Wisconsin High School Research Articles

A Prospective Study of Injury Patterns in High School Pole Vaulters

Background The pole vault is a track and field event that has witnessed a large increase in participants during the past 5 years. Currently there are no prospective studies that have evaluated injury patterns in pole vaulters. Objectives To determine the injury rate and to describe injury patterns in high school pole vaulