Student Self‐Reported Positive Purpose Over Two Years in Urban Middle Schools

We used Developmental Systems Theory as a framework for understanding the role of contextual factors in the development of purpose in urban adolescents. The sample included primarily low‐socioeconomic students of color attending urban middle schools (n = 2,629; 10–16 years of age). Longitudinal data were collected at four time points across two years. We used hierarchical linear modeling to model change in purpose. On average, purpose declined over time. We also identified several predictors of intercept and slope. For example, Black youth had a higher average purpose intercept, as well as a steeper average decline than other racial/ethnic groups. Females demonstrated a higher average purpose intercept than males, but this effect disappeared when academic achievement was added to the model.     

Asymptotic Normality of a Kernel Conditional Quantile Estimator Under Strong Mixing Hypothesis and Left-Truncation

We consider the estimation of the conditional quantile when the interest variable is subject to left truncation. Under regularity conditions, it is shown that the kernel estimate of the conditional quantile is asymptotically normally distributed, when the data exhibit some kind of dependence. We use asymptotic normality to construct confidence bands for predictors based on the kernel estimate of the conditional median.     

CAUSAL GRAPHICAL MODELS IN SYSTEMS GENETICS: A UNIFIED FRAMEWORK FOR JOINT INFERENCE OF CAUSAL NETWORK AND GENETIC ARCHITECTURE FOR CORRELATED PHENOTYPES

Causal inference approaches in systems genetics exploit quantitative trait loci (QTL) genotypes to infer causal relationships among phenotypes. The genetic architecture of each phenotype may be complex, and poorly estimated genetic architectures may compromise the inference of causal relationships among phenotypes. Existing methods assume QTLs are known or inferred without regard to the phenotype network structure. In this paper we develop a QTL-driven phenotype network method (QTLnet) to jointly infer a causal phenotype network and associated genetic architecture for sets of correlated phenotypes. Randomization of alleles during meiosis and the unidirectional influence of genotype on phenotype allow the inference of QTLs causal to phenotypes. Causal relationships among phenotypes can be inferred using these QTL nodes, enabling us to distinguish among phenotype networks that would otherwise be distribution equivalent. We jointly model phenotypes and QTLs using homogeneous conditional Gaussian regression models, and we derive a graphical criterion for distribution equivalence. We validate the QTLnet approach in a simulation study. Finally, we illustrate with simulated data and a real example how QTLnet can be used to infer both direct and indirect effects of QTLs and phenotypes that co-map to a genomic region.     

Black adolescents' racial discrimination and suicide behaviors: Testing perceived school safety as a protective moderator

The current study examined associations between Black adolescents' (M_age = 15.55, SD = 1.23) racial discrimination and suicide behaviors (i.e., suicide ideation, suicide plan, and suicide attempts), and whether perceived school safety was a protective moderator. Furthermore, we tested gender differences in relations, which were not significant. Racial discrimination predicted greater suicide behaviors, and school safety informed less suicide behaviors. School safety moderated the relation between discrimination and suicide plan, such that at low school safety, discrimination predicted having a suicide plan but was not significant at high school safety. Furthermore, school safety moderated the relation between discrimination and suicide attempts. At low school safety, discrimination predicted more suicide attempts, but was not significant at high school safety.     

Symbolic Products: Prestige, Pride and Identity Goods

The paper distinguishes between two kinds of products, `symbolic' and `substantive'. While substantive products confer welfare utility in the sense of pecuniary benefits, symbolic products accord self-regarding utility. Symbolic products enter the utility function in a way which differs from substantive ones. The paper distinguishes among three kinds of symbolic products and proposes that each has a distorted form. If symbolic products result from forward-looking evaluation, they act as `prestige goods' which please admiration or, when distorted, as `vanity goods' which satiate pretentiousness. When symbolic products originate from forward-looking action, they act as `pride goods' which satisfy respect or, when distorted, as `deference goods' which indulge pomposity. When symbolic products arise from backward-looking evaluation, they act as `identity goods' which enhance dignity or, when distorted, as `reification goods' which gratify reverence.     

The socioculturalist agenda in economics: Critical remarks of Thorstein Veblen's legacy

The article identifies a cluster of heterodox economists, especially followers of Thorstein Veblen, who are critical of the neoclassical axiom of well-defined preferences. They generally have a problem with the reductionist reasoning that preferences of agents are constituted prior to social interaction. Some of them are proposing somewhat well-defined preferences deduced instead from the tastes of the reference groups with whom the agent identifies. The article does not question the relevance, with respect to economics, of the preferences of groups. Rather, it challenges a muscular view of such preferences which is being uncritically borrowed, inter alia, from functionalist sociology and substantivist economic anthropology. Sociologists and anthropologists in general have recently become, from diverse perspectives, critical of the conception of sociocultural tastes as hegemonic. The basic thrust of the article is that the socioculturalist agenda broadly subscribes to a biological/social dichotomy which neglects that tastes also arise from psychobiological developmental processes.     

New Public Management,Service Provision and Non-Governmental Organizations in Bangladesh

New public management (NPM) is now a universal phenomenon dominating the reform agenda of all countries. Bangladesh is no exception. Following the dismal performance of the state-led development the old paradigm of public sector has come under scrutiny. There is now a call for a minimal government. The scale of operations and the role of the government have to be drastically reduced to focus on core functions. In doing so, this will pave the way for the private sector and the civil society organizations to undertake developmental responsibilities in their areas of expertise. This article is an attempt to analyze the significant role played by Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) in rural development service provisions. It argues that the government has to share the developmental responsibilities with NGOs, which have proved their potential in reaching the target population and that an effective partnership is a sine qua non for the meaningful rural development in Bangladesh.     

REFORM SUPPORT IN TIMES OF CRISIS: THE ROLE OF FAMILY TIES

We argue that an important determinant of voters' support for economic reform is the strength of family ties. While the “crisis hypothesis” predicts that crises facilitate reform, we show in a political economy model that this relation can break down, and even reverse, when agents take into account the effect of reform on their family members. Applied to southern European countries with strong family ties, the model rationalizes why the extremely high (youth) unemployment following the Great Recession has not led to more substantial labor market reforms. In such countries austerity might block rather than foster additional structural reforms. (JEL D64, D72, J48)     

Asymptotic normality of a robust estimator of the regression function for functional time series data

We propose a family of robust nonparametric estimators for a regression function based on the kernel method. We establish the asymptotic normality of the estimator under the concentration property on small balls probability measure of the functional explanatory variable when the observations exhibit some kind of dependence. This approach can be applied in time series analysis to make prediction and build confidence bands. We illustrate our methodology on the US electricity consumption data.     

Sleep Quality and Body Mass Index in College Students: The Role of Sleep Disturbances

Abstract

Objective: Obesity and its comorbidities have emerged as a leading public health concern. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and sleep patterns, including duration and disturbances. Methods: A convenience sample of 515 college students completed an online survey consisting of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and self-reported height and weight to calculate BMI. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed using components of the PSQI as predictors of overweight (BMI ≥ 25). Results: One-third of the participants had BMI ≥ 25, and 51% were poor-quality sleepers (PSQI > 5). Controlling for age and sex, only sleep disturbances were associated with overweight (odds ratio = 1.66, 95% confidence interval [1.08, 2.57]). Conclusions: Sleep disturbances, rather than sleep duration, predicted overweight among young adults; this is consistent with the most recent evidence in the literature. These findings support expanding the scope of wellness programs to promote healthy sleep among students.