Psychologists have begun to examine factors that influence the achievement gap between African American and White students. This is a pressing issue especially for African American students (Steele, 1997; Shelton & Sellers, 2000; Cokley, 2001). To better understand the effects of race and gender on perceived discrimination and academic disengagement, 81 African American students at the University of Texas at Austin were randomly assigned to one of three conditions. Participants either listed ten instances of discrimination they have experienced, five academic successes and five academic failures, or made no lists. The impact of these manipulations on responses to the Disengagement Scale (Major & Schmader, 1998) and the Everyday Discrimination Scale (Williams, Yu, Jackson, & Anderson, 1997) were assessed. Results suggest that gender plays an important role in African American students’ academic function. More specifically, African American males perceive more discrimination in academia than African American females, which is related to higher levels of disengagement. Researchers suggest this difference is related to African American males’ socialization to see discrimination as an insurmountable barrier rather than a navigable obstacle. / text

Despite consistent evidence that adolescent girls are at greater risk for developing depression than adolescent boys (Ge, Lorenz, Conger, & Elder, 1994; Nolen-Hoeksema, 1987, 1990; Weissman, Leaf, Holzer, Myers, & Tischler, 1984), and that women continue to predominate among depressed adults throughout the lifespan (Kessler, McGonagle, Swartz, Blazer & Nelson, 1993), few studies have examined the etiologic risk factors that predict depression for adolescent girls using a prospective design or examined differential processes of risk in a sample of adolescent girls and boys. Furthermore, although a number of variables have been implicated as risk factors for depressive symptoms or onset of depression among adolescents, some methodological limitations exist. The objective of this research was to examine a set of risk factors suspected to predict depression in adolescents, and to test whether gender moderates these relations. Secondly, this study examined a set of risk factors proposed by the gender additive model of depression (Stice et al., 2000; Stice & Bearman, 2001) that attempts to partially explain the increased prevalence of depressive symptoms in adolescent girls compared to boys. Finally, exploratory classification tree analyses tested for interactions between risk factors that might signal differential pathways to depression. This research provides insight into the etiology of adolescent depression as well as the disparate rate of depression among adolescent girls versus boys, and also provides direction for identifying high-risk individuals and developing effective prevention programs. / text

Syftet med studien är att identifiera om det finns någon skillnad i risk mellan svenska män och kvinnors aktieportföljer. I undersökningen av individernas riskbenägenhet används tre riskmått, total risk, marknadsrisk och unik risk, som enligt portföljteorin går att koppla till en individs aktieportfölj. Ålder och inkomst används som kontrollvariabler för att studera om eventuella skillnader i riskbenägenhet mellan könen kan förklaras av andra faktorer än kön. Studien baseras på en kvantitativ undersökning och sekundärdata från en unik databas. Urvalet för studien består av knappt 900 000 observationer av svenska individers aktieportföljer, med kontroll för kön, ålder och förvärvsinkomst. Resultatet av studien visar att det föreligger signifikanta skillnader mellan könens riskbenägenhet. Studien finner dock inga tydliga resultat för att män skulle vara mer riskbenägna än kvinnor, då könen tar olika hög risk beroende på vilket riskmått som avses. Resultaten visar på att skillnader mellan könens riskbenägenhet även existerar efter att variablerna ålder och inkomst studerats. / The purpose of this study is to identify whether there is any difference in risk between the stock portfolios of Swedish men and women. In the investigation of individual’ risk propensity, three measures of risk are used, total risk, market risk and unique risk, which according to the portfolio theory can be linked to an individual’s stock portfolio. Age and income are used as control variables to study whether any differences in risk propensity between the genders can be explained by other factors than gender. The study is based on a quantitative study and secondary data obtained from a unique database. The sample for the study consists of nearly 900 000 observations of Swedish individual’s stock portfolios, controlling for gender, age and income. The results of the study show that there are significant differences between the genders’ risk propensity. The study finds, however, no clear evidence that the men would be more risk-prone than women. The genders take different levels of high risk depending on which measure of risk involved. The results show that differences between the genders’ risk propensity also exists after studying the control variables age and income.

