Genetic and social influences on starting to smoke: a study of Dutch adolescent twins and their parents

In a study of 1600 Dutch adolescent twin pairs we found that 59% of the inter‐individual variation in smoking behaviour could be attributed to shared environmental influences and 31% to genetic factors. The magnitude of the genetic and environmental effects did not differ between boys and girls. However, environmental effects shared by male twins and environmental effects shared by female twins were imperfectly correlated in twins from opposite‐sex pairs, indicating that different environmental factors influence smoking in adolescent boys and girls. In the parents of these twins, the correlation between husband and wife for‘currently smoking’(r = 0.43) was larger than for‘ever smoked’(r = 0.18). There was no evidence that smoking of parents (at present or in the past) encouraged smoking in their offspring. Resemblance between parents and offspring was significant but rather low and could be accounted for completely by their genetic relatedness. Moreover, the association between‘currently smoking’in the parents and smoking behaviour in their children was not larger than the association between‘ever smoking’in parents and smoking in their children. Copyright © 1994, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserve

The attitudes toward forcible date rape (FDR) scale: Development of a measurement model

Using data from 341 female and 237 male college students that were collected previously (Fischer, G. J., Archives of Sexual Behavior , 15, 457–466, 1986), several true score measurement models were used to describe the variance-covariance structure of a nine-item attitude toward a forcible date rape (FDR) scale. The congeneric true score model fit the data best, but not satisfactorily. By deleting “noncongeneric” items, a six-item, unweighted linear composite variable based on the congeneric true score model was shown to fit the data, and reliabilities and validities based on this model proved satisfactory for females, males, and the total sample. The factor structure of the model for females and for males was not equivalent, but the general patterns were similar. Suggestions for further research included a validation study of the six-item scale on an independent sample and a comparison of 5-and 7-point Likert response scales to see if the lack of model equivalence by gender could be due, in part, to more variability in attitudes toward forcible date rape in men than women.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44789/1/10862_2005_Article_BF02229064.pd

The validity of measures of self-reported well-being

Using a new analytic approach, construct validity estimates are developed for proposed social indicators of self-reported well-being. Two separate investigations are reported: the first involves data on six aspects of well-being each assessed by six methods from 222 adults in one geographic area; the second, a partial replication and extension, involves a more limited set of indicators measured on a sample of 1297 respondents representative of all American adults.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43686/1/11205_2004_Article_BF00286161.pd

Familial influences on the clinical characteristics of major depression: a twin study

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66157/1/j.1600-0447.1992.tb03283.x.pd

Mx Scripts Library: Structural Equation Modeling Scripts for Twin and Family Data

Structural equation modeling (SEM) provides a flexible tool to carry out genetic analyses of family and twin data. The basic model which decomposes the variance between and within families for a particular trait into genetic and non-genetic components can be generalized to multivariate and/ or longitudinal data, incorporate sex differences in parameter estimates, and model the effects of measured environment, candidate genes or DNA marker data. We introduce a web-based library ( http://www.psy.vu.nl/mxbib ) of scripts for uni- and multivariate genetic epidemiological analyses, as well as for linkage and genetic association tests. The scripts are written to be used with the freely available software package Mx and provide a flexible and uniform approach to the analysis of data from relatives. © 2005 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc

Structured Grading

This paper describes a compromise between the idealism of criterion based grading and the pragmatism of a norm based approach. The discussion is supported by a series of computer programs that are deliberately devoid of packaging clutter so that the users can clearly comprehend the processes and adapt the code to suit their particular purposes. The input data can be in numerical, alphabetical or categorical form and the primary output is a matrix of standardized marks. Additional analyses provide frequency distributions, rank order and alphabetic grade matrices, component correlations and categorical item analyses. The programs are designed to provide timely and appropriate information for final grade allocation.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

Self-esteem and delinquency revisited

A recent investigation by Rosenberg and Rosenberg used longitudinal data from the Youth in Transition study to explore the causal relationships between delinquency and self-esteem. The present study is based on the same sample of young men in high school and extends Rosenberg and Rosenberg's analysis, first by using the same cross-lagged correlation methods applied over a longer time period, and then by employing a “causal modeling” approach using the LISREL computer program. Each of the analyses was carried out using the total sample as well as two subsamples, the highest and lowest quartiles in initial self-esteem. The causal modeling analyses attempted (a) to take careful account of the actual periods referenced by the measures of delinquency and self-esteem, (b) to control socioeconomic status and ability, and (c) to extend the model to demonstrate ways in which participation in teenage social life and current educational attainment might also influence and be influenced by self-esteem. The analyses suggest that self-esteem plays little part in influencing the teenage behaviors and orientations that follow in time. Consistent with Kaplan's prediction, among young men who enter high school with low self-esteem, the effects of delinquent behavior tend primarily to be self-enhancing.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45258/1/10964_2005_Article_BF02087937.pd