Urban Institute

About: Urban Institute is a nonprofit organization based out in Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Medicaid & Population. The organization has 927 authors who have published 2330 publications receiving 86426 citations.

Sexual activity, condom use and AIDS awareness among adolescent males

Abstract: New data from the 1988 National Survey of Adolescent Males indicate that 60 percent of never-married young men ages 15-19 are sexually active Among 17-19-year-old males living in metropolitan areas, the rate of sexual activity reported in 1988 was 15 percent higher than that reported in 1979 This increase encompasses a rise of 23 percent among black males and 13 percent among nonblack males Slightly more than half of the sexually active males in the 1988 survey reported that they had used a condom the last time they had had intercourse Among both black and nonblack youths aged 17-19 living in metropolitan areas, rates of reported condom use at last intercourse more than doubled between 1979 and 1988 Conversely, reported reliance on ineffective methods of contraception or use of no method at last intercourse was 60 percent lower When first intercourse occurred within two years of the 1988 survey, the odds of using a condom were increased by 110 percent over the odds when intercourse occurred between 1975 and 1982, after controlling for the effects of age at first intercourse, race and ethnicity The young men in the sample were very knowledgeable about how the human immunodeficiency virus is transmitted, and over three-quarters of the sample did not dismiss the disease as uncommon, nor did they think that using condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS was too much trouble The rates of condom use were significantly lower than average, however, among young men who had ever used drugs intravenously or whose partners had done so, young men who had ever had sex with a prostitute and those who had had five sexual partners or more in the past year

Resolving inconsistencies in trends in old-age disability: Report from a technical working group

Abstract: In September 2002, a technical working group met to resolve previously published inconsistencies across national surveys in trends in activity limitations among the older population. The 12-person panel prepared estimates from five national data sets and investigated methodological sources of the inconsistencies among the population aged 70 and older from the early 1980s to 2001. Although the evidence was mixed for the 1980s and it is difficult to pinpoint when in the 1990s the decline began, during the mid- and late 1990s, the panel found consistent declines on the order of 1%-2.5% per year for two commonly used measures in the disability literature: difficulty with daily activities and help with daily activities. Mixed evidence was found for a third measure: the use of help or equipment with daily activities. The panel also found agreement across surveys that the proportion of older persons who receive help with bathing has declined at the same time as the proportion who use only equipment (but not personal care) to bathe has increased. In comparing findings across surveys, the panel found that the period, definition of disability, treatment of the institutionalized population, and age standardizing of results were important to consider. The implications of the findings for policy, national survey efforts, and further research are discussed.

Causal inference with observational data

Abstract: Problems with inferring causal relationships from nonexperimental data are briefly reviewed, and four broad classes of methods designed to allow estimation of and inference about causal parameters ...

Food Insecurity Works through Depression, Parenting, and Infant Feeding to Influence Overweight and Health in Toddlers

Abstract: We used the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort 9- and 24-mo surveys (n = 8693) and Structural Equation Modeling to examine direct and indirect associations between food insecurity and toddlers' overweight (weight for length), physical health, and length for age. There were significant effects of food insecurity on parental depression and parental depression in turn influenced physical health. There were also significant effects of food insecurity on parenting practices, which in turn were significantly associated with infant feeding and subsequently toddlers' overweight. There were no significant direct or indirect associations between food insecurity and toddlers' length for age. Our results show that food insecurity influences parenting, including both depression and parenting practices. Findings suggest parental depression is a stressor on parenting behavior that social policy should address to alleviate problematic child health outcomes. Findings underscore the importance of continuing and strengthening policy initiatives to ensure that families with infants and toddlers have sufficient, predictable, and reliable food supply.