The mystique of first intercourse among college youth: The role of partners,contraceptive practices,and psychological reactions

The purpose of this study was to examine first sexual intercourse as it relates to gender differences regarding involvement in various sexual behaviors, the role of the partner, contraceptive practices, sexual guilt, and sexual satisfaction. An anonymous 155-item questionnaire was distributed to 304 never-married female and male undergraduate students at a Midwestern state university. Of these respondents, only those with sexual intercourse experience were included in this study. The overall mean age at first sexual intercourse was 17.7 years for females and 17.8 years for males. Although both males and females experienced first intercourse with older partners, females were more likely to be in committed relationships. First intercourse was characterized by a lack of contraceptive use, primarily due to lack of planning. Compared to males, females were less physiologically and psychologically satisfied with their first sexual intercourse experience.Support for data collection and coding was from the College of Arts and Sciences, University of Wisconsin—Eau Claire and for data analyses from Academic Computing Services, University of Wisconsin—Eau Claire. In addition, tables were produced by the Media Development Center with support from the School of Graduate Studies and Office of University Research, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.Received Ph.D. in human ecology from Michigan State University. Her major research interests include the female sexual response and sexual satisfaction; family, health, and stress issues of menopausal women; and work and the family.Received Ph.D. in marriage and family from the University of Florida. His major research interests include sexual altitudes and behavior of college women and men, the female sexual response and sexual satisfaction including perceptions of the Grafenberg Spot and female ejaculation, and attitudes toward adoption among unmarried teens.Received Ph.D. in marriage and family therapy from the Florida State University. Her major interests include the influence of early sexual involvement on contraceptive practices and sexual satisfaction, and adult children of alcoholics.     

Issues facing the dissemination of prevention programs: three decades of research on the adolescent diversion project

This paper argues that the issues facing effective prevention programs when they embark on dissemination, implementation, and routinization have been largely ignored by the field. Through the example of the Adolescent Diversion Program, these issues are illustrated and discussed. Four sequential longitudinal experimental studies are summarized as a context for the discussion of dissemination issues. In each case, the alternative preventive program is demonstrated to be more effective than traditional approaches. Challenges to widespread implementation of effective prevention programs are then discussed with a call for the field to add such issues to its scientific agenda.     

Medicaid myths: trends in Medicaid expenditures and the prospects for reform

Medicaid expenditures, which had reached more than +32 billion by 1981, have grown substantially throughout the program's history. As a result, the conventional wisdom is that Medicaid expenditures represent a significant public-policy problem. Using other measures, however, it can be shown that the program is much less of a problem than it appears to be. By 1981, spending for Medicaid represented only 12.7 percent of total state spending and had contributed only 14.2 percent to the overall growth in state expenditures since 1965. Moreover, considering only the funds which states raise from in-state sources, the median share of state budgets accounted for by Medicaid was just 5.6 percent, and only 7 states spent as much as 9 percent of their own money on the program. These figures suggest that the marginal reductions in Medicaid expenditures which would result from typical program changes are likely to be so small that rational state officials might be unwilling to incur the political opposition of powerful provider groups or the resistance of large state bureaucracies by proposing substantial reforms. The major exceptions are the few states with very large programs where even small proportional savings would amount to millions of dollars. We conclude that, given its present federal-state form and the current distribution of expenditures, it is unlikely that major reforms will be enacted because the stakes are too small for most states and the federal interest is too diffused.     

The application of Kvaal's dental age calculation technique on panoramic dental radiographs

INTRODUCTION: Literature reports on a method for dental age calculation which is based only on radiological measurements on periapical dental radiographs: the relationship between chronological age and the two-dimensional dental pulpal size was analysed by means of multiple regression analyses. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate whether this approach could be feasible and could lead to statistically sound results with adequate repeatability when applied on panoramic radiographs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred and ninety seven panoramic radiographs were collected at random from patients of whom the age ranged from 19 to 75 years. According to the reported technique, six teeth were selected on the panoramic radiograph: in the maxilla the central and lateral incisor and second bicuspid, and in the mandibula the lateral incisor, cuspid and first bicuspid. The same exclusion criteria as in the original paper were respected. Statistical analysis was carried out in order to spot significant differences between the chronological age and the calculated age. RESULTS: When the age was calculated based on measurements of all six teeth or of all three mandibular teeth, no significant differences were found between the real age and the calculated one. In all other instances using the individual teeth separately or using all three maxillary teeth statistical analysis revealed significant differences. CONCLUSION: There appears to be no significant difference between applying the original technique on standard long-cone periapical radiographs or on orthopantomograms, especially when carrying out measurements on all six selected teeth.     

The Queensland Native Police and Strategies of Recruitment on the Queensland Frontier, 1849–1901

Although historians have provided substantial insights into the structure, development and activities of the Queensland Native Mounted Police, they have rarely focused on the complex and sensitive issue of Aboriginal recruitment. A careful reading of historical records, however, identifies several methods, including coercion, intimidation, kidnapping and inducement, as well as “voluntary” enlistment. It is difficult to identify Aboriginal agency in recruitment processes as the records are entirely one-sided—the voices of the troopers themselves are absent from the archival sources. In this article, we examine the cultural and historical contexts of Aboriginal recruitment—for example, the dire social situations of Aboriginal survivors of the frontier war and the absence of future survival options for the potential recruits. We explore, through the framework of historical trauma, the impacts on vulnerable victims of violence and other devastating effects of colonisation. We conclude that the recruitment of Aboriginal troopers was far from a homogeneous or transparent process and that the concept of agency with regard to those who can be considered war victims themselves is extremely complex. Unravelling the diverse, conflicting and often controversial meanings of this particular colonial activity remains a challenge to the historical process.