Other-Sex Friendships in Late Adolescence: Risky Associations for Substance Use and Sexual Debut?

Adolescents’ friendships with other-sex peers serve important developmental functions, but they may also facilitate engagement in problem behavior. This study examines the unique contributions of other-sex friendships and friends’ behavior to alcohol use, smoking, and initiation of sexual intercourse among late adolescent girls and boys. A total of 320 adolescents (53% girls; 33% racial/ethnic minorities) provided sociometric nominations of friendships annually in grades 10–12. Friendship networks were derived using social network analysis in each grade. Adolescents and their friends also reported on their alcohol use, smoking, and sexual debut at each assessment. After controlling for demographics, previous problem behavior, and friends’ behavior, other-sex friendships in 10th grade were associated with initiation of smoking among girls over the following year, and other-sex friendships in 11th grade were linked with lower levels of subsequent alcohol use among boys. Additionally, friends’ smoking and sexual experience in 10th grade predicted the same behaviors for all adolescents over the following year. Other-sex friendships thus appear to serve as a risk context for adolescent girls’ smoking and a protective context for adolescent boys’ drinking. Promoting mixed-gender activities and friendships among older high school students may be helpful in reducing males’ alcohol use, but may need to incorporate additional components to prevent increases in females’ smoking

Dynamic networks and behavior: separating selection from influence.

A current problem in the analysis of behavioral dynamics, given a simultaneously evolving social network, is the difficulty of separating effects of partner selection from effects of social influence. In this paper we present a recently developed family of statistical models that enables researchers to separate the two effects in a statistically adequate manner. To illustrate our method we make use of a three-wave panel measured in the years 1995-1997 at a school in the West of Scotland. We are able to assess the strength of selection and influence mechanisms associated with friendship networks of substance-using adolescents

A Prospective Study of Adolescents' Peer Support: Gender Differences and the Influence of Parental Relationships

This longitudinal study investigates parent and child predictors of adolescents' perceived social support from peers. Adolescents (285) and their parents filled out surveys when students were 11 and 15 years of age. Parent reports of their own social support and child reports of parental support to them, depression, and self-esteem were used as predictors of adolescents' peer social support. Path analyses revealed functional dissimilarity in the predictive model, for boys and girls. For boys and girls, the amount of spousal support parents' reported impacted the amount of parent to child support that children reported. For boys, this relationship impacted their perceptions of peer support indirectly through depression. However, for girls, parents' own supportive relationships directly impacted both their self-esteem and depression, above and beyond parent to child support, which then impacted girls' peer social support.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45288/1/10964_2004_Article_229992.pd

INFLUENCE OF PACKAGING CONDITIONS ON SOME MICROBIAL PROPERTIES OF MINCED BEEF MEAT AT 4 degrees C STORAGE

WOS: 000299494200012In this study, the effect of initial head-spaces of atmospheric air, vacuum packaging and modified atmospheres packaging (MAP) containing 70% CO(2)/30% O(2) (MAP1); 50% O(2)/50% CO(2) (MAP2); 30% CO(2)/70% O(2) (MAP3); 50% O(2)/30% CO(2)/20% N(2) (MAP4); 30% O(2)/30% CO(2)/40% N(2) (MAPS) on some microbiological quality of minced beef meat stored at 4 degrees C were investigated with pH changes in time intervals (1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 14 d). At the results, total viable counts were different significantly (P 0.05) for total viable counts and psychrotrophs counts

Influence of packaging conditions on some microbial properties of minced beef meat at 4°C storage

In this study, the effect of initial head-spaces of atmospheric air, vacuum packaging and modified atmospheres packaging (MAP) containing 70% CO 2/30% O 2 (MAP1); 50% O 2/50% CO 2 (MAP2); 30% CO2/70% O 2 (MAP3); 50% O 2/30% CO2/20% N 2 (MAP4); 30% O 2/ 30% CO 2 /40% N 2 (MAP5) on some microbiological quality of minced beef meat stored at 4 °C were investigated with pH changes in time intervals (1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 14 d). At the results, total viable counts were different significantly (P < 0.01) for packaged with MAP2. Psychrotrophs, yeasts and molds counts were smaller for packaged with MAP1 than the others, packaging with MAP5 and MAP4 were also different significantly (P < 0.01) from the other samples for inhibiting coliform counts. Vacuum packaging was not different significantly (P > 0.05) for total viable counts and psychrotrophs counts

The relationships between uric acid levels and insulin resistance, body fat distribution and cardiovascular risk factors in obese subjects

Abstract Not Availabl

The comparison of anthropometric measurements in determining total body fat and the body fat distribution

Abstract Not Availabl