During old age there are many challenges that the elderly have to meet. These challenges can include adapting to diminished bodily abilities, decreased intellectual vitality, the death of a spouse and the loss of friends, adapting to new roles and activities, a change in income, a change of housing conditions and retirement. Due to advanced technology and to more sophisticated medical services, life expectancy has changed significantly, which implies that generally speaking people could grow older and that they have to deal with life transitions and daily demands. Friendships enable people to cope better with life transitions and challenges. Very little research, however, is available on the friendship patterns of the elderly. A quantitative, single cross-sectional survey study was conducted where 200 elderly people in South Africa were interviewed by means of a semi-structured questionnaire. The purpose of the research was to investigate friendship patterns among the elderly, and to confirm whether or not people have fewer friendships as they grow older. Data has been statistically analysed by means of frequencies. Results indicate that as people age, they indeed have fewer friendships due to the death of friends, transport problems, illness and the fact that friends moved away. It was also found that although the number of friends becomes fewer, friendship is still regarded as an important aspect. Suggestions are made regarding the value of having different kinds of friendships, which will promote resilience and create more social resources to deal with challenging life transitions. / Thesis (M.A. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

How do gender and socioeconomic backgrounds affect students’ academic performance, educational choices and attitudes towards education? Moreover, does class play the same role for girls and boys? In order to find this out, I surveyed students in a small province located in the northern inlands of Sweden. The survey was answered by nearly every student in the ninth grade of that year, a total of 160 people. The results revealed that girls in this area have less faith in their capabilities than boys, despite getting much better grades. Many more girls than boys want to go onto college or university studies. In the end, I also found that girls like school much more than boys do. Socioeconomic background played a large role in all areas, except for attitudes towards education. Class was also found to have a much greater impact on boys than on girls, sometimes -as in regards to future studies - up to four times

Coronary heart disease, including acute myocardial infarction (AMI), is the nation's leading cause of death. This study examined the characteristics and outcomes of 397 African American (AA) patients within one year of hospitalization due to AMI at Grady Memorial Hospital (GMH) in Atlanta. The PREMIER study, a nationwide registry, maintained by John Spertus MD, included data from patient interviews, medical records, and clinical characteristics like diabetes, hypertension, smoking, angina frequency and quality of life was used. Patient characteristics, associated with a major adverse event (MAE) within one-year post AMI were evaluated using SAS. Results showed a trend of higher odds of younger age, hypertension, and diabetes in women than men at the time of hospitalization. Although this study did not show any gender differences in the outcomes of AA patients following AMI, a trend of effect modification by gender on various variables was seen. Further research is recommended to examine factors contributing to gender differences in outcomes after an AMI.

This project examined the extent to which Nova Scotian adolescents’ counselling needs are being met with respect to physical, sexual, substance use, and psychosocial health by their family physicians. This was accomplished by assessing how well Nova Scotian physicians provide preventative advice consistent with the Guidelines for Adolescent Preventative Services (GAPS). Analyses were performed using pooled data from surveys carried out in 2003 and 2006. Descriptive analyses, Poisson and logistic regression were used to examine associations of sociodemographic characteristics, need, and the presence of school based health centres (SBHCs) with the provision of advice. Advice was not well provided and appeared to be need-driven. Females were significantly more likely to be provided advice and respondent access to a SBHC increased the likelihood of advice being provided. These results have implications for policy and practice, specifically, ways to refine preventative healthcare services for the province’s adolescents to ensure optimal care.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

Young workers are overrepresented in workplace accidents. The aim of this study was to provide the first research exploration of relatively inexperienced neophyte’s pre-work safety expectations, and their associations with expected risk and expected trust. A model of neophyte safety expectations was developed and tested linking accident exposure and work exposure to safety expectations, expectations of trust (in both co-workers and management) and expectations of risk. Results provided partial support for the model, suggesting that neophytes enter work with inflated safety expectations that do not match the reality of the job, and revealed marked gender differences in safety expectations. Implications and future recommendations are discussed.

<p>Diss. (sammanfattning) Umeå : Umeå universitet, 1998, Härtill 4 uppsatser.</p> / digitalisering@umu