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1
Chapman, Sara Bernice. "Student Growth Trajectories with Summer Achievement Loss Using Hierarchical and Growth Modeling." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2016. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/5970.
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Using measures of student growth has become more popular in recent years—especially in the context of high stakes testing and accountability. While these methods have advantages over historical status measures, there is still much evidence to be gathered on patterns of growth generally and in student subgroups. To date, most research studies dealing with student growth focus on the effectiveness of specific interventions or examine growth in a few urban areas. This project explored math, reading, and English language arts (ELA) growth in the students of two rural school districts in Utah. The study incorporated hierarchical and latent growth methods to describe and compare these students’ growth in third, fourth and fifth grades. Additionally, student characteristics were tested as predictors of growth. Results showed student growth as complex and patterns varied across grade levels, subjects and student subgroups. Growth generally declined after third grade and students experienced summer loss in the second summer more than the first. Females began third grade ahead of their male peers in ELA and reading and began at a similar level in math. Male students narrowed the gap in reading and ELA in fourth and fifth grade and pulled ahead of their female peers in math in third grade. Low SES students were the most similar to their peers in math and ELA growth but were ahead of their peers in reading. Hispanic and Native American students started consistently behind white students in all subjects. Hispanic students tended to grow faster during the school year but lost more over the summer months. Native American students had more shallow growth than white students with a gradual decline in growth in fourth and fifth grades. ELA and reading growth were more closely related to each other than with math growth. Initial achievement estimates were more highly correlated with subsequent growth than previous years’ growth. A cross-classified model for teacher-level effects was attempted to account for students changing class groupings each school year but computational limits were reached. After estimating subjects and grade levels separately, results showed variance in test scores was primarily due to student differences. In ELA and reading, school differences accounted for a larger portion of the overall variance than teacher differences.
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Silveira, Fabrício. "Industrial allocation and growth trajectories : a multi-level approach." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2019. https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/290074.
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This dissertation investigates the process of economic growth with heterogeneous agents from a multi-level perspective. Building upon Kaldorian and Evolutionary principles, growth is defined as a path-dependent and complex phenomenon, which requires structural variation and the interplay between demand and supply at distinct analytical levels. Two concomitant and dependent 'layers' of this process are emphasised: the supply-led 'intra-sectoral development trajectory' and the demand-led 'inter-sectoral development trajectory'. The key element in the first is the firm size, which is shown to have a non-linear influence on the process of technological change. The second layer is shown to depend on the growth of income and patterns of production and consumption reflected on the inter-sectoral composition and level of 'sophistication' of the productive structure. The key to understand divergent growth trajectories lies in the interaction between these layers and the contradictory effects imposed at each analytical level both by demand (top-down) and supply (bottom-up). The approach is both theoretical and empirical and the analysis reveals important stylised facts of growth at the firm, sector and country levels. The text is structured in four sections comprising 9 chapters. Section I introduces the theoretical foundations of the work and the limitations of Evolutionary and Kaldorian schools to explain the multi-level 'allocation problem'. Section II presents the databases and empirically assesses the influence of the (re)allocation of labour on growth at each analytical level. Section III investigates the foundations of the process of micro-meso and macro process of development. The final section proposes a unified theoretical framework to connect the multi-level evidence. The analysis reinforces the interplay between demand and supply in growth trajectories, prompting a number of original policy implications.
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Brieant, Alexis E. "Growth Trajectories of Neurocognitive Self-Regulation and Adolescent Adjustment." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/82232.
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Adolescence is a period of social, physical, and neurobiological transitions that may leave individuals more vulnerable to the development of adjustment problems such as internalizing and externalizing symptomatology. Extant research demonstrates how self-regulation can predict adjustment outcomes in adolescence; however, it has yet to be examined how longitudinal growth in self-regulation may predict individual differences in symptomatology. That is, adolescents who develop self-regulatory capacities such as executive functioning (EF; including shifting, working memory, and inhibitory control) more slowly than their peers may be at increased risk for maladjustment. Data were collected from 167 adolescents and their primary caregiver over approximately three years. At each time point, adolescents completed three behavioral tasks that capture the underlying dimensions of EF, and both adolescents and their primary caregiver completed measures of adolescent symptomatology. Parallel process growth curve modeling was used to test the associations between initial levels and trajectories of both EF and adjustment. Results did not reveal any significant associations between initial levels of EF and adjustment or between growth in EF and growth in adjustment. Furthermore, there were no differential associations between the different EF dimensions. However, post-hoc analyses revealed that longitudinal increases in growth of EF predicted lower externalizing (but not internalizing) symptomatology at Time 3 (controlling for Time 1). Findings suggest that those with more rapid EF development may be better able to regulate behavioral and affective states and thus be less likely to develop externalizing symptoms, and that both early levels and growth in EF may be important predictors of adolescent outcomes.Master of Science
Adolescence is a period of social, physical, and neurobiological transitions that may leave individuals more vulnerable to the development of symptoms such as anxiety, depression, aggression, and delinquency. Self-regulation affects these outcomes in adolescence; however, individuals demonstrate growth in self-regulation abilities at different rates. Thus, the current study sought to examine how differences in self-regulation (specifically, executive functioning (EF)) development over time may contribute to different behavioral and emotional symptoms in adolescence. Data were collected from 167 adolescents and their primary caregiver over approximately three years. At each time point, adolescents completed three behavioral tasks that capture EF, and both adolescents and their primary caregiver completed measures of adolescent symptoms. Results showed that there were no significant associations between initial levels of EF and symptoms, or between growth in EF and growth in symptoms. Furthermore, different aspects of EF (such as memory, attention, and inhibitory control) did not differentially predict symptomatology. However, additional analyses revealed that increases in growth of EF over time predicted lower symptoms of aggression and delinquency at Time 3. Findings suggest that those with more rapid EF development may be better able to regulate behavioral and emotional states and thus be less likely to develop these types of symptoms, and that both early levels and growth in EF may be important predictors of adolescent outcomes.
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Ni, Xinyu. "What Influences School District Effectiveness Growth Trajectories? A Growth Mixture Modeling (GMM) Analysis." Thesis, Teachers College, Columbia University, 2019. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=13805575.
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As a local education agency, school districts play an important role in providing instructional support for teachers and school leaders, making instructional goals, and allocating financial and human capital resources in a rational way to promote overall students’ learning outcomes. Studies on school districts that look to find reasons or characteristics related to school district success are known as district effectiveness research (DER). Previous quantitative research in DER using longitudinal dataset has assumed that all school district effectiveness (SDE) changes in a common pattern through a traditional ordinary linear regression or a hierarchal linear model while ignoring the probability that there might exist distinct subgroups of school district effectiveness trajectories. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to examine the existence of different SDE trajectories and how school district demographic variables and financial expenditures affect classification of SDE groups using a growth mixture model (GMM) with a national longitudinal dataset containing all public school districts in all 50 states and Washington D.C. from 2009 to 2015 (n = 11,185). The results indicated that (a) there are three different classes of school district effectiveness growth trajectories, which can be named as a constant SDE group (3.66%), a decreasing SDE group (34.16%), and an increasing SDE group (62.18%); (b) school district demographic characteristics such as a percentage of free lunch students and general administration expenditure per pupil are significantly associated with the probability of a school district being classified to a specific group; and (c) the longitudinal effects of school district demographic covariates and financial expenditures within each class such as school district locations (e.g., urban, suburban, etc.) are associated with the growth factors (intercept and slopes) in different ways.
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Lapato, Dana. "Latent Growth Model Approach to Characterize Maternal Prenatal DNA Methylation Trajectories." VCU Scholars Compass, 2019. https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/5995.
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Background. DNA methylation (DNAm) is a removable chemical modification to the DNA sequence intimately associated with genomic stability, cellular identity, and gene expression. DNAm patterning reflects joint contributions from genetic, environmental, and behavioral factors. As such, differences in DNAm patterns may explain interindividual variability in risk liability for complex traits like major depression (MD). Hundreds of significant DNAm loci have been identified using cross-sectional association studies. This dissertation builds on that foundational work to explore novel statistical approaches for longitudinal DNAm analyses. Methods. Repeated measures of genome-wide DNAm and social and environmental determinants of health were collected up to six times across pregnancy and the first year postpartum as part of the Pregnancy, Race, Environment, Genes (PREG) Study. Statistical analyses were completed using a combination of the R statistical environment, Bioconductor packages, MplusAutomate, and Mplus software. Prenatal maternal DNAm was measured using the Infinium HumanMethylation450 Beadchip. Latent growth curve models were used to analyze repeated measures of maternal DNAm and to quantify site-level DNAm latent trajectories over the course of pregnancy. The purpose was to characterize the location and nature of prenatal DNAm changes and to test the influence of clinical and demographic factors on prenatal DNAm remodeling. Results. Over 1300 sites had DNAm trajectories significantly associated with either maternal age or lifetime MD. Many of the genomic regions overlapping significant results replicated previous age and MD-related genetic and DNAm findings. Discussion. Future work should capitalize on the progress made here integrating structural equation modeling (SEM) with longitudinal omics-level measures.
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Kolnik, Shira. "Responding to Joint Attention: Growth and Prediction to Subsequent Social Competence in Children Prenatally Exposed to Cocaine." Scholarly Repository, 2008. http://scholarlyrepository.miami.edu/oa_theses/158.
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Responding to Joint Attention (RJA) involves an infant's ability to follow a gaze or point by a partner. Prenatal cocaine exposure (PCE), which places a child in danger of numerous risks, has been accepted as having subtle effects on developmental outcomes such as social competence and associated socio-emotional outcomes. The current study looked at a sample of 166 children prenatally exposed to cocaine who were attending an early intervention program. The study established group and individual trajectories of responding to joint attention from 12, 15, and 18 months of age. Hierarchical modeling identified two groups, a delay group and an average group, while individual trajectories identified a linear pattern of growth of RJA. Both individual and group trajectories indicated that children with higher RJA from 12 to 18 months demonstrated better social competence at three years of age and first grade. The delay and average group showed significant differences on later social competence measures, but not problem behaviors, such that RJA, a positive behavior, may connect more closely with later positive behaviors than with behavior problems. RJA may therefore be useful in a preventative intervention targeted at enhancing positive social behaviors and as an important and simple screening tool for possible delay early in a child's life, helping to deliver early intervention services in a targeted and effective manner.
7
Montazeri, Parisa 1988. "Early life predictors of child growth trajectories and early adolescent cardiovascular health." Doctoral thesis, TDX (Tesis Doctorals en Xarxa), 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/672988.
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Research over the previous decades has shown us that early life influences have long-term effects on health and disease. Emerging science supports a role in the pathogenesis of obesity and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) for novel risk factors like maternal metabolic health, socioeconomic position (SEP), and endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). This thesis aimed to examine the role of early life predictors, focusing on maternal, chemical and social factors, on child growth and early adolescent cardiovascular health using traditional and novel measures of preclinical phenotypes. The findings suggest that early life exposure to maternal metabolic parameters and EDCs appear to have a potentially adverse effect on child growth and early adolescent cardiovascular health, which may be modified by SEP. Given how widespread exposure to EDCs is, the importance of maternal health status prior to pregnancy, and the increasing rates of obesity and CVD, these findings are of critical importance.Las investigaciones realizadas durante las décadas anteriores demostraron que las influencias de la vida temprana tienen efectos a largo plazo sobre la salud y la enfermedad. La ciencia emergente respalda un papel en la patogénesis de la obesidad y las enfermedades cardiovasculares (ECV) para nuevos factores de riesgo como la salud metabólica materna, la posición socioeconómica (SEP) y los químicos disruptores endocrinos (EDC). Esta tesis tuvo como objetivo examinar el papel de los predictores de la vida temprana, centrándose en los factores maternos, químicos y sociales, en el crecimiento infantil y la salud cardiovascular de la adolescencia temprana utilizando medidas tradicionales y novedosas de fenotipos preclínicos. Los hallazgos sugieren que la exposición temprana en la vida a los parámetros metabólicos maternos y los EDC parecen tener un efecto potencialmente adverso sobre el crecimiento infantil y la salud cardiovascular de la adolescencia temprana, que puede ser modificado por SEP. Dado lo generalizada que es la exposición a los EDC, la importancia del estado de salud materna antes del embarazo y las crecientes tasas de obesidad y ECV, estos hallazgos son de vital importancia.
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Verhegge, Kimberly A. "Parents, Peers, and Developmental Trajectories toward Crime." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2001. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/628.
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Across time, the influence of parents and peers appears to change. Early in life, parents have a stronger influence on the development of youth than do their peers. This, however, will change as an individual ages. Using longitudinal data from the Marion County (Oregon) Youth Survey (1964-1979), I examine the influence of parents or delinquent association, drug use and arrest. Analysis generated through latent growth curve modeling show that although parental influence appears to decrease significantly later in life, parental attachment delays the formation of delinquent peer networks, thereby indirectly reducing the total number of arrests. Even so, reductions in parental influence over time were associated with a significantly accelerated rate of acquiring delinquent peers and hence, with an increased frequency of arrest and drug use. The available evidence thus suggests that parental attachment has initial inhibitory effects on the formation of peer networks but only limited long-term developmental effects.
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Obeid, Nicole. "Refractory Eating Disorders in Youth: An Examination of Predictors, Profiles and Growth Trajectories." Thèse, Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/23634.
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Eating disorders are known for their chronic and relapse-ridden course. The cyclical nature of these disorders poses not only grave physical and mental health risks for the sufferer; it also presents serious challenges for the treating professionals and places a high demand and cost on the health care system. In spite of extensive research, no reliable predictors of long-term EDs have been identified in either adult or adolescent populations, nor have treatments emerged that are specifically targeted towards treating those with a long-term ED. It is fundamental to understand who is at risk and what factors are involved in long-term EDs, as the clinical and treatment implications gleaned from this evidence could be quite impactful. The current project will include three studies that will explore long-term EDs in a large transdiagnostic sample of adolescents with an ED. It will also attempt to overcome methodological limitations associated with past studies of this type, and apply an operational definition of this course of illness that may provide a more reliable and valid method with which to identify these cases. As such, the use of the term refractory ED, defined as a return to same-type treatment, will be applied to best identify this group. The three studies proposed in this research project will provide long overdue information on predictors, profiles and growth trajectories of those adolescents who suffer from a refractory course of an ED. This research project attempts to answer the question of: who will be affected, and how will the individual be affected by a refractory ED. With the ability to identify these cases and how the course of illness is being affected, treatment approaches can better aim to provide the appropriate treatment to those individuals most at risk of suffering from a refractory course of illness.
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Low, Pauline. "Growth trajectories of literacy skills for EAL children from second through seventh grades." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/44128.
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There is ongoing debate among researchers and educators regarding the utility of English L1 practices for English-as-an-Additional-Language (EAL) learners who are in need of special education services. The identification of reading disability for EAL children is often delayed because relatively little is known about how EAL learners develop to be competent readers. This study sought to address this by providing descriptions of how children grow in their literacy skills and what predicts successful acquisition of these skills. This longitudinal study followed 773 L1 and 182 EAL children from grades 2 through 7. Multi-group latent growth analyses provided compelling evidence for common developmental models for L1 and EAL in word recognition, word reading fluency, decoding, decoding fluency, reading comprehension, and spelling. Phonological processing, syntactic awareness, and verbal working memory were important predictors of growth for children from both language groups. Growth models also show that poor readers from both language groups continued to be behind normally achieving peers. For poor readers, growth in word recognition, word reading fluency, decoding, decoding fluency, and reading comprehension was characterized by a persistent deficit model. In contrast, there was a cumulative deficit for spelling. That is, poor readers started out with poor spelling skills and progressed at a slower rate than normally achieving readers, thus widening the gap over time. Poor readers, as a group, also demonstrated weaknesses across phonological processing, syntactic awareness, and verbal working memory. Overall, the results of this study highlight the importance of early services and assessment for all children at risk for reading disability, regardless of first language status.
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Lee, Who Seung. "Effect of growth trajectories on adult performance and lifespan in three-spined sticklebacks." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2010. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/2294/.
