Adolescent Bullying and Weapon Carrying: A Longitudinal Investigation

Using four data waves from an ongoing longitudinal study, we examined the longitudinal association between weapon carrying and bullying (i.e., bully, victim, bully‐victim). Participants were 1,042 adolescents (55.9% female) recruited from Texas high schools, including Hispanic (31.7%), White (30.3%), African American (26.6%), and other (11.4%) with a mean age of 15.1 years at baseline. Multivariate logistic regression revealed that only baseline bully‐victim was linked to weapon carrying and only 1 year later (Adjusted odds ratio = 1.76, 95% confidence interval: 1.08, 2.85), after controlling for baseline weapon carrying, age, gender, race, and parent education. No significant longitudinal association was found with bully or victim. Findings emphasize the importance of interventions targeting both bullying perpetrators and victims, while also highlighting the necessity of longitudinal research.     

Views of euthanasia from an east Texas university

Euthanasia has become a subject of public debate and concern. Here we examine the views of euthanasia among students at an east Texas university. Roughly three-fourths are in favor of euthanasia -similar to the general public. Because the university is located in a conservative geographical area, this result suggests growing approval of the various forms of euthanasia and doctor assisted death. While no significant differences were found between the three student major groups -Liberal Arts, Science and Business, some demographic differences were found within the groups. Mainly, African American female Science majors are the most opposed to euthanasia whereas Caucasian male Science majors are the most in favor and the most likely to use a scientific definition of death. The views of the latter group contrast notably with practicing doctors who lag behind the public in their approval of euthanasia. Student views might reflect a cohort difference, a lack of professional experience, or a growing trend among medical practitioners. Liberal Arts majors are the most conservative of the three groups, indicating nonscientific reasons for opposition. Resistance to euthanasia is apparently associated with demographics and nonscientific reasoning.     

Encouragement of subgroup assessment by the FDA

Responses to a drug treatment can differ among subgroups of the population, including demographic subgroups, groups with different disease characteristics, and groups with different metabolic or excretory functions. The differences can be pharmacokinetic (PK) or pharmacodynamic (PD) affecting toxicity or effectiveness. In recent years wide availability of drug blood level data, including metabolite data, has made PK differences in subgroups very readily detectable, but PD differences are more difficult to detect and need to be carefully examined by assessment of effectiveness and toxicity in demographic and other subgroups, as illustrated by the forest plots examining multiple subgroups typically presented for cardiovascular outcome studies. Such examinations and presentations would probably be more broadly useful and informative if used to examine pooled outcome and toxicity data for symptomatic treatments.     

Feeling special: Language in the lives of Polish people

In this article I use findings from an ESRC funded project on language and identity in the narratives of Polish people to challenge a narrow approach to language in debates about integration. I argue that decisions about learning languages are influenced by wider concerns of self and other identification rather then simply being issues of instrumental need. I show how research participants viewed speaking Polish as an important part of being Polish, that is, of their identity. They recognised that changing the language they spoke involved questioning the way they presented themselves and how they related to others. I discuss how language was used to differentiate between ‘us’ and ‘others’, including in terms of values and the ways in which these perceptions of difference influenced social interactions.     

Alcohol consumption and unsafe sexual behavior in discrete events

Recent studies with samples of homosexual men have demonstrated that drinking in conjunction with sexual activity is strongly related to unsafe sexual activities known to increase the risk of AIDS transmission. Most existing studies have assessed the relationship of general measures of drinking and general frequency of risky sexual activities. Such a design, however, does not establish that drinking and risky behaviors occurred on the same occasion. In this study, adult respondents were asked about the circumstances of two sexual encounters: their most recent sexual experience and their most recent encounter involving a new sexual partner. The characteristics of encounters that involved and did not involve drinking are described. The results showed that encounters with new partners were more likely to involve alcohol, but that the presence of alcohol was not significantly associated with risky sexual activity. These findings suggest that analyses of event‐specific data illuminate a different aspect of the drinking/sex link.     

National and subnational projections of elderly living arrangements: An application of the net transition probability macrosimulation model

Recently, McDonaldet al. (2006) outlined a new method of projecting living arrangements, households and dwellings at the national and subnational level, using quinquennial census data. The purpose of this paper is to apply this new simulation method to project the composition of elderly living arrangements at the national and subnational level in Australia over the period 2001 to 2016. This study presents projections of living arrangements for Temporal Statistical Districts within New South Wales and for Australia as a whole. Results show a strong increase in the number of the elderly living alone, particularly elderly males. The rate of growth in lone-person households is particularly strong in coastal and regional New South Wales, underlining the importance of capturing subnational differences in probabilities of births, deaths, migration and household movements when producing regional projections of living arrangements. This paper concludes by considering implications of the findings and potential uses of the net transition probability method.     

School-based early intervention and child well-being in the Chicago Longitudinal Study

Chicago Child-Parent Centers provide comprehensive education and family support services to young, low-income children. Using data from 1,539 children in the Chicago Longitudinal Study, preschool participation was associated with significantly higher levels of school readiness, achievement, and educational attainment, and with lower rates of child maltreatment, juvenile delinquency, special education placement, and grade retention. Every dollar invested in the preschool program returned 7.14 dollars to society at large. School-age intervention also provided economic returns that exceeded costs. Findings provided strong evidence that large-scale, public, early interventions can enhance children's well-being. The authors recommend greater investments in programs with elements similar to the Child-Parent Centers.     

Conditional assurance: the answer to the questions that should be asked within drug development

In this paper, we extend the use of assurance for a single study to explore how meeting a study's pre-defined success criteria could update our beliefs about the true treatment effect and impact the assurance of subsequent studies. This concept of conditional assurance, the assurance of a subsequent study conditional on success in an initial study, can be used assess the de-risking potential of the study requiring immediate investment, to ensure it provides value within the overall development plan. If the planned study does not discharge sufficient later phase risk, alternative designs and/or success criteria should be explored. By transparently laying out the different design options and the risks associated, this allows for decision makers to make quantitative investment choices based on their risk tolerance levels and potential return on investment. This paper lays out the derivation of conditional assurance, discusses how changing the design of a planned study will impact the conditional assurance of a future study, as well as presenting a simple illustrative example of how this methodology could be used to transparently compare development plans to aid decision making within an organisation.