The Best Predictors of Survival: Do They Vary by Age,Sex, and Race?

We consider a broad set of variables used by social scientists and clinicians to identify the leading predictors of five‐year survival among American adults. We address a question not considered in earlier research: Do the strongest predictors of survival vary by age, sex or race/ethnicity? The analysis uses hazard models with 30 well‐established predictors to examine five‐year survival in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. We find that the simple measure of self‐assessed health and self‐reported measures of functional ability and disability are the strongest predictors in all demographic groups, and are generally ranked considerably higher than biomarkers. Among the biomarkers, serum albumin is highly ranked in most demographic groups, whereas clinical measures of cardiovascular and metabolic function are consistently among the weakest predictors. Despite these similarities, there is substantial variation in the leading predictors across demographic groups, most notably by race and ethnicity     

Americans and Iraq,twelve years apart: Comparing support for the US wars in Iraq

Significant differences exist in Americans’ support for force between the 1991 Persian Gulf War and 2003 Iraq War, even when holding all demographic variables constant. Nearly every group decreased their support from 1991 to 2003, including men and women, Whites and racial minorities, people with high school degrees or higher, nearly all age categories, and Democrat and Independent affiliated individuals. When examining potential causes for decreased support in the 2003 Iraq War, the “nature of the conflict” presents the strongest argument and evidence. The Persian Gulf War aimed to force the Iraqi army from Kuwait, while the Iraq War was aimed at changing the governmental regime of Iraq. The latter conflict was less socially acceptable than the former to Americans. These differences between the conflicts are the best explanation for the change in support, while other explanations, including the changing composition of the population and a less pro-military populace, are insufficient.     

Beyond Self‐Reports: Changes in Biomarkers as Predictors of Mortality

The proliferation of biosocial surveys has increased the importance of weighing the costs and benefits of adding biomarker collection to population‐based surveys. A crucial question is whether biomarkers offer incremental value beyond self‐reported measures, which are easier to collect and impose less respondent burden. We use longitudinal data from a nationally representative sample of older Taiwanese (aged 54+ in 2000, examined in 2000 and 2006 with mortality follow‐up through 2011) to address that question with respect to predicting all‐cause mortality. A summary measure of biomarkers improves mortality prediction (as measured by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve) compared with self‐reports alone, but individual biomarkers perform better than the summary score. We find that incorporating change in biomarkers over a six‐year period yields a small improvement in mortality prediction compared with one‐time measurement. But, is the incremental value worth the costs?     

Bringing the Material Back In: Understanding the U.S. Position on Climate Change

This paper analyzes how natural resource interests have been translated into political outcomes in the form of American climate change policy. Incorporating data about natural resource use and national decision-making, this paper concludes that comprehending fully political decisions about global climate change in the United States requires us to recognize how land-use interests in the growth machine are translated into political outcomes. The findings of this paper suggest that, in order to understand social phenomena more fully, sociologists must recommit to studying the conjoint constitution of natural resources and social processes.

Sensitivity to nonverbal cues as a function of social competence

The hypothesis that sensitivity to nonverbal messages is an important component of social compentence was tested employing 24 female subjects. It was predicted that subjects low in social competence would experience a high level of anxiety in a social interaction and that this would interfere with their ability to attend to the nonverbal behaviors of others. Subjects were given the task of interviewing a confederate. They were instructed to change the interview topic if the questioning appeared to produce discomfort in their partner. The confederate displayed a series of nonverbal cues indicating mounting tension while responding to certain questions. Two measures of sensitivity to the cues were obtained: (1) how quickly the subject changed the interview topic in response to the cues and (2) how many nonverbal cues the subject reported observing. The findings indicated that low-competence subjects reported having observed as many of the nonverbal messages as the high-competence subjects but failed to respond to them. An explanation for this is offered based on information gathered during a postexperimental interview. No difference was found between groups for level of anxiety experienced during the interaction. This is discussed in terms of the experimental design employed, which may have served to reduce anxiety in the subjects.This study was conducted by the first author as part of the requirements for the master's degree at the University of Connecticut. The authors wish to express their appreciation to Suzanne Weiss, who served as the confederate and assisted in the analysis of the data.     

Predicting responses to sexually aggressive stories: the role of consent,interest in sexual aggression,and overall sexual interest

Measures of interest in sexual aggression and overall sexual interest were used to predict men s responses to consensual and nonconsensual stories that contained forceful sexual content. College males (N = 108) listened to these stories and completed questionnaires assessing self-reported sexual arousal and desire, their perceptions of the woman s enjoyment and sexual desire in the stories, their likelihood of acting like the man in the stories, and how likely they would be to read similar stories. Multiple regression analyses revealed that overall sexual interest variables were significant predictors of responses to both consensual and nonconsensual stories, while interest in sexual aggression predicted responses to only the nonconsensual story. The present study highlights the importance of considering overall sexual interest measures in sexual aggression research.     

A condom skill scale: assessing condom skills among female drug users

Use of latex condoms is a primary form of sexual risk reduction, and consequently many intervention programs have focused efforts on increasing condom use among high-risk populations. Use alone, however, will not fully protect the individual if condoms are not used correctly. The objective of this study was to describe the development and properties of a scale measuring demonstrated condom use skill using a sample of 261 drug-using women. Guttman's coefficient of reproducibility and Jackson's Plus Percentage Ratio (PPR) were used to determine the scalability of the Condom Skill Scale (CSS). Analysis of scale scores revealed high levels of condom skill among the population, although there was reduced performance for three items. Preliminary analysis suggests that the CSS is a potentially valid and reliable instrument, and may have application as a tool assessing condom skill level.     

Impact of a classroom behavior management intervention on teacher risk ratings for student behavior

Classroom behavior management interventions have been used successfully with drug prevention programs to prevent subsequent antisocial behavior and substance use among youth. This article presents results from implementation of the All Stars Challenge, a classroom-based behavior management component to a drug prevention program for fifth graders. Risk ratings for shyness and lack of awareness of social norms among high-risk students who received the All Stars Challenge were reduced compared with fifth graders who did not receive the intervention. In contrast, physical and social aggressivity among low-risk students who received the program increased when compared to similar control students.