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Changes in environmental conditions in early life can cause changes in the tempo and pattern of growth and development in animals. Natural selection favours processes that enable animals to make decisions that maximise Darwinian fitness. These decisions are influenced by trade-offs between current and future benefits. An episode of poor conditions (i.e. reduced nutrition, low temperature and changes in photoperiod) is generally linked to a slowing of growth. If adequate conditions are restored after this episode, growth rate is accelerated and normal adult size can be reached; in other words, ‘compensatory’ growth occurs. Compensatory growth has benefits in enabling a return to the typical size-at-age growth trajectory. Although this ability to alter growth rate provides a degree of adaptability, there is now increasing evidence that resource allocation to rapid growth carries various long-term costs. While there is experimental evidence that poor environmental conditions in early life can induce subsequent compensatory growth, little is known about the long-term effects of compensatory growth on locomotor and reproductive performance, and on lifespan. In this thesis, I investigated how different growth trajectories affected subsequent performance (i.e. locomotory capability, reproduction and lifespan), and how any such effects were influenced by the perceived time until the key life history event of reproduction. Using juvenile three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus), I showed that temperature manipulations early in life in three temperature treatments (low, intermediate and high, independent of food supply) or food restriction (with a constant temperature) affected skeletal growth trajectory not only during the manipulation itself, but also during a subsequent compensatory phase. To investigate the effects of time of year, all experimental groups of temperature and food manipulations were replicated at different seasonal periods (= Winter or Spring); to manipulate apparent time of year while holding initial size and maturity constant, a photoperiod manipulation was also undertaken at both seasonal times (ambient or delayed photoperiod). While there was compensatory growth (i.e. accelerated growth) in the food manipulation, temperature manipulations induced both positive compensatory growth (i.e. growth acceleration following exposure to low temperature) and also ‘negative’ compensatory growth (decelerated growth following exposure to high temperature). The outcome of these changes was that fish in all treatment groups reached the same average size by sexual maturity, despite having different growth patterns. However, early growth trajectories influenced both pre-breeding swimming endurance and its decline over the course of the breeding season, such that swimming ability was negatively correlated with compensatory growth whereas ‘negative’ compensatory growth reduced swimming ability less (Chapter 2). Reproductive investment (males: sexual ornaments and ability to build nests; females: first clutch size and mean egg size) was negatively affected by compensatory growth; positive effects of ‘negative’ compensatory growth on reproduction were found (Chapter 3). Interestingly, the effects of growth rate on subsequent swimming and reproductive performance were greater when the perceived, or actual, time until the breeding season was shorter (Chapter 2 and 3). These results implied that increased metabolic rates and cellular damage (e.g. oxidative stress) induced by compensatory growth negatively affected subsequent performance, while decelerated growth reduced the damage levels and so later performance was less affected. Under food manipulation, there were similar patterns: compensatory growth (i.e. accelerated growth) negatively affected locomotor and reproductive performance and the time until the breeding season altered the effects on performance (Chapter 4). To further examine trade-offs between growth rate and fitness parameters such as future reproductive investment and rates of senescence, I developed four theoretical models of increasing complexity with different growth-damage scenarios, ranging from assuming that the animal maximises growth regardless of any costs, through assuming a relationship between growth rate and mortality risk, to assuming growth leads to damage accumulation and that the animal is able to apportion resources between somatic growth, gonadal growth and investment in repair of damage. The models predicted that growth trajectories strongly influenced future reproductive investment irrespective of body size at the time of breeding, presumably due to the effects of damage accumulation in the run up to the breeding season; the predictions of the most complex model were closest to the experimental data on egg production (Chapter 5). Lifespan was different among treatment groups and also influenced by early growth trajectories. Compensatory growth negatively affected lifespan whereas ‘negative’ compensatory growth extended lifespan. Lifespan in female sticklebacks was positively related to egg production. Male sticklebacks lived for a shorter time when they showed less growth between their first and second breeding seasons, and a greater change in the duration of having a red throat between the first and second breeding season (an indicator of reproductive senescence). The costs of compensation were strongest when the perceived time until breeding was shortest (Chapter 6). Consequently, this thesis shows that environment conditions in early life have substantial effects on subsequent performances and lifespan. Moreover, results in this thesis strongly support the time-stress hypothesis, that is the time available until the onset of a key life history event, in this case reproduction, influences outcomes.
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Gibertoni, Dino <1966>. "Trajectories and predictors of growth and neurodevelopment in Very Low Birth Weight infants." Doctoral thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2014. http://amsdottorato.unibo.it/6380/.
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Neurodevelopment of preterm children has become an outcome of major interest since the improvement in survival due to advances in neonatal care. Many studies focused on the relationships among prenatal characteristics and neurodevelopmental outcome in order to identify the higher risk preterms’ subgroups. The aim of this study is to analyze and put in relation growth and development trajectories to investigate their association.
346 children born at the S.Orsola Hospital in Bologna from 01/01/2005 to 30/06/2011 with a birth weight of <1500 grams were followed up in a longitudinal study at different intervals from 3 to 24 months of corrected age. During follow-up visits, preterms’ main biometrical characteristics were measured and the Griffiths Mental Development Scale was administered to assess neurodevelopment. Latent Curve Models were developed to estimate the trajectories of length and of neurodevelopment, both separately and combined in a single model, and to assess the influence of clinical and socio-economic variables.
Neurodevelopment trajectory was stepwise declining over time and length trajectory showed a steep increase until 12 months and was flat afterwards. Higher initial values of length were correlated with higher initial values of neurodevelopment and predicted a more declining neurodevelopment. SGA preterms and those from families with higher status had a less declining neurodevelopment slope, while being born from a migrant mother proved negative on neurodevelopment through the mediating effect of a being taller at 3 months. A longer stay in NICU used as a proxy of preterms’ morbidity) was predictive of lower initial neurodevelopment levels.
At 24 months, neurodevelopment is more similar among preterms and is more accurately evaluated. The association among preterms’ neurodevelopment and physiological growth may provide further insights on the determinants of preterms’ outcomes. Sound statistical methods, exploiting all the information collected in a longitudinal study, may be more appropriate to the analysis.
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Maier, Michelle Filomena. "Examining Preschoolers' Trajectories of Individual Learning Behaviors: The Influence of Approaches to Learning on School Readiness." Scholarly Repository, 2010. http://scholarlyrepository.miami.edu/oa_dissertations/488.
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This study integrated variable- and child-centered techniques to investigate trajectories of four learning behaviors (initiative, persistence, planning, and problem-solving flexibility) and their influence on Head Start preschoolers' academic school readiness. Variable-centered findings revealed differential, quadratic growth trajectories for each of the four learning behaviors. However, where children began the year (intercept), how much they changed across the year (slope), and how much their rate of change changed across the year (quadratic) differed depending on the learning behavior. Initiative and problem-solving flexibility emerged as significant predictors of end-of-year academic school readiness skills, controlling for persistence and planning. There was no evidence of moderation of the relations between learning behaviors and academic skills by child demographic characteristics. Child-centered results provided a more nuanced description of the development of these four learning behaviors. Analyses suggested there may be subgroups of children with different developmental trajectories for each of the four learning behaviors and that these subgroups have significantly different school readiness skills at the end of the year. These findings help extend our current understanding of learning behaviors and, if replicated, may inform the content and timing of early childhood teaching practices and interventions.
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Knight, Elizabeth Pickering. "Symptom Trajectories After Emergency Department Visits for Potential Acute Coronary Syndrome." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/594909.
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Background: Many patients evaluated for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in emergency departments (EDs) experience ongoing or recurrent symptoms after discharge, regardless of their ultimate medical diagnosis. A comprehensive understanding of post-ED symptom trajectories is lacking. Aims: Aim 1 was to determine trajectories of severity of common symptoms (chest pressure, chest discomfort, unusual fatigue, chest pain, shortness of breath, lightheadedness, upper back pain and shoulder pain) in the six months following an ED visit for potential ACS. Aim 2 was to identify relationships between symptom trajectories and baseline physiologic factors (age, gender, diabetes status, diagnosis, comorbidities, functional status) and situational factors (marital status, insurance status, education level). Aim 3 was to identify relationships between symptom trajectories and health service use (outpatient visits and calls, ED visits, 911 calls, hospitalization) in the six months after the ED visit. Methods: This was a secondary data analysis from a study conducted in five U.S. EDs. Patients (n=1002) who had abnormal electrocardiogram or biomarker testing and were identified by the triage nurse as potentially having ACS were enrolled. Symptom severity was assessed in the hospital and 30 days and six months post-discharge using the 13-item ACS Symptom Checklist. Symptom severity was modeled across the three study time points using growth mixture modeling. Model selection was based on interpretability, theoretical justification, and statistical fit indices. Patient characteristics were used to predict trajectories using logistic regression and differences in health service use were tested using chi-square analysis. Results: Between two and four distinct trajectory classes were identified for each symptom. Identified trajectories were labeled "tapering off," "mild/persistent," "moderate/persistent," "moderate/worsening," "moderate/improving," "late onset," and "severe/improving." Age, sex, diabetes, BMI, functional status, insurance status, and diagnosis significantly predicted symptom trajectories. Clinic visits and phone calls, 911 calls, ED visits, and probability of hospitalization varied significantly among trajectories. Conclusions: Research on the individual nature of symptom trajectories can support patient-centered care. Patients at risk for ongoing symptoms and increased health service use can be targeted for education and follow-up based on clinically observable characteristics. Further research is needed to verify the existence of multiple symptoms trajectories in diverse populations.
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Ward, Stephen James. "Variations in Student Development Trajectories in Reading and Mathematics: A Multilevel Growth Mixture Model Approach." NCSU, 2007. http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/theses/available/etd-03132007-100523/.
