John H. Lewko

A Structural Model of Educational Aspirations

The purpose of this study was to develop and test a model to predict educational aspirations of Canadian adolescents. Participants were a national sample of 4,034 students from grades 8-13 (2,037 males, 1,973 females). Results of a modified structural model included three sets of influences: a) a background factor comprised of parental occupation and education; b) a family involvement factor consisting of parental personal and school-based involvement with adolescents; and c) a personal factor with school marks, school and course perceptions, extracurricular reading and parental educational expectations as indicator measures. Educational aspirations was the main outcome variable. Results indicated that the personal factor had a strong direct influence on educational aspirations (β = 1.17, p <.001, R2= .76). The effects of the background and family involvement factors on educational aspirations were mediated through the personal factor. Additional analyses performed in order to test the relationships obtained in the model, revealed several significant interactions amongst the three predictor factors and educational aspirations. The findings emphasize the importance of efforts to enhance the educational aspirations of adolescents through targeted change of modifiable environmental and personal factors.

Hospitalizations and emergency department visits for TBI in Ontario.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to determine the number of annual hospitalizations and overall episodes of care that involve a traumatic brain injury (TBI) by age and gender in the province of Ontario. To provide a more accurate assessment of the prevalence of TBI, episodes of care included visits to the emergency department (ED), as well as admissions to hospital. Mechanisms of injury for overall episodes were also investigated. METHODS Traumatic brain injury cases from fiscal years 2002/03-2006/07 were identified by means of ICD-10 codes. Data were collected from the National Ambulatory Care Reporting System and the Discharge Abstract Database. RESULTS The rate of hospitalization was highest for elderly persons over 75 years-of-age. Males generally had higher rates for both hospitalizations and episodes of care than did females. The inclusion of ED visits to hospitalizations had the greatest impact on the rates of TBI in the youngest age groups. Episodes of care for TBI were greatest in youth under the age of 14 and elderly over the age of 85. Falls (41.6%) and being struck by or against an object (31.1%) were the most frequent causes for a TBI. CONCLUSIONS The study provides estimates for TBI from the only Canadian province that has systematically captured ED visits in a national registry. It shows the importance of tracking ED visits, in addition to hospitalizations, to capture the burden of TBI on the health care system. Prevention strategies should include information on ED visits, particularly for those at younger ages.

Gender Differences in Factors Related to Parenting Style: A Study of High Performing Science Students

This study examined parenting styles within the families of high performing science students and explored gender differences in the factors associated with an authoritative parenting style. Participants in the study were 363 students who competed in the Canada-Wide Science Fair, 1992. Results showed that the authoritative parenting style was predominant among participants and that few students were from families with permissive, authoritarian, or inconsistent parenting styles. Discriminant analysis indicated that the factors associated with authoritative parenting differedfor male andfemale participants. A greater number offamily-related variables emergedforfemales, whereas more motivational and science outcome variables emerged for males. Results also showed the positive effects of authoritative parenting because adolescents from this type offamily showed higher levels offamily cohesion, interaction, and encouragement as well as higher levels of achievement motivation and higher scores on a science outcome measure.

Traumatic brain injuries in the construction industry

Objective: This study analyses factors associated with work-related traumatic brain injury (TBI), specifically in the construction industry in Ontario, Canada. Methods: This cross-sectional study utilized data extracted from the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) records indicating concussion/intracranial injury that resulted in days off work in 2004–2005. Results: Analyses of 218 TBI cases revealed that falls were the most common cause of injury, followed by being struck by or against an object. Mechanisms of injury and the temporal profile of injury also varied by age. For instance, a significantly higher proportion of injuries occurred in the mornings for young workers compared to older workers. Conclusions: The results of this study provide important information for prevention of TBI which suggest important age-specific strategies for workers in the construction industry.

Mental Models of Poverty in Developing Nations A Causal Mapping Analysis Using a Canada-Philippines Contrast

Causal mapping was used to compare poverty activists and non-activists from Canada and the Philippines (N = 80) in terms of their beliefs about the causes of poverty in developing nations. The causal maps varied as a function of both activist status and country of residence. Activists included more external societal causes in their maps than non-activists, whereas non-activists included more individualistic and internal societal causes. In terms of map structure, Filipino activists included significantly more causal links in their maps than members of the other three groups. A cluster analysis on distance ratios, an index of dissimilarity among the maps, produced three clusters dominated by Filipino non-activists, Canadian non-activists, and Filipino activists, respectively, and a fourth cluster that included a heterogeneous mix of respondents from all four groups. Implications for public education, the effective coordination of antipoverty interventions, and methodological issues related to causal mapping are discussed.

