Maternal and paternal support for physical activity and healthy eating in preschool children: A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND Parental support is a key influence on children's health behaviours; however, no previous investigation has simultaneously explored the influence of mothers' and fathers' social support on eating and physical activity in preschool-aged children. This study evaluated the singular and combined effects of maternal and paternal support for physical activity (PA) and fruit and vegetable consumption (FV) on preschoolers' PA and FV. METHODS A random sample comprising 173 parent-child dyads completed validated scales assessing maternal and paternal instrumental support and child PA and FV behaviour. Pearson correlations, controlling for child age, parental age, and parental education, were used to evaluate relationships between maternal and paternal support and child PA and FV. K-means cluster analysis was used to identify families with distinct patterns of maternal and paternal support for PA and FV, and one-way ANOVA examined the impact of cluster membership on child PA and FV. RESULTS Maternal and paternal support for PA were positively associated with child PA (r = 0.37 and r = 0.36, respectively; P < 0.001). Maternal but not paternal support for FV was positively associated with child FV (r = 0.35; P < 0.001). Five clusters characterised groups of families with distinct configurations of maternal and paternal support for PA and FV: 1) above average maternal and paternal support for PA and FV, 2) below average maternal and paternal support for PA and FV, 3) above average maternal and paternal support for PA but below average maternal and paternal support for FV, 4) above average maternal and paternal support for FV but below average maternal and paternal support for PA, and 5) above average maternal support but below average paternal support for PA and FV. Children from families with above average maternal and paternal support for both health behaviours had higher PA and FV levels than children from families with above average support for just one health behaviour, or below average support for both behaviours. CONCLUSIONS The level and consistency of instrumental support from mothers and fathers for PA and FV may be an important target for obesity prevention in preschool-aged children.

Documenting the inevitable: Voting behaviour at the 2013 Australian election

This chapter uses data from the 2013 Australian Election Study (AES), conducted by Clive Bean, Ian McAllister, Juliet Pietsch and Rachel Gibson (Bean et al. 2014) to investigate political attitudes and voting behaviour in the election. The study was funded by the Australian Research Council and involved a national survey of political attitudes and behaviour using a self-completion questionnaire mailed to respondents on the day before the 7 September election. The sample was a systematic random sample of enrolled voters throughout Australia, drawn by the Australian Electoral Commission. Respondents were given the option of returning the completed questionnaire by reply-paid mail or completing the survey online. Non-respondents were sent several follow-up mailings and the final sample size was 3955, representing a response rate of 34 per cent. The data were weighted to reflect population parameters for gender, age, state and vote.

Screening for drugs in oral fluid : illicit drug use and drug driving in a sample of urban and regional Queensland motorists

Police services in a number of Australian states and overseas jurisdictions have begun to implement or consider random road-side drug testing of drivers. This paper outlines research conducted to provide an estimate of the extent of drug driving in a sample of Queensland drivers in regional, rural and metropolitan areas. Oral fluid samples were collected from 2657 Queensland motorists and screened for illicit substances including cannabis (delta 9 tetrahydrocannibinol [THC]), amphetamines, ecstasy, and cocaine. Overall, 3.8% of the sample (n = 101) screened positive for at least one illicit substance, although multiple drugs were identified in a sample of 23 respondents. The most common drugs detected in oral fluid were ecstasy (n = 53), and cannabis (n = 46) followed by amphetamines (n = 23). A key finding was that cannabis was confirmed as the most common self-reported drug combined with driving and that individuals who tested positive to any drug through oral fluid analysis were also more likely to report the highest frequency of drug driving. Furthermore, a comparison between drug vs. drink driving detection rates for one region of the study, revealed a higher detection rate for drug driving (3.8%) vs. drink driving (0.8%). This research provides evidence that drug driving is relatively prevalent on Queensland roads, and may in fact be more common than drink driving. This paper will further outline the study findings’ and present possible directions for future drug driving research.

