Biomedical subjects

R A Weisheit

Publications and source records attributed to R A Weisheit.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1992

Social status of DUI offenders in jail.

It has been argued that DUI (driving under the influence) is an offense of the economically privileged, which suggests that DUI offenders may be different from other offenders. Studies of DUI arrestees and jail inmates, however, suggest they have more extensive criminal histories than other licensed drivers and similar criminal histories to other jail inmates. This study utilizes data from a representative national survey of over 5,000 jail inmates to compare jailed DUI offenders with other offenders on social characteristics, prior criminality, drug use, and alcohol use. The purpose of these comparisons is to determine whether DUI inmates represent a distinct "class" of offender for whom jail is a new experience. The implications of this distinction for policies which mandate jail time for DUI offenders are discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1988

Changing age patterns of U.S. male and female suicide rates, 1934-1983.

Changes in the age patterns of U.S. male and female suicide rates from 1934 to 1983 are examined, using official suicide data. Among whites, the age patterns of male and female suicide rates have become less concordant since about 1960. In contrast, the age patterns of nonwhite male and female suicide rates have become more concordant since the mid-1950s. A review of sociological theories of suicide identifies problems in accounting for such changes--problems stemming in part from what has been a theoretical emphasis on cross-sectional relations.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1988

Comprehensive evaluation of a model alcohol education curriculum.

A comprehensive evaluation was conducted of a representative alcohol education program designed to enhance knowledge and self-esteem, instill appropriate attitudes and teach the decision-making skills necessary for youth to make responsible decisions about the use of alcohol. The curriculum was implemented approximately as intended. The immediate, cumulative and longer-term effects of curriculum exposure on the variables thought to mediate alcohol use were modest or unsystematic. There was no consistent evidence of carryover effects from curriculum exposure on subsequent use of alcohol, cigarettes or other drugs. The curriculum was ineffective in attaining its goals.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1988

The problematic prospects for prevention in the classroom: should alcohol education programs be expected to reduce drinking by youth?

Junior and senior high-school students completed a questionnaire, either once or twice (in successive years), providing measures of variables in three principal sets: (1) curricular variables, those typically addressed in contemporary alcohol education programs (knowledge about alcohol, attitudes toward alcohol, decision-making skills and self-esteem); (2) drinking behavior; and (3) noncurricular variables (demographic and social-psychological traits that typically characterize students before they are exposed to alcohol education programs). Bivariate analyses suggested that the curricular variables are related to drinking behavior, whereas multivariate analyses indicated that these same variables contribute little to the explanation of adolescent drinking when adjusted for the noncurricular variables, most of which are logically and/or chronologically prior to curriculum exposure. It is concluded that contemporary alcohol education programs do address variables that, when considered alone, appear to be related to drinking. However, these same variables make such a small independent contribution to drinking behavior that it is unlikely even a highly successful classroom intervention directed at these variables would do much to prevent alcohol use or abuse by youth.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1984

Self-generated identification codes for anonymous collection of longitudinal questionnaire data.

The success of a self-generated identification code for linking longitudinal questionnaire data was examined. The matching procedure developed for linking questionnaires, including a simple technique to compensate for nonidentical codes, yielded a high success rate (92% linkage of cases over a one-month interval and 78% over a one-year interval) and very few incorrectly linked cases. The procedure worked equally well with elementary and high school students, and the resulting samples were representative of the student population on a wide range of measures. Some suggestions are offered regarding the elements comprising self-generated codes.

Analysis of Variance↗