Search results for "DEMOGRAPHY"

Testing the assumptions of conditional handicap theory: costs and condition dependence of a sexually selected trait

2000

Conditional handicap models of sexual selection predict that sexual traits are reliable signals of male quality because they are (a) condition dependent and (b) costly to produce or maintain. In this study, my objective was to experimentally investigate whether the drumming of male Hygrolycosa rubrofasciata wolf spiders is a condition-dependent costly trait. Males court females by drumming dry leaves with their abdomen and females preferentially mate with males drumming at higher rates. I manipulated male phenotypic condition and drumming rate simultaneously by keeping males on three different food rations and either introducing or not introducing them to a female. Food ration treatment aff…

A classification of European skulls from three time periods.

1987

We analyze the taxonomic structure of European populations at three time periods, the Early Middle Ages, the Late Middle Ages and the Recent Period. The data consist of sample means for 10 cranial variables based on 137, 108, and 183 samples for the three periods. Clustering by standard numerical taxonomic procedures reveals that the data are represented only poorly as hierarchic classifications. The clusters form significant and moderately strong associations with an arrangement of the samples by regions (geography) and by language family. Whereas during the early period, language family showed a stronger association with clusters based on cranial morphology, in the recent populations thes…

How Do Institutions Affect Structural Unemployment in Times of Crises?

2012

This paper examines the effect of economic crises on structural unemployment using an Autoregressive Distributed Lags model and accounting for the role of institutional settings on an unbalanced panel of 30 OECD economies from 1960 to 2006. We found that downturns have, on average, a significant positive impact on the level of structural unemployment rate. The maximum impact varies with the severity of the downturn. Institutions (such as employment protection legislation, average replacement ratio and product market regulation) influence both the extent of the initial shock and the adjustment pattern in the aftermath of an economic downturn.

Weight control behaviors among overweight, normal weight and underweight adolescents in Palestine: findings from the national study of Palestinian sc…

2009

Objective: The objective of the study is to examine the relationship between weight-control behaviors and selfreported sociodemographic characteristics, weight status, and perception of body weight in a large, representative sample of adolescents in the West Bank and Gaza Strip territories of Palestine. Method: Self-report measures of sociodemographic characteristics, body weight perception, height and weight, and weight-control behaviors were completed by 8,885 male and female students aged 12–18 years from 405 randomly selected schools as part of the 2003/2004 Palestinian Health Behavior in School-aged Children Study (HBSC). Results: In both genders, dieting to lose weight was common amon…

A Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the “Autoconcepto Forma 5” Questionnaire in Young Adults from Spain and Chile

2011

The aim of this work is to examine the pentafactorial validity of the AF5 Self-Concept Questionnaire in Spanish and Chilean young adults. From the responses of a total of 4,383 young adults aged 17 to 22 years (1,918 Spanish, 44%, and 2,465 Chilean, 56%) it was analyzed the reliability of the instrument, the compared validity of the 5 oblique factor model proposed by the authors versus the unifactorial and the orthogonal alternative models, and was studied the invariance of one Chilean sample. The results of confirmatory factor analyses supported the authors' pentafactorial model. The multi-group factorial invariance showed that Chilean sample of the AF5 does not change neither the Spanish …

Comparison of motor competence in children aged 6-9 years across northern, central, and southern European regions.

2019

The present study aimed at examining differences in motor competence (MC) in children aged 6 to 9 years old in northern, central, and southern European regions using the Körperkoordinationstest für Kinder (KTK). The secondary aim of the study was to examine interactions between region and children's age, sex and weight status (determined as healthy weight or overweight/obese). Data was pooled from independent studies conducted in Finland (mean age 7.81 ± 1.19 years, n = 690), Belgium (mean age 8.25 ± 1.09 years, n = 1,896) and Portugal (mean age 8.31 ± 1.02 years, n = 758) between 2008 and 2016. Cross-cultural differences in MC and interaction effects were tested using ANOVAs and ANCOVAs. A…

Does the Spanish version of the SWLS measure the same in Spain and Peru?

2019

Aim Satisfaction with life is a measure of protection in older adults. There lies the importance of providing quality instruments. The aim of the study was to evaluate the invariance of the life satisfaction scale (SWLS) in two samples of older adults in Spain and Peru. Method The participants were 857 older adults in Spain (mean age = 68.23 years, SD = 5.93) and 336 older adults in Peru (average age = 72.42, SD = 7.07). All multi-group confirmatory factor analyzes were estimated in Mplus 8.0. Results The results indicate the presence of a strict invariance of the one-dimensional structure of the SWLS in samples of older adults in Spain and Peru, which allows for meaningful comparisons of l…

Cross-national variation of gender differences in adolescent subjective health in Europe and North America

2005

The cross-national consistency and variation of gender differences in subjective health complaints was examined in a sample of 125732 11- to 15-year-olds from 29 European and North American countries, participating in the WHO collaborative study 'Health behaviour in school-aged children (HBSC) 1997/98'. Health complaints were measured with the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children Symptom Checklist. Gender differences in health complaints were analysed through multilevel logistic regression analysis. The results indicated a very robust pattern of increasing gender differences across age, with 15-year-old girls as a group at increased risk for health complaints across all countries. The m…

Trauma in cirrhosis: an indicator of the pattern of alcohol abuse in different societies.

1991

While some morbidities associated with the excessive use of alcohol are related to the total amount of alcohol consumed--cirrhosis being an example--other pathologies, such as trauma and those of psycho-social origin, are mainly related to the frequency of acute alcoholic intoxication rather than to the total amount consumed. The balance between these two types of alcohol-associated morbidities can provide an indication of the relative frequency of intoxication, and thus of the pattern of alcohol abuse in a population. Since trauma is highly associated with acute alcoholic intoxication, the prevalence of bone fractures was determined in cirrhotics in nine countries. The prevalence of rib an…

2020

Aim: To determine the relevance of features located close to home and further away, our aim was to study associations between older adults' physical activity and self-reported neighborhood destinations and barriers to outdoor mobility categorized by presence and maximal distance from home. Methods: Cross-sectional analyses comprising men and women 79-94 years old (57%) living independently in Central Finland (n = 185). Self-reported physical activity was categorized into lower (≤3 h moderate activity a week) and higher (≥4 h moderate or intense activity a week) activity. Assisted by interviewers, participants located on an interactive map destinations perceived to facilitate and barriers pe…