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Lack of student achievement has long been a cause of national concern. The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act of 2001 represents the latest attempt to both correct past educational inequities and to improve the competitiveness of American education. NCLB mandates that all students must meet proficiency standards by the 2013-14 school year. To determine whether students are on track to meet this goal, NCLB uses the metric of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). Presently, AYP appears to be set in terms of what is required to meet the 2013-14 goal with no consideration of how student growth and development actually occurs. Moreover, this type of goal assumes that all students can develop or progress at the same rate, in other word, ?one size fits all.? This study sought to examine this ?one size fits all? assumption through the examination of unobserved heterogeneity in student growth trajectories. Specifically, this study sought to determine whether student growth trajectories in reading and mathematics between grade 3 and grade 8 could be adequately described by either single or multiple classes of growth using a multi-level growth mixture modeling approach. Further, the study examined the effects of gender, socio-economic status, ethnicity, parental education, and Local Educational Area (LEA) funding upon these growth trajectories. In terms of classes of growth trajectories, the results clearly suggest the existence of multiple classes of growth for both reading and mathematics. All individual level covariates influenced either membership in a growth class or the latent growth factors or both class membership and growth factors. In contrast, LEA level funding covariates effects were in general not supported. Relationships, for the most part, were consistent across primary and replication samples. Lastly, implications for educational practice, educational policy, Industrial/Organization psychology, and research are discussed along with the limitations of the present study.
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Kosty, Derek. "Trajectories of Cannabis Use Disorder: Risk and Developmental Factors, Clinical Characteristics, and Outcomes." Thesis, University of Oregon, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/1794/19200.
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Efforts to objectively inform cannabis discourses include research on the epidemiology of cannabis abuse and dependence disorders or, collectively, cannabis use disorder (CUD). For my dissertation I identified classes of individuals based on intraindividual CUD trajectory patterns and contrasted trajectory classes with respect to clinical characteristics of CUD, developmental risk factors, and psychosocial outcomes.
Identifying differences between trajectory classes provides evidence for the validity of trajectory-based CUD constructs and informs the development of comprehensive models of CUD epidemiology and trajectory-specific intervention approaches. My dissertation used data from the Oregon Adolescent Depression Project, a prospective epidemiological study of the psychiatric and psychosocial functioning of a representative community-based sample randomly selected from nine high schools across western Oregon. Four waves of data collection occurred between mid-adolescence and early adulthood and included diagnostic interviews and self-report questionnaires. Onset and offset ages of all CUD episodes were recorded. The reference sample included 816 participants who completed all diagnostic interviews.
A series of latent class growth models revealed three distinct CUD trajectory classes through age 30: (1) a persistent increasing risk class; (2) a maturing out class, marked by increasing risk through age 20 and then a decreasing risk through early adulthood; and (3) a stable low risk class. Rates of cannabis dependence were similar across the persistent increasing and the maturing out classes. Trajectory classes characterized by a history of CUD were associated with a variety of childhood risk factors and measures of psychosocial functioning during early adulthood. Participants who were male, had externalizing disorders, and had psychotic experiences during early adulthood discriminated between the persistent increasing and the maturing out classes.
Future research based on more diverse samples is indicated, as are well-controlled tests of associations between risk factors, trajectory class membership, and psychosocial outcomes. A better understanding of these relationships will inform etiological theories of CUD and the development of effective intervention programs that target problematic cannabis use at specific developmental stages. Designing targeted versus undifferentiated interventions for those at greatest risk for adult psychosocial impairment could be a cost-effective way to mitigate the consequences of CUD.
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LaBelle, Denise Rose. "Latent Trajectories of Executive Function Development: Associations with Cognitive Vulnerability to Major Depression." Diss., Temple University Libraries, 2015. http://cdm16002.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p245801coll10/id/357225.
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PsychologyPh.D.
The maturation and consolidation of executive functions, including cognitive flexibility, attentional control, goal-setting, and information processing, continues throughout adolescence. Cognitive vulnerabilities to depression, such as rumination on negative affect, negative cognitive style, and hopelessness, also emerge as stable risk-factors for depression during this time. Emerging evidence suggests these vulnerabilities may be associated with alterations in executive functioning, and with cognitive maturation. The current study explores the association between trajectories of executive development and cognitive vulnerabilities to depression using a person-centered characterization of latent classes of growth trajectories. Classes of adolescent cognitive development in working memory, selective attention, sustained attention, switching, and divided attention, were derived, and class associations with cognitive vulnerabilities were probed. The results showed that most executive domains have a normative majority with typical growth and low levels of cognitive vulnerability. Minority classes, representing atypical growth, were differentially related to cognitive vulnerability. Contrary to hypotheses, better cognitive development was generally associated with higher levels of cognitive vulnerability, specifically internal, stable, and self-worth dimensions of negative cognitive style. Several exceptions included classes whose trajectory suggested developmental regression; consistent with hypotheses, these classes also demonstrated higher levels of negative cognitive style. Results support a model in which cognitive development scaffolds the maturation of negative cognitive style.
Temple University--Theses
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Soloski, Kristy Lee. "Identifying and predicting trajectories of binge drinking from adolescence to young adulthood." Diss., Kansas State University, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/2097/17326.
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Doctor of PhilosophyDepartment of Family Studies and Human Services
Jared A. Durtschi and Sandra M. Stith
Early binge drinking (i.e., five or more drinks on a single occasion) is associated with a greater risk of later substance abuse or dependence, and other non-alcohol related problems in adulthood, (e.g., adult civil or criminal convictions). Identifying alcohol use trajectories has mainly been limited to within single developmental periods (i.e., adolescence or emerging adulthood) or between developmental periods up until around the legal drinking age. Using N = 1,864 adolescents from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) dataset, this paper sought to identify trajectories of binge drinking beginning in adolescence and into adulthood using growth mixture modeling. Family factors (e.g., parent-child communication, shared activities, connectedness, and parental control) were used to predict the various trajectories. Two class trajectories were identified, a low initial-escalating group (87%), and a high initial-deescalating group (13%). Being male and having more close friends using alcohol were predictive of a greater likelihood of being in the high initial-deescalating group. Results can inform therapeutic interventions in an effort to affect an adolescent’s trajectory of use and reduce the risk of long-term heavy alcohol use.
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Cheshire, Emily Jade. "The Influence of Parental and Parent-Adolescent Relationship Characteristics on Sexual Trajectories from Adolescence through Young Adulthood." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/78111.
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Using the perspective of sexual script theory (Gagnon & Simon, 1973) and growth curve modeling, this study examined whether characteristics of parents and parent-adolescent connectedness influence change in lifetime number of sexual partners from adolescence through young adulthood. Living in a blended family, having at least one college-educated parent and on-time parent-adolescent sexual communication positively predicted later lifetime number of sexual partners. Parent religiosity and parent-adolescent connectedness negatively predicted later lifetime number of sexual partners. Parent-adolescent sexual communication that focused on negative consequences of sex and parent disapproval of adolescent sexual activity were not significant in the overall model. Control variables included adolescent race/ethnicity, gender, physical maturity, marriage history, virginity pledge history, and expectations of positive consequences of sex. Physical maturity and gender were not significant in the overall model. In conclusion, parents have significant and far-reaching influence on their children's later sexual behavior. This study extended research in the field by examining lifetime number of sexual partners across four time points, which allowed observation of change in this outcome variable with age and accounted for the nested nature of the data.Master of Science
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Goldberg, Looney Lisa. "A Hierarchical Linear Modeling Approach to Predicting Trajectories of Posttraumatic Growth in Veterans Following Acquired Physical Disability." VCU Scholars Compass, 2017. https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/5595.
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The purpose of this study was to examine potential predictors of PTG across time in Veterans with acquired physical disabilities. Specifically, this study aimed to understand how various demographic and injury characteristics, coping styles, appraisals of injury, and social support might predict trajectories of PTG from discharge from inpatient rehabilitation through 12 months after baseline. Initial curvature analyses suggested that a cubic polynomial trend best fit the movement of PTG over time, generally conforming to an initial increase, decrease, and then plateau or slight increase. Four HLMs were run to examine whether demographic and injury characteristics, coping styles, appraisals of injury, and social support predicted the height of this cubic architecture of PTG across baseline, 1, 3, 6, and 12-month follow ups, and a final HLM examined whether any statistically significant fixed effects in the first four HLMs interacted with time in the prediction of participants’ PTG trajectories. Estimated premorbid IQ was negatively associated, while age was positively associated with the height of PTG over time. Reframing and religious coping were positively associated with PTG over time, as were challenge appraisals. Three types of social support did not independently predict PTG trajectories, although bivariate correlations suggested the presence of isolated relationships between different types of social support and PTG at certain time points. None of the significant predictors interacted with time in predicting participants’ PTG trajectories.
