Parents’ awareness of lesbian,gay, and bisexual youths’ sexual orientation

This study used a sample of 293 lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth to examine factors that differentiated youth whose parents knew of their sexual orientation from youth whose parents did not know. Earlier awareness and disclosure of same‐gender attractions, greater childhood gender atypicality, and less internalized homophobia were characteristic of youth whose parents were aware of youths’ sexual orientation. Youth with aware parents reported more past verbal victimization on the basis of sexual orientation from parents, yet more current family support and less fear of future parental victimization on the basis of their sexual orientation.     

Variations in infant mortality rates among counties of the United States: The roles of public policies and programs

The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the causes of the rapid decline in the infant mortality rate in the United States in the period after 1963. The roles of four public policies are considered: Medicaid, subsidized family planning services for low-income women, maternal and infant care projects, and the legalization of abortion. The most striking finding is that the increase in the legal abortion rate is the single most important factor in reductions in both white and nonwhite neonatal mortality rates. Not only does the growth in abortion dominate the other public policies, but it also dominates schooling and poverty.     

School environment and risk preferences: Experimental evidence

Using a field experiment with high school students, we evaluate the development of risk preferences. Examining the impact of school characteristics on preference development reveals both peer and quality effects. For the peer effect, individuals in schools with a higher percentage of students on free or reduced lunches (hence a higher proportion of low-income peers with whom to interact) are significantly more risk averse. For the quality effect, individuals in schools with smaller class sizes and a higher percentage of educators with advanced degrees have higher, more moderate levels of risk aversion. We further discuss economic, cognitive and emotional development theories of risk preferences. Data show demographic-related patterns: girls are more risk averse on average, while taller and nonwhite individuals are more risk tolerant.     

Institutions matter! Why the Herder Problem is not a Prisoner’s Dilemma

In the game theory literature, Garrett Hardin’s famous allegory of the “tragedy of the commons” has been modeled as a variant of the Prisoner’s Dilemma, labeled the Herder Problem (or, sometimes, the Commons Dilemma). This brief paper argues that important differences in the institutional structures of the standard Prisoner’s Dilemma and Herder Problem render the two games different in kind. Specifically, institutional impediments to communication and cooperation that ensure a dominant strategy of defection in the classic Prisoner’s Dilemma are absent in the Herder Problem. Their absence does not ensure that players will achieve a welfare-enhancing, cooperative solution to the Herders Problem, but does create far more opportunity for players to alter the expected payoffs through cooperative arrangements. In a properly modeled Herder Problem—along the lines of an assurance game—defection would not always be the dominant strategy. Consequently, the Herder Problem is not in the nature of a Prisoner’s Dilemma.     

Assessing student staff motivation and satisfaction to strengthen health education services

A student staff inquiry project in the department of health education at a large state university assessed the motivation and satisfaction of student staff and peer educators. The students who managed this Student Inquiry Project created the interview tool, collected and analyzed the data for themes, and developed follow-up recommendations. Through this student-driven qualitative process, several themes emerged, including the need for more department visibility, student opportunities, student identity, skill building, and appreciation. The department is using the recommendations to strengthen student connection, satisfaction, and training.     

The rhetoric and reality of youth mentoring

Enduring and supportive mentoring relationships can powerfully influence the course and quality of adolescent lives. As mentoring continues to expand, community agencies are implementing alternatives to the traditional one-on-one mentoring mode. Such efforts may help to reach youth who might otherwise fall through the cracks.     

Get High and Get Stupid: The Effect of Alcohol and Marijuana Use on Teen Sexual Behavior

Numerous studies have documented a strong correlation between substance use and teen sexual behavior, and this empirical relationship has given rise to a widespread belief that substance use causes teens to engage in risky sex. This causal link is often used by advocates to justify policies targeted at reducing substance use. Here, we argue that previous research has not produced sufficient evidence to substantiate a causal relationship between substance use and teen sexual behavior. Accordingly, we attempt to estimate causal effects using two complementary research approaches. Our findings suggest that substance use is not causally related to teen sexual behavior, although we cannot definitively rule out that possibility.Research for this paper was supported by grant number 5 R01 DA12692 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to the National Bureau of Economic Research. We are indebted to Inas Rashad and Nasreen Khan for research assistance. We wish to thank Donald Kenkel, Jody Sindelar, David Salkever, David Bishai, Eric Slade, and two anonymous referees for helpful comments and suggestions. Our research is based in part on the Add Health project, a program project designed by J. Richard Udry (PI) and Peter Bearman, and funded by grant PO1-HD31921 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to the Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with cooperative funding participation by the National Cancer Institute; the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism; the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders; the National Institute on Drug Abuse; the National Institute of General Medical Sciences; the National Institute of Mental Health; the National Institute of Nursing Research; the Office of AIDS Research, NIH; The Office of Behavior and Social Science Research, NIH; the Office of the Director, NIH; the Office of Research on Womens Health, NIH; the Office of Population Affairs, DHHS; the National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, DHHS; the Office of Minority Health, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, DHHS; the Office of Minority Health, Office of Public Health and Science, DHHS; the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, DHHS; and the National Science Foundation. Persons interested in obtaining data files from The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health should contact Add Health Project, Carolina Population Center, 123 West Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27516-3997 (email: addhealth@unc.edu). This paper has not undergone the review accorded to official NBER publications; in particular, it has not been submitted for approval by the Board of Directors. Any opinions expressed are those of the authors and not those of NIDA or NBER.JEL Classification: I10, I11