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Biomedical subjects

K H Beck

Publications and source records attributed to K H Beck.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

Monitoring parent concerns about teenage drinking and driving: a random digit dial telephone survey.

A random telephone survey was conducted in a suburban community in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area to assess the perceptions of parents about teenage drinking and driving. A total of 807 completed interviews were conducted. The results indicated that while most parents viewed teen drinking (69%) and drinking and driving (65%) to be a prevalent, relatively few seem to be engaging in behaviors likely to influence this. Thirty-two percent said they never discuss drinking and driving with their children, and over 65% said they never talk to other parents about how to talk to their children about drinking and driving, nor have any interest in doing so. Although slightly more than half said they had family policies concerning drinking, less than 20% said there were penalties for violating these policies. Over 70% expressed their willingness to watch a special show on TV about how parents can talk to their children about alcohol. Parents of teenagers appear to be far more likely to think that their teen's friends drink and drive (36%) than they are to think that their teen drinks and drives (10%). The results of this survey indicate a significant lack of parental awareness of teen drinking and a denial of their own teen's involvement in it.

Accidents, Traffic↗
PubMed1988

The frequency of type I heterozygous protein S and protein C deficiency in 141 unrelated young patients with venous thrombosis.

The frequency of heterozygous protein C and protein S deficiency, detected by measuring total plasma antigen, in a group (n = 141) of young unrelated patients (less than 45 years old) with venous thrombotic disease was studied and compared to that of antithrombin III, fibrinogen, and plasminogen deficiencies. Among 91 patients not receiving oral anticoagulants, six had low protein S antigen levels and one had a low protein C antigen level. Among 50 patients receiving oral anticoagulant therapy, abnormally low ratios of protein S or C to other vitamin K-dependent factors were presented by one patient for protein S and five for protein C. Thus, heterozygous Type I protein S deficiency appeared in seven of 141 patients (5%) and heterozygous Type I protein C deficiency in six of 141 patients (4%). Eleven of thirteen deficient patients had recurrent venous thrombosis. In this group of 141 patients, 1% had an identifiable fibrinogen abnormality, 2% a plasminogen abnormality, and 3% an antithrombin III deficiency. Thus, among the known plasma protein deficiencies associated with venous thrombosis, protein S and protein C deficiencies (9%) emerge as the leading identifiable associated abnormalities.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

The social context of drinking among high school drinking drivers.

Over 2,000 high school students were surveyed with an anonymous questionnaire to determine their frequency of drunk driving, social context of alcohol consumption, beliefs about drunk driving, and quantity and frequency of alcohol consumed. About 10% of the sample was identified as drunk drivers and they were compared with non-drunk driving drinkers according to a number of measures of where and why they drank. The results revealed highly significant differences in the social context of alcohol consumption for beer, wine, and liquor consumption. Across all three beverage categories, the most important discriminating social context factors were drinking at a dormitory and drinking to get along better on dates. Beer and liquor consumption were more important than wine consumption for discriminating drunk drivers from the non-problem drinking high school population. Quantity and frequency measures of alcohol consumption along with belief measures about drinking and driving did not substantially increase the discrimination between the two groups, but significantly increased the predictive power in a multiple regression analysis including the social context of alcohol consumption items.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Police officer attitudes toward marijuana: a replication and confirmation.

A replication of the original survey of police attitudes toward marijuana was conducted in an adjacent county. The survey dealt with three sets of beliefs: the effects of marijuana, the enforcement of marijuana laws, and the causes of marijuana use. The overall results were quite similar to the initial findings in that most officers felt that marijuana was harmful (physically and psychologically) but not more so than alcohol; almost 28% believed that the possession of an ounce or less should be decriminalized, while 75% felt that the laws for possession of this amount were not being actively enforced; most felt that peer pressure is the main reason why people start to use it, that youthful users are not well informed about its effects, and that parents are unaware of their children's usage or its effects.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Information seeking among safety and health managers.

A national survey of information seeking about work-related safety and health matters was conducted among 574 safety and health managers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Science and Education Administration. Specific beliefs about the seriousness, likelihood, and effectiveness of present work hazards as well as the need for additional information were used to predict self-reported information-seeking activities. The results revealed that the beliefs of how well the managers protect themselves from hazards, the seriousness of needing information, the likelihood of needing additional information, and the usefulness of this information were significant predictors of safety and health information seeking. Manager beliefs of how well coworkers protect themselves from hazards and felt need for additional information were not related to information seeking. Manager perceptions of coworkers as less careful and informed concerning safety are discussed.