Seniors Falls Investigative Methodology (SFIM): A Systems Approach to the Study of Falls in Seniors

La recherche actuelle portant sur les chutes chez les aînés manque d’analyse approfondie sur des questions telles les facteurs humains et l’erreur humaine. Un savoir plus élargi est nécessaire afin de comprendre pourquoi les personnes âgées sont exposées à des chutes. Le but de cette étude est d’illustrer la possibilité d’adapter la Méthodologie intégrée d’enquête sur la sécurité (MIES), utilisée dans l’investigation des accidents dans les domaines de l’industrie et des transports, à l’étude des chutes chez les aînés. La version adaptée de cette méthodologie — Méthodologie d’enquête sur les chutes chez les aînés (MECA) utilise une approche systémique afin de mener l’investigation au-delà des causes immédiates d’un incident, pour révéler les conditions et les actions dangereuses qui contribuent à des résultats cliniques défavorables. Une étude de cas est utilisée comme exemple pour décrire de manière détaillée les six phases du processus d’investigation. La MECA offre la possibilité de: identifier les manquements à la sécurité; utiliser les connaissances actuelles en matière de chutes; établir et standardiser un système d’échange de données; focaliser la perspective sur le système et non pas sur la victime des chutes à répétition; guider le processus de prévention ciblée An in-depth understanding of human factors and human error is lacking in current research on seniors’ falls. Additional knowledge is needed to understand why seniors are falling. The purpose of this article is to describe the adapting of the Integrated Safety Investigation Methodology (ISIM) (used for investigating transportation and industrial accidents) to studying seniors’ falls. An adapted version—the Seniors Falls Investigative Methodology (SFIM)—uses a systems approach to take an investigation beyond the immediate cause of an incident and reveal unsafe acts and deeply imbedded unsafe conditions that contribute to adverse outcomes. An example case study is used to describe six phases of the investigative process in detail. The SFIM has the potential to identify safety deficiencies; utilize existing knowledge about falls; establish a standardized reporting system; shift focus from the faller to the system; and guide targeted prevention.

The Social Rules that Children use: Close Friends, Other Friends, and "Other Kids" compared to Parents, Teachers, and Siblings

This study addressed the question of how relationships differ in terms of how children function within them. A total of 652 children of both sexes from ages 9 to 13 rated how frequently they use 56 social rules in one of two check-lists in getting along with mother, father, brother, sister, close friend, other friend, other kids, and teacher relations. Manovas, 8 X 5 X 2 (Relations X Age X Sex) showed that rule use was governed mainly by relation. Compared to other kids, compliance, social facilitation, information management, prosocial behaviour, loyalty, and managing feelings were rated more frequently in the close friend, mother, and father relations, revealing broad similarity between parent-child and close friend relations. However, the means for social facilitation were uniquely higher for close friends. Compliance and loyalty applied equally to mother, father, and teacher relations but compliance also applied to close friends. Loyalty was the only theme held in common between siblings and close friends. Age and sex differences were minor. Results confirmed the salience of relationships in governing social rule use between close friends, other friends, and other kids; parents, close friends, and other kids; close friends and siblings; and parents and teachers.

Factors Influencing the Pursuit of Health and Science Careers for Canadian Adolescents in Transition from School to Work

Previous research separately acknowledges two emerging trends in adolescence but neglects to integrate them. These are that many changes have occurred in the school to work transitional processes, and that there is substantial need for adolescents, especially young women, to pursue science career pathways. In this study, we link these trends and develop predictive, interactive models of science pursuit for 836 Canadian secondary school graduates living through a period of massive change in school to work transitional processes. Separate logit analyses were conducted for males and females. Results suggest that young women are not under-represented in the pursuit of science careers in high school. Young women aspire more frequently to medical and health sciences, and young men to natural sciences, engineering and mathematics. For young women, fathers occupation in science, curriculum track and level of occupational expectation were significant in the model, correctly predicting 72% of membership in science. For males, socioeconomic status, family support, level of occupational expectation, regional unemployment levels and items measuring work environment were significant in the model that predicted 81% of membership in science. The findings suggest the salience of gender-differentiated school to work transition models in determining pursuit of health and science career pathways.

Fallible decisions in management: learning from errors

Systems in the natural resource industry vary in their tolerance of human errors. Such operations are open to fallible decisions resulting from the way in which the organization deals with information. Organizations must therefore improve on their ability to learn from incidents in order to reduce the frequency and severity of errors. Presents information on fallible decisions from the management and cognitive sciences, as well as major disasters (for example Challenger; Herald of Free Enterprise). Describes a framework for increasing organizational learning through incident analysis and presents a five‐step method for systematically analysing incidents.

An integrated model of error management

Describes an integrated model of error management which includes: the external environment; the corporate environment; the manager and the managed; incident management; inquiries; and, learning from errors. Includes classification of error types with examples. By understanding this model organizations can improve their ability to manage error.