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BACKGROUND: The US life expectancy has been stagnating in recent decades, and along with this, the time trends of life span variation have shown stagnation and even increases with respect to historical levels. OBJECTIVE: We aim to disentangle contributions from subnational levels (US regions) to national changes in life expectancy and life span variation in 2010-2019 and 2019-2020. METHODS: A decomposition of the change in the national life expectancy and life disparity into the contribution of changing mortality and population structure among subnational regions is presented. The US Census regions are the Midwest, Northeast, South, and West. RESULTS: From 2010 to 2019, the South substantially contributed to the life span variation increase due to increasing mortality contributions. The old-age survival improvements across all regions further contributed to increasing life span variation at the national level. Different population growth patterns across regions, especially at older ages, are a further source of change in national life span variation and life expectancy. From 2019 to 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, an increase in life span variation and a decrease in life expectancy across all regions were observed. CONTRIBUTION: We present continuous-time decompositions for changes in life expectancy and life span variation. When decomposing subnational contributions to national changes, we also demonstrate the role of the composition effect through subnational-national growth differences. This paper quantifies and highlights the specific contributions of regions and age groups to the national mortality increase in the United States between 2010 and 2019, as well as between 2019 and 2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: While the high prevalence of preterm births and its impact on infant mortality in the US have been widely acknowledged, recent data suggest that even full-term births in the US face substantially higher mortality risks compared to European countries with low infant mortality rates. In this paper, we use the most recent birth records in the US to more closely analyze the primary causes underlying mortality rates among full-term births.Methods and Findings: Linked birth and death records for the period 2010-2012 were used to identify the state- and cause-specific burden of infant mortality among full-term infants (born at 37-42 weeks of gestation). Multivariable logistic models were used to assess the extent to which state-level differences in full-term infant mortality (FTIM) were attributable to observed differences in maternal and birth characteristics. Random effects models were used to assess the relative contribution of state-level variation to FTIM. Hypothetical mortality outcomes were computed under the assumption that all states could achieve the survival rates of the best-performing states. A total of 10,175,481 infants born full-term in the US between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2012, were analyzed. FTIM rate (FTIMR) was 2.2 per 1,000 live births overall, and ranged between 1.29 (Connecticut, 95% CI 1.08, 1.53) and 3.77 (Mississippi, 95% CI 3.39, 4.19) at the state level. Zero states reached the rates reported in the 6 low-mortality European countries analyzed (FTIMR < 1.25), and 13 states had FTIMR > 2.75. Sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI) accounted for 43% of FTIM; congenital malformations and perinatal conditions accounted for 31% and 11.3% of FTIM, respectively. The largest mortality differentials between states with good and states with poor FTIMR were found for SUDI, with particularly large risk differentials for deaths due to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) (odds ratio [OR] 2.52, 95% CI 1.86, 3.42) and suffocation (OR 4.40, 95% CI 3.71, 5.21). Even though these mortality differences were partially explained by state-level differences in maternal education, race, and maternal health, substantial state-level variation in infant mortality remained in fully adjusted models (SIDS OR 1.45, suffocation OR 2.92). The extent to which these state differentials are due to differential antenatal care standards as well as differential access to health services could not be determined due to data limitations. Overall, our estimates suggest that infant mortality could be reduced by 4,003 deaths (95% CI 2,284, 5,587) annually if all states were to achieve the mortality levels of the best-performing state in each cause-of-death category. Key limitations of the analysis are that information on termination rates at the state level was not available, and that causes of deaths may have been coded differentially across states.Conclusions: More than 7,000 full-term infants die in the US each year. The results presented in this paper suggest that a substantial share of these deaths may be preventable. Potential improvements seem particularly large for SUDI, where very low rates have been achieved in a few states while average mortality rates remain high in most other areas. Given the high mortality burden due to SIDS and suffocation, policy efforts to promote compliance with recommended sleeping arrangements could be an effective first step in this direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With social media in the 21st century, Americans can argue that the United States has become an interconnected society that exposes all people to different cultures and lifestyles. Although a powerful medium, social media has presented adverse effects that decreases the trust that Millennials, especially Black Millennials, have in American society. In this paper, Millennials ask, what is the value of the Millennial population to American society? Millennials, a creative class of individuals, are working within a system that was created without them in mind and without developing a values-based system that is comprised of empathy and an understanding of the societal challenges, Americans will continue to perpetuate a divided America amongst age groups without the proper solutions for correction. This conversation is rooted in the essence of empathy, equity, and understanding where policy and decision-making in the public and governmental organizations must incorporate to increase Millennial visibility and build a culturally competent and mentally healthier America that will benefit all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Age specific divorce rates for the United States as a whole are not available. This paper is an attempt to develop estimates of age specific incidence of divorce for the U.S. female population employing regression analyses. Certain correction factors are suggested to make the estimates built on a world divorce situation basis correspond to the American situation. Results derived in the paper reveal that the divorce curve for U.S. females is L-shaped in form. The age group below 20 years had the highest