Accident Prevention↗
PubMed1981

Driving while under the influence of alcohol: relationship to attitudes and beliefs in a college population.

Two social psychological theories (the Fishbein Model and the Health Belief Model) were used to derive attitude and belief factors to predict intentions to drive while under the influence of alcohol and actual drinking-driving behavior in a college population. The results revealed strong support for the Fishbein theory; attitudes and normative beliefs predicted intentions, while intentions were the best predictor of subsequent behavior. From the Health Belief Model, specific beliefs regarding one's effectiveness at being able to avoid getting caught by the police and cause an accident while driving under the influence of alcohol were also significantly related to drinking-driving intentions and behavior. These findings indicate that decisions to drink and drive are the result of one's personal evaluation of this behavior and one's perceived ability to control the threatening consequences. Thus drinking and driving may continue to be so prevalent in a college population because they erroneously believe that they are still safe drivers and effective at controlling the attendant risks.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The social context of drinking scales: construct validation and relationship to indicants of abuse in an adolescent population.

A series of items that measure the social context of alcohol consumption among adolescents was administered in a questionnaire survey to over 1,300 high school students. Emerging from a factor analysis were five factors which suggested that drinking occurs in the following social contexts: drinking for social facilitation where adults are not present, drinking at school or during school-related activities, drinking for stress control, drinking for conformity or to be part of a group, and drinking under parental supervision at home. Scales based on these factors appeared to be reliable, free from social desirability bias, and able to discriminate problem drinkers from nonproblem drinkers. The most important of these factors was drinking for social facilitation that is not restrained by the presence of adults. These findings reinforce the validity of examining the social context of drinking (which involves situational as well as motivational reasons for drinking) to uncover important etiological contributors of alcohol abuse in an adolescent population.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The relationship of social context of drinking, perceived social norms, and parental influence to various drinking patterns of adolescents.

An anonymous questionnaire was administered to a sample of over 890 adolescent drinkers. The questionnaire contained measures of their social context of drinking, perceived social norms, and perceived parental behaviors regarding drinking. These measures were related to a variety of alcohol problem behaviors including binge drinking, driving while alcohol-impaired, riding with an alcohol-impaired driver, and experiencing one or more negative consequences because of drinking. Results indicated that drinking frequently in a social context of social facilitation, stress control or school defiance, as well as having close friends engage in these behaviors, tended to separate alcohol abusers from nonabusers. The implications for program development are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Police officer attitudes toward marijuana: a descriptive analysis.

The attitudes of a major metropolitan police force were surveyed with regard to their beliefs about marijuana; especially, their beliefs about the effects of marijuana, the enforcement of laws for possession, and the causes for marijuana use. The results indicated that most officers felt marijuana was harmful (physically as well as psychologically) but not necessarily more so than alcohol; 31% believed that possession of small amounts (less than or equal to 1 oz) should be decriminalized, and 85% did not believe that current laws for possession of small amounts were being actively enforced; most officers felt that peer pressure is the main reason why people start to use it and that youthful users and their parents are not well informed about its effects. The officers' rank, educational level, and whether or not they had children were also significantly related to marijuana beliefs, suggesting important demographic factors which determine acceptance of current drug law changes.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Parental predictors of teen driving risk.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the nature and prevalence of parental involvement with teen driving and its relationship to teen driving risk. METHODS: A statewide sample of 424 Maryland parents and their provisionally licensed teenagers were interviewed. RESULTS: Parents were unaware of the extent to which their teens had engaged in high-risk traffic events, such as being distracted by friends or driving too fast. Teens who were allowed unsupervised access to a car at least several times a week were 3 times as likely to have driven too fast than were those who had access once a month or less. The frequency of parental teaching of driving skills was not strongly related to teen risk taking. CONCLUSION: The need to increase parents' capacity to impose and enforce driving restrictions on provisionally licensed teen drivers is indicated.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A comparison of teen perceptions and parental reports of influence on driving risk.

OBJECTIVES: To compare associations between teen and parent reports of parental driving influence to teen-reported high-risk driving. METHODS: A statewide sample of 424 Maryland parents and their provisionally licensed teenagers were interviewed. RESULTS: Reports of parental involvement with their driving to that of their parents indicated low levels of concordance. Teens who reported their parents had specific rules restricting who could ride with them as well as how many passengers were allowed to ride with them were less likely to report being distracted by friends, getting a ticket, driving too fast, or driving aggressively. CONCLUSION: Programs that enable parents to restrict and supervise their teen's driving, especially during the first 6 months of provisional licensure, are indicated.

Accidents, Traffic↗