The Burden of Risk: Who Dies Because of Cars?

This article argues that those interested in social policy should by definition be interested in issues of transport policy. It analyses data on road traffic fatalities and suggests, in the light of this evidence, that those who benefit least from the motor vehicle seem disproportionately likely, given their relative exposure to the risk, to die in road traffic accidents.     

“Once Bitten,Twice Shy? Gender Differences in the Remarriage Decision after a Gray Divorce”

Gray divorces, or divorces at and over the age of 50, are increasing in the United States. This article explores this population's interest in remarrying after a divorce by sex within the context of a prospective, role exit theoretical framework. In‐depth, qualitative interviews with 40 women and 39 men who have experienced a gray divorce were analyzed using grounded theory methodology. There were significant gender differences with respect to receptivity to remarriage among those who had undergone a gray divorce. More specifically, the most common theme expressed by women involved firmly rejecting remarriage as a part of their futures. The remaining themes articulated by women were conditional pro‐remarriage views and then even less commonly, unconditional pro‐remarriage views. In contrast, the most common theme among men was that they remained very open to remarriage, either unconditionally or under specified conditions; only a small number rejected the prospect entirely. These findings highlight the differences in the remarriage decision from both the female and male perspectives for this population.     

Looking back: the experience of first sexual intercourse and current sexual adjustment in young heterosexual adults

A young person's first consensual sexual intercourse experience is often a remarkable and memorable experience. However, little systematic information exists regarding contextual factors of first intercourse, the affective salience of the experience, possible effects on sexual attitudes and beliefs, and subsequent sexual development and adjustment. This retrospective study aimed to examine these in a sample of 475 young adults. Overall, young men and women experienced intercourse for the first time around age 17, were in a committed relationship, and reported positive affective responses. Affective reactions to the first sexual intercourse experience, sexual self-efficacy, sexual aversion, and age at first intercourse affected individuals' current sexual adjustment; however, only sexual self-efficacy mediated between first intercourse and current sexual adjustment in young men and women. Older age at first intercourse was associated with less sexual self-efficacy and lower current sexual adjustment for women. This study provides initial data to suggest that the first sexual intercourse experience significantly impacts current sexual adjustment by affecting beliefs about sexual self-efficacy.     

Competing Priorities: Partner-Specific Relationship Characteristics and Motives for Condom Use Among At-Risk Young Adults

Condoms protect against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unintended pregnancy and are essential to sexual health efforts targeting young adults, who are disproportionately affected by both outcomes. Understanding condom use motives is critical to increasing condom use. Research in this area is limited, particularly regarding the roles of partners and relationship factors. Using a longitudinal sample of 441 young adults and 684 reported partnerships we examined associations between relationship factors and condom use motives (pregnancy prevention, disease prevention, or dual protection). Simultaneous multilevel models identified variables associated with motives; level-specific models identified the levels (individual, partnership, time) variables impacted motives. Participants reported choosing condoms for pregnancy prevention, disease prevention, and dual protection in 51%, 17%, and 33% of partnerships, respectively. Partner-specific factors varied, to a differing degree, across the three levels. Seven variables (duration, condom self-efficacy, commitment, sexual decision-making, power, and vulnerability to harm [HIV/STIs] and pregnancy) distinguished condom use motives. The level of this association varied but was most pronounced at the partner and individual levels. Researchers and practitioners should consider the impact of both individual- and partner-level factors on condom use motives, in both research and sexual health programs.     

Application of extreme value theory to the bec family of distributions

Arnold and Strauss (1988) derived a family of bivariate life distributions having the property that the conditional distributions are exponential. Asymptotic distributions for the marginal and bivariate extremes for this family of distributions are derived employing the asymptotic theory of extreme order statistics.     

Inferences on the lognormal mean for complete samples

In many engineering problems it is necessary to draw statistical inferences on the mean of a lognormal distribution based on a complete sample of observations. Statistical demonstration of mean time to repair (MTTR) is one example. Although optimum confidence intervals and hypothesis tests for the lognormal mean have been developed, they are difficult to use, requiring extensive tables and/or a computer. In this paper, simplified conservative methods for calculating confidence intervals or hypothesis tests for the lognormal mean are presented. In this paper, “conservative” refers to confidence intervals (hypothesis tests) whose infimum coverage probability (supremum probability of rejecting the null hypothesis taken over parameter values under the null hypothesis) equals the nominal level. The term “conservative” has obvious implications to confidence intervals (they are “wider” in some sense than their optimum or exact counterparts). Applying the term “conservative” to hypothesis tests should not be confusing if it is remembered that this implies that their equivalent confidence intervals are conservative. No implication of optimality is intended for these conservative procedures. It is emphasized that these are direct statistical inference methods for the lognormal mean, as opposed to the already well-known methods for the parameters of the underlying normal distribution. The method currently employed in MIL-STD-471A for statistical demonstration of MTTR is analyzed and compared to the new method in terms of asymptotic relative efficiency. The new methods are also compared to the optimum methods derived by Land (1971, 1973).     

On the asymptotic distribution of cramer-von mises one-sample test statistics under an alternative

The asymptotic normality of the Cramer-von Mises one-sample test statistic and one of its variants under an alternative cdf is demonstrated. The derivation herein is unique in that it does not require knowledge of the theory of weak convergence of probability measures defined on metrized function spaces, and thus is accessible to a broader class of students and practitioners.