Self-control and early adolescent antisocial behavior: A longitudinal analysis

Contains fulltext : 73179.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)The article discusses a three-wave longitudinal study that investigates the relationship between self-control and aggressive and delinquent behavior of early adolescent boys and girls. The sample consists of 1,012 Dutch adolescents (mean age = 12.3) in their first year of secondary education. Structural equation modeling analyses reveal that high levels of self-control consistently decrease aggressive and delinquent behavior in the subsequent 6 months follow-up intervals. Results for the total sample do not support the hypothesis that self-control is influenced by previous levels of aggression or delinquency. For boys, the partial evidence found indicates reciprocal effects of self-control and delinquency.21 p

Complete Hydrogen Storage System by ISRU

New technologies make it possible to build in space a complete hydrogen storage system using ISRU methods and techniques. Hydrogen can be stored in a solid-state form on the surface atoms of high surface area matrices such as those of porous silicon. Silicon is abundant in regolith and can be purified using a purely mechanical means which results in particulates in the scale range of tens of nanometers. Reagents used to porosify these nano-particles can be regenerated thermally to essentially eliminate the need for resupply from earth. Catalysts are needed to divide dihydrogen gas into atomic hydrogen for solid-state adsorption and to mediate the temperatures and pressures of charge and discharge into ranges easily achievable with simple equipment. Recent research has identified the utility of non-platinum group catalyst materials which are widespread on the moon. Rapid discharge, needed for propulsion, is possible with infra-red illumination at wavelengths which pass through pure silicon but are absorbed by the silicon-hydrogen bond. Such IR emitters can be fabricated by embossing of silica and additive manufacturing of metals. Control and power electronics can be fabricated using a patented process designed for space operations, and built on either silicon or silicon carbide substrates derived from regolith. Bringing these five technologies together for the first time allows a system which can be fed with moderate pressure gaseous hydrogen at moderate temperatures, stored for long durations with minimum loss, then released upon demand across a wide range of controllable rates. Such a system can displace the need for cryogenic hydrogen storage. Being suitable to bottom-up fabrication using only in-space materials makes this a “green” ISRU technology to store hydrogen for fuel cells, rocket engines, and chemical processes

Preliminary Numerical and Experimental Analysis of the Spallation Phenomenon

The spallation phenomenon was studied through numerical analysis using a coupled Lagrangian particle tracking code and a hypersonic aerothermodynamics computational fluid dynamics solver. The results show that carbon emission from spalled particles results in a significant modification of the gas composition of the post shock layer. Preliminary results from a test-campaign at the NASA Langley HYMETS facility are presented. Using an automated image processing of high-speed images, two-dimensional velocity vectors of the spalled particles were calculated. In a 30 second test at 100 W/cm2 of cold-wall heat-flux, more than 1300 particles were detected, with an average velocity of 102 m/s, and most frequent observed velocity of 60 m/s

Is there an Olympic gold medal rush in the stock market?

Investor sentiment and attention are often linked to the same non-economic events making it difficult to understand why and how asset prices are affected. We disentangle these two potential drivers of investment behaviour by analysing a new dataset of medals for major participating countries and sponsor firms over four Summer Olympic Games. Existing studies focus only on investigating the effect of sports events and sentiment on stock market returns. We consider for the first time also the importance of investor attention and the effect on activity at the market and firm level. Our results show that trading volume and volatility is substantially reduced following Olympic success although returns appear to be largely unaffected. In the U.S., trading volume (realised volatility) during Olympics is over 24% (61%) lower than comparable periods of the year when Games do not take place. Each gold medal leads to a further decrease in volume of nearly 3% on average over the trading day following the award. These findings are in line with theories and evidence related to investor attention but cannot be easily explained on the basis of sentiment. Analysis of data from online search volumes and from surveys measuring investor sentiment, also suggest that the market impact of the Olympics is linked to changes in investor attention

Predicting Transitions in Low and High Levels of Risk Behavior from Early to Middle Adolescence: The TRAILS Study