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Bousselot, Tracy. "Shifting the Focus to Science in the Early Elementary Years: An Examination of Science Achievement Growth in Grades K-2 Using a Nationally Representative Dataset." Thesis, University of Oregon, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/1794/23796.
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Efforts to understand growth and disparities in science achievement have mainly been focused on the middle and high school grades in studies of K – 12 science education, leaving a gap in the research about the early elementary years. This study used a nationally-representative sample of students in Grades K – 2 to examine science achievement and growth trajectories of students by gender and race/ethnicity. Using multilevel growth modeling, differences in science achievement at Grade 2 and in rate of growth were detected for several student groups. Socioeconomic status, prior reading and math achievement, and student home language status were also significant predictors of science achievement. Growth effect size estimates were calculated by student group and showed substantial year-to-year growth in science achievement in the early elementary grades, with a slight decrease in effect size across years. In order to strengthen current efforts to increase student engagement and participation in science and STEM-related career and college pathways, especially for historically underrepresented groups, policymakers should shift focus to better understand promising practices that best support all students in science from the onset of their K – 12 educational experience.
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Fong, Chun-tat, and 方俊達. "Relations between developmental trajectories of burnout and holistic care climate among human service workers: alatent growth modeling approach." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2011. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B45863325.
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Mellencamp, Kagan Alexander. "Depressive Symptoms Trajectories Following Child Death in Later Life: Variation by Race-Ethnicity." Bowling Green State University / OhioLINK, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1563465712524515.
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White, Kirrily. "From Trypillia to Tswana: A Global Perspective on Giant Low-Density Settlements." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2022. https://hdl.handle.net/2123/28688.
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Giant settlements worldwide which incorporated large amounts of open space, such as Cahokia, Great Zimbabwe and the European oppida, have long seemed anomalous to scholarship because they did not match the characteristics of conventional urbanism. It is now apparent that these settlements appeared relatively frequently in diverse conditions across the world over the past 7000 years and they may constitute a form of human settlement behaviour that has not yet been consistently articulated. In Limits of Settlement Growth, Roland Fletcher (1995) identified that such settlements sit outside usual categories for specifying conditions of settlement operation in the past. He predicted that these settlements would have dropped to a low-density internal pattern as they expanded to large size. In his parlance they operated below a Threshold Limit on the Interaction-Communication Matrix and would not therefore be constrained in their areal expansion.
The aim of this research was to test Fletcher’s prediction for these sites in the I-C Model and explore the findings to delineate boundary conditions of their operation. A dataset of sites 100 ha or larger was compiled and compared across variables such as area, population mobility, durations and demise. Using a recently updated version of the I-C Matrix, these settlements were found to have operated beneath the Mobile Interaction-Limit as well as at lower densities. The mobility component of their operation varied substantially and there may be more than one type of human settlement behaviour indicated. Structurally, they were giant variants of preceding and contemporaneous settlement forms emergent under conditions of regional or sub-regional population increase rather than transformations. While individually they could have short durations, they could appear multiple times in a culture region and were resilient to all but regional systemic change.
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Clark, Sarah W. "LONGITUDINAL PATTERNS OF DEPRESSION SYMPTOMS AMONG EMERGING ADULTS." VCU Scholars Compass, 2019. https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/5945.
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Research has suggested that depression symptoms generally decrease after late adolescence; however, there is increasing attention paid to depression symptoms among college students given the stressors unique to this time period and negative outcomes associated with depression. This study examined latent trajectories of depression symptom severity among college students. Participants were 9,889 college students who participated in the Spit for Science project (Dick et al., 2011). Growth Mixture Modeling was used to identify the presence of four subgroups of individuals with similar patterns of initial level and change in depression severity over four years of college, including Low/Minimal (55.9%), Decreasing (2.8%), Increasing (11.6%), and Chronically Elevated (29.7%) groups. Risk factors of belonging to a depressed mood trajectory include female gender; lesbian, gay, or bisexual orientation; and experiencing a greater number of stressful life events. Higher social support and self-reported resilience were associated with decreased likelihood of belonging to any of the depressed mood trajectories. Overall, it appears that most college students in this sample experience only mild depression symptoms; however, it is important to recognize and intervene early with individuals who report elevated depression symptoms as some are at risk for persistent and increasing depression across college.
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Karriker-Jaffe, Katherine Joan Foshee Vangie. "Neighborhood and family effects on trajectories of physical and social aggression during adolescence three studies using multilevel growth curve modeling /." Chapel Hill, N.C. : University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2006. http://dc.lib.unc.edu/u?/etd,708.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2006.Title from electronic title page (viewed Oct. 10, 2007). "... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education." Discipline: Health Behavior and Health Education; Department/School: Public Health.
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Tabassum, Faiza. "Modelling growth trajectories of children : a longitudinal analysis of individual and household effects on children's nutritional status in rural Pakistan." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2004. https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/345594/.
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This thesis explores the pathways through which individual and household factors are associated with temporal changes in child nutritional status. In this study the concept of nutrition deprivation is used in two ways: firstly as indicated by the child's anthropometric measures, and secondly in terms of food consumption. The thesis also explores how nutritional deprivation is linked with economic deprivation. The main objectives of the study are: to examine the physical growth trajectories of children, to investigate the household's economic and nutritional (food) deprivations, to explore the determinants of child malnutrition, and finally to investigate the relationship between temporal changes in the poverty status of households and temporal changes in child nutritional status. The study uses the Pakistan Panel Data collected by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) from 1986-89, covering four rural districts of Pakistan. The study employs a comprehensive child health framework to establish the mechanism of child nutritional status by linking the various factors at child, household and community levels. This framework specifies poverty as the root cause of malnutrition. The basic need absolute poverty approach is used to work out the incidence and the dynamic nature of poverty. Various statistical modelling techniques for analysing the longitudinal data are used in this study. For example, to study the height and weight growth traectories of children a growth curve modelling technique is employed, and to study the determinants of child malnutrition a three-level hierarchical linear model for longitudinal data is used. The predicted average growth velocities indicate a slower growth during first year of child's life in comparison with the usual growth velocities amongst the normal children. However, in a particular cohort of children some evidence of growth acceleration is found during the third year of a child's life after a growth deceleration during the second year. Child level factors, such as breastfeeding and the incidence of diarrhoea and morbidity, are found to explain most of the variability in child nutritional status. The results reveal dissimilarities in nutritional status between children in a household. The results also indicate associations between poverty and stunting while chronic poverty is found to be associated with wasting. The results indicate that caloric and protein consumption amongst the study households was notably high. However, food consumption patterns mostly revolve around the staple food, and even in the top expenditure quintile this pattern remains persistent.
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Titchner, Denicia. "Developmental Trajectories of Physical and Relational Aggression and Their Relation to Delinquency and Substance Use in Adolescence." VCU Scholars Compass, 2011. http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/181.
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Although researchers studying adolescent aggression have proposed a conceptual distinction between physical and relational aggression, there is contradictory evidence regarding the degree to which they differ in their trajectories and relations to other outcomes. This study explored the importance of differentiating between these two forms of aggression based on comparisons of their trajectories, relation with each other, impact on delinquency and substance use, and gender differences. Data were collected as part of the Multisite Violence Prevention Project, conducted at 19 middle schools from four sites with a predominantly low-income, minority sample of students (N = 2,822). Growth curves showed significant linear increases and quadratic trends for physical and relational aggression. Boys and girls had similar shaped trajectories, but boys reported significantly higher levels of physical aggression than girls. Bivariate latent growth curve models and autoregressive models suggested that physical aggression was a stronger predictor of externalizing difficulties than relational aggression.
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Chen, Lei. "Uncovering Differential Symptom Courses with Multiple Repeated Outcome Measures: Interplay between Negative and Positive Symptom Trajectories in the Treatment of Schizophrenia." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1342729413.
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Cho, Sujung. "A Multi-Level Model of Personal Victimization Among South Korean Youths." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1439562384.
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Kotler, Julie S. "Early correlates of psychopathy and relations between psychopathy, youth adjustment, and growth trajectories for externalizing behavior in samples of normative and high-risk youth /." Thesis, Connect to this title online; UW restricted, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/1773/8996.