How do we reach them? Comparing random samples from mobile and landline phones

Quantitative studies of nascent entrepreneurs such as GEM and PSED are required to generate their samples by screening the adult population, usually by phone in developed economies. Phone survey research has recently been challenged by shifting patterns of ownership and response rates of landline versus mobile (cell) phones, particularly for younger respondents. This challenge is acutely intense for entrepreneurship which is a strongly age-dependent phenomenon. Although shifting ownership rates have received some attention, shifting response rates have remained largely unexplored. For the Australian GEM 2010 adult population study we conducted a dual-frame approach that allows comparison between samples of mobile and landline phones. We find a substantial response bias towards younger, male and metropolitan respondents for mobile phones – far greater than explained by ownership rates. We also found these response rate differences significantly biases the estimates of the prevalence of early stage entrepreneurship by both samples, even when each sample is weighted to match the Australian population.

Deterring drug drivers : a study into the initial impact of oral random roadside drug testing in Queensland

Objective: The global implementation of oral random roadside drug testing is relatively limited, and correspondingly, the literature that focuses on the effectiveness of this intervention is scant. This study aims to provide a preliminary indication of the impact of roadside drug testing in Queensland. Methods: A sample of Queensland motorists’ (N= 922) completed a self-report questionnaire to investigate their drug driving behaviour, as well as examine the perceived affect of legal sanctions (certainty, severity and swiftness) and knowledge of the countermeasure on their subsequent offending behaviour. Results: Analysis of the collected data revealed that approximately 20% of participants reported drug driving at least once in the last six months. Overall, there was considerable variability in respondent’s perceptions regarding the certainty, severity and swiftness of legal sanctions associated with the testing regime and a considerable proportion remained unaware of testing practices. In regards to predicting those who intended to drug driving again in the future, perceptions of apprehension certainty, more specifically low certainty of apprehension, were significantly associated with self-reported intentions to offend. Additionally, self-reported recent drug driving activity and frequent drug consumption were also identified as significant predictors, which indicates that in the current context, past behaviour is a prominent predictor of future behaviour. To a lesser extent, awareness of testing practices was a significant predictor of intending not to drug drive in the future. Conclusion: The results indicate that drug driving is relatively prevalent on Queensland roads, and a number of factors may influence such behaviour. Additionally, while the roadside testing initiative is beginning to have a deterrent impact, its success will likely be linked with targeted intelligence-led implementation in order to increase apprehension levels as well as the general deterrent effect.

Sequential fusion of decisions from adaptive and random samples for controlled verification of errors

Fusion techniques have received considerable attention for achieving performance improvement with biometrics. While a multi-sample fusion architecture reduces false rejects, it also increases false accepts. This impact on performance also depends on the nature of subsequent attempts, i.e., random or adaptive. Expressions for error rates are presented and experimentally evaluated in this work by considering the multi-sample fusion architecture for text-dependent speaker verification using HMM based digit dependent speaker models. Analysis incorporating correlation modeling demonstrates that the use of adaptive samples improves overall fusion performance compared to randomly repeated samples. For a text dependent speaker verification system using digit strings, sequential decision fusion of seven instances with three random samples is shown to reduce the overall error of the verification system by 26% which can be further reduced by 6% for adaptive samples. This analysis novel in its treatment of random and adaptive multiple presentations within a sequential fused decision architecture, is also applicable to other biometric modalities such as finger prints and handwriting samples.

Optimal image sample size for corneal nerve morphometry

Purpose Arbitrary numbers of corneal confocal microscopy images have been used for analysis of corneal subbasal nerve parameters under the implicit assumption that these are a representative sample of the central corneal nerve plexus. The purpose of this study is to present a technique for quantifying the number of random central corneal images required to achieve an acceptable level of accuracy in the measurement of corneal nerve fiber length and branch density. Methods Every possible combination of 2 to 16 images (where 16 was deemed the true mean) of the central corneal subbasal nerve plexus, not overlapping by more than 20%, were assessed for nerve fiber length and branch density in 20 subjects with type 2 diabetes and varying degrees of functional nerve deficit. Mean ratios were calculated to allow comparisons between and within subjects. Results In assessing nerve branch density, eight randomly chosen images not overlapping by more than 20% produced an average that was within 30% of the true mean 95% of the time. A similar sampling strategy of five images was 13% within the true mean 80% of the time for corneal nerve fiber length. Conclusions The “sample combination analysis” presented here can be used to determine the sample size required for a desired level of accuracy of quantification of corneal subbasal nerve parameters. This technique may have applications in other biological sampling studies.

Sample selection in a model of female labour supply : an alternative approach

Suggests an alternative and computationally simpler approach of non-random sampling of labour economics and represents an observed outcome of an individual female′s choice of whether or not to participate in the labour market. Concludes that there is an alternative to the Heckman two-step estimator.