incidence of divorce (43 per 1000) followed by the age group 20 to 24 (33 per 1000) in 1969, while in 1960 these incidences were 33 per 1000 and 23 per 1000, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines determinants of timing of marriage for young women by modeling the transition from the single to the married state by age. This approach, combined with a large longitudinal data set, allows us to disaggregate the analysis into fine age groupings and to include situational and attitudinal factors in our model. We find that those characteristics of a young woman's parental family that reflect the availability of parental resources tend to decrease the chances of a marriage during the early teens. Chances of marrying appear to decrease with increases in the availability and attractiveness of alternatives to the wife role and in the costs of assuming it. We discuss these results from the perspective of the societal and parental normative pressures which affect timing of marriage for young women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Analysis of Lexis diagrams (population-based cancer incidence and mortality rates indexed by age group and calendar period) requires specialized statistical methods. However, existing methods have limitations that can now be overcome using new approaches. Methods: We assembled a "toolbox" of novel methods to identify trends and patterns by age group, calendar period, and birth cohort. We evaluated operating characteristics across 152 cancer incidence Lexis diagrams compiled from United States (US) Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Program data for 21 leading cancers in men and women in four race and ethnicity groups (the "cancer incidence panel"). Results: Nonparametric singular values adaptive kernel filtration (SIFT) decreased the estimated root mean squared error by 90% across the cancer incidence panel. A novel method for semi-parametric age-period-cohort analysis (SAGE) provided optimally smoothed estimates of age-period-cohort (APC) estimable functions and stabilized estimates of lack-of-fit (LOF). SAGE identified statistically significant birth cohort effects across the entire cancer panel; LOF had little impact. As illustrated for colon cancer, newly developed methods for comparative age-period-cohort analysis can elucidate cancer heterogeneity that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to discern using standard methods. Conclusions: Cancer surveillance researchers can now identify fine-scale temporal signals with unprecedented accuracy and elucidate cancer heterogeneity with unprecedented specificity. Birth cohort effects are ubiquitous modulators of cancer incidence in the US. The novel methods described here can advance cancer surveillance research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One significant way of viewing the life of an individual is in relation to what has been termed his life course. This has two components— life goal and career. Life goals are those aims which have highest value, can be attained only after a relatively protracted series of activities, and become the person's reason for existence. The series of activities engaged in to achieve these goals constitutes a career. The life goals give purpose and meaning to one's life, the career directs and organizes life. relatively little scientific research has been undertaken on the third and fourth stages of middle age. The present paper deals with the results of a study of the life course in middle age. The middle age adjustments described in the paper are found in the U.S. and can be shown to depend upon the nature of American culture. Two cultural factors stand out. In the first place, the social organization is mobile so that more individuals aspire to life goals which will improve their class position. In such cases, the pursuit of the chosen life course involves a good deal of conscious effort, the individual is constantly aware of the great amount of time and energy he has invested in his career.

The goal of this paper is to estimate peer influence in video gaming time among adolescents. Using a nationally representative sample of the U.S. school-aged adolescents in 2009–2010, we estimate a structural model that accounts for the potential biases in the estimate of the peer effect. Our peer group is exogenously assigned and includes one year older adolescents in the same school grade as the respondent. The peer measure is based on peers’ own reports of video gaming time. We find that an additional one hour of playing video games per week by older grade-mates results in .47 hours increase in video gaming time by male responders. We do not find significant peer effect among female responders. Effective policies aimed at influencing the time that adolescents spend video gaming should take these findings into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A common policy approach to reducing childhood obesity aims to shape the environment in which children spend most of their time: neighborhoods and schools. This paper uses richly detailed data on the body mass index (BMI) of all New York City public school students in grades K-8 to assess the potential for place-based approaches to reduce child obesity. We document variation in the prevalence of obesity across NYC public schools and census tracts, and then estimate the extent to which this variation can be explained by differences in individual-level predictors (such as race and household income). Both unadjusted and adjusted variability across neighborhoods and schools suggest place-based policies have the potential to meaningfully reduce child obesity, but under most realistic scenarios the improvement would be modest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The “fetal origins” hypothesis suggests that fetal conditions not only affect birth characteristics such as birth weight and gestational age, but also have lifelong health implications. Despite widespread interest in this hypothesis, few methodological advances have been proposed to improve the measurement and modeling of fetal conditions. A Statistics in Medicine paper by Bollen, Noble, and Adair examined favorable fetal growth conditions (FFGC) as a latent variable. Their study of Filipino children from Cebu provided evidence consistent with treating FFGC as a latent variable that largely mediates the effects of mother’s characteristics on birth weight, birth length, and gestational age. This innovative method may have widespread utility, but only if the model applies equally well across diverse settings. Our study assesses whether the FFGC model of Cebu replicates and generalizes to a very different population of children from North Carolina (N = 705) and Pennsylvania (N = 494). Using a series of structural equation models, we find that key features of the Cebu analysis replicate and generalize while we also highlight differences between these studies. Our results support treating fetal conditions as a