Individual Risk, Country-Level Social Support, and Bullying and Cyberbullying Victimization Among Youths: A Cross-national Study.

This study examined the relationships between three life domains-physical health, risky/deviant lifestyle, and psychosocial adjustment-and traditional bullying and cyberbullying victimization among youths in 23 countries. METHODS: We first estimated logistic regression models that examined the relationships between indicators of physical health, risky/deviant lifestyle, and psychosocial adjustment using 23 distinct national samples. This analysis also allowed us to observe patterns of similarity and dissimilarity across countries regarding the correlates of for traditional bullying and cyberbullying victimization. Next, we estimated multilevel models of bullying victimization that combined data across 21 countries and estimated the effects of a country-level indicator of quality of human development (IHDI) in interaction with individual-level indicators of physical health, risky/deviant lifestyle, and psychosocial adjustment. RESULTS: There were both cross-country similarities and differences regarding the individual-level correlates of traditional bullying and cyberbullying victimization. Additionally, countries that had relatively greater quality of human development tended to exhibit lower prevalence of traditional and cyberbullying victimization. Finally, country-level quality of human development conditioned relationships between individual level factors and both traditional and cyberbullying victimization. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that student-level bullying-prevention programs should address risk/protective factors across three student life domains, with some risk/protective factors seemingly universally relevant. Moreover, cross-level interactions suggest that enhancing country-level quality of human development can also play an important role in youth bullying prevention.

School-Based Violent Victimization in Turkey: Are Correlates Gender-Specific?

The present study builds upon limited recent work suggesting that the correlates of adolescent school-based victimization are gendered in important ways. In particular, it broadens the international scope of such research by exploring the potentially gendered nature of predictors of school-based violent victimization in Turkey. Like much of the previous U.S.-based research, the focus here is on the potentially gender-specific effects of variables derived from lifestyle-routine activities and low self-control theories. For this article, the data are based on a subsample from The National High School Offending and Victimization Survey in Turkey. The subsample included 461 male and 452 female students from 15 high schools within Turkey's Mersin province. Binary regression coefficients were estimated for 20 datasets generated through a multivariate sequential imputation technique, with results then pooled. Binary logistic regression models showed that many of the propositions of lifestyle-routine activities theory were generally supported for both genders. However, some results were suggestive of the notion of "gendered opportunity"-that indicators of opportunity for victimization vary across males and females. Gender-specific findings imply that there are some important differences in terms of the impact of low self-control and lifestyle, which might require gender-specific interventions. In addition, regardless of gender, students who reported that school administration was effective in controlling weapons at school were less likely to be victimized, and students who reported there being unsupervised areas at their schools had higher odds of victimization. As such, supervisory practices and target hardening strategies seem important for curbing all students' victimization risk in Turkey.

Personality and Adolescent School-Based Victimization: Do the Big Five Matter?

Self-control has provided a useful framework for understanding both offending behavior and victimization risk. As a theory of victimization, research has established that low self-control is directly related to victimization risk beyond a range of other factors. This finding raises the issue of whether other personality traits are associated with an increased risk of victimization. Using a sample of ninth-grade adolescents (N = 2,912) from the Rural Substance Abuse and Violence Project (RSVP), we tested whether the Big Five Inventory (BFI) of personality traits predicted adolescent school-based victimization above and beyond low self-control and rival explanations of victimization. The results indicate that, after controlling for risky behaviors, school attachment, and low self-control, neuroticism is positively related to victimization. This finding suggests that examining traits other than low self-control is important to capture fully what makes someone vulnerable to crime. Further, we consider the theoretical and policy implications of the findings.

The Short-Term Dynamics of Peers and Delinquent Behavior: An Analysis of Bi-weekly Changes Within a High School Student Network.

