A Longitudinal Study of Breadth and Intensity of Activity Involvement and the Transition to University

We examined prospective relations between activity involvement and successful transitioning to university. A sample of 656 students from 6 Canadian universities completed questionnaires before beginning university and at the end of their first year. Breadth (number of different activity domains) and intensity (mean frequency) of activity involvement as well as changes in breadth and intensity, were examined jointly. Consistent with developmental theory, higher levels of pre‐university breadth and intensity of activity involvement and greater increases in breadth and intensity over time predicted various indicators of positive adjustment to university.     

Selected percent points for a test for the two-sample problem based on empirical probability measures

Selected percent points are presented for a test for the two-sample problem based on empirical probability measures. The test is illustrated in two examples.     

Pregnant and Postpartum Adolescents' Perceptions of the Consequences of Child Abuse

A study of 263 pregnant and postpartum indigent and minority teens was conducted in order to examine their perceptions of the consequences of child abuse and their own child abuse history. Teens identified drug and alcohol abuse and teen suicide as the most serious consequences of abuse. Interestingly, they did not identify pregnancy as a consequence. Twenty-seven percent reported a history of abuse. Identifying behavioral and emotional consequences of abuse is important because it affects both the well-being of the adolescent mother and her child. An experience of abuse and its behavioral consequences may interfere with a teen's ability to benefit from parenting intervention programs. Therefore, parenting programs may wish to consider the necessity of screening for a history of abuse as well as adding components on behavioral problems adolescent mothers are concerned about. Additionally, there is a need to reach out to pregnant, parenting and future parents in other settings such as prisons, psychiatric, and residential centers, since issues of abuse may coexist with other behaviors.     

Risk-Based Environmental Remediation: Bayesian Monte Carlo Analysis and the Expected Value of Sample Information

A methodology that simulates outcomes from future data collection programs, utilizes Bayesian Monte Carlo analysis to predict the resulting reduction in uncertainty in an environmental fate-and-transport model, and estimates the expected value of this reduction in uncertainty to a risk-based environmental remediation decision is illustrated considering polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) sediment contamination and uptake by winter flounder in New Bedford Harbor, MA. The expected value of sample information (EVSI), the difference between the expected loss of the optimal decision based on the prior uncertainty analysis and the expected loss of the optimal decision from an updated information state, is calculated for several sampling plan. For the illustrative application we have posed, the EVSI for a sampling plan of two data points is $9.4 million, for five data points is $10.4 million, and for ten data points is $11.5 million. The EVSI for sampling plans involving larger numbers of data points is bounded by the expected value of perfect information, $15.6 million. A sensitivity analysis is conducted to examine the effect of selected model structure and parametric assumptions on the optimal decision and the EVSI. The optimal decision (total area to be dredged) is sensitive to the assumption of linearity between PCB sediment concentration and flounder PCB body burden and to the assumed relationship between area dredged and the harbor-wide average sediment PCB concentration; these assumptions also have a moderate impact on the computed EVSI. The EVSI is most sensitive to the unit cost of remediation and rather insensitive to the penalty cost associated with under-remediation.     

Interevention for victims of child sexual abuse: An evaluation of the Children's Advocacy Model

Interagency coordination is a strategy for reducing trauma experienced by children during investigations of alleged sexual abuse. This report examines characteristics and outcomes of clients participating in three programs using the Children's Advocacy Model of interagency coordination. Implications for intervention with victims of child sexual abuse are discussed.     

Sociodemographic and maternal behaviors in younger and older pregnant adolescents

Sociodemographic and maternal behaviors were examined in a group of 295 (59%) younger adolescents 10–17 years of age, and compared to a group of older adolescents over 18 (n=203, 41%). Younger adolescents were more likely to be single, of minority group status, family dependent, and poor users of contraceptives. Older adolescents had higher rates of substance abuse, treated psychiatric problems, and abortion histories. Both groups reported parental drinking problems, parental divorce, and poverty. Health indicators did not show differences between groups, although older adolescents had higher than national average low birth weight babies. The age of first pregnancy was markedly lower for the younger than older teen. These findings support the need for prevention strategies in treatment programs.     

Race,Socioeconomic Status,and Self-Esteem: The Impact of Religiosity

This research examines two factors that have an impact on the self-esteem of African Americans and whites: religion and socioeconomic status (SES). Using data from the National Survey of Families and Households, we find that for whites, belief in the Bible (i.e., that it is the literal word of God) and self-identifying as fundamentalist were significant predictors of self-esteem. For African Americans, belief in the Bible and being Catholic were significant predictors of self-esteem. However, the association between belief in the Bible and self-esteem was stronger for African Americans than whites. SES was positively associated with self-esteem for both groups. The interactions between SES and the measures of religiosity reveal a greater impact on self-esteem for lower SES respondents. This was especially true for African Americans. These findings are discussed in light of the resource compensation hypothesis.