latent variable when researchers test the fetal origins hypothesis. In addition to contributing to the substantive literature on measuring fetal conditions, we also discuss the meaning and challenges involved in replicating prior research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents data from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies with a focus on the interrelationships among health information seeking behavior (HISB), and health status or use of preventive health measures for U.S. adults both with and without a high school diploma. Key results of ordinal and binary logistic regression analyses indicated that, after controlling for demographic factors, (1) adults with a high school diploma use more text-based health information sources while adults without a high school diploma use more oral sources, (2) using the Internet as a source of health information is more strongly related to reporting excellent/very good health status than having a high school diploma, (3) those without a high school diploma who use the Internet report the largest increase in health status over any other health information source, and (4) for those with learning disability or vision problem, a high facility in reading English is an important predictor of whether the Internet is used as a health information source. The Internet appears to play a key role in both enhancing health status and enabling use of preventive measures for those with and without a high school diploma; although, individuals without a high school diploma who use the Internet for health information derive substantial benefit in health status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the second experiment being done on the cardiac responses of infants in the U.S. The results of the previous experiment had clearly revealed that the effect of repeated stimulation is response decrement and is directly related to age. In addition, the younger infants showed less decrement than the older infants. The subjects of the present study are consisting of infants with different age groups. The procedure described in the previous experiment was used in this experiment. Electrodes were attached to the subjects to obtain the cardiac response. The cardiac responses are then recorded both on a punched paper-tape system and on a polygraph. The results of this experiment are also emphasized in the article.

Social scientists who study contemporary Jewry are engaged in an intense debate over trends in American Jewish attachment to Israel. The dominant view has been that age-related differences reported in surveys indicate intergenerational decline, with successive birth cohorts less emotionally attached to Israel than their predecessors. An alternative view has been that age-related differences reflect stages of the lifecycle, with members of each birth cohort becoming more emotionally attached to Israel as they grow older. Drawing on evidence from four sets of surveys administered to comparable samples at ten-year intervals, the present paper weighs the evidence for the 'generational' versus 'lifecycle' hypotheses about the nature of changes in attachment. The findings indicate that, across the four sets of surveys, emotional attachment increased between Time 1 (the first survey, administered in the 1990s) and Time 2 (the second survey, administered in the 2000s). The increases were for respondents as a whole as well as most age cohorts. In each of the four surveys sets, the largest increases occurred as respondents transitioned from their 30s to their 40s, i.e., from young adulthood to mature adulthood. Although increasing attachment to Israel throughout the period as a whole complicates the analysis, we conclude that the preponderance of evidence supports the view that emotional attachment to Israel increased over the lifecourse rather than declined across the generations. That said, future trends may be influenced by new dynamics including increased intermarriage, more widespread Israel travel, and a highly fluid political situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is highly prevalent in patients with bipolar disorder (BD). Little research has evaluated the risk profile of MetS and cardiovascular disease in different gender and age groups in these patients. Our aim is to evaluate the prevalence of MetS in Italian patients with BD stratified by gender and age, and to determine the correlates of MetS. Subjects with BD were included and stratified by sex and age according to the following age groups: <30; 30-39; 40-49; 50-59; ≥60 years. Socio-demographic and clinical characteristics, lifestyle information, and comorbidity for cardiovascular diseases and diabetes were collected. MetS was diagnosed according to National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III modified criteria. MetS was evaluated in 200 patients, with a prevalence of 26.5%. Men had higher rates of hypertension and hypertriglyceridemia, women had more abdominal obesity. Women had a peak of prevalence in the ≥60 years group, while men displayed high rates even in the young age groups. In young patients, MetS was associated with Cluster B personality disorders and less physical exercise. Our paper highlights the importance of evaluating MetS even in young patients with bipolar disorder, especially males. The strong association with lack of physical exercise suggests that the implementation of healthy behaviors might be relevant in order to prevent MetS and future adverse cardiovascular outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: We provide a review and analysis of much of the published literature on binocular rivalry that is relevant to the design and use of head-worn displays (HWDs).Background: This review draws heavily from both the basic vision literature and applied HWD literature in order to help provide insight for minimizing the effects of binocular rivalry when HWDs are worn.Method: Included in this review are articles and books found cited in other works as well as articles and books obtained from an Internet search.Results: Issues discussed and summarized are (a) characteristics of binocular rivalry, (b) stimulus factors affecting rivalry, (c) cognitive variables affecting rivalry, and (d) tasks affected by rivalry.Conclusion: This paper offers a set of recommendations for minimizing the effects of binocular rivalry when HWDs are used as well as recommendations for future research.Application: Considerations of the basic vision literature on binocular rivalry will provide insight for future design solutions for HWDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper examines the shopping and buying behavior of younger and older online shoppers as mediated by their attitudes toward internet shopping. Design/methodology/approach - Over 300 students and staff from a US university completed a survey regarding their online shopping and buying experiences for 17 products. Findings - The results show that, while older online