to examine the effectiveness of two wood smoke reduction strategies. Results indicated statistically significant main effects for both education and SmartBurn interventions (p<.05). Contrary to our prediction, education by SmartBurn interaction failed to reach statistical significance. However, there is a trend for households in the education and SmartBurn condition to produce lowest smoke emissions than that of all three conditions (education only, SmartBurn only, and control group). In first of its kind experimental trial of comparison of two wood smoke reduction strategies, our findings suggest that either strategy was effective in significantly reducing household smoke emissions. An important finding is that a cost-effective strategy such as providing information about best practices related to firewood purchase and storage and wood heater operation can be as effective as using a technological solution in reducing smoke emissions.