Gender, Fertility and Education

This Ph.D. thesis, titled Essays in Labor Markets – Gender, Fertility and Education, analyzes different economic problems within the field of labor economics. It consists of three independent research papers that can be read separately. Although the topic in each chapter is different, they have common ground in the empirical methods applied. The first chapter of this thesis, Does Early Childbearing Matter? New Approach Using Danish Register Data, studies how women’s timing of fertility affects their long-term labor market outcomes. This paper is currently resubmitted to the academic journal Labour Economics

Effect of Young Adult Childbearing on the Women’s Labour Market Outcome

Work interruptions related to birth are expected to affect mothers’ wages directly through changes in the formation of human capital. This effect is proposed to be exceptionally strong for young adult childbearing women who are about to start their working careers. This study investigates whether the long-term socioeconomic problems experienced by women with first childbirth before turning 26 are a reflection of pre-existing disadvantages or are a consequence of the childbearing timing? The purpose is furthermore to observe whether a new combination of the best practices of earlier studies on the subject can serve as a better estimation method. This is done by applying a Sister First Difference estimator while using miscarriages as exogenous variation. This exact design has, to my knowledge, never been used before to estimate socio-economic effects of childbearing timing. I find no effects of young adult childbearing on the women’s wages

On the nature of the peculiar superthin galaxy UGC 12281

UGC 12281 has been classified as having a pure disk and being a low surface brightness galaxy (LSBG), thus being an obvious member of the so-called superthin galaxies. At the same time it represents an extremely untypical type of LSBG due to its remarkable amount of current star formation and evidence for extraplanar ionized gas. This makes it become a perfect tool to investigate the triggering of star formation in LSB galaxies, located in an alleged isolated area. By means of deep photometry and long-slit spectroscopy we analyse the H$\alpha$ halo and verify the existence of a potential dwarf companion which we found on processed SDSS images.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures, to appear in: IAU Symp. 284, The Spectral Energy Distribution of Galaxies, eds.: R.J. Tuffs & C.C. Popesc

The validity and reliability characteristics of the M-BACK Questionnaire to assess the barriers, attitudes, confidence, and knowledge of mental health staff regarding metabolic health of mental health service users

Background: Addressing the burden of poor physical health and the subsequent gap in life expectancy experienced by people with mental illness is a major priority in mental health services. To equip mental health staff with the competence to deliver evidence-based interventions, targeted staff training regarding metabolic health is required. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of staff training regarding metabolic health, we aimed to develop a succinct measure to determine the barriers, attitudes, confidence, and knowledge of health practitioners through the development and test–retest reliability of the Metabolic-Barriers, Attitudes, Confidence, and Knowledge Questionnaire (M-BACK). Methods: The M-BACK questionnaire was developed to evaluate the impact of special-ized training in metabolic health care for mental health nurses. Content of the M-BACK was developed from a literature review and refined by an expert review panel and validated via a piloting process. To determine the test–retest reliability of the M-BACK, 31 nursing students recruited from the University of Notre Dame, Sydney completed the questionnaire on two separate occasions, 7 days apart. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were calculated for the total score, as well as each of the four domains. Results: Pilot testing was undertaken with a sample of 106 mental health nurses with a mean age 48.2, ranging from 24 to 63 years of age, who participated in six training courses. Questionnaire development resulted in a 16-item instrument, with each item is scored on a five-point Likert scale ranging from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree.” Test–retest reliability of the M-BACK was completed by 30 of 31 nursing students recruited, ICCs ranged from 0.62 to 0.96. Conclusion: The M-BACK is a reliable measure of the key elements of practitioner perceptions of barriers, and their knowledge, attitudes, and confidence regarding metabolic monitoring in people with mental illness. It can be used to assess the effectiveness of interventions aimed at increasing uptake of metabolic monitoring, a key component of programs to reduce the life expectancy gap in people living with severe mental illness

Negative symptoms are associated with lower autonomous motivation towards physical activity in people with schizophrenia

Objective: This cross-sectional study examined the association between psychiatric symptoms and motivation for physical activity within the self-determination theory (SDT) framework in people with schizophrenia. Method: Over a 4-month period, 55 (17♀) inpatients with a DSM-V diagnosis of schizophrenia were assessed with the Psychosis Evaluation tool for Common use by Caregivers (PECC) and the Behavioural Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire (BREQ-2), that provided separate scores for amotivation, external, introjected and autonomous regulation. Spearman correlations coefficients were examined between these motivation scores and symptom ratings. Results: The BREQ-2 score for autonomous regulations (2.6 ± 1.1) was significantly correlated with the PECC negative symptoms score (10.3 ± 4.1) (r = -0.34, p = 0.011). No other significant correlations between BREQ-2 and PECC scores were found. The BREQ-2 score for external regulations (0.7 ± 0.9) was associated with older age (35.2 ± 11.3 years) (r = -0.30, p = 0.024). Conclusions: These findings provide evidence that negative symptoms are associated with lower autonomous motivation towards physical activity in inpatients with schizophrenia. Future longitudinal research should confirm the current findings. Such research will guide physical activity approaches aimed at facilitating enhanced physical and mental health outcomes in individuals with schizophrenia

Screening, intervention and outcome in autism and other developmental disorders: the role of randomized controlled trials

We draw attention to a number of important considerations in the arguments about screening and outcome of intervention in children with autism and other developmental disorders. Autism screening in itself never provides a final clinical diagnosis, but may well identify developmental deviations indicative of autism—or of other developmental disorders—that should lead to referral for further clinical assessment. Decisions regarding population or clinic screening cannot be allowed to be based on the fact that prospective longitudinal RCT designs over decades could never be performed in complex developmental disorders. We propose an alternative approach. Early screening for autism and other developmental disorders is likely to be of high societal importance and should be promoted and rigorously evaluated

a systematic review of randomized controlled trials

Objective: The number of people suffering from depression and/or anxiety has increased steadily due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In this context, web-based exercise interventions have emerged as a potential treatment strategy. The objective of this study was to synthetize evidence from randomized controlled trials regarding the effects of web-based exercise interventions on patients with depressive and/or anxiety disorders. Methods: Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines were followed. Six databases were searched (Cochrane Library, EBSCO, PubMed, SciELO, Scopus, and Web of Science), and eligible articles were identified according to a PICOS inclusion-exclusion approach (participants with depressive or anxiety disorders; web-based exercise interventions; active or passive control group; assessment of changes in depressive or anxiety disorders; randomized design). Primary outcomes were depressive and/or anxiety symptoms. The quality of evidence was assessed with Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation. Results: Of 7,846 search results, three studies met the inclusion criteria (172 participants between 18 and 65 years of age, 95.9% women). The web-based exercise interventions lasted 8-12 weeks and involved endurance training, yoga, or combined endurance and strength training. The comparators involved non-exercise controls or active controls. Compliance rates were low. Web-based exercise interventions were not superior to controls regarding anxiety symptoms, and only one study found benefits for depressive symptoms (p p 0.05). The quality of the cumulative evidence was low. Conclusion: The available data regarding the effects of web-based exercise interventions on depression and/or anxiety symptoms is scarce, the risk of bias is high, and the quality of the cumulative results is low. Currently, no clear recommendations can be provided.9E1A-F9DD-3EB8 | Filipe Manuel ClementeN/