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Fanti, Kostas Andrea. "Trajectories of Pure and Co-Occurring Internalizing and Externalizing Problems from Age 2 to Age 12: Findings from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care." unrestricted, 2007. http://etd.gsu.edu/theses/available/etd-04202007-164735/.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Georgia State University, 2007.Title from file title page. Christopher C. Henrich, committee chair; Gregory Jurkovic, Gabriel P. Kuperminc, Roger Bakeman, committee members. Electronic text (124 p. : ill. (some col.)) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed May 7, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 100-124).
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Brookmeyer, Kathryn Amanda. "Disentangling Pathways of Adolescent Sexual Risk from Problem Behavior Syndrome." Digital Archive @ GSU, 2007. http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/psych_diss/32.
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Understanding the development of adolescent sexual risk behavior is complicated by the co-occurrence of sexual risk with substance use and delinquency, conceptualized as “problem behavior syndrome,” with common causes and influences underlying all three problem behaviors (Jessor & Jessor, 1977). Explaining the development of sexual risk becomes even more complex given the changing patterns of adaptation and maladaptation over the course of adolescence (Sroufe & Rutter, 1984). Research also suggests that multiple pathways may forecast adolescent engagement in sexual risk behavior, underscoring the ideas of equifinality and multifinality in developmental psychopathology (Cicchetti & Rogosh, 1996). To understand the diverse nature of sexual risk taking, researchers must identify these pathways and disentangle co-occurring problem behaviors from sexual risk. Revealing the course of sexual risk taking and the early risk and protective processes through which problem behavior develops allows researchers to identify the developmental periods that would be most amenable to intervention efforts (Rolf et al., 1990). Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79), this study aimed to disentangle problem behavior syndrome by identifying the unique developmental pathways of adolescent sexual risk, alcohol use and delinquency. This study also investigated how early adolescent processes of risk and protection were associated with the growth of these risk behaviors during adolescence. Using a developmental psychopathology and resilience framework, risk trajectories were measured with adolescents aged 15 to 24, and antecedents were measured with early adolescents ages 10 to 14 (N= 1778). Using Latent Class Growth Analyses (LCGA), joint trajectory analyses revealed five distinct adolescent risk taking groups: high sex and alcohol, moderate problem behavior, problem behavior, alcohol-only, and alcohol and delinquency experimentation. Early adolescent externalizing problems were particularly important in understanding adolescent risk group membership. The co-occurrence between sexual risk and alcohol use, the diversity of problem behavior syndrome, and potential intervention and prevention efforts are discussed.
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Roche, Sylvain. "Réenchanter le maritime par la promesse énergétique : technologies, trajectoires, discours." Thesis, Bordeaux, 2019. http://www.theses.fr/2019BORD0064.
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Cette thèse analyse les dynamiques de changement du système énergétique en se focalisant sur les énergies marines renouvelables (EMR). A travers l’examen de dix études de cas (études à la fois sectorielles et territoriales), elle s’interroge sur les raisons du retour de ces technologies au tournant des années 2000. Mises à la marge du paradigme dominant de la production d’électricité des années 1980, nous montrons que les énergies marines renouvelables sont revenues sur le devant de la scène dans un contexte de crise systémique des 3E (environnementale, économique et énergétique). A l’interface des politiques énergétiques (celles de la transition énergétique) et des politiques maritimes (celles de la croissance bleue), les énergies marines renouvelables ont été légitimées au moment où la mer est devenue un terrain pour (re)construire des discours visionnaires, avant-gardistes et technopolitiques. Par ce biais, nous mettons en lumière l’importance des croyances et des représentations collectives sur l’activité technologique. Au regard de la diversité des trajectoires technologiques examinées (énergie des marées et des courants, énergie des vagues, énergie thermique des mers et éolien marin), nous montrons que « la filière » des énergies marines renouvelables se présente en France comme une construction politique sans cohérence technologique affirmée entre des univers techniques différents. Cette thèse permet également de relativiser la notion d’innovation de rupture et de destruction créatrice en mettant en évidence des phénomènes de résurgence technologique pouvant durer plusieurs décennies, voire plusieurs siècles, dans l’exploitation de sources d’énergies renouvelables. Enfin, en s’inscrivant dans une démarche rétro-prospective, cette thèse défend l’idée que les processus fondamentaux dans la dynamique de changement du système énergétique ne sont pas la création et la nouveauté mais plutôt l’actualisation et la réinterprétation. Elle entend ainsi apporter une contribution originale aux interrogations à la fois des économistes, des sociologues et des historiens des techniques, qui chacun dans leur domaine tentent de comprendre les trajectoires de l'innovation et les conditions de réussite des technologies de l’énergieThis thesis sheds light on the dynamics of change in the energy system by taking the example of marine renewable energies (MRE). By exploring ten case studies (both sectoral and territorial), it reflects on the reasons for the return of these technologies in the 2000’s. Previously excluded from the dominant paradigm of French electricity production, in the 1980s, marine renewable energies are currently making a comeback in the context of the systemic crisis of the 3Es (environmental, economic and energy). At the interface of energy policies (energy transition policies) and maritime policies (blue growth policies), marine renewable energies were legitimized when the sea became a new horizon for (re)building visionary, avant-garde and technopolitical discourses. Through this, we highlight the importance of beliefs and collective representations of technological activity. Through the diversity of technological trajectories discussed in this thesis (tidal stream and tidal range energy, wave energy, ocean thermal energy conversion and offshore wind energy), we show that, in France, the industry of marine renewable energies presents itself as a political construction without asserted technological consistency, at the interface between different technical worlds. This thesis put into perspective the notion of disruptive innovation and creative destruction by highlighting phenomena of technological rebirth, which can take several decades and even centuries. Through a retroprospective analysis, this thesis defends the idea that the dynamics of change of the energy system are not mainly driven by creation and novelty, but could, rather, be construed as a process of update and reinterpretation of existing technological principles. This thesis aims to provide insights to economists, sociologists and historians of technology who try to understand the trajectories of innovation and the conditions for success of energy technologies
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Mondani, Hernan. "Modeling Organizational Dynamics : Distributions, Networks, Sequences and Mechanisms." Doctoral thesis, Stockholms universitet, Sociologiska institutionen, 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-139766.
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The study of how social organizations work, change and develop is central to sociology and to our understanding of the social world and its transformations. At the same time, the underlying principles of organizational dynamics are extremely difficult to investigate. This is partly due to the difficulties of tracking organizations, individuals and their interactions over relatively long periods of time. But it is also due to limitations in the kinds of quantitative methods used to tackle these questions, which are for the most part based on regression analysis. This thesis seeks to improve our understanding of social organizing by using models to explore and describe the logics of the structures and mechanisms underlying organizational change. Particular emphasis is given to the modeling process, the use of new concepts and analogies, and the application of interdisciplinary methods to get new insights into classical sociological questions. The thesis consists of an introductory part and five studies (I-V). Using Swedish longitudinal data on employment in the Stockholm Region, the studies tackle different dimensions of organizational dynamics, from organizational structures and growth processes to labor mobility and employment trajectories. The introductory chapters contextualize the studies by providing an overview of theories, concepts and quantitative methods that are relevant for the modeling of organizational dynamics. The five studies look into various aspects of organizational dynamics with the help of complementary data representations and non-traditional quantitative methods. Study I analyzes organizational growth statistics for different sectors and industries. The typically observed heavy-tailed statistical patterns for the size and growth rate distributions are broken down into a superposition of interorganizational movements. Study II models interorganizational movements as a labor flow network. Organizations tend to be more tightly linked if they belong to the same ownership sector. Additionally, public organizations have a more stable connection structure. Study III uses a similarity-based method called homogeneity analysis to map out the social space of large organizations in the Stockholm Region. A social distance is then derived within this space, and we find that the interorganizational movements analyzed in Studies I and II take place more often between organizations that are closer in social space and in the same network community. Study IV presents an approach to organizational dynamics based on sequences of employment states. Evidence for a positive feedback mechanism is found for large and highly sequence-diverse public organizations. Finally, Study V features an agent-based model where we simulate a social influence mechanism for organizational membership dynamics. We introduce a parameter analogous to a physical temperature to model contextual influence, and the familiar growth distributions are recovered as an intermediate case between extreme parameter values. The thesis as a whole provides suggestions for a more process-oriented modeling approach to social organizing that gives a more prominent role to the logics of organizational change. Finally, the series of methodological tools discussed can be useful for the analysis of many other social processes and more broadly for the development of quantitative sociological methods.At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Manuscript. Paper 2: Manuscript. Paper 3: Manuscript. Paper 4: Manuscript.
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"An empirical taxonomy of early growth trajectories." Université catholique de Louvain, 2008. http://edoc.bib.ucl.ac.be:81/ETD-db/collection/available/BelnUcetd-05022008-183920/.
