Frances Veronica O'Callaghan

Evaluative and relational influences on service loyalty

Four attitudinal components of customer loyalty were synthesised from the services literature and combined to produce a loyalty conceptualisation that excludes repurchase behaviour. This proposed conceptualisation of service loyalty was then modelled in two quantitative studies to determine the effects of potential predictors. The influence of consumers’ evaluative judgements was compared against the effects of relational outcomes. The three evaluative judgement measures were service encounter satisfaction, perceived core service quality and value for money while relational measures comprised social comfort, social regard and friendship. It was found that while personal friendship between customer and service employee was significantly associated with loyalty, service encounter satisfaction was the major predictor. It was also found that the relational factors of social comfort and social regard played indirect roles through their influence on customer’s evaluation of satisfaction and quality. Conversely, friendship was not related to the mediating variables of service encounter satisfaction and perceived core service quality.

The Use of Legal Coercion in the Treatment of Substance Abusers: An Overview and Critical Analysis of Thirty Years of Research

Drug and alcohol use presents a serious social problem for most countries in the world. Of particular concern is the well-documented relationship between substance use and crime, which has contributed to an increased popularity and willingness to utilize more forceful means to pressure substance users into treatment. Although compulsory/legally mandated treatment is appealing, it has been one of the most fiercely debated topics in the addiction field, raising a number of issues including ethical concerns and motivational considerations. In this context, the most important question to be answered is whether or not compulsory treatment is effective in the rehabilitation of addicted offenders. Regrettably, three decades of research into the effectiveness of compulsory treatment have yielded a mixed, inconsistent, and inconclusive pattern of results, calling into question the evidence-based claims made by numerous researchers that compulsory treatment is effective in the rehabilitation of substance users. The present paper provides an overview of the key issues concerning the use and efficacy of legal coercion in the rehabilitation of substance users, including a critique of the research base and recommendations for future research.

Does maternal smoking during pregnancy predict the smoking patterns of young adult offspring? A birth cohort study

Objective: To examine the association between maternal smoking during pregnancy and the development of smoking behaviour patterns among young adult offspring. Method: Data were from the Mater-University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy (MUSP), a birth cohort of 7223 mothers and children enrolled in Brisbane, Australia, in 1981. The development of smoking behaviours (early or late onset, or combination of onset and prevalence patterns) among offspring at age 21 years with different patterns of maternal smoking (never smoked, smoked before or after pregnancy but not during pregnancy, or smoked during pregnancy) were compared. Maternal smoking information was derived from the prospectively collected data from the beginning of pregnancy until the child was 14 years of age. Analyses were restricted to the 3058 mothers and children whose smoking status was reported. Results: The proportion of young adults who smoked regularly, either with early onset or late onset, was greater among those whose mothers had smoked during pregnancy compared with those whose mothers had never smoked. The smoking patterns among those adolescent offspring whose mothers stopped smoking during pregnancy, but who then smoked at other times during the child’s life, were similar to those whose mothers had never smoked. This association was robust to adjustment for a variety of potential covariates. Conclusions: The findings provide some evidence for a direct effect of maternal smoking in utero on the development of smoking behaviour patterns of offspring and provide yet another incentive to persuade pregnant women not to smoke.

Effect of social influence on repurchase intentions

The social interaction between customers and individual employees can be critical for business success. Similarly, factors such as customer convenience and value for money are important to repeat purchase. Frontline employees often face the dilemma of how much social interaction is appropriate. Data were collected in a cross‐sectional survey of 406 customers to determine the relative importance of social influence on repurchase intentions across three services. The findings show that social influence variables can be as important as convenience and value for money factors. Further, the data indicate that the nature of the interaction is the critical factor, rather than the amount of social interaction. For naturopathic clinics, the enthusiasm shown by the health care professional is the key factor, whereas in hairdressing salons, making the customer feel relaxed and comfortable is critical.

Maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy and physical outcomes up to 5 years of age: a longitudinal study.

AIM To examine whether alcohol exposure in pregnancy affects weight and head circumference (HC) at birth and 5 years, and whether these effects are independent of cigarette exposure in pregnancy and social disadvantage. STUDY DESIGN The Mater-University Study of Pregnancy (MUSP) involves a prospective cohort of 8556 mothers who were enrolled at first antenatal visit. The quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption in early and late pregnancy and a measure of binge drinking in early pregnancy were recorded. Weight and HC were measured on children seen at birth and at 5 years. Level of cigarette use in early pregnancy and maternal age and level of education and family income were also measured. RESULTS Light and moderate alcohol consumption in early or later pregnancy had no independent effects on weight or HC at birth or 5 years. Binge drinking in early pregnancy was not associated with restricted HC, and there was no effect modification by concurrent cigarette use in early pregnancy. An apparent effect of alcohol in late pregnancy on birth weight was due to confounding by cigarette use, with social risk being an independent predictor. CONCLUSION Alcohol ingestion up to moderate levels in pregnancy was not associated with deficits in either weight or HC at birth or at 5 years.

