Youth involved in the criminal justice system exhibit elevated rates of sexual risk behavior (SRB), placing them at high risk for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and other deleterious outcomes. High levels of youth-maternal connectedness have been shown to act as a protective factor for SRB in nationally representative studies and in studies with primarily White youth samples. However, there are mixed findings in the research literature on the association of maternal connectedness and SRB among African American and Latino youth, a population who are disproportionately over-represented in the criminal justice system. Additionally, no studies to date have examined the role of maternal connectedness in SRB among justice-involved youth. This dissertation used archived data to determine if maternal connectedness can buffer against the negative effects of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on SRB among justice-involved youth. A secondary aim was to explore the prevalence of ACEs among youth in the sample, including several new ACE items that focus on adversity occurring outside the home. Participants (N=263) were sentenced or detained adolescent males at a large correctional facility in New York City, aged 16-18 and predominantly African American and Latino. Data were collected from the baseline interview of an intervention study conducted from 2009-2010. Youth participated in an individually administered, computer-based survey covering a range of topics, such as sexual health history, family relationships, substance use, and exposure to adverse events. Consistent with the literature, our sample of detained youth reported a high degree of SRB and a significant number of adverse experiences. Logistic regression analysis found that total ACE scores do not predict risky sexual behavior, even when controlling for maternal connectedness, substance use, age, and number of days incarcerated/detained. However, every participant endorsed exposure to at least 2 ACEs and 92% endorsed exposure to 4 or more, suggesting that the restriction in range may have obfuscated a relationship between total ACE scores and sexual risk-taking. The new ACE items, including poverty, racial discrimination, and neighborhood violence were prevalent. Additionally, several of the individual ACE items, including physical abuse, emotional abuse, and racial discrimination were independently associated with sexual risk outcomes. Maternal connectedness was negatively correlated with one type of risky sexual behavior—frequency of substance use during sex. Maternal connectedness and total ACE scores were, as predicted, negatively correlated. These findings suggest that our sample of incarcerated youth have experienced such a profound degree of adversity and trauma that perhaps ACE scores alone cannot adequately predict their engagement in risky sex. The fact that so many of the adolescents in the study endorsed the new ACE items also provides strong support for dissemination of the revised ACE inventory. This study highlights the need for greater research on risk and protective factors influencing adolescent SRB, as well as psychosocial correlates of ACEs among at-risk youth. Furthermore, given the syndemic nature of SRB and high prevalence of STIs, HIV, and ACEs in urban communities of color, future research should consider a more comprehensive and integrative approach to preventing both childhood adversity and unwanted sexual risk outcomes. Directions for future research and clinical implications are discussed.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on December 6, 2007) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on December 18, 2007) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Previous literature has shown that risk factors for delinquency include individual characteristics of impulsivity and risk-taking as well as contextual influences such as neighborhoods, parenting and engagement in physical activity (e.g., exercise, sports). Theory suggests that individual characteristics interact with contextual factors to influence child development, however evidence is limited. The current study examined the interaction between these individual and contextual risks to influence childhood delinquency in a community sample of 89 children ranging from 9 to 12 years of age (M = 10.4, SD = 1.1). Questionnaire measures showed that both caregiver report of impulsivity and self-reported risk-taking were positively associated with self-reported delinquency, yet no interactions with contextual factors were found. When using computer tasks, neither impulsivity nor risk-taking were significantly associated with delinquency. However, a risk-taking by physical activity interaction was found, such that at low levels of physical activity risk-taking was positively related to delinquency, yet at high levels of physical activity, risk-taking and delinquency were unrelated. Thus, programs that involve physical activity may be useful prevention and intervention strategies for risk-taking children.

A central bank is usually assigned two functions: the control of inflation and the maintenance of a safetybanking sector. What are the precise conditions under which trigger strategies from the private sector can solve the time inconsistency problem and induce the central bank to choose zero inflation under a nonstationary natural rate? Can an optimal contract be used together with reputation forces to implement a desired socially optimal monetary policy rule? How to design a truthtelling contract to control the risk taking behaviors of the bank? My dissertation attempts to deal with these issues using three primary methodologies: monetary economics, game theory and optimal stochastic control theory.