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pereira, catarina pais. "Growth trajectories and vascular outcomes in early childhood." Master's thesis, 2015. https://repositorio-aberto.up.pt/handle/10216/90174.
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Dias, Maria Margarida Carvalhais Alves. "Growth trajectories and kidney function in early childhood." Master's thesis, 2019. https://hdl.handle.net/10216/121511.
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Dias, Maria Margarida Carvalhais Alves. "Growth trajectories and kidney function in early childhood." Dissertação, 2019. https://hdl.handle.net/10216/121511.
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pereira, catarina pais. "Growth trajectories and vascular outcomes in early childhood." Dissertação, 2015. https://repositorio-aberto.up.pt/handle/10216/90174.
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Dmitriew, Caitlin. "Evolutionary Ecology of Growth in Insects: What Maintains Variation in Growth Trajectories at the Phenotypic and Genotypic Levels?" Thesis, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/1807/24343.
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Growth rates are highly variable, both within and among genotypes and populations. The resolution of the trade-off between size and age at maturity has been the study of extensive research by life historians. The fitness advantages of large body size and rapid development time are well supported, leading to two predictions. First, realized growth rates should be maximized. Second, growth rate will be subject to strong stabilizing or directional selection, and consequently, low genetic variability.
In real populations, despite the advantages of rapid growth, animals often, in fact, grow at rates lower than the maximum rate that is physiologically possible, even in the absence of external constraints on growth rate (e.g. resource restriction or risk of predation while foraging). This implies that growth may have direct fitness consequences that are independent of the size and age of maturity, thereby lowering the optimal rate of growth. In addition to inducing plastic declines in growth rate, such costs may also select for lower intrinsic rates of growth.
Despite the strong fitness effects arising from attaining a large body size quickly, variation in growth rate persists at both the phenotypic and genetic levels. The evolutionary and ecological factors contributing to this variation in growth rate are the focus of this thesis. Growth rate variation in insect model species was produced by the manipulation of resource levels during development. By comparing fitness-associated traits and body composition of adults from different treatment groups, I identify direct costs of rapid growth that could explain why animals benefit from growth at submaximal rates. In the second part of the thesis, the relationship between environmental variation and genetic variance in growth rate is investigated by quantitative genetic analysis of body size at different ages and in different growth environments. The results of this analysis suggest that environmental stress can lead to increased genetic variance via decanalization. This has consequences for the evolvability of growth rates in changing environments.
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Howard, Andrea Louise Dalton. "Deconstructing heterogeneity in adolescent sexual behaviour: a person-centered, developmental systems approach." Phd thesis, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10048/1283.
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This study examined heterogeneity in adolescents experimentation with partnered sexual behaviours. Participants were 88 high school students in Edmonton, Alberta (M age = 16.59, SD = .95). Students completed surveys online once per two months from December, 2008 through December, 2009. Surveys tracked students reports of seven sexual behaviours ranging in intimacy from holding hands to intercourse. Growth mixture models were used to sort students trajectories of sexual behaviours across months into latent classes based on similar profiles. The best-fitting model revealed three distinct classes, labeled inexperienced, experimenting, and experienced. Students classified as inexperienced primarily reported only lower-intimacy, non-genital sexual behaviours across months, and many reported no sexual behaviours. Students classified as experimenting and experienced reported similar levels of higher-intimacy sexual behaviours across months. Most experimenting students behaviours appeared to increase gradually from less to more intimate, whereas experienced students appeared to make abrupt transitions between lower- and higher-intimacy behaviours, month-to-month. Demographic, personal, peer, and family variables provided additional information that increased distinction among classes, and explained residual within-class heterogeneity. The probability of being classified as inexperienced was highest for students who were younger, reported fewer sexually experienced friends, and lower parent behavioural control. Students who reported higher parent behavioural control had the highest probability of being classified as experimenting. Relations between trajectories of sexual behaviour intimacy and risk factors (e.g., later pubertal timing, fewer problem behaviours) and protective-enhancing resources (e.g., higher psychosocial maturity, more intimate friendships) varied across classes. This study shows that there are multiple pathways of experimentation with sexual behaviour in adolescence. Results are consistent both with studies that emphasize the potential for sex in adolescence to be high-risk, and with studies and arguments that emphasize the potential for sex in adolescence to play an important preparatory role toward healthy adult sexual functioning. Theoretical arguments and discussion are guided by a person-centered, developmental systems approach.
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Bichteler, Anne. "Trajectories, predictors, and adolescent health outcomes of childhood weight gain : a growth mixture model." Thesis, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/2152/28413.
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Obesity, as defined as BMI at or above the 95th percentile on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s growth charts, has increased almost 3-fold among children in the United States since 1980. Overweight in adolescence has been associated with increased fat retention and high blood pressure in adulthood, among other symptoms of metabolic syndrome. However, normative patterns of weight change in childhood have not been developed. Groups of children may follow different trajectory patterns of BMI change over time. If common trajectory patterns could be identified, and their risk factors and outcomes understood, more nuanced intervention with families and children at risk for obesity could be developed. This study used a national dataset of 1,364 children whose weight and length was measured 12 times from birth through 15 ½ years. Testing both latent class growth analysis and growth mixture modeling identified four distinct subgroups, or classes, of BMI growth trajectory from 24 months – 8th grade. These classes were compared on numerous demographic, biological, and psychosocial risk factors identified in previous research as related to obesity. Classes were differentiated primarily on the child’s BMI at 15 months, the mother’s BMI at 15 months, birth weight for age, and percent increase in birth weight. Being male, Black, and lower SES were also related to membership in the higher-BMI trajectory classes. Of the psychosocial factors, maternal sensitivity, maternal depression, and attachment classification were also related to BMI class. Membership in these trajectories strongly predicted weight-related and blood-pressure outcomes at 15 ½ years over and above individual risk factors, demonstrating that patterns of change themselves are highly influential. The best-fitting models of weight-related outcomes at 15 ½ years included change trajectory in combination with biological, psychosocial, and SES risk factors from 0-24 months, with R² ranging from .31 = .50. Characteristics predicting adolescent overweight can be identified in the first years of life and should trigger the development and implementation of early intervention protocols in obstetrics and pediatrics.text
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Rosofsky, Anna Stillman. "Ambient air pollution in Massachusetts: inequality trends, residential infiltration, and childhood weight growth trajectories." Thesis, 2018. https://hdl.handle.net/2144/27789.
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Exposure to pollutants of ambient origin contributes significantly to the global disease burden (Cohen et al., 2017). Mounting evidence has demonstrated disproportionately high ambient PM2.5 and NO2 concentrations in the U.S. among nonwhite and low-income populations, potentially contributing to environmental health disparities (Bell and Ebisu, 2012; Clark et al., 2014; Morello-Frosch and Lopez, 2006). There is limited understanding of temporal trends and underlying causes of exposure inequalities (EIs), and whether residential building characteristics modify observed EIs. Further, while ambient pollutants have been linked to cardiometabolic disease in adulthood, few studies have documented the link between early-life ambient air pollution exposure and weight growth trajectories in early childhood- an informative step on the causal pathway between early life exposures and chronic outcomes.
Using 1 km2 PM2.5 and NO2 predictions in Massachusetts and Census data, we quantify longitudinal EI between sociodemographic groups over a decade. We estimate AER for all Massachusetts residential parcels using publicly available data and assess whether accounting for AER exacerbates or ameliorates PM2.5 inequalities. We examine associations of weight growth trajectories in early childhood with residential prenatal and postnatal PM2.5 and distance to road (traffic) exposure in the Boston-based Children’s HealthWatch cohort.
PM2.5 and NO2 inequalities increased across the study period in urban areas, and EIs were more pronounced for NO2 than PM2.5 and among racial/ethnic groups compared to other population subgroups. Analyzing EI longitudinally revealed that spatio-temporal shifts in air pollution, and not demographic distributions, contributed to exposure disparities. We found substantial variability in estimated AER across the state, and that PM2.5 EIs were magnified when AER was considered. Prenatal PM2.5 >9.5 µg/m3 predicted higher weight growth rates among females, but with an opposite direction of effect in males. This association was modified by birth weight and AER, with a stronger magnitude of effect in low-birthweight and higher-AER females.
These findings underscore the importance of considering vulnerable communities and residential characteristics in ambient air pollution reduction strategies. This dissertation provides an opportunity to understand susceptible phenotypes and periods of potential intervention to reduce ambient air pollution impacts on cardiometabolic outcomes.2020-03-17T00:00:00Z
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Huang, Shu-Min, and 黃淑敏. "Exploring the Latent Growth Model and Developmental Trajectories in Numerical Operation for Elementary School Students." Thesis, 2013. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/59039541934984325740.
