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Related Behaviour (relate + behaviour)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	50%

Selected Abstracts

Prediction of alcohol-related harm from controlled drinking strategies and alcohol consumption trajectories

ADDICTION, Issue 4 2004
J. W. Toumbourou
ABSTRACT Aims To establish predictors of age 21 alcohol-related harm from prior drinking patterns, current levels of alcohol consumption and use of controlled drinking strategies. Participants One thousand, five hundred and ninety-six students recruited from an initial sample of 3300 during their final year of high school in 1993. Design Longitudinal follow-up across five waves of data collection. Setting Post high school in Victoria, Australia. Measurements Self-administered surveys examining a range of health behaviours, including alcohol consumption patterns and related behaviour. Findings Drinking behaviours at age 21 were found to be strongly predicted by drinking trajectories established through the transition from high school. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that alcohol-related harms at age 21 were reduced where current levels of alcohol use fell within limits recommended in Australian national guidelines. After controlling for this effect it was found that the range of strategies employed by participants to control alcohol use maintained a small protective influence. Post-high-school drinking trajectories continued to demonstrate a significant effect after controlling for current behaviours. Findings revealed that over one quarter of males and females drank alcohol, but on a less-than-weekly basis. This pattern of alcohol use demonstrated considerable stability through the post-school transition and was associated with a low level of subsequent harm at age 21. Conclusions Future research should investigate whether encouraging more Australian adolescents to drink alcohol on a less-than-weekly basis may be a practical intervention target for reducing alcohol-related harms. [source]

Analysis of genetic influences on the consistency and variability of the Big Five across different stressful situations

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, Issue 5 2001
Gerty Lensvelt-Mulders
Several studies have demonstrated that individual differences in personality traits, known as the Big Five, have a genetic component. These personality traits are considered important predictors of everyday behaviour. In addition to personality traits there are also factors in the environment that govern behaviour. This dual influence on behaviour is statistically reflected in a P,×,S interaction. This study examines the genetic and environmental influences on the interactions between a person and his daily life environment for the Big Five. Fifty-seven identical twin pairs and 43 fraternal twin pairs participated in this study. Trait related behaviour was measured in 30 different situations with the aid of an SR inventory. The heritability coefficients for the main effect of P were in the normal range, varying between 0.35 for Agreeableness and 0.53 for Conscientiousness. The heritability coefficients for the P,×,S interactions were moderately high, explaining between 26% and 69% of the total P,×,S variance. The consequences of these results for general and behavioural genetic research on the Big Five will be discussed. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

A middle surface concept (MSC) model for saturated sands in general stress space

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL AND ANALYTICAL METHODS IN GEOMECHANICS, Issue 5 2006
Y. Yang
Abstract An elastoplastic constitutive model is proposed for saturated sands in general stress space using the middle surface concept (MSC). In MSC, different features of stress,strain response of a material are divided into different pseudo-yield surfaces. The true-yield surface representing the true response is established by using various links between the yield surfaces. In this MSC sand model, several well-known features of sand response are represented by three different pseudo-yield surfaces, which are developed in a simple and straightforward way. These features include the critical state behaviour, the effects of state parameter, unloading and reloading plastic deformation, the influence of fabric anisotropy, and phase transformation line related behaviour. Finally, the model predictions and test results are compared for two different types of sands under a variety of loading conditions and good comparisons are obtained. The application of MSC to saturated sand modelling shows the versatility of MSC as a general concept for modelling stress,strain response of materials. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Regional variation in the survival and health of older Australian women: a prospective cohort study

AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Issue 2 2009
Dimitrios Vagenas
Abstract Objective: Older people may act as sensitive indicators of the effectiveness of health systems. Our objective is to distinguish between the effects of socio-economic and behavioural factors and use of health services on urban-rural differences in mortality and health of elderly women. Methods: Baseline and longitudinal analysis of data from a prospective cohort study. Participants were a community-based random sample of women (n=12778) aged 70-75 years when recruited in 1996 to the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health. Measures used were: urban or rural residence in Australian States and Territories, socio-demographic characteristics, health related behaviour, survival up to 1 October 2006, physical and mental health scores and use of medical services. Results: Mortality was higher in rural than in urban women (hazard ratio, HR 1.14; 95% CI, 1.03,-1.26) but there were no differences between States and Territories. There were no consistent baseline or longitudinal differences between women for physical or mental health, with or without adjustment for socio-demographic and behavioural factors. Rural women had fewer visits to general practitioners (odds ratio, OR=0.54; 95% CI, 0.48-0.61) and medical specialists (OR=0.60; 95% CI, 0.55-0.65). Conclusions: Differences in use of health services are a more plausible explanation for higher mortality in rural than urban areas than differences in other factors. Implications: Older people may be the ,grey canaries' of the health system and may thus provide an ,early warning system' to policy makers and governments. [source]