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Biomedical subjects

J E Schulenberg

Publications and source records attributed to J E Schulenberg.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

Part-time work and hurried adolescence: the links among work intensity, social activities, health behaviors, and substance use.

The present study examines adolescents' part-time work intensity and its relation to participation in various activities as well as substance use. We consider mechanisms articulated in two theoretical perspectives on how high work intensity is associated with substance use: (1) the "time trade-off perspective," and (2) "the precocious development perspective." Nationally representative data were drawn from the "Monitoring the Future" project from 8th, 10th and 12th grade students (overall N approximately 380,000) to address our research questions. Work intensity was found to be linked to more time spent on unstructured social activities, but to less time spent engaged in sports, health behaviors, and school-related activities. Social time use and health behaviors were found to partially mediate the relationship between work hours and substance use. Overall, results provide evidence for a combination of both perspectives.

Adolescent↗

Changes at the high end of risk in cigarette smoking among US high school seniors, 1976-1995.

OBJECTIVES: This study identified high school seniors at low, moderate and high risk for cigarette use to examine changes in the prevalence of daily smoking within risk groups from 1976 to 1995. METHODS: Data were taken from the Monitoring the Future Projects national surveys of high school seniors. Risk classification was based on grade point average, truancy, nights out per week, and religious commitment. Logistic regression models were used to estimate trends for all seniors and separately for White (n = 244,221), African American (n = 41,005), and Hispanic (n = 18,457) made and female subgroups. RESULTS: Risk group distribution (low = 45%, moderate = 30%, high = 25%) changed little over time. Between 1976 and 1990, greater absolute declines in smoking occurred among high-risk students (17 percentage points) than among low-risk students (6 percentage points). Particularly large declines occurred among high-risk African Americans and Hispanics. Smoking increased in all risk groups in the 1990s. CONCLUSIONS: Among high school seniors, a large part of the overall change in smoking occurred among high-risk youth. Policies and programs to reduce smoking among youth must have broad appeal, especially to those at the higher end of the risk spectrum.

Absenteeism↗

Susceptibility to peer pressure as an explanatory variable for the differential effectiveness of an alcohol misuse prevention program in elementary schools.

A school-based alcohol misuse prevention program had differential effects on students' susceptibility to peer pressure, depending on prior experience with alcohol. These effects paralleled those on alcohol use and misuse, indicating program effects on use and misuse were mediated by reductions in the rate of increase on susceptibility to peer pressure. Experimental group students with prior unsupervised use of alcohol showed a significantly greater reduction than their controls in the rate of increase in susceptibility to peer pressure, alcohol use, and alcohol misuse. This difference was not found among students without prior unsupervised use of alcohol.

Adolescent↗

Effects of cognitive training on primary mental ability structure.

We report results of the first empirical test, as far as we know, of the assumption of structural invariance of latent constructs from pretest to posttest in cognitive training research on the elderly. In all, 401 participants in the Seattle Longitudinal Study, over 62 years old, received a 5-hr test battery at pre- and posttest that included 16 ability tests, marking the five primary abilities of Spatial Orientation, Inductive Reasoning, Numerical Ability, Verbal Ability, and Perceptual Speed. A total of 229 of our subjects received 5 hr of individual training on either Spatial Orientation or Inductive Reasoning. Restricted factor analysis with the LISREL algorithm tested the hypothesis of measurement equivalence across test occasions, separately for the control subjects and for each of the training groups. When ability-specific cognitive training intervenes, no structural change is observed for abilities not subject to intervention. However, slight shifts occurred in the optimal regression weights for the different markers for the training target abilities.

Aged↗

On the differentiation of memory beliefs from memory knowledge: the factor structure of the Metamemory in Adulthood Scale.

This study was designed to test the hypothesis that there are multiple factors of metamemory present in the Metamemory in Adulthood (MIA) questionnaire. Data on seven MIA scales from six separate studies on memory/metamemory relationships (total N = 750) were combined to yield two half-samples for cross-validation purposes. The samples were partitioned into young, middle-aged, and old groups. A multiple group confirmatory factor analysis was then conducted on the data, using the first half sample to develop a model and the second half sample to validate it. Although the models did not fully cross-validate, both analyses indicated that there are at least two higher-order factors in the MIA. The first involves beliefs about self-efficacy in using memory. The second factor combines knowledge about memory and affect concerning memory (e.g., achievement motivation). The analyses also indicated that the factor loadings for the second factor, tentatively labelled Knowledge, were invariant across the three age groups, but that there were age differences in the Self-Efficacy Beliefs factor loadings. The differences were localized to age-related increases in the loadings for the MIA Change and Locus scales. The two factor solution has potential for resolving conflicting results in the literature regarding age differences in both metamemory and metamemory/memory performance relationships.

Adult↗