Redefining monetary policy rules: A threshold approach.

In this paper, we try to analyse the extent to which a redefinition of the monetary policy rule would help to avoid the zero-lower bound, as well as to explore the conditions needed to avoid that constraint. To that aim, we estimate the threshold values of the key variables of the policy rule: the inflation gap and the output gap. The threshold model allows us to know which are the turning points from which the relationship between the key variables and the interest rate revert.

Empathy for others' suffering and its mediators in mental health professionals.

Empathy is a complex cognitive and affective process that allows humans to experience concern for others, comprehend their emotions, and eventually help them. In addition to studies with healthy subjects and various neuropsychiatric populations, a few reports have examined this domain focusing on mental health workers, whose daily work requires the development of a saliently empathic character. Building on this research line, the present population-based study aimed to (a) assess different dimensions of empathy for pain in mental health workers relative to general-physicians and non-medical workers; and (b) evaluate their relationship with relevant factors, such as moral profile, age, gender, years of experience, and workplace type.

Men, women…who cares? A population-based study on sex differences and gender roles in empathy and moral cognition.

Research on sex differences in empathy has revealed mixed findings. Whereas experimental and neuropsychological measures show no consistent sex effect, self-report data consistently indicates greater empathy in women. However, available results mainly come from separate populations with relatively small samples, which may inflate effect sizes and hinder comparability between both empirical corpora.

[Assaults on professionals in healthcare settings].

Objective: Determine the frequency of assaults on health workers and characterize aspects that deepen understanding and development of prevention strategies.

Methods: A voluntary and confidential electronic survey was conducted through the IntraMed website, a social network of health professionals. Frequency of verbal and physical assaults was analyzed along with their association with demographic variables, occupation, career, specialty, potential consequences, perception of insecurity in the workplace, and proposals to reduce them.

Psychiatrists' approach to vascular risk assessment in Latin America.

Aim: To explore the way in which Latin American psychiatrists approach the screening of vascular risk factors in patients receiving antipsychotic medication.

Methods: This was a descriptive, cross sectional study that surveyed Latin-American physicians to evaluate differences between groups divided in three main sections. The first section included demographic and professional data.

[Influence of personal, professional and cross-national factors in burnout syndrome in Hispanic Americans and Spanish health workers (2007)].

Background: Burnout syndrome is related to cultural and individual factors. The aim of this study was to compare the frequency of burnout and the scores for its three components with the perceptions and the demographic and professional characteristics of the workers.

Methods: Burnout syndrome was studied in 11,530 Hispanic Americans and Spanish healthcare professionals (51% male, mean age 41.