			Home About us Contact

Ethnic Group Differences (ethnic + group_difference)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	40%

Selected Abstracts

Racial and Ethnic Group Differences in College Enrollment Decisions

NEW DIRECTIONS FOR INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH, Issue 107 2000
Laura W. Perna
This chapter reviews and synthesizes what is known from prior research about racial and ethnic group differences in college enrollment and identifies areas for intervention. This chapter is relevant to campus administrators, institutional researchers, and others who are interested in raising the share of African Americans and Hispanics who are enrolling in U.S. colleges and universities. [source]

HIERARCHICAL BAYESIAN MODELLING OF SOCIAL VARIATION IN THE AGE DEPENDENCE OF DISABILITY PREVALENCE

AUSTRALIAN & NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF STATISTICS, Issue 4 2005
Patrick Graham
Summary Motivated by a study of social variation in the relationship of functional limitation prevalence to age, this paper examines methods for modelling social variation in health outcomes. It is argued that, from a Bayesian perspective, modelling the dependence of functional limitation prevalence on age separately for each social group, corresponds to an implausible prior model, in addition to leading to imprecise estimates for some groups. The alternative strategy of fitting a single model, perhaps including some age-by-group interactions but omitting higher-order interactions, requires a strong prior commitment to the absence of such effects. Hierarchical Bayesian modelling is proposed as a compromise between these two analytical approaches. Under all hierarchical Bayes analyses there is strong evidence for an ethnic group difference in limitation prevalence in early- to mid-adulthood among tertiary-qualified males. In contrast, the single-model approach largely misses this effect, while the group-specific analyses exhibit an unrealistically large degree of heterogeneity in gender-education-specific ethnicity effects. The sensitivity of posterior inferences to prior specifications is studied. [source]

Cumulative adversity and drug dependence in young adults: racial/ethnic contrasts

ADDICTION, Issue 3 2003
R. Jay Turner
ABSTRACT Aims To study cumulative exposure to stressors as a risk factor for drug dependence, and evaluate whether group differences in exposure contribute to differences in prevalence. Design Cross-sectional community survey of life-time adverse experiences and substance and psychiatric disorders. Setting Data collected between 1997 and 2000 in Miami,Dade County, USA. Participants A total of 1803 former Miami,Dade public school students, 93% between ages 19 and 21 years when interviewed. Males and females of Cuban origin, other Caribbean basin Hispanics, African-Americans and non-Hispanic whites are represented equally. Measurements Drug dependence disorder assessed by DSM-IV criteria using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview, and a 41-item checklist of life-time exposure to major and potentially traumatic experiences. Both measures include age at time of first occurrence. Findings Life-time rate of drug dependence disorder (total 14.3%) did not vary significantly (P > 0.05) by socio-economic group. Male rate (17.6%) was significantly greater than female rate (10.9%). The African-American rate (6.5%) was dramatically lower than non-Hispanic white (17.0%), Cuban (18.1%) and non-Cuban Hispanic (16.0%) rates despite their dramatically higher exposure to adversity. Twenty-eight of 33 individual adversities were associated with the subsequent onset of drug dependence (P < 0.05). Cumulative life-time exposure was greatest for males and for African-Americans, and was associated inversely with socio-economic level. Multivariate discrete-time event history analysis revealed significant independent effects of distal (>1 year earlier) and proximal (previous year) exposure to adverse events (P < 0.05), controlling for childhood conduct disorder, attention deficit hyperactive disorder and previous psychiatric disorder. Conclusions Life-time cumulative exposure to distant as well as more recent adversity predicts risk of subsequent drug dependence, although it does not explain ethnic group differences in risk. [source]

Associations of ALDH2 and ADH1B Genotypes With Alcohol-Related Phenotypes in Asian Young Adults

ALCOHOLISM, Issue 5 2009
Christian S. Hendershot
Background:, Associations of ALDH2 and ADH1B genotypes with alcohol use have been evaluated largely using case,control studies, which typically focus on adult samples and dichotomous diagnostic outcomes. Relatively fewer studies have evaluated ALDH2 and ADH1B in relation to continuous drinking outcomes or at different developmental stages. This study examined additive and interactive effects of ALDH2 and ADH1B genotypes on drinking behavior in a mixed-gender sample of Asian young adults, focusing on continuous phenotypes (e.g., heavy episodic and hazardous drinking, alcohol sensitivity, drinking consequences) whose expression is expected to precede the onset of alcohol use disorders. Methods:, The sample included 182 Chinese- and Korean-American young adults ages 18 years and older (mean age = 20 years). Effects of ALDH2, ADH1B and ethnicity were estimated using generalized linear modeling. Results:, The ALDH2*2 allele predicted lower reported rates of alcohol use and drinking consequences as well as greater reported sensitivity to alcohol. There were significant ethnic group differences in drinking outcomes, such that Korean ethnicity predicted higher drinking rates and lower alcohol sensitivity. ADH1B status was not significantly related to drinking outcomes. Conclusions:, Ethnicity and ALDH2 status, but not ADH1B status, consistently explained significant variance in alcohol consumption in this relatively young sample. Results extend previous work by showing an association of ALDH2 genotype with drinking consequences. Findings are discussed in the context of possible developmental and population differences in the influence of ALDH2 and ADH1B variations on alcohol-related phenotypes. [source]