OBJECTIVES: To analyze short-term changes in peer affiliations, offending behavior and routine activities in order to evaluate three different processes: peer selection, peer socialization and situational peer influences. METHODS: The short-term longitudinal TEENS study was conducted among a cohort of students from one mid-sized high school in Kentucky, as part of the larger Rural Substance Abuse and Violence Project. The study sample consists of one complete network of 155 ninth graders who completed surveys about their peer affiliations, routine activities and offending behaviors over the course of five waves of data collection during the beginning of the school year. The measurement intervals were no more than 2 weeks long. Longitudinal network analysis (SIENA software that enables actor-oriented stochastic modeling) was used to estimate peer selection, socialization, and situational effects. RESULTS: Peer networks, offending, and routine activities appeared to be very volatile over the research period. Peer selection effects were found for structural network properties, demographics and delinquent values, but not for peer delinquency. We did not find significant peer socialization effects within the research period, but instead found that changes in offending were related to situational changes in unstructured socializing, alcohol use and marijuana use. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that traditional time lags of one year or six months between measurements may fail to capture short-term relations between peers and behavior. Long-term peer influence processes like socialization may be less important in the short run, while situational peer effects might be more salient.

Culture as Values or Culture in Action? Street Codes and Student Violent Offending.

This study draws upon two competing cultural perspectives-culture-as-values and culture-in-action-in order to examine the relationship between street codes and the propensity to violently victimize others. Specifically, it explores whether individual-level and school-level street codes, net of one another, are related to three types of violence: assault, robbery and sexual battery. In addition, it considers whether these effects vary according to three contextual characteristics: 1) the location of the offending-in-school versus out-of-school; 2) school-level economic disadvantage; and 3) school efficacy. Three-level ordinal logistic regression models are estimated using four waves of survey data from over 3,000 students nested within 103 schools. Results provide evidence that individual-level street codes are related to violent offending in a manner that is, largely speaking, not tied to context. However, there is some evidence that the effects of school-level street codes on offending differ between outside of school and in school settings and are conditioned by levels of school disadvantage and efficacy. Overall, some support is offered for both the culture-as-values and culture-in-action perspectives.

Adult Gamma Camera Myocardial Perfusion Imaging: Diagnostic Reference Levels and Achievable Administered Activities Derived From ACR Accreditation Data.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to glean from accreditation surveys of US nuclear medicine facilities the in-practice radiopharmaceutical diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) and achievable administered activities (AAAs) for adult gamma camera myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI). METHODS: Data were collected from the ACR Nuclear Medicine Accreditation Program during one three-year accreditation cycle from May 1, 2012, to April 30, 2015. Data elements included radiopharmaceutical, administered activity, examination protocol, interpreting physician specialty, practice type, and facility annual examination volume. Facility demographics, DRLs, and AAAs were tabulated for analysis. RESULTS: The calculated DRLs and AAAs are consistent with previously published surveys, and they adhere to national societal guidelines. Facilities seeking ACR accreditation are nearly evenly split between hospital based with multiple gamma cameras and office based with single gamma cameras. The majority of facilities use single-day, low-dosage/high-dosage (99m)Tc-based protocols; a small minority use (201)TlCl protocols. Administered activities show a consistency across facilities, likely reflecting adoption of standard MPI protocols. CONCLUSIONS: This practice-based analysis provides DRL and AAA benchmarks that nuclear medicine facilities may use to refine gamma camera MPI protocols. In general, the protocols submitted for ACR accreditation are consistent with national societal guidelines. The results suggest that there may be opportunities to further reduce patient radiation exposure by using modified examination protocols and newer gamma camera software and hardware technologies.

ACR CT Accreditation Program and the Lung Cancer Screening Program Designation.

The ACR recognizes that low-dose CT for lung cancer screening has the potential to significantly reduce mortality from lung cancer in the appropriate high-risk population. The ACR supports the recommendations of the US Preventive Services Task Force and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network for screening patients. To be effective, lung cancer screening should be performed at sites providing high-quality low-dose CT examinations overseen and interpreted by qualified physicians using a structured reporting and management system. The ACR has developed a set of tools necessary for radiologists to take the lead on the front lines of lung cancer screening. The ACR Lung Cancer Screening Center designation is built upon the ACR CT accreditation program and requires use of Lung-RADS or a similar structured reporting and management system. This designation provides patients and referring providers with the assurance that they will receive high-quality screening with appropriate follow-up care.

Similar Mechanisms? A Comparative Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Violence and Victimization.