Several aspects contribute to road crashes and one important part is the ‘human factor’. This information is interesting but insufficient unless we also try to understand what is meant by the term. Three different features have been defined: errors, lapses and violations and the latter, which is a deliberate act, has been found to be the main contributor to road crashes. The crucial issue is therefore to understand what motivates drivers to commit an act, which puts both themselves and others at risk. The aim of this thesis is to explore the motives behind this behaviour through the use of an extended version of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Four different studies were carried out: The first study is qualitative, investigating the intention to violate. The second one assesses speeding in an urban area and dangerous overtaking. In addition to variables within the model, descriptive norms and past behaviour are included. The third study explores what particular beliefs are responsible for the behaviour. The fourth study uses the TPB to predict intention to speed on a rural road and assesses some underlying factors, such as ambivalence and gender. The results of the thesis show that the theory explains 33 to 53% of the variance in intention to violate and that descriptive norm and past behaviour significantly increase the explained variance. Descriptive norm is also related to risk and past behaviour is not only related to intention but also to the variables within the model. The results show that drivers’ beliefs can distinguish between intenders and non-intenders. With regard to attitudes the general conclusion is that the main difference lay in the effect of positive outcomes. Although in a more ‘risky’ situation the behaviour is more controlled by a denial of negative consequences. Finally, the results indicates that in the context of driving violations an expressed low level of control over the behaviour could be interpreted as a form of denial of responsibility rather than an inability to control their own actions. Implications of the current findings for the development of intervention programmes are discussed.

The manager's personal wealth is one of the central building blocks of agency theory, which considers wealth to be an especially important source of individual utility. The managers' financial position, or the portion of their financial well-being that is not dependent on the firm, is also introduced in the original formulation of upper echelons theory. However, despite the importance of executive personal wealth to both theories, it is rarely mentioned, and even more scarcely studied. My research builds on and extends agency and upper echelons theories by focusing on executive personal wealth, defined here as the portion of executive net worth that is not attached to current employment at the firm (i.e., not contingent on current or future earnings). As such, this research provides an initial answer to the following research question: how does the average personal wealth of the top management team as well as within-team differences in wealth influence firm strategic choices with respect to risk? Specifically, I argue that external wealth alters how managers view firm decisions regarding risk; thus, I hypothesize that average top management team (TMT) wealth is negatively related to firm unrelated diversification, positively related to R&D investments, and positively related to firm risk. Next, I propose that two types of within-group diversity ? TMT wealth diversity and TMT pay dispersion ? attenuate the effect of average TMT wealth on these firm outcomes. I test my hypotheses on a panel dataset of over 700 firms/TMTs from the S&P1500 over 2002?2008 using panel tobit and fixed effect models, and conduct multiple robustness checks. Empirical results strongly and consistently support the hypothesized main effects of wealth. However, the results regarding the moderating effect of within-group diversity are weak, as the majority of the moderation hypotheses are not supported. The main conclusion is that wealthier TMTs are less risk averse with respect to firm strategic decisions, which manifests in greater R&D spending, lower unrelated diversification, and higher overall firm risk. Theoretical and empirical implications as well as suggestions for future research are discussed.

Ytters är skälen till undersökningarna i denna avhandling ekonomiska. Att flyga moderna krisgsflygplan är dyrt. Kan effektiv träning bedrivas intermittent i stället för kontinuerligt? Kan billigare skolflygplan vara ett komplement till krigsflygplan i systemutbildningen? En studie av intermittent flygning på jaktflygplan gjordes i två etapper, först i simulator - del I i avhandlingen - och sedan i luften - del II i avhandlingen. En del av en attackstudie med kompletteringsflygning i skolflygplan är del III.  Studierna hade en experiment-kontrollgrupps-design. I jaktstudien jämfördes avgångna flygförare med aktiv personal. I attackstudien jämfördes aktiva förare vid en experimentdivision med likaledes aktiva förare vid en kontrolldivision. Prestationsvärdering är av avgörande betydelse i undersökningarna. Parallellt med flygförarnas prestation har även deras arbetsbelastning mätts både i simulator och i luften, liksom deras ansträngning, motivation och sinnesstämning. Prognosen från simulator till luften angående förarnas kapacitet och operativa användbarhet kunde förbättras, när hänsyn togs även till andra variabler än prestation. Modeller av flygförares funktion och prestation under flygning kunde konstrueras med utgångspunkt från den utmaning, d v s risk och svårighet, som upplevdes före flygning.

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