Using the wellness inventory to assess health and well-being in college students at the end of the semester

Abstract

Objective: The authors examined the end of semester outcomes (December, 2017) on the Wellness Inventory and demographics among college students taking a Physical Education (PED 101) course at a university in the southeast United States. Participants: College students were assessed at the end of the semester for health and well-being outcomes according to the Wellness Inventory. Results: Results showed that there were few gender or age differences for the dimensions of well-being. However, there were significant differences for most of the dimensions of health and well-being between frequent exercisers and infrequent exercisers. There were also significant differences between students who reported being in excellent health versus students who reported being in fair or poor health. Conclusions: Consistent exercise throughout the week may play a role in overall health and well-being. The results from this study warrant further investigation into the relationship between the exercise frequency and the dimensions of health and well-being.     

On the cores of games arising from integer edge covering functions of graphs

In this paper, we study cooperative games arising from integer edge covering problems on graphs. We introduce two games, a rigid k-edge covering game and its relaxed game, as generalizations of a rigid edge covering game and its relaxed game studied by Liu and Fang (2007). Then we give a characterization of the cores of both games, find relationships between them, and give necessary and sufficient conditions for the balancedness of a rigid k-edge covering game and its relaxed game.     

Marital Relationships Following the Korean Economic Crisis: Applying the Family Stress Model

In response to the recent economic crisis in Korea and its negative effects on families, the current study examined the interrelationships among economic pressure, emotional distress, marital conflict, and marital satisfaction for 236 Korean couples. The family stress model ( Conger & Elder, 1994 ; Conger, Rueter, & Conger, 2000 ; Conger, Rueter, & Elder, 1999 ) was tested using structural equation modeling. The results generally supported the theoretical model, showing that economic pressure negatively affects marital satisfaction via emotional distress and marital conflict. The results also implied cultural differences in the process of family stress. Korean husbands' emotional distress did not affect marital conflict or marital satisfaction, suggesting that Korean husbands may differ from their wives in their reaction to emotional distress from economic pressure.     

Using survival analysis to demonstrate the effects of training on employee retention

In order to thrive, companies are waging war with competitors to hire and retain the most knowledgeable and skilled employees. Personnel with industry experience are the highly valued field generals who will win new business and generate revenue. The cost of acquiring experienced personnel and the cost of losing such personnel is substantial, upwards of $100,000 per person. To remain profitable, companies must retain personnel as long as possible. Training is among the many tactics that have been implemented to increase retention among employees. This article focuses on assessing the impact of a 3-day training course designed to acclimate experienced hires to one company's policies, formal and informal procedures, and pathways to success. A quasi-experimental design, wherein study participants self-selected to attend training, was used to test the hypothesis that training would increase retention and justify the substantial financial investment in training. Attention is given to the benefits of using survival analysis as a data analytic technique applicable for employee retention studies.     

A Computational Bayesian Method for Generalized Semiparametric Regression Models

To better understand the power shift and the U.S. role compared to China and others regional actors, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and the East Asia Institute (EAI) surveyed people in six countries - China, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesian, and the United States - in the first half of 2008 about regional security and economic integration in Asia and about how these nations perceive each other (Bouton et al., 2010 Bouton, M., Steven, K., Benjamin, P., and Gregory, H. (2010). Soft power in Asia survey, 2008. ICPSR25342-v1. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2010-04-05. doi:10.3886/ICPSR25342.v1[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). There exists latent variance that cannot be adequately explained by parametric models. This is, in large part, due to the hidden structures and latent stories that from in unexpected ways. Therefore, a new Gibbs sampler is developed here in order to reveal preciously unseen structures and latent variances found in the survey dataset of Bouton et al. This new sampler is based upon the semiparametric regression, a well-known tool frequently utilized in order to capture the functional dependence between variables with fixed effect parametric and nonlinear regression. This is then extended to a generalized semiparametric regression for binary responses with logit and probit link function. The new sampler is then developed for the generalized linear mixed model with a nonparametric random effect. It is expressed as nonparametric regression with the multinomial-Dirichlet distribution for the number and positions of knots.     

