Response Shift and Glycemic Control in Children With Diabetes.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to investigate the scale recalibration construct of response shift and its relationship to glycemic control in children with diabetes. METHODS: At year 1, thirty-eight children with type 1 diabetes attending a diabetes summer camp participated. At baseline and post-camp they completed the Problem Areas in Diabetes (PAID) questionnaire. Post-camp, the PAID was also completed using the 'thentest' method, which requires a retrospective judgment about their baseline functioning. At year 2, fifteen of the original participants reported their HbA1c. RESULTS: PAID scores significantly decreased from baseline to post-camp. An even larger difference was found between thentest and post-camp scores, suggesting scale recalibration. There was a significant positive correlation between year 1 HbA1c and thentest scores. Partial correlation analysis between PAID thentest scores and year 2 HbA1c, controlling for year 1 HbA1c, showed that higher PAID thentest scores were associated with higher year 2 HbA1c. CONCLUSION: Results from this small sample suggest that children with diabetes do show scale recalibration, and that it may be related to glycemic control.

Cross-Nativity Marriages, Gender, and Human Capital Levels of Children

Because the demographic composition of todays immigrants to the US differs so much from those of natives, immigrants may be less likely to socially integrate into U.S. society, and specically less likely to marry natives. This paper explores the relationship between immigrants' marriage patterns and the academic outcomes of their children. Using 2000 Census data, it is found that while marital decisions of foreign born females do not affect their children's academic success, foreign born males that marry foreign born females are less likely to have children that are high school dropouts. These relationships remain after using various methods to control for the endogeneity of the intermarriage decision. Although we cannot disentangle whether the benefits of same-nativity marriages for foreign born males arise from a more efficient technology in human capital production within the household or from increased participation in ethnic networks, it does appear that immigrant males have better educated children when they marry immigrant females.