This study analyzes the extent to which there are similar patterns of violent offending and victimization in a panel of adolescents. Three explanatory perspectives are assessed: population heterogeneity, state dependence, and a mixed model. Data are drawn from a four-wave panel study of 3,976 adolescents. The main study measures comprise self-report indices for victimization and delinquency. Theoretical perspectives are specified through three distinct statistical approaches--latent growth curve, autoregressive simplex, and autoregressive latent trajectory (ALT) models. The analysis then incorporates the effects of relevant time-stable and time-varying influences. A mixed perspective, represented by the ALT model, best fits the data for both violent victimization and offending. Covariates drawn from the two perspectives have similar effects as well. The findings provide some support for a similar mechanisms hypothesis.

The Code of the Street and Violent Versus Property Crime Victimization.

Previous research has shown that individuals who adopt values in line with the code of the street are more likely to experience violent victimization (e.g., Stewart, Schreck, & Simons, 2006). This study extends this literature by examining the relationship between the street code and multiple types of violent and property victimization. This research investigates the relationship between street code-related values and 4 types of victimization (assault, breaking and entering, theft, and vandalism) using Poisson-based multilevel regression models. Belief in the street code was associated with higher risk of experiencing assault, breaking and entering, and vandalism, whereas theft victimization was not related to the street code. The results suggest that the code of the street influences victimization broadly--beyond violence--by increasing behavior that provokes retaliation from others in various forms.

ACR CT accreditation program and the lung cancer screening program designation.

The ACR recognizes that low-dose CT for lung cancer screening has the potential to significantly reduce mortality from lung cancer in the appropriate high-risk population. The ACR supports the recommendations of the US Preventive Services Task Force and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network for screening patients. To be effective, lung cancer screening should be performed at sites providing high-quality low-dose CT examinations overseen and interpreted by qualified physicians using a structured reporting and management system. The ACR has developed a set of tools necessary for radiologists to take the lead on the front lines of lung cancer screening. The ACR Lung Cancer Screening Center designation is built upon the ACR CT accreditation program and requires use of Lung-RADS or a similar structured reporting and management system. This designation provides patients and referring providers with the assurance that they will receive high-quality screening with appropriate follow-up care.

Patterns of victimization between and within peer clusters in a high school social network.

This study presents a descriptive analysis of patterns of violent victimization between and within the various cohesive clusters of peers comprising a sample of more than 500 9th-12th grade students from one high school. Social network analysis techniques provide a visualization of the overall friendship network structure and allow for the examination of variation in victimization across the various peer clusters within the larger network. Social relationships among clusters with varying levels of victimization are also illustrated so as to provide a sense of possible spatial clustering or diffusion of victimization across proximal peer clusters. Additionally, to provide a sense of the sorts of peer clusters that support (or do not support) victimization, characteristics of clusters at both the high and low ends of the victimization scale are discussed. Finally, several of the peer clusters at both the high and low ends of the victimization continuum are "unpacked", allowing examination of within-network individual-level differences in victimization for these select clusters.

The ACR BI-RADS experience: learning from history.

The Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) initiative, instituted by the ACR, was begun in the late 1980s to address a lack of standardization and uniformity in mammography practice reporting. An important component of the BI-RADS initiative is the lexicon, a dictionary of descriptors of specific imaging features. The BI-RADS lexicon has always been data driven, using descriptors that previously had been shown in the literature to be predictive of benign and malignant disease. Once established, the BI-RADS lexicon provided new opportunities for quality assurance, communication, research, and improved patient care. The history of this lexicon illustrates a series of challenges and instructive successes that provide a valuable guide for other groups that aspire to develop similar lexicons in the future.

The denial of emergency protection: factors associated with court decision making.

Despite the importance of civil orders of protection as a legal resource for victims of intimate partner violence, research is limited in this area, and most studies focus on the process following a court's initial issuance of an emergency order. The purpose of this study is to address a major gap in the literature by examining cases where victims of intimate partner violence are denied access to temporary orders of protection. The study sample included a review of 2,205 petitions that had been denied by a Kentucky court during the 2003 fiscal year. The study offers important insights into the characteristics of petitioners and respondents to denied orders and outlines individual, contextual, structural, qualitative/perceptual, and procedural factors associated with the denial of temporary or emergency protective orders. Recommendations for statutory changes, judicial education, and future research to remedy barriers to protection are offered.

Fear of acquaintance versus stranger rape as a "master status": towards refinement of the "shadow of sexual assault".