Optimal Policy for a Stochastic Scheduling Problem with Applications to Surgical Scheduling

We consider the stochastic, single‐machine earliness/tardiness problem (SET), with the sequence of processing of the jobs and their due‐dates as decisions and the objective of minimizing the sum of the expected earliness and tardiness costs over all the jobs. In a recent paper, Baker ( 2014 ) shows the optimality of the Shortest‐Variance‐First (SVF) rule under the following two assumptions: (a) The processing duration of each job follows a normal distribution. (b) The earliness and tardiness cost parameters are the same for all the jobs. In this study, we consider problem SET under assumption (b). We generalize Baker's result by establishing the optimality of the SVF rule for more general distributions of the processing durations and a more general objective function. Specifically, we show that the SVF rule is optimal under the assumption of dilation ordering of the processing durations. Since convex ordering implies dilation ordering (under finite means), the SVF sequence is also optimal under convex ordering of the processing durations. We also study the effect of variability of the processing durations of the jobs on the optimal cost. An application of problem SET in surgical scheduling is discussed.     

Efficient semiparametric estimation in generalized partially linear additive models

In this paper we study semiparametric generalized additive models in which some part of the additive function is linear. We study the semiparametric efficiency under this regression model for the exponential family. We also present an asymptotically efficient estimation procedure based on the generalized profile likelihood approach.     

A comparison of two randomized response survey methods with consideration for the level of respondent protection

In recent years randomized response methods have been introduced in an attempt to improve the accuracy and honesty in personalized response surveys of very sensitive questions. Two randomized response methods are compared, taking into account the protection afforded the respondent. In addition, we point out that the estimators, which previous authors have claimed to be the maximum likelihood estimators of the population proportion with the sensitive characteristic, are in fact not the maximum likelihood estimators.     

Disparities in Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Literacy and Vaccine Completion Among Asian American Pacific Islander Undergraduates: Implications for Cancer Health Equity

Abstract

Purpose: Low rates of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination among young Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women need to be addressed, particularly given the high incidence of cervical cancer in this population. The current study aims to investigate predictors of HPV vaccination in young AAPI and non-Latina white (NLW) women. Methods: A secondary data analysis was conducted of a health survey administered to college-aged women (N = 2,270) at a large public university in the Midwest. Andersen's behavioral model of health services utilization guided the study theoretically, and hierarchical logistic regression analysis was conducted to investigate research aim. Results: NLW women had a significantly higher rate of vaccine completion than AAPI women (NLW = 60.7%; AAPI = 38.6%). NLW women also scored higher on all 5 measures of HPV vaccine literacy than AAPI women. Both groups of undergraduate women reported that increasing age, knowledge about HPV, greater use of gynecological services, and knowing someone who had cancer were significant factors related to HPV vaccination completion. In the NLW group, father's income was also found to be a predictor of HPV vaccination completion. Conclusions: Rate and predictors of HPV vaccination completion vary between NLW and AAPI women. Greater promotion of HPV literacy and gynecological service use should be made to young AAPI women to increase their HPV uptake. Further research should examine sociocultural factors that could hinder or promote HPV vaccination in young AAPI women.     

Saving public pensions: Labor migration effects on pension systems in European countries

European countries have experienced population aging and consequent pressure on public pensions. Some European countries, therefore, have welcomed migrants, expecting that the inflow of people will ease the demographic and fiscal problems. It is important to ask if this policy approach has had the intended effects. This paper examines the effects of labor migration on public pension systems. Using error correction models (ECMs) with cross-country time-series data on European countries from 1981 to 2009, this analysis demonstrates that labor migration has deterred the reduction of public pension benefit levels and government expenditure on pension as well as the expansion of private pensions. This implies that labor migration eases the pressure on public pension systems. Migration contributory effects have been larger in countries with Bismarckian pension systems because those countries have experienced greater pressure on public pension systems than other countries.