Accounting for plasma levels below detection limits in a one-compartment zero-order absorption pharmacokinetics model

We provide a simple method for fitting a one-compartment, zero-order absorption pharmacokinetics model in the presence of observations below the detection limit. This method may be extended to more complex pharmacokinetics models. We demonstrate, using a small simulation study, that the method provides accurate parameter estimates over a range of detection limits and we compare it to an ad hoc midpoint method. An applied example is provided from a pharmacokinetic investigation of a nicotine nasal spray.     

Female adolescent smoking: a Delphi study on best prevention practices

The present researchers used a multi-wave Delphi methodology to determine what 14 knowledgeable substance abuse professionals believe are the most appropriate smoking prevention practices for female adolescents. While there was some agreement with the emerging literature, particularly on weight control issues and parental involvement, there was also endorsement of items that appear to be equally salient for both males and females. While the panelists generally acknowledged differential risk factors for females, and the need for prevention programming around these risk factors, more research on gender specific programming is needed before prevention experts are ready to agree on clear and specific practices for adolescent females.     

The role of consumer satisfaction in ensuring quality long-term care: opportunities and challenges

Consumer-satisfaction information can play a valuable role as one component among a broader set of publicly- and privately led activities to improve the quality of long-term care (LTC). However, measuring and using consumer-satisfaction information in LTC is not without its challenges. We start by defining the ways in which we use the term "consumer satisfaction" in this article. We discuss current and planned uses of consumer-satisfaction information in assuring LTC quality. We end by describing some of the key opportunities for broader use of consumer-satisfaction information and accompanying challenges to be addressed to make more effective use of this information in the effort to improve LTC quality.     

Winning and Giving: Football Results and Alumni Giving at Selective Private Colleges and Universities

Objective . Our central question is how changes in an institution's football success affect giving behavior. Also, we consider whether former varsity athletes are more or less sensitive in their giving behavior than other alumni to the competitive success of their school and whether such effects differ by type of institution. Methods . Using micro data from 15 academically selective private colleges and universities, the analysis presents fixed-effects estimates of how football winning percentages affect giving behavior. Results . General giving rates are unaffected by won-lost records at the high-profile Division IA schools and at the Ivy League schools. Increases in winning percentages yield modest positive increases in giving rates, particularly among former atheletes, at the lower-profile Division III liberal arts colleges. Conclusions . While there is a modest positive effect at Division III colleges, our results do not support the notion that winning and giving go hand-in-hand at the selective private universities that play big-time football.     

Encouraging a peer in need: The impacts of social anxiety and peer familiarity

Extant research has produced conflicting findings regarding the link between social fearfulness and prosocial behavior, with some studies reporting negative relations and others reporting null effects. Furthermore, these studies have focused predominantly on toddlerhood, and few have examined prosociality between peers. The present study investigated whether the link between social anxiety and prosocial behavior (i.e., providing encouragement) varied depending on interpersonal and situational factors (i.e., one's familiarity with a peer, and the level of support sought by a peer, respectively). We tested this question using a multimethod approach, which included ecologically valid stress-inducing task and dyadic design with a sample of 9- to 10-year-olds (N = 447). Results revealed that social anxiety was related negatively to providing encouragement among familiar and unfamiliar dyads. In familiar dyads, however, this main effect was qualified by an interaction with the level of support sought by one's peer. Compared to those low in social anxiety, children high in social anxiety provided relatively less encouragement in response to higher levels of support seeking from their peers. The findings are considered in relation to theorizing regarding the effect of overarousal on children's prosocial behavior.     

Adolescents’ Evaluations of Political Leaders: The Case of President Donald Trump

The current study explored youths’ views of President Donald Trump using quantitative ratings and open‐ended responses from a diverse sample of 1,432 U.S. adolescents from three geographic regions. Adolescent demographic characteristics (i.e., gender, race, geographic location) were systematically associated with their views about Trump. Open‐ended responses demonstrated substantial variability in youths’ rationales for approving or disapproving of the president. Adolescents' attitudes were informed by knowledge of the president’s leadership attributes, political views and policies, and their own experiences. Findings indicate that adolescents draw upon and synthesize a broad range of information when formulating their political views and coordinate this knowledge with their own opinions and experiences when evaluating political figures.     

Female leaders and board performance in member‐serving nonprofit organizations

Despite an active stream of “good governance” research, there is not yet much nonprofit scholarship examining how the gender composition of a board or its leadership relates to board performance. This article helps to fill this gap, focusing on the governance practices of US‐based nonprofits serving a domestic or international membership. A structural equation model finds that the presence of female leaders relates to the performance of nonprofit boards both directly and indirectly through these leaders' presumed influence on board characteristics and operation. This research advances the field by empirically testing a longstanding theory that board performance is both multidimensional and contingent on the market and labor environment, organizational capacity and other characteristics—in this case, gender dynamics. We find there are some positive relationships between female board leadership and clearly defined measures of board performance. These findings also suggest that a strategy to balance a board's gender may serve many nonprofits, but gender representation works in tandem with other board characteristics.     

Patterns of Shared Religious Attendance and Positive Stepfamily Functioning

This study used data from Add Health to examine the relationship between shared participation in religious activities and positive stepfamily functioning as indicated by the closeness of the stepfather–stepchild bond, the closeness of the mother–child bond, the quality of the mother–stepfather relationship, the adolescent's perception of family belonging, and the stability of the mother–stepfather marriage. The study incorporated information on shared religious participation between adolescents and their mothers and stepfathers by examining whether adolescents reported frequently attending religious services or church‐related events with both parents, with one parent, or with neither parent. Shared religious attendance was positively associated with several aspects of stepfamily functioning above and beyond the positive association of family members’ engagement in other types of shared activities.