Cigarette Use by Adolescents: Attitude-Behavior Relationships

Structural equation models were used to test the effectiveness of various theories in predicting cigarette smoking among adolescents. Maximum-likelihood estimation, as implemented in LISREL for Windows 8.12, was used to compare the theory of reasoned action (TRA), the theory of planned behavior, and a modified version of the theory of reasoned action incorporating past behavior. Respondents consisted of 225 high school students who were questioned in 1994 about their attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, past behavior, intentions, and actual behavior relating to the use of cigarettes. Results indicated that the modification of the TRA incorporating past behavior provided a marginally better fit than the other models. For this group of high school students, attitudes toward smoking, past behavior in relation to smoking, and perceptions of what significant others think they should do were significant predictors of their intentions to smoke. Intentions, together with past behavior, predicted their actual behavior. The models used in the present research show that this behavior can be explained with reference to a small number of key variables which are useful for furthering our understanding of the structure of adolescent smoking.

Maternal smoking during pregnancy predicts nicotine disorder (dependence or withdrawal) in young adults: A birth cohort study

Objective: To investigate whether maternal smoking during pregnancy predicts offspring nicotine disorder (dependence or withdrawal) at 21 years.

Early adversity and health outcomes in young adulthood: The role of ongoing stress

OBJECTIVE The current study examined the prospective effects of exposure to stressful conditions in early childhood on physical health in young adulthood, and explored continuing exposure to stressors, as well as depression, in adolescence as possible mechanisms of this relationship. METHOD A prospective longitudinal design was used to examine 705 mother-child pairs from a community-based sample, followed from offspring birth through age 20 years. Mothers provided contemporaneous assessments of early adverse conditions from offspring birth through age 5. Offspring responses to the UCLA Life Stress Interview, Structured Clinical Interview for DSM Disorders, Physical Functioning subscale of the SF-36 Health Survey, and questions about the presence of chronic disease were used to assess youth stress at age 15, depression from ages 15-20, and physical health at age 20. RESULTS Early adversity conferred risk for elevated levels of social and nonsocial stress at youth age 15, as well as depression between ages 15 and 20. Social and nonsocial stress, in turn, had effects on physical health at age 20, directly and indirectly via depression. CONCLUSION Findings suggest that early adverse conditions have lasting implications for physical health, and that continued exposure to increased levels of both social and nonsocial stress in adolescence, as well as the presence of depression, might be important mechanisms by which early adversity impacts later physical health.

Maternal Anxiety and Attention Problems in Children at 5 and 14 Years

Objective: This study examines the association between maternal anxiety from pregnancy to 5 years and child attention problems at 5 and 14 years. Method: Birth cohort of 3,982 individuals born in Brisbane between 1981 and 1983 are assessed. Self-reported measures of maternal anxiety are assessed at four time points. Maternal reports of child attention problems using Achenbach’s Child Behavior Checklist are assessed at 5 and 14 years. Results: Children of mothers experiencing anxiety during or after pregnancy are at greater risk of experiencing attention problems at 5 and 14 years. After adjusting for maternal age and child’s gender, antenatal anxiety is strongly associated with persistent attention problems (OR = 3.65, 95% CI = 2.19, 6.07). Children with chronically anxious mothers are 5.67 (95% CI = 3.56, 9.03) times more likely to have persistent attention problems. These associations remain consistent after adjusting for potential confounders. Conclusions: Maternal anxiety appears to increase the rate of child attention problems and identifies a need for treatment programs to have a dual focus—the mother and her child. (J. of Att. Dis. 2010; 13(6) 658-667)

Sustainable attitudes and behaviours amongst a sample of non‐academic staff: A case study from an Information Services Department, Griffith University, Brisbane

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is seek to characterise sustainable attitudes and behaviours (including recycling and waste minimisation, energy efficiency, water conservation and “green” purchasing) amongst non‐academic staff within Griffith University, Queensland.Design/methodology/approach – For this study, the attitudes and behaviour of 100 individuals from a cross‐sectional sample from a single Department, along with the determinants of pro‐environmental behaviours were investigated. The survey tool administered used the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and was delivered via an online survey, which was e‐mailed directly to all participating staff across Griffiths five campuses.Findings – The research sought to pilot the use of the TPB to determine sustainable behaviours amongst staff. The survey successfully showed that the TPB was effective at determining staff attitudes and behaviours and determined that staff were overall satisfied with the current efforts by Griffith University to become mo...