Effects of parent-child affective quality during high school years on subsequent substance use

The literature indicates that the quality of affective relationships between youth and parents is associated with lower levels of a range of problem behaviors during childhood, early and late adolescence. While the protective effect of parental monitoring on substance use in the high school and post high school years has been demonstrated, there is a knowledge gap concerning effects of parent-child affective quality (PCAQ) during the same periods. We tested a conceptual theoretical model to examine the effects of PCAQ on substance use following high school. The sample was from a RCT that assessed adolescents in rural Iowa from the seventh grade through two years after high school (N=456). We specified direct effects of PCAQ in 12th grade on drunkenness, smoking and illicit drug use during the two years immediately following high school graduation. We also specified the effects of early substance use initiation (alcohol, tobacco and marijuana use reported at baseline) on later use. The direct effect of PCAQ in 12th grade on substance use was significant for all substances during at least one of the two years past graduation (ypg). Results were: drunkenness 1 ypg, β=-.126, p<.05; smoking 1 ypg, β=-.119, p<.05; 2 ypg, β=-.146, p<.05; illicit drug use 2 ypg, β=-.165, p<.05. Some significant indirect effects of PCAQ at baseline, via PCAQ at 12th grade, were found. Results also indicated significant direct effects of early initiation on two of the three substances, albeit with a different pattern of effects over time for each substance by years post high school. Importantly, while early initiation remains the strongest predictor of long-term tobacco and illicit drug use, results show how PCAQ might reduce its harmful effects.peer-reviewe

The Association Between the Need for Affiliation and Traveler Type with the Motivation for Travel

The purpose of the study was to develop a conceptual framework and measures to identify the association of the need for affiliation and traveler profiles in shifts of motivations for travel. The instrument contained four types of questions: the revised Mehrabian Affiliative Tendency Scales, Driver\u27s Recreation Experience Preference Scales, traveler and demographic profile questions. There was a significant difference between the factor mean scores for four of the five travel motivation factors among the three sub-groups as determined by their respective levels of affiliation. The results revealed that there was a significant difference between the factor mean scores for travel motivation among the three subgroups as determined by their respective preference for types of travel

Utilizing the Goodrich Attributes to Profile Utah Travelers\u27 Motivations

Numerous attempts have been made to profile tourist motivations and link them to attraction choice. This study attempted to utilize the Goodrich attributes to determine traveler\u27s motivations and perceptions regarding attractions in Utah. The information derived from this study was helpful in directing future marketing efforts

The Influence of Attitudes, Subjective Norms and Perceived Behavioral Controls on Hotel Guests\u27 Intention to Return

Customer retention is important to innkeepers to increase repeat business; however, little research has been done to explain and predict why some hotel guests intend to return to a certain hotel when they travel, and others do not. By applying the theory of planned behavior (1), this study examined the factors that influenced the guests\u27 attitudes toward returning, subjective norms with respect to returning, perceived behavioral controls over returning, and guests\u27 intentions of returning from a population of past guests of a hotel. Besides a guest\u27s attitudes toward returning, results of this study have indicated that social influences and situational factors might have an additional impact on a guest\u27s decision to return to a hotel. Factors associated with guests\u27 intention to returning will be utilized in the development of a standardized instrument

Effects of Culture and Service Quality on Affective Service Experience Quality of Guests

This study examined the effect of culture and dimensions of service quality on positive affect, negative affect and satisfaction of hotel guests following a service encounter. Each of 82 participants viewed eight video clips of staged service encounters. Video clips ranged from 5-8 minutes in duration. Based on an orthogonal design, each video depicted a unique combination of levels of five service quality dimensions: reliability, responsiveness, empathy, tangibles, and assurance (Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry 1988). Following each clip, participants completed self-report measures of affect and satisfaction. Data were analyzed using hierarchical linear modeling techniques (Raudenbush and Bryk 2002; Luke, 2004). The presence or absence of each service quality dimension in the model was indicated with dummy vectors. Results indicate that service experience of guests is substantially affected by the five service quality dimensions, but, in the population included in the experiment, those dimensions do not interact with culture. This study suggests that service providers might optimize guest experiences by focusing on preparation of staff to meet empathy and assurance needs of guests, in addition to the other service quality dimensions

