Description The OpenMx Project intends to rewrite and extend the popular statistical package Mx t... more Description The OpenMx Project intends to rewrite and extend the popular statistical package Mx to address the challenges facing a large range of modern statistical problems such as: the difficulty of measuring behavioral traits; the availability of technologies- such as such as magnetic resonance imaging, continuous physiological monitoring and microarrays- which generate extremely large amounts of data often with complex time-dependent patterning; and increased sophistication in the statistical models used to analyze the data.
The purpose of this study was to explore the association between the dynamics of family structure... more The purpose of this study was to explore the association between the dynamics of family structure and sexual behaviors of African-American adolescents using the ecodevelopmental theory. This study stratified data from 1,617 African-American adolescents of the Add Health Wave I respondents with an identified family composition. It examined the associations between family structure, parenting function, and adolescents' sexual decision-making: age of first sexual intercourse, sexual initiation before age 16, and using a condom during the first and last sexual intercourse. Emotional connection between parents and children (feeling more love from the father: β=0.17, =0.0312; feeling more love from the mother: β=0.3314, =0.0420) and mothers' less permissive attitude toward adolescents' sexual experience in their teens (β=0.33, =0.0466) are positively associated with late age of sexual initiation of adolescents living in two-parent households. School-level factors (β=0.07, =0.0...
ABSTRACT Home language experiences are important for children’s development of language and liter... more ABSTRACT Home language experiences are important for children’s development of language and literacy. However, the home language context is complex, especially for Spanish-speaking children in the United States. A child’s use of Spanish or English likely ranges along a continuum, influenced by preferences of particular people involved, such as parents, siblings, or friends. Moreover, there are likely differences across social contexts represented by the classroom—teachers, educational programs, and economic situations—which could be important to understand. The current article tests confirmatory empirical models for Spanish versus English language use in the homes of 1,115 Spanish-speaking children and how this use relates to home learning activities and kindergarten children’s language and literacy skills. The results show that although overall balance of family language use relates to home language and literacy activities as well as children’s kindergarten language and literacy skills, language use by individual family members is also related to some home learning activities and children’s skills. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved)
10009 Background: Radiation therapy (RT), an essential treatment for pediatric brain tumors, incr... more 10009 Background: Radiation therapy (RT), an essential treatment for pediatric brain tumors, increases the risk of cognitive impairment. Advanced RT techniques reduce the volume of normal tissues receiving radiation dose. Proton beam radiation therapy (PBRT) minimizes irradiation to surrounding healthy brain tissue, with the potential to preserve cognitive function better than photon radiotherapy (XRT). We examined change in IQ over time between patients treated for pediatric brain tumors with PBRT versus XRT. Methods: IQ scores obtained in the first 3 years post-RT were abstracted for pediatric brain tumor patients treated with PBRT or XRT. Results: Baseline and follow-up IQ scores were available for 53 survivors (31 PBRT, 22 CRT). A linear regression model predicted follow-up IQ scores controlling for baseline IQ, age-at-RT, time-since-RT, and craniospinal irradiation (CSI), F(7,45)=23.4, p
Characterizing the determinants of child health and development over time, and identifying the me... more Characterizing the determinants of child health and development over time, and identifying the mechanisms by which these determinants operate, is a research priority. The growth of precision medicine has increased awareness and refinement of conceptual frameworks, data management systems, and analytic methods for multilevel data. This article reviews key methodological challenges in cohort studies designed to investigate multilevel influences on child health and strategies to address them. We review and summarize methodological challenges that could undermine prospective studies of the multilevel determinants of child health and ways to address them, borrowing approaches from the social and behavioral sciences. Nested data, variation in intervals of data collection and assessment, missing data, construct measurement across development and reporters, and unobserved population heterogeneity pose challenges in prospective multilevel cohort studies with children. We discuss innovations ...
Publikationsansicht. 6090927. An item response investigation of the Beck Depression Inventory / (... more Publikationsansicht. 6090927. An item response investigation of the Beck Depression Inventory / (1996). Mehta, Paras. Abstract. Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Houston, 1996.. Degree granted by Dept. of Psychology.. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 164-175). ...
Description The OpenMx Project intends to rewrite and extend the popular statistical package Mx t... more Description The OpenMx Project intends to rewrite and extend the popular statistical package Mx to address the challenges facing a large range of modern statistical problems such as: the difficulty of measuring behavioral traits; the availability of technologies- such as such as magnetic resonance imaging, continuous physiological monitoring and microarrays- which generate extremely large amounts of data often with complex time-dependent patterning; and increased sophistication in the statistical models used to analyze the data.