shoppers search for significantly fewer products than their younger counterparts, they actually purchase as much as younger consumers. Attitudinal factors explained more variance in online searching behavior. Age explained more variance in purchasing behavior if the consumer had first searched for the product online. Research limitations/implications - The limitations of the present research are threefold. First, the sample was restricted to university faculty, staff and students. Second, a better measure of the hedonic motivation construct is needed. Third, additional independent measures such as income should be included to understand the additional demographic factors related to online purchase. Practical implications - Retailing managers can make use of the results as describing multifaceted nature of online shopping and buying behavior. Age differences (in both directions) were seen for many product categories. In addition, results indicate that how one measures online shopping impacts on one's understanding of age effects on internet shopping. Age was negatively correlated with online pre-purchase search was positively correlated with online purchasing when pre-purchase search behavior was taken into account. Originality/value - The present study advances knowledge of the nature of the relationships among age, attitudes, and online shopping and buying behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the "tree ring" hypothesis that reaching young adulthood during certain historical periods raises or lowers attitudes above and beyond the contribution of demographic variables and long-term cohort trends. It examines the deviations from long-term, linear, cohort trends for twenty-eight National Opinion Research Center (NORC) General Social Survey (GSS) attitude items in birth cohorts reaching age 16 in the 1950s, 1960s, and post-1960s. Long-term cohort trends are estimated from regressions of attitudes on cohorts reaching age 16 from 1917 to 1950 (net of year and five demographics). Popular impressions are supported in that "rings" (residuals) are more liberal for Americans reaching age 16 in the 1960s. However, those reaching age 16 in the l950s are more liberal than their immediate predecessors, not more conservative. Furthermore, the three periods are not strikingly distinctive as the items showing positive rings tend to be the same in each period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption in children in the United States (US) is very low. Adequate FV consumption is required for proper development during childhood, and dietary habits are established during preschool-age and tend to persist into adulthood. As most U.S. preschool-aged children attend childcare or preschool, this may be an opportune time and setting to conduct interventions to improve FV intake. These interventions should be based in theory and use behavior change techniques (BCTs) to explain mechanisms for expected change. To date, no published reviews have examined the effectiveness of childcare- or preschool-based FV interventions in preschoolers and their use of theoretical frameworks and BCTs. Methods: This systematic review was completed adhering to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Inclusion criteria were randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published between 2012 and 2022 of interventions to improve diet or FV intake in preschoolers (aged 2–5 years) in childcare or preschool-settings. A search of four databases was conducted between in September 2022 using search terms pertaining to the study's primary aim (FV consumption), age group (preschool-aged), settings (US childcare or preschool settings), and study design (RCT). Additional criteria were objective measures of FV consumption or skin carotenoids, as a proxy for FV intake. Included studies were narratively synthesized based on intervention type, measured effect, and use of theory and BCTs. Results: The search resulted in six studies that reported on nine interventions. Overall, six interventions increased FV intake, of which five used nutrition education and one manipulated the feeding environment. Among the three interventions with no measured effect, two manipulated the feeding environment and one used peer modeling. Effective studies used at least three BCTs, though no pattern was observed between use of theory or BCTs and intervention effect. Conclusions: While several studies have shown promising results, the limited number of studies identified in this review highlights key gaps in this field: there is a need for studies to test FV interventions in US childcare settings that use objective measures of FV intake, directly compare intervention components and BCTs, are theory-based, and assess long-term behavior change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

So-called 'fake news'—deceptive online content that attempts to manipulate readers—is a growing problem. A tool of intelligence agencies, scammers and marketers alike, it has been blamed for election interference, public confusion and other issues in the United States and beyond. This problem is made particularly pronounced as younger generations choose social media sources over journalistic sources for their information. This paper considers the prospective solution of providing consumers with 'nutrition facts'-style information for online content. To this end, it reviews prior work in product labeling and considers several possible approaches and the arguments for and against such labels. Based on this analysis, a case is made for the need for a nutrition facts-based labeling scheme for online content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing study of leaving home in young adulthood in the United States has been hampered by data and measurement problems, which are producing a major theoretical confusion about the role of parental resources in influencing young adults' leaving home. Does high parental income retain young adults in the home or subsidize their leaving (and parental privacy)? This paper uses the 1984 panel of Survey of Income and Program Participation to clarify this issue, and shows that the effects of parental resources differ depending on the route out of the home under consideration (marriage or premarital residential independence). Effects change substantially over the nest-leaving ages, but relatively few differences are found between young men and young women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There was an increase from 62.8 to 79.1 million households in the United States during the 1970s. The number of households increased much more rapidly than the population. This paper decomposes this growth in the number of households into components associated with changing age and martial status composition and changing age by marital status-specific propensities to form households. About one-third of the increase in the number of households was due to increased age by marital status propensity to form