British citizenship, gender and migration: the containment of cultural differences and the stratification of belonging

Debates about integration, British values and identity, who can belong and who can become a citizen, have been fuelled by concerns about growing cultural diversity in the United Kingdom. To promote a shared sense of national identity and claim a universal and normative citizen subject, the UK government, along with many other western nations, has introduced compulsory citizenship and language testing. This article traces and critiques the evolution of the British citizenship test since its introduction in 2005 and argues that the regime fails to recognise the gendered and segmented nature of migration, and functions as a silent and largely invisible mechanism of civic stratification and control. Drawing on Home Office data, it is argued that citizenship testing enables the government to cherry pick migrants who conform to an idealised citizen subject, while containing cultural difference by excluding others, particularly women, who are tolerated but remain symbolic non-citizens

Life-Course Genome-wide Association Study Meta-analysis of Total Body BMD and Assessment of Age-Specific Effects.

Bone mineral density (BMD) assessed by DXA is used to evaluate bone health. In children, total body (TB) measurements are commonly used; in older individuals, BMD at the lumbar spine (LS) and femoral neck (FN) is used to diagnose osteoporosis. To date, genetic variants in more than 60 loci have been identified as associated with BMD. To investigate the genetic determinants of TB-BMD variation along the life course and test for age-specific effects, we performed a meta-analysis of 30 genome-wide association studies (GWASs) of TB-BMD including 66,628 individuals overall and divided across five age strata, each spanning 15 years. We identified variants associated with TB-BMD at 80 loci, of which 36 have not been previously identified; overall, they explain approximately 10% of the TB-BMD variance when combining all age groups and influence the risk of fracture. Pathway and enrichment analysis of the association signals showed clustering within gene sets implicated in the regulation of cell growth and SMAD proteins, overexpressed in the musculoskeletal system, and enriched in enhancer and promoter regions. These findings reveal TB-BMD as a relevant trait for genetic studies of osteoporosis, enabling the identification of variants and pathways influencing different bone compartments. Only variants in ESR1 and close proximity to RANKL showed a clear effect dependency on age. This most likely indicates that the majority of genetic variants identified influence BMD early in life and that their effect can be captured throughout the life course

Genetic Sharing with Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors and Diabetes Reveals Novel Bone Mineral Density Loci.

Bone Mineral Density (BMD) is a highly heritable trait, but genome-wide association studies have identified few genetic risk factors. Epidemiological studies suggest associations between BMD and several traits and diseases, but the nature of the suggestive comorbidity is still unknown. We used a novel genetic pleiotropy-informed conditional False Discovery Rate (FDR) method to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with BMD by leveraging cardiovascular disease (CVD) associated disorders and metabolic traits. By conditioning on SNPs associated with the CVD-related phenotypes, type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, high density lipoprotein, low density lipoprotein, triglycerides and waist hip ratio, we identified 65 novel independent BMD loci (26 with femoral neck BMD and 47 with lumbar spine BMD) at conditional FDR < 0.01. Many of the loci were confirmed in genetic expression studies. Genes validated at the mRNA levels were characteristic for the osteoblast/osteocyte lineage, Wnt signaling pathway and bone metabolism. The results provide new insight into genetic mechanisms of variability in BMD, and a better understanding of the genetic underpinnings of clinical comorbidity

New genetic loci link adipose and insulin biology to body fat distribution.

Body fat distribution is a heritable trait and a well-established predictor of adverse metabolic outcomes, independent of overall adiposity. To increase our understanding of the genetic basis of body fat distribution and its molecular links to cardiometabolic traits, here we conduct genome-wide association meta-analyses of traits related to waist and hip circumferences in up to 224,459 individuals. We identify 49 loci (33 new) associated with waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index (BMI), and an additional 19 loci newly associated with related waist and hip circumference measures (P < 5 × 10(-8)). In total, 20 of the 49 waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI loci show significant sexual dimorphism, 19 of which display a stronger effect in women. The identified loci were enriched for genes expressed in adipose tissue and for putative regulatory elements in adipocytes. Pathway analyses implicated adipogenesis, angiogenesis, transcriptional regulation and insulin resistance as processes affecting fat distribution, providing insight into potential pathophysiological mechanisms