A follow up sample of first time drink driving offenders : how many drink drive post offence?

Background Drink driving remains an important issue to address in terms of health and injury prevention even though research shows that over time there has been a steady decline in drink driving. This has been attributed to the introduction of countermeasures such as random breath testing (RBT), changing community attitudes and norms leading to less acceptance of the behaviour and, to a lesser degree, the implementation of programs designed to deter offenders from engaging in drink driving. Most of the research to date has focused on the hard core offenders - those with high blood alcohol content at the time of arrest, and those who have more than one offence. Aims There has been little research on differences within the first offender population or on factors contributing to second offences. This research aims to fill the gap by reporting on those factors in a sample of offenders. Methods This paper reports on a study that involved interviewing 198 first offenders in court and following up this group 6-8 months post offence. Of these original participants, 101 offenders were able to be followed up, with 88 included in this paper on the basis that they had driven a vehicle since the offence. Results Interestingly, while the rate of reported apprehended second offences was low in that time frame (3%), a surprising number of offenders reported that they had driven under the influence at a much higher rate (27%). That is a large proportion of first offenders were willing to risk the much larger penalties associated with a second offence in order to engage in drink driving. Discussion and conclusions Key characteristics of this follow up group are examined to inform the development of a evidence based brief intervention program that targets first time offenders with the goal of decreasing the rate of repeat drink driving.

The on-road experiences and awareness of sleepiness in a sample of Australian highway drivers: A roadside driver sleepiness study

Objective Driver sleepiness contributes substantially to road crash incidents. Simulator and on-road studies clearly reveal an impairing effect from sleepiness on driving ability. However, the degree to which drivers appreciate the dangerousness of driving while sleepy is somewhat unclear. This study sought to determine drivers’ on-road experiences of sleepiness, their prior sleep habits, and personal awareness of the signs of sleepiness. Methods Participants were a random selection of 92 drivers travelling on a major highway in the state of Queensland, Australia, who were stopped by police as part of routine drink driving operations. Participants completed a brief questionnaire that included demographic information, sleepy driving experiences (signs of sleepiness and on-road experiences of sleepiness), and prior sleep habits. A modified version of the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS) was used to assess subjective sleepiness in the 15 minutes prior to being stopped by police. Results Participants rating of subjective sleepiness were quite low, with 90% reporting being alert to extremely alert on the KSS. Participants were reasonably aware of the signs of sleepiness, with many signs of sleepiness associated with on-road experiences of sleepiness. Additionally, the number of hours spent driving was positively correlated with the drivers’ level of sleep debt. Conclusions The results suggest the participants had moderate experience of driving while sleepy and many were aware of the signs of sleepiness. The relationship between driving long distances and increased sleep debt is a concern for road safety – increased education regarding the dangers of sleepy driving seems warranted.

Achieving a national sample of nursing homes: Balancing probability techniques and practicalities

Sampling design is critical to the quality of quantitative research, yet it does not always receive appropriate attention in nursing research. The current article details how balancing probability techniques with practical considerations produced a representative sample of Australian nursing homes (NHs). Budgetary, logistical, and statistical constraints were managed by excluding some NHs (e.g., those too difficult to access) from the sampling frame; a stratified, random sampling methodology yielded a final sample of 53 NHs from a population of 2,774. In testing the adequacy of representation of the study population, chi-square tests for goodness of fit generated nonsignificant results for distribution by distance from major city and type of organization. A significant result for state/territory was expected and was easily corrected for by the application of weights. The current article provides recommendations for conducting high-quality, probability-based samples and stresses the importance of testing the representativeness of achieved samples.

Repeated random sampling in year 5

As an extension to an activity introducing Year 5 students to the practice of statistics, the software TinkerPlots made it possible to collect repeated random samples from a finite population to informally explore students’ capacity to begin reasoning with a distribution of sample statistics. This article provides background for the sampling process and reports on the success of students in making predictions for the population from the collection of simulated samples and in explaining their strategies. The activity provided an application of the numeracy skill of using percentages, the numerical summary of the data, rather than graphing data in the analysis of samples to make decisions on a statistical question. About 70% of students made what were considered at least moderately good predictions of the population percentages for five yes–no questions, and the correlation between predictions and explanations was 0.78.