The purpose of this study was to explore the association between the dynamics of family structure... more The purpose of this study was to explore the association between the dynamics of family structure and sexual behaviors of African-American adolescents using the ecodevelopmental theory. This study stratified data from 1,617 African-American adolescents of the Add Health Wave I respondents with an identified family composition. It examined the associations between family structure, parenting function, and adolescents' sexual decision-making: age of first sexual intercourse, sexual initiation before age 16, and using a condom during the first and last sexual intercourse. Emotional connection between parents and children (feeling more love from the father: β=0.17, =0.0312; feeling more love from the mother: β=0.3314, =0.0420) and mothers' less permissive attitude toward adolescents' sexual experience in their teens (β=0.33, =0.0466) are positively associated with late age of sexual initiation of adolescents living in two-parent households. School-level factors (β=0.07, =0.0...
ABSTRACT Home language experiences are important for children’s development of language and liter... more ABSTRACT Home language experiences are important for children’s development of language and literacy. However, the home language context is complex, especially for Spanish-speaking children in the United States. A child’s use of Spanish or English likely ranges along a continuum, influenced by preferences of particular people involved, such as parents, siblings, or friends. Moreover, there are likely differences across social contexts represented by the classroom—teachers, educational programs, and economic situations—which could be important to understand. The current article tests confirmatory empirical models for Spanish versus English language use in the homes of 1,115 Spanish-speaking children and how this use relates to home learning activities and kindergarten children’s language and literacy skills. The results show that although overall balance of family language use relates to home language and literacy activities as well as children’s kindergarten language and literacy skills, language use by individual family members is also related to some home learning activities and children’s skills. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved)
10009 Background: Radiation therapy (RT), an essential treatment for pediatric brain tumors, incr... more 10009 Background: Radiation therapy (RT), an essential treatment for pediatric brain tumors, increases the risk of cognitive impairment. Advanced RT techniques reduce the volume of normal tissues receiving radiation dose. Proton beam radiation therapy (PBRT) minimizes irradiation to surrounding healthy brain tissue, with the potential to preserve cognitive function better than photon radiotherapy (XRT). We examined change in IQ over time between patients treated for pediatric brain tumors with PBRT versus XRT. Methods: IQ scores obtained in the first 3 years post-RT were abstracted for pediatric brain tumor patients treated with PBRT or XRT. Results: Baseline and follow-up IQ scores were available for 53 survivors (31 PBRT, 22 CRT). A linear regression model predicted follow-up IQ scores controlling for baseline IQ, age-at-RT, time-since-RT, and craniospinal irradiation (CSI), F(7,45)=23.4, p
Characterizing the determinants of child health and development over time, and identifying the me... more Characterizing the determinants of child health and development over time, and identifying the mechanisms by which these determinants operate, is a research priority. The growth of precision medicine has increased awareness and refinement of conceptual frameworks, data management systems, and analytic methods for multilevel data. This article reviews key methodological challenges in cohort studies designed to investigate multilevel influences on child health and strategies to address them. We review and summarize methodological challenges that could undermine prospective studies of the multilevel determinants of child health and ways to address them, borrowing approaches from the social and behavioral sciences. Nested data, variation in intervals of data collection and assessment, missing data, construct measurement across development and reporters, and unobserved population heterogeneity pose challenges in prospective multilevel cohort studies with children. We discuss innovations ...
Publikationsansicht. 6090927. An item response investigation of the Beck Depression Inventory / (... more Publikationsansicht. 6090927. An item response investigation of the Beck Depression Inventory / (1996). Mehta, Paras. Abstract. Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Houston, 1996.. Degree granted by Dept. of Psychology.. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 164-175). ...
There is a lack of comprehensive research on Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) feasibility to... more There is a lack of comprehensive research on Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) feasibility to study occupational stress, especially its long-term sustainability. EMA application in education contexts has also been sparse. This study investigated the feasibility of using EMA to study teacher stress over 2 years using both objective compliance data and a self-reported feasibility survey. It also examined the influence of individual and school factors on EMA feasibility. Participants were 202 sixth through eighth grade teachers from 22 urban middle schools in the southern United States. EMA was implemented via an iPod-based Teacher Stress Diary (TSD). Teachers recorded demands, stress responses, and resources during 12 days (6 waves) over 2 years. Feasibility was assessed via compliance data generated by the TSD (e.g., entry completion) and an EMA Feasibility Survey of self-reported user-friendliness and EMA interference. The results showed high compliance regarding entry and item completion, and completion time, which was sustained over time. User-friendliness was appraised as very high and EMA interference as low. Initial difficulties regarding timing and length of assessments were addressed via EMA method refinement, resulting in improved feasibility. Teachers' ethnicity, age, marital status, grade/course taught, class size, class load, and daily workload impacted feasibility. The results supported the feasibility of using EMA to study work stress longitudinally and the value of continued feasibility monitoring. They also support EMA use to study teacher stress and inform EMA implementation in schools. Some teacher and school factors need to be taken into consideration when deciding on EMA implementation in education contexts. (PsycINFO Database Record
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