households, and two-thirds was due to shifts in the age by marital status distribution and population growth. The increased propensity to form households had its major impact at ages under 35, and primarily among never-married persons. The composition component had its primary impact at ages 25-44 as a result of the baby boom, and also because of the increased fractions never married and separated and divorced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates a mathematical model for the growth of an age-structured population. The model includes the idea (due to Easterlin) that fertility is affected by the size of the cohort in which an individual is born. It is important to note that the model investigated represents only a reasonable first step in the direction of reality from the unrealistic assumption that mortality and fertility do not change with passing time. It is shown that this general model can lead to self-excited, persistent oscillations (called limit cycles in mathematical parlance) of the birth trajectory of the population. Using data for the United States from the twentieth century, it is shown that variations in the number of births are consistent with the model discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among the various types of mortality, motor vehicle fatalities (MVF) and suicides are two that are very responsive to social, economic, and psychological factors. The analysis of the temporal patterns of suicides and MVF points to important but neglected forces affecting them. This paper examines the daily patterns of MVF and suicides for the United States from 1972 to 1976. The effects of the day of the week, month, year, and holidays on these types of mortality are estimated. Total MVF and suicides, as well as daily differentials by sex, age, and race, are analyzed with regression techniques. The results show that temporal variations are stronger in MVF than in suicides but are present in both. MVF tend to peak on Saturday, in the summer months, in 1972 and 1973, and on holidays. Suicides are generally highest on Monday, in the spring months, in 1975 and 1976, and on nonholidays. Differentials in the temporal patterns are evident. For instance, whites generally have a sharper decline in suicides on holidays than do nonwhites. The holiday peak in MVF for the 60 and over population is Christmas, while it is New Year's for the younger age groups. Males exhibit a greater increase in suicides from March to May than do females. Finally, the results of a comparison of the daily patterns of MVF and suicides revealed a negative correlation. This contrasted with the strong positive relationship between MVF and suicides generally found in cross-sectional studies. The implications of these findings are briefly discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proportional hazards life table is a recently developed approach to the analysis of survival data when mortality risks vary among individuals. It assumes that at a given age (or duration since the start of a life) the force of mortality is a constant (specific to that age) multiplied by a proportionality factor which is determined by the characteristics of the individual and does not change unless these covariates do. In this paper, the method is reviewed for the case where the covariates are fixed at the start of the lifetime and illustrated by an application to marital dissolution in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies of church dropouts and the reinvolvement of dropouts in church life are either qualitative in nature and/or deal with relatively limited age groups or historical periods. The 1978 Gallup survey of unchurched Americans provides a unique opportunity to explore the phenomena of religious disengagement and re-entry in a quantitative manner that includes the entire spectrum of the life cycle and fifty years of historical change. This paper takes that opportunity as its point of departure, focusing on life cycle and historical variation in dropout and re-entry rates, and the reasons given by dropouts for their disengagement. Defining a church dropout as someone who has stopped attending religious services for a period of two or more years, the study estimates that 46 percent of Americans drop out of active religious participation sometime during their lifetime, with the dropout rate being greatest among teenagers. The teenage peak in the dropout rate is found across all categories of our control variables. The swelling of the dropout rate during the teenage years appears to be due primarily to the lessening of parental influence characteristic of this stage in the life cycle and a generalized feeling that the church has little of interest or relevance to offer. Once past the teens, personal contextual reasons for disengagement (e.g., moving to a new community, change in work schedule, poor health) predominate, especially for those over fifty-four. The study finds little historical variation in the dropout rate from the 1930s through the 1950s. In the 1960s, however, there was a significant increase in the dropout rate, with only a slight abatement of this peak rate in the 1970s. The study strongly suggests that church disengagement is a temporary, rather than permanent, stage in one's life. Up to 80 percent of religious dropouts, depending upon age at disengagement, re-enter active church involvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Height, weight, and triceps skinfold measurements were made on 258 Michigan males and 225 females. age 2 to 18 years, comprising a representative sample of Michigan children in 1978. Boys of most age groups and younger girls were slightly taller, heavier, and Fatter than their US counterparts, studied between 1963 and 1974. Older Michigan girls were slightly shorter but heavier and latter than their earlier US counterparts. (Am J Public Health 1981; 71:855-858.) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on racial status and fertility of black minority in the United States in 1970. It reviews two major theoretical approaches to the problem, and proposes to extend in part the work reported in the earlier papers. above two articles. The main purpose of the article is (1) to review 1970 Census data relevant to the theory of independent effect of minority racial status on fertility, and (2) to assess the variations in patterns of fertility within each of the black and white racial groups by age cohorts. According to one major approach referred to as convergence theory, it is argued that as members of minority groups become more nearly like whites demographically, socially, and economically, their fertility rates tend to converge and differences in birth rates are not explained in a significant manner by minority status per se. Variables such as region of residence, family income, education, urbanization, occupation, and others are cross-tabulated to pinpoint the combination of factors associated with higher fertility of minorities.

