Secular variation in the heritability of educational attainment are proposed to be due to the implementation of more egalitarian educational policies leading to increased equality in educational opportunities in the second part of the 20th century. The action of effect is hypothesized to be a decrease of shared environmental (e.g., family socioeconomic status or parents' education) influences o...

Shot Across the Bow, Stigma or Selection? The Effect of Repeating a Class on Educational Attainment The German practice of compelling weak students to repeat a class has come under heavy criticism recently. Many observers fear that this practice is, at best, useless or even counterproductive. However, little is known so far on the consequences of having to repeat a class, as compared to be conf...

Despite speculation concerning the accuracy of self-reported information, particularly from certain patient populations, many neuropsychologists continue to estimate premorbid intellectual functioning on the basis of self-reported educational attainment. This study examined 116 individuals with diverse diagnoses [i.e., alcoholism, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), schizophrenia or schizoaff...

Recent studies have begun to uncover the genetic architecture of educational attainment. We build on this work using genome-wide data from siblings in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). We measure the genetic predisposition of siblings to educational attainment using polygenic scores. We then test how polygenic scores are related to social environments a...

INTRODUCTION We examined for demographic and psychosocial correlates on the participation of habitual walking and sports/leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) among older persons in Singapore. MATERIALS AND METHODS In an observational study, 177 Chinese, community/urban-dwelling, ambulant, non-disabled participants > or = 50 years old were recruited from a health promotion programme. The main...

Immigration is commonly considered to be selective of more able individuals. Studies comparing the educational attainment of Mexican immigrants in the United States to that of the Mexican resident population support this characterization. Upward educational-attainment biases in both coverage and measurement, however, may be substantial in U.S. DATA SOURCES Moreover, differences in educationa...

BACKGROUND Reliable estimates of mortality according to socioeconomic status play a crucial role in informing the policy debate about social inequality, social cohesion, and exclusion as well as about the reform of pension systems. Linked mortality data have become a gold standard for monitoring socioeconomic differentials in survival. Several approaches have been proposed to assess the quality...

Objectives To compare the prevalence of type 2 diabetes in adults aged 35 to 74 years of the Turkish and Moroccan communities in Belgium with the prevalence in native Belgians. To examine the determinants and specific mechanisms responsible for differences in diabetes between these communities. Method Both objectives were examined using the Health Interview Surveys of 1997, 2001 and 2004. Stepw...

Cognitive impairment is a prevalent and debilitating consequence of multiple sclerosis (MS; for review, Rocca et al. 1) for which we have no effective treatments. 2 The best approach to 'treatment' may be early intervention to prevent cognitive decline; however, a science and clinical practice of early intervention/pre-ventative medicine requires accurate identification of patients at greatest ...