The present study examined the joint development of substance use and externalizing problems in early and middle adolescence. First, it was tested whether the relevant groups found in previous studies i.e., those with an early onset, a late onset, and no onset or low levels of risk behavior could be identified, while using a developmental model of a single, underlying construct of risk behavior. Second, departing from Moffitt’s taxonomy of antisocial behavior, it was tested if early, but not late, onset risk behavior is predicted by a problematic risk profile in childhood. Data were used from TRAILS, a population based cohort study, starting at age 11 with two follow-ups at mean ages of 13.6 and 16.3 years. Latent transition analyses demonstrated that, both in early and middle adolescence, a single underlying construct of risk behavior, consisting of two classes (labeled as low and high risk behavior), adequately represented the data. Respondents could be clearly classified into four possible transition patterns from early to middle adolescence, with a transition from high to low being almost non-existent (2.5 %), low to low (39.4 %) and low to high (41.8 %) being the most prevalent, and high to high (16.2 %) substantial. As hypothesized, only the high-high group was characterized by a clear adverse predictor profile in late childhood, while the low-high group was not. This study demonstrates that the development of substance use is correlated with externalizing problems and underscores the theory that etiologies of early and later onset risk behavior are different

Associations among the parent–adolescent relationship, aggression and delinquency in different ethnic groups: a replication across two Dutch samples

Background: The aim of the present study is to examine whether the patterns of association between the quality of the parent-adolescent relationship on the one hand, and aggression and delinquency on the other hand, are the same for boys and girls of Dutch and Moroccan origin living in the Netherlands. Since inconsistent results have been found previously, the present study tests the replicability of the model of associations in two different Dutch samples of adolescents. Method: Study 1 included 288 adolescents (M age = 14.9, range 12-17 years) all attending lower secondary education. Study 2 included 306 adolescents (M age = 13.2, range = 12-15 years) who were part of a larger community sample with oversampling of at risk adolescents. Results: Multigroup structural analyses showed that neither in Study 1 nor in Study 2 ethnic or gender differences were found in the patterns of associations between support, autonomy, disclosure, and negativity in the parent-adolescent relationship and aggression and delinquency. The patterns were largely similar for both studies. Mainly negative quality of the relationship in both studies was found to be strongly related to both aggression and delinquency. Discussion: Results show that family processes that affect adolescent development, show a large degree of universality across gender and ethnicity

The Relationship Between Parenting and Delinquency: A Meta-analysis

This meta-analysis of 161 published and unpublished manuscripts was conducted to determine whether the association between parenting and delinquency exists and what the magnitude of this linkage is. The strongest links were found for parental monitoring, psychological control, and negative aspects of support such as rejection and hostility, accounting for up to 11% of the variance in delinquency. Several effect sizes were moderated by parent and child gender, child age, informant on parenting, and delinquency type, indicating that some parenting behaviors are more important for particular contexts or subsamples. Although both dimensions of warmth and support seem to be important, surprisingly very few studies focused on parenting styles. Furthermore, fewer than 20% of the studies focused on parenting behavior of fathers, despite the fact that the effect of poor support by fathers was larger than poor maternal support, particularly for sons. Implications for theory and parenting are discussed

Evidence-based Kernels: Fundamental Units of Behavioral Influence

This paper describes evidence-based kernels, fundamental units of behavioral influence that appear to underlie effective prevention and treatment for children, adults, and families. A kernel is a behavior–influence procedure shown through experimental analysis to affect a specific behavior and that is indivisible in the sense that removing any of its components would render it inert. Existing evidence shows that a variety of kernels can influence behavior in context, and some evidence suggests that frequent use or sufficient use of some kernels may produce longer lasting behavioral shifts. The analysis of kernels could contribute to an empirically based theory of behavioral influence, augment existing prevention or treatment efforts, facilitate the dissemination of effective prevention and treatment practices, clarify the active ingredients in existing interventions, and contribute to efficiently developing interventions that are more effective. Kernels involve one or more of the following mechanisms of behavior influence: reinforcement, altering antecedents, changing verbal relational responding, or changing physiological states directly. The paper describes 52 of these kernels, and details practical, theoretical, and research implications, including calling for a national database of kernels that influence human behavior