Using a sample of 1010 women from a southeastern state university, we explore whether associations between fear of sexual assault and other crime-specific fears vary based on presumed victim-offender relationship. More specifically, we assess the extent to which fear of stranger- and acquaintance-perpetrated sexual assaults differ in the extent to which they are correlated with fear of other crime victimizations. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that both fear of stranger-perpetrated sexual assault and fear of acquaintance-perpetrated sexual assault were positively associated with nearly all other crime-specific fears under examination. However, associations were particularly strong between fear of sexual assault by a stranger and fear of other stranger-perpetrated crimes. Findings have significant implications for how academic institutions should comprehensively address direct and indirect negative influences of violence against college women.

Physical environment and crime and misconduct in Kentucky schools.

Drawing upon ecological theories of crime control, aspects of the physical environment such as building design, street layout, and land use are thought to indicate territoriality and natural surveillance, thereby affecting the ability of residents to supervise and intervene in crime. To date, ecological models have been tested primarily at community levels of analysis (i.e., neighborhood, block). In contrast, this paper tests the applicability of this theoretical approach to crime in school settings. More specifically, we estimate random-intercept models using survey data from 3682 7th-grade students and 1351 teachers, nested within 65 Kentucky schools linked to school-level measures of the physical environment to determine how they affect various measures of school-based crime and misconduct. Editors' Strategic Implications:How one measures school violence may have profound effects on what contributing causal factors are identified and strategies for prevention are developed. Student reports of school violence appear linked to more normative daily behaviors, whereas teacher reports-though limited to officially observed behaviors-are typically more serious. Thus, measurement implications abound. Nevertheless, territoriality, surveillance, and a sense of order, particularly in the immediate school context more so than the larger community context, appear linked to school violence.

Quality improvement in radiology: white paper report of the Sun Valley Group meeting.

The Sun Valley Group is an informal assembly of individuals interested in improving quality in radiology. Its first meeting was held in September 2005. The purposes of the meeting was to share quality improvement experiences, consider a strategy for promoting quality improvement initiatives across the radiology profession, and initiate quality benchmarking efforts. Representatives from private practice, academia, national quality programs, and international societies were in attendance. Four main themes were presented: the sharing of leading quality activities in radiology, the future of pay-for-performance systems, programs and future initiatives of professional radiology societies, and health services research guidelines for developing outcome metrics. This white paper summarizes information presented in each of these thematic areas and concludes with the group's plans for future activities. Among these is a formal educational program for all radiologists interested in implementing a quality improvement program within their practice, to be hosted by the ACR.

Pay for performance in radiology: ACR white paper.

During the next few years, some portion of physician reimbursement will be increasingly based on the quality and efficiency of service, a practice commonly referred to as pay for performance (P4P). Performance benchmarks are the discrete parameters of structure, process, or outcome metrics whose attainment defines good quality care. Private payers are already rewarding primary care physicians for practices that adhere to quality standards, are efficient, involve information technology, and result in high patient satisfaction. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will have completed the development of performance measures to be used in Medicare payment strategies for all specialties by the end of 2006 and anticipates phasing in the program fully by 2008. This article describes P4P, its importance to the ACR, the organizations involved in developing it, the ACR's activities to date, and the steps the ACR must take to ensure that radiologists are remunerated fairly as physician payment becomes based, in part, on performance.

ACR MRI accreditation: yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

The ACR's Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Accreditation Program has generated controversy and debate since the Committee on MRI Accreditation began the development of the program in the early 1990s. This article discusses the motivation and development process for the program. It also presents outcomes from the MRI Accreditation Program, including passing and failing statistics by field strength and body part. The on-site survey process and outcomes are presented, and a case study is described.

The ACR's Mammography Accreditation Program: ten years of experience since MQSA.

The ACR's Mammography Accreditation Program has been helping facilities improve the quality of mammography through peer review and professional feedback since 1987. Initially conceived as a voluntary program, accreditation became mandatory when the Mammography Quality Standards Act (MQSA) of 1992 required all U.S. mammography facilities to become accredited and certified by October 1, 1994. Currently, the ACR is the largest of four accrediting bodies approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, accrediting 12,729 units at 8325 facilities by October 1, 2004. Between 1987 and 1991, 70% of the mammography units applying for accreditation with the ACR passed on their first attempts. In 2003, 88.3% of the units passed on their first attempts, indicating a marked improvement in the quality of mammography in the United States since MQSA went into effect 10 years ago.