If the pattern of fertility, mortality and interregional migration exhibited by the United States population during 1950-60 were to continue in the future, the proportions of persons in the various age groups and regions would fluctuate from decade to decade. These fluctuations would become less marked with time, however, and eventually all the proportions would stabilize at certain fixed values. This collection of values may be called a stable age by region composition corresponding to the given schedule of fertility, mortality and migration. The same phenomenon may be observed when individuals move between socioeconomic categories as, for example, socioeconomic status or educational attainment levels. The substantial differences between these various situations conceal remarkable similarities. In each case the continued operation of schedules of fertility, mortality and mobility between categories may result in a stable composition. The purpose of this paper is to shed some light on the nature of these stable compositions, on the interrelation between their various components, and on their relation to the patterns of fertility, mortality and mobility which generate them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a clear understanding of the inherent changes in mortality with advance in age, it is necessary to observe the experience of generations rather than the cross-section of period experience. In fact, the latter may produce a misleading picture as can be illustrated in the case of tuberculosis. Period experience pointed to a rise in tuberculosis death rates with advance in age, whereas generation experience indicates a decline with aging. The present paper proposes the study of mortality changes of all generations existing at one period to a subsequent period. Some characteristics and trends in the changes in generation mortality of white males and white females since 1900 are discussed. It is pointed out, in particular, that since World War II white males have been experiencing a rapidly increasing rise in generation mortality with the approach of midlife. A comparison of generation mortality changes from 1950 to 1960 among countries of traditionally low mortality shows that only males in the other English-speaking countries may be undergoing the same experience as white males in the United States upon the approach of midlife. It is not evident in the Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands and in the other countries. The reason for these differences is not apparent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates determinants of school enrollment and school performance of children in the United States. School enrollment here refers to whether a child is or is not enrolled in school, and school performance refers to whether an enrolled child is behind, with, or ahead of his age group in years of schooling completed. The investigation is based on data from the 1960 Census. Variables describing age, color, sex, rural-urban status, education of parents, and income of parents are used to explain variation in school enrollment and school performance across the school age population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the results obtained in administering a modified Terman intelligence test to 327 Greek children aged from 7 to 12 years. A negative correlation between intelligence and family size was obtained. The results are compared with those obtained in similar inquiries in Britain and the U.S.A. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Emerging adults (aged 18–29) report high levels of musculoskeletal pain; however, it is unknown if body location and intensity patterns are related to different biopsychosocial characteristics. This study identified patterns of self-reported musculoskeletal pain among emerging adults and assessed if there were differences in their lifestyle and psychological characteristics. Methods: Data from survey responses from a large public university and a large medical university in the United States were used (n = 1,318). Self-reported pain location and intensity at five body regions were assessed, and latent class analysis identified classes separately for men and women. Mental health, physical activity, and sleep outcomes were compared between the classes. Results: Four classes were identified for men and women. Three of the classes were consistent between genders – "no pain," (women = 28% of their sample; men = 40% of their sample) "mild multisite pain," (women = 50%; men = 39%) and "moderate-severe multisite pain" (women = 9%; men = 7%). The fourth class for women was "moderate spine pain," (13%) and for men was "mild extremity pain" (13%). For both men and women, the "moderate-severe multisite" pain classes reported the highest levels of depression, anxiety, and stress, poorer sleep, and higher work physical activity than the "no pain" class. The "mild multisite" and "moderate spine" (women only) pain classes fell between the "no pain" and "moderate-severe" pain classes. The characteristics of the "mild upper extremity pain" class for men was similar to the "no pain" class. Conclusions: The identified classes provide unique information on pain location and intensity in emerging adults. The high prevalence of "mild multisite pain" (n = 593; 45% of the total sample) demonstrates an intervention opportunity during this age range to prevent further increases in musculoskeletal pain later in life. Future work should assess the longitudinal outcomes of these pain classes, the impact of interventions for this age group, and the balance between leisure and occupational physical activity when addressing musculoskeletal health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2019, the United States (US) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended that healthcare providers engage in shared clinical decision making for adults aged 27–45 who may benefit from HPV vaccination. However, it is difficult to assess these benefits as there is a lack of data on HPV burden on young and mid-adult women. This analysis estimates the incidence of conization and the burden associated with treating pre-cancerous states related to HPV with a loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP) or a cold knife conization (CKC) among commercially insured women aged 18–45. This