Developmental Trajectories of Religiosity, Sexual Conservatism and Sexual Behavior among Female Adolescents

Understanding the role of socio-sexual cognitions and religiosity on adolescent sexual behavior could guide adolescent sexual health efforts. The present study utilized longitudinal data from 328 young women to assess the role of religion and socio-sexual cognitions on sexual behavior accrual (measuring both coital and non-coital sexual behavior). In the final triple conditional trajectory structural equation model, religiosity declined over time and then increased to baseline levels. Additionally, religiosity predicted decreased sexual conservatism and decreased sexual conservatism predicted increased sexual behavior. The final models are indicative of young women's increasing accrual of sexual experience, decreasing sexual conservatism and initial decreasing religiosity. The results of this study suggest that decreased religiosity affects the accrual of sexual experience through decreased sexual conservatism. Effective strategies of sexual health promotion should include an understanding of the complex role of socio-sexual attitudes with religiosity

The role of visual discrimination in the learning -to -read process

This study theorizes that learning to identify letters first begins with learning to discriminate between similar two-dimensional figures. Difficulty differentiating among letters likely leads to a decreased proficiency in letter identification, which has been shown to be predictive of future reading abilities. This study examined the relationship between a specific visual perceptual skill, visual discrimination (VD), and learning-to-read. The project was comprised of two components. The first studied the relationship between VD and lowercase letter identification abilities. The potential associations among these factors and phonemic awareness, estimated verbal and nonverbal abilities, and lexical access were also considered. The sample consisted of 73 children whose average age was 61.7 months (SD = 2.6). Approximately equal numbers of boys and girls comprised the sample and nearly 80% were African American. Results indicated a significant association between VD and lowercase letter identification abilities (r = 0.38, p \u3c .01). This association was not moderated by estimated nonverbal abilities. Exploratory analyses revealed that higher VD abilities were associated with better phonemic awareness skills at the trend level (r = .53, p \u3c .10). The second component was an experimental study of the benefit of visual discrimination training of letter-like forms to letter learning for children with below average lowercase letter identification abilities. The sample consisted of 28 children, which was a subsample of the original 73 children. Children were randomly assigned to one of three groups: combined VD/letter-name training, letter-name training, or social-contact control. Results showed a significant improvement in lowercase letter identification following letter-name training only (t = -2.9, p \u3c .05). Post-hoc analyses suggested that, across the three groups, children who improved were older and had stronger VD abilities. The implications for these findings to the learning-to-read process as well as their relevance to interventions for children showing early signs of being at risk for reading delays are discussed

Uranium: Trans-Pecos, Texas Tertiary intrusive and groundwater anomalies

Abstract not availabl

Investigating the Variability in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Definitions: A Prospective Cohort Study

© 2018 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine Objective: To prospectively compare the proportion of traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) that would be classified as mild by applying different published definitions of mild TBI to a large prospectively collected dataset, and to examine the variability in the proportions included by various definitions. Design: Prospective observational study. Setting: Hospital emergency departments. Participants: Children (N=11,907) aged 3 to 16 years (mean age, 8.2±3.9y). Of the participants, 3868 (32.5%) were girls, and 7374 (61.9%) of the TBIs were the result of a fall. Median Glasgow Coma Scale score was 15. Main Outcome Measures: We applied 17 different definitions of mild TBI, identified through a published systematic review, to children aged 3 to 16 years. Adjustments and clarifications were made to some definitions. The number and percentage identified for each definition is presented. Results: Adjustments had to be made to the 17 definitions to apply to the dataset: none in 7, minor to substantial in 10. The percentage classified as mild TBI across definitions varied from 7.1% (n=841) to 98.7% (n=11,756) and varied by age group. Conclusions: When applying the 17 definitions of mild TBI to a large prospective multicenter dataset of TBI, there was wide variability in the number of cases classified. Clinicians and researchers need to be aware of this variability when examining literature concerning children with mild TBI