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碩士國立臺中教育大學
教育測驗統計研究所
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The purpose of this study is to investigate the longitudinal trends and the categories in numerical operation based on the NAEP 2003 assessment framework for 4th to 6th graders. Three tests with anchor items design are developed based on both the competence indicators of grade 1-9 curriculum in Math and the NAEP 2003 assessment framework, concept understanding, procedure knowledge ,and problem solving. The latent growth model is applied to analyze the longitudinal data and the cluster analysis is used to explore the categories of developmental trajectories. The results are listed as follows: 1) In concept understanding of numerical operation, the values of selected indexes generally suggest reasonable overall model fit: TLI=.953, IFI=.857, CFI=.952 and SRMR=.034. 2) In procedure knowledge of numerical operation, the values of selected indexes generally suggest reasonable overall model fit: TLI=.980, IFI=.939, CFI=.980, and SRMR=.016。 3) In problem solving of numerical operation, the values of selected indexes generally suggest reasonable overall model fit: TLI=.988, IFI=.981, CFI=.987,and SRMR=.048。 4) The categories of developmental trajectories in concept understanding of numerical operation include “low initial status, stable growth rate”,and “high initial status, static growth rate”. 5) The categories of developmental trajectories in procedure knowledge of numerical operation include “high initial status, stable growth rate”, “high initial status, negative growth rate”, “low initial status, stable growth rate”. 6) The categories of developmental trajectories in problem solving of numerical operation include “low initial status, not stable growth rate”, “high initial status, slow growth rate” “low initial status, stable growth rate”, and “high initial status, negative growth rate”.
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Wolf, AP. "Identification and prediction of inter-individual differences in cognitive training trajectories : a growth mixture modelling approach." Thesis, 2016. https://eprints.utas.edu.au/23139/1/Wolf_whole_thesis.pdf.
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There is emerging evidence of inter-individual differences in cognitive training responsiveness. Conventional statistics do not adequately address heterogeneity and longitudinal performance trajectories.
Generalised growth mixture modelling (GGMM; Muthén, 2004) was utilised to identify and predict heterogeneous longitudinal cognitive performance trajectories following training. Specific and generalised effects of training were examined. Baseline characteristics such as age, sex and proxies for cognitive reserve were also explored as predictors of trajectories.
Data from 315 community-dwelling older adults (age 55–85 years) from the Active Cognitive Enhancement (ACE) Program training study were analysed. Short-term (VM) and long-term verbal memory (LTVM) and executive functioning (EF) were tested using the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) and the CogState Ltd Groton Maze Learning Test (GMLT) at baseline and at 3-, 6- and 12-month follow-ups.
Generalised growth mixture modelling demonstrated High, Moderate, and Low performance classes for memory performance. High and Low classes were identified for executive function. Also identified were demonstrable performance trajectory gains in the trained individuals of the Low class for executive function, those performing at a low normative level at baseline (Cohen’s d = 2.23). These results offer a novel contribution to the literature.
Gains by those trained in the Low performing VM and LTVM classes’ performance trajectories were also shown (Cohen’s d = 4.48 and 1.38, respectively). However, the experimental participants were compared to a small number of controls (n = 2) thus no meaningful training effects on memory were identified. The GGMM models therefore demonstrated that the multidomain ACE cognitive training program produced some generalised cognitive improvement in healthy older adults, albeit to limited extent.
Age and estimated premorbid IQ (a proxy for cognitive reserve) predicted Low EF performance trajectories compared to High class performances. Trained individuals were more likely to be older and have lower levels of estimated pre-morbid IQ. Individuals who demonstrated executive function performance gains were less likely to demonstrate verbal memory trajectory gains. These findings suggest distinct responses to training in different cognitive domains and/or distinctive inter-individual responses to elements of the multi-domain training program. Caution with interpretation of GGMM labels and predictive factors identified is necessary, given their relativity to the cohort. With this approach, current theories including compensation, magnification, ‘Use It or Lose It’, plasticity, flexibility, and cognitive reserve are supported. Application of GGMM can also further facilitate development of individually tailored and cost effective cognitive training programs.
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Levesque, Richard. "A Latent Growth Curve Analysis of Neighbourhood and Family Influences on Canadian Children's Prosocial Behaviour Developmental Trajectories." Thesis, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10222/14342.
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Prosocial behaviour is an important building block of children's future social relationships and overall life achievement. The purpose of this study is to increase our knowledge of how various social pathways influence the developmental trajectories of prosocial behaviour in children between the age of 4 and 11. Conceptually, this study rests on the family stress model and its mediating effects, augmented by parental perceptions of neighbourhood social relationships moderating those family pathways. Research is conducted using data from Statistics Canada's National Longitudinal Survey on Children and Youth (NLSCY), and latent growth models (LGM) in four parenting domains: positive interaction, effectiveness, consistency, and rationality. The study supports the hypothesis that family pathways, such as parental depression, family dysfunction, and parenting practices, mediate the relationship between family SES and children's prosocial development. Study findings also demonstrate the important direct effect sizes of all parenting practices on children's prosocial growth. Results suggest that the magnitude of the direct effects of parenting practices on prosocial behaviour, which are non-negligible and positive, are to a great extent negatively affected by the variables defined in the family stress model. Moreover, this research provides new insights about the types of moderation, and the focus of these moderating effects on the family stress model. Thus, findings support the hypothesis that parents' perceptions of neighbourhood cohesion and social support mitigate one or more family pathways more proximal to the child. Overall, this research study contributes in a distinctive manner to the current literature on children's prosocial behaviour development.
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Turnbull, Margaret. "Assessing the Regularity and Predictability of the Age-Trajectories of Healthcare Utilization." 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10222/15441.
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This research examines the viability of a need-based approach that models the age-trajectories of healthcare utilization. We propose a fundamentally different way of treating age in modeling healthcare use. Rather than treating age as a need indicator, we refocus modeling efforts to predicting the age-trajectories of healthcare use. Using inpatient hospital utilization data from the Discharge Abstract Database, first, we model the age-trajectories of the rate of hospital use employing a common functional form. Second, we assess variation in these age-trajectories using growth curve modeling. Third, we explain variation in these age-trajectories using census variables. Our analysis shows that the regional variation in the age-trajectories of the rate of inpatient hospital use is sufficient to justify this method, and could be partially explained using census variables. This indicates that modeling age-trajectories of healthcare use is advantageous, and the current need-based approach may benefit from this new modeling strategy.
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"Socioeconomic and Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Cognitive Trajectories among the Oldest Old: The Role of Vascular and Functional Health." Doctoral diss., 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.9295.
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abstract: Identifying modifiable causes of chronic disease is essential to prepare for the needs of an aging population. Cognitive decline is a precursor to the development of Alzheimer's and other dementing diseases, representing some of the most prevalent and least understood sources of morbidity and mortality associated with aging. To contribute to the literature on cognitive aging, this work focuses on the role of vascular and physical health in the development of cognitive trajectories while accounting for the socioeconomic context where health disparities are developed. The Assets and Health Dynamics among the Oldest-Old study provided a nationally-representative sample of non-institutionalized adults age 65 and over in 1998, with biennial follow-up continuing until 2008. Latent growth models with adjustment for non-random missing data were used to assess vascular, physical, and social predictors of cognitive change. A core aim of this project was examining socioeconomic and racial/ethnic variation in vascular predictors of cognitive trajectories. Results indicated that diabetes and heart problems were directly related to an increased rate of memory decline in whites, where these risk factors were only associated with baseline word-recall for blacks when conditioned on gender and household assets. These results support the vascular hypotheses of cognitive aging and attest to the significance of socioeconomic and racial/ethnic variation in vascular influences on cognitive health. The second substantive portion of this dissertation used parallel process latent growth models to examine the co-development of cognitive and functional health. Initial word-recall scores were consistently associated with later functional limitations, but baseline functional limitations were not consistently associated with later word-recall scores. Gender and household income moderated this relationship, and indicators of lifecourse SES were better equipped to explain variation in initial cognitive and functional status than change in these measures over time. Overall, this work suggests that research examining associations between cognitive decline, chronic disease, and disability must account for the social context where individuals and their health develop. Also, these findings advocate that reducing socioeconomic and racial/ethnic disparities in cognitive health among the aging requires interventions early in the lifecourse, as disparities in cognitive trajectories were solidified prior to late old age.Dissertation/Thesis
Ph.D. Sociology 2011
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Henry, Kimberly Lynn. "A latent class growth model of rural adolescent drinking an examination of the antecedents to and young adult consequences of adolescent alochol use trajectories /." 2002. http://etda.libraries.psu.edu/theses/approved/WorldWideIndex/ETD-232/index.html.
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