retrospective cohort study used the IBM MarketScan commercial claims encounter database for women aged 18–45 treated with conization. We assessed the annual incidence of conization (2016–2019) and adjusted the two-year health care costs post-conization using a multivariable Generalized Linear Model (GLM)—accounting for follow-up time and other characteristics—stratified by the age groups, namely 18–26 and 27–45. The inclusion criteria were met by 6735 women, with a mean age of 33.9 years (SD = 6.2). Conization incidence was lowest for women aged 18–26 (41/100,000 to 62/100,000 women-years) and highest for women aged 31–35 (243/100,000 to 269/100,000). The GLM-adjusted, all-cause healthcare costs per patient per year were USD 7279 and USD 9249 in the 18–26 and 27–45 age groups, respectively. The adjusted costs for disease-specific care were USD 3609 and USD 4557 for women ages 18–26 and 27–45, respectively. The burden of conization and the associated costs were significant, indicating a potential healthcare benefit of HPV vaccination among young and middle-aged women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the author's perspective as a student attendee at the 20th Pugwash Conference on Science and World Affairs which was held in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. She emphasizes that the most apparent difference between the older and younger participants was the acceptance of the elders to the state of the world. She notes that there is a need for a younger generation on idealism and commitment to change concerning science. She adds that the majority points for the alternative selection for the participants might be based on their expertise, reputation and professional qualifications.

Background: With the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic and the recent political divide in the United States (US), there is an urgent need to address the soaring mental well-being problems and promote positive well-being. The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS) measures the positive aspects of mental health. Previous studies confirmed its construct validity, reliability, and unidimensionality with confirmatory factor analysis. Six studies have performed a Rasch analysis on the WEMWBS, and only one evaluated young adults in the US. The goal of our study is to use Rasch analysis to validate the WEMBS in a wider age group of community-dwelling adults in the US. Methods: We used the Rasch unidimensional measurement model 2030 software to evaluate item and person fit, targeting, person separation reliability (PSR), and differential item functioning (DIF) for sample sizes of at least 200 persons in each subgroup. Results: After deleting two items, the WEMBS analyzed in our 553 community-dwelling adults (average age 51.22 ± 17.18 years; 358 women) showed an excellent PSR = 0.91 as well as person and item fit, but the items are too easy for this population (person mean location = 2.17 ± 2.00). There was no DIF for sex, mental health, or practicing breathing exercises. Conclusions: The WEMWBS had good item and person fit but the targeting is off when used in community-dwelling adults in the US. Adding more difficult items might improve the targeting and capture a broader range of positive mental well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence rates have decreased among adults aged 50 years or older while increasing in adults under age 50 years. Understanding these trends is challenging because of the multiple related time scales of age, diagnosis period, and birth cohort. We analyzed incidence rates of rectal, distal colon, and proximal colon cancer for individuals aged 20 years or more from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program for diagnosis years 1978–2017. We used a 2-stage generalized linear model to determine age, period, and cohort effects for CRC incidence. We first estimated birth cohort effects among people under age 45 years. We used these results to specify prior distributions for cohort effects in a Bayesian model to estimate period effects among people aged 45 years or more. There was no evidence of period effects for people under age 45 years. Risks of rectal and distal colon cancer increased for later birth cohorts. Compared with the 1943–1952 birth cohort, the 1983–1992 birth cohort had 2.2 times the risk of rectal cancer, 1.9 times the risk of distal colon cancer, and 1.3 times the risk of proximal colon cancer. For people aged ≥45 years, period effects showed declines in CRC risk that were attributable to screening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Address based sampling (ABS) has become current state-of-the-art methodology for conducting household surveys by mail, telephone or web in the United States. One potential advantage of ABS frames is that additional information about the sampled households can be appended and leveraged for data collection and analytic purposes. The appended data come from many sources and are of variable quality and completeness. The goals of this research were to evaluate data quality of demographic and socioeconomic variables provided for recent ABS samples from one vendor, and to examine their potential usefulness for sample design, including oversampling. We report on the completeness of the appended data as well as their concordance with data reported by respondents to two recent large ABS household surveys, one that invited households to complete the survey online and another that was mail only. Based on the quality assessment, we also examine the utility of the appended variables for oversampling. Our general conclusions are that the quality of select appended variables has improved such that the Hispanic origin, Hispanic surname, and presence of age group 65+ variables may be used to efficiently oversample these subgroups. However, this is not the case for oversampling other subgroups through appended variables for home tenure; those with head of household whose educational attainment is high school or less; low income households; households with children; presence of age groups 18–24, 25–34, and 35–64; or households based on the number of adults in the household. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Although circumcision is the most commonly performed surgery in males, less is known about the incidence and indications of adult circumcision. In this study, we aim to present the incidence of adult circumcision across the United States. Methods: Using IBM MarketScan® Commercial Database from 2015 to 2018, we obtained claims for circumcision in men between 18 and 64 years of age. We calculated the incidence of adult circumcision over the study period and across the United States. We also collected data on indications for surgery using International Classification of Diseases codes. Results: We identified a total of 12,298 claims for adult circumcisions. The mean age was 39 (±12.9) years. The average incidence rates remained relatively constant from 98.1 per 100,000 person-years in 2015 to 98.2 per 100,000 person-years in 2018 (Δ+0.1%). The age-standardized incidence rates varied significantly across the United States (from 0 to 194.8 per 100,000 person-years) with South Dakota having the highest rate. The most common indications for adult circumcision were phimosis (52.5%), routine/ritual circumcision (28.7%), phimosis + balanitis/balanoposthitis (6.8%), balanitis (3.8%) and balanoposthitis (2.6%), and significantly varied by age groups. Conclusion: This study suggested a wide geographic variation in rates of adult circumcision between states with highest incidences in the Northeast United States. Future studies can identify the underlying causes for the observed variations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study integrates life-course theory and mobility research to explore livability factors that attract migrants in different age groups between rural and urban counties in the United States. Place livability is measured by economy, housing market, natural amenity, neighborhood, civic and social engagement, and health. Migrants are grouped into young, middle-aged, and older adults. Results of Structural Equation Modeling show that, as people age, the attractiveness of place shifts from a focus on the economy and housing market to the neighborhood and engagement. Rural communities, which rank the highest on engagement, attract working aged and older migrants. Natural amenities and lower housing costs also attract migrants moving to rural counties. This study suggests that the natural environment and social environment could make up for the lack of accessible physical design in rural communities. Affordable housing and an inclusive community are key to retaining and increasing the population in rural communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To understand and predict the consumer patterns of generational groups within a highly technological world, it is critical to study their experiences, social views, and attitudes about music. Today, limited information is available to the research community about "Gen Z," a population group that recently entered college life and the next largest consumer group after the Millennials. This study aims at closing this gap by exploring and comparing distinctive patterns and consumer behavior in the music market between Gen Z and Millennials. Using a group of 1624 college students from two universities in the United States, we found that Gen Z is less prone to music piracy than Millennials, and those who pirate music tend to share similar social norms, a limited understanding of copyright infringements, and poor views about the music industry. New technologies are also transforming the way future generations are drawn into music piracy. We conclude that music infringement will continue to be an ethical dilemma and the industry should continue in its effort to design consumer policies to assist young generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A continuum of ages exists at school entry due to the use of a single school cutoff date-making the “oldest” children approximately 20 percent older than the “youngest” children. We provide substantial evidence that these initial maturity differences have long-lasting effects on student performance across OECD countries. In particular, the youngest members of each cohort score 4-12 percentiles lower than the oldest members in grade four and 2-9 percentiles lower in grade eight. In fact, data from Canada and the United States show that the youngest members of each cohort are even less likely to attend university. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper explores some of the links between changing age distributions in the affluent countries of Europe, North America and Asia (notably Japan), the growth in tourism to large developing countries, such as India, China and Brazil, and developments in the ways in which long haul transportation services are provided (for example the possibility of low cost carriers entering this market on a large scale). It considers the institutional and other challenges to the growth of these markets and also ways in which the tourist recipient countries can extract the maximum economic benefits. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Studies have shown that Chilean and US infants differ in their levels of self-regulation. One of the mechanisms of early socializing is the use of language, particularly mental state language. The current study seeks to deepen our knowledge of the ways in which mental state language is related to socialization processes in early childhood, including the ways both culture and children’s gender influence a mothers’ use of mental state talk. We used a quantitative and descriptive approach with 109 mothers and their children (64 Chilean and 45 US dyads), measured twice, at 12 and 30 months old. Mental state references related to regulation were coded during a story-sharing task, including positive (calm and patient) and negative (messy and impatient) references to regulating behavior. Chilean mothers generally showed more regulatory references than US mothers, especially if the children were at a younger age (12 month). Frequencies of regulatory references increased in US mothers at 30 months but were still less than in Chilean mothers. At the 12-month measuring point, Chilean mothers showed more negative regulatory attributes than positive regulatory attributes. Finally, US mothers mainly used references to secondary emotions (e.g., pride) and positive regulatory attributes (being obedient, mature and patient) at both ages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]