Gender differences in the impact of families on alcohol use : a lagged longitudinal study of early adolescents

Aims From the pre-teen to the mid-teen years, rates of alcohol use and misuse increase rapidly. Cross-sectional research shows that positive family emotional climate (low conflict, high closeness) is protective, and there is emerging evidence that these protective mechanisms are different for girls versus boys. The aim of this study was to explore gender differences in the longitudinal impact of family emotional climate on adolescent alcohol use and exposure to peer drinking networks.

Design Three-wave two-level (individual, within-individual over time) ordinal logistic regression with alcohol use in the past year as the dependent measure and family variables lagged by 1 year.

Setting Adolescents completed surveys during school hours.

Participants A total of 855 Australian students (modal age 10–11 years at baseline) participating in the International Youth Development Study (Victoria, Australia).

Measurements These included emotional closeness to mother/father, family conflict, parent disapproval of alcohol use and peer alcohol use.

Findings For girls, the effect of emotional closeness to mothers on alcohol use was mediated by exposure to high-risk peer networks. Parent disapproval of alcohol use was protective for both genders, but this effect was larger for boys versus girls, and there was no evidence that peer use mediated this effect. Peer drinking networks showed stronger direct risk effects than family variables.

Conclusions Family factors unidirectionally impact on growth in adolescent alcohol use and effects vary with child gender.

Gender differences in publication output: towards an unbiased metric of research performance

We examined the publication records of a cohort of 168 life scientists in the field of ecology and evolutionary biology to assess gender differences in research performance. Clear discrepancies in publication rate between men and women appear very early in their careers and this has consequences for the subsequent citation of their work. We show that a recently proposed index designed to rank scientists fairly is in fact strongly biased against female researchers, and advocate a modified index to assess men and women on a more equitable basis.

Gender differences in the performance of individuating acts

Although several studies in social psychology suggest that male participants are more likely than female ones to engage in individuating behaviors, other studies have found no gender differences in willingness to perform individuating acts. This study posits that differences in findings across past investigations may be attributed to the chosen domain of individuating behavior. The content of the Individuation Scale (Maslach, Stapp, & Santee, 1985) is examined in terms of Bakan's (1966) agency‐communion theory to identify two types of individuating behaviors that are consistent with men's gender role orientations (i.e., eliciting conflict, leadership), one type of individuating behavior that is consistent with women's gender role orientations (i.e., personal disclosures), and a gender‐neutral type of individuation (i.e., performance). Responses to the scale are obtained from a sample of business school students (N = 273) and a more heterogeneous mail survey sample (N = 621). A sequence of measurement invariance tests of a 4‐factor correlated model of the individuation measure indicates a high degree of equivalence in the meaning of the measure across gender groups. Subsequent latent‐means structure analysis examines gender differences in willingness to perform the 4 types of individuation behaviors captured in the scale. In the student sample, there were no mean differences in willingness to perform any of the 4 types of individuating acts. However, in the mail survey sample, findings of mean differences supported hypotheses derived from agency‐communion theory: For men as compared with women, the latent means for leadership and eliciting conflict were higher and the latent mean for personal disclosure was lower.

Alleles of RUNX2/CBFA1 gene are associated with differences in bone mineral density and risk of fracture

The aim of this study was to determine if DNA polymorphism within runt-related gene 2 (RUNX2)/core binding factor A1 (CBFA1) is related to bone mineral density (BMD). RUNX2 contains a glutamine-alanine repeat where mutations causing cleidocranial dysplasia (CCD) have been observed. Two common variants were detected within the alanine repeat: an 18-bp deletion and a synonymous alanine codon polymorphism with alleles GCA and GCG (noted as A and G alleles, respectively). In addition, rare mutations that may be related to low BMD were observed within the glutamine repeat. In 495 randomly selected women of the Geelong Osteoporosis Study (GOS), the A allele was associated with higher BMD at all sites tested. The effect was maximal at the ultradistal (UD) radius (p = 0.001). In a separate fracture study, the A allele was significantly protective against Colles' fracture in elderly women but not spine and hip fracture. The A allele was associated with increased BMD and was protective against a common form of osteoporotic fracture, suggesting that RUNX2 variants may be related to genetic effects on BMD and osteoporosis.

Sex differences in achievement in year 12 mathematics and non-routine problem solving

In 1991 all Victorian year 12 students undertook the new Victorian Certificate of Education Mathematics Study designed by the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Board. This paper presents the results of a study into sex difference in achievement in the new VCE Mathematics study in Victoria. An important goal of the study designers was to encourage more equal participation in senior secondary mathematics by females and males and to include assessment of mathematical skills previously not assessed in a year 12 course in Victoria. These new tasks could conceivably change the degree and direction of sex difference in achievement in senior secondary mathematics.

Computers are taking mathematics into the next century : gender differences in attitudes of secondary mathematics students to the use of computers

Secondary students who participated in a computer enhanced mathematics program expressed positive attitudes about the use of computers. They viewed computers as a source of pleasure, success, relevance and/or power in mathematics. Girls were more likely than boys to qualify their support for the use of computers and more likely to view computers as a source of success in mathematics. Boys were more likely to claim that computers brought pleasure or relevance to mathematics learning.

Understanding the context of distance students : differences in on- and off-campus engagement with an online learning environment

 While a growing number of higher education institutions are providing online modes of study for both on- and off-campus students, there are very real differences in demography, technology experiences, reasons for study, etc. between on- and off-campus students, and research into engagement with online learning environments (OLEs) indicate differences in the way that on- and off-campus students interact with OLEs. In Australia, Deakin University is a major provider of distance and online education, and provides a case study of a higher education institution with a mature and large-scale OLE implementation providing support to both on- and off-campus students. Deakin Studies Online (DSO) is Deakin University’s OLE. Based on a representative sample of 1322 responses to the 2011 DSO evaluation survey, this paper presents a large-scale, up-to-date and fine-grained investigation of impact of mode of study on the student experience of using an OLE. It was found that the primary place of access to DSO for both groups was home, mobile access to DSO seems likely to be of growing importance to both groups, and there was no statistically significant difference in the mean satisfaction ratings between on- and off-campus students for virtually all DSO functions. Off-campus students gave significantly higher mean ratings of importance (though not satisfaction) to a range of DSO functions that could be viewed as ‘value adders’ by off-campus students, enhancing their overall learning experience. For more than half of the DSO functions surveyed, on-campus students reported statistically significant higher mean frequency of access than off-campus students. The finding that elements of the institutional OLE are not universally perceived and used the same way by all students groups challenges the value of standard, one-size-fits-all institutional policies and templates relating to the use of OLEs.

An evaluation of equivalence in body dissatisfaction measurement across cultures

We evaluated gender-based and cross-cultural equivalence of the Body Dissatisfaction Scale of the Body Change Inventory in a sample of 4,005 adolescents from 7 cultures that represent diverse body image ideals and response styles. Results of multigroup confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated equivalence of the scale across gender but not across cultures. Follow-up analyses identified small but significant cross-cultural differences in response styles (specifically, acquiescence and middle response option endorsement) as the source of this noninvariance. We recommend use of this scale for gender-based comparisons but caution that researchers should evaluate the presence of response biases before making substantive conclusions about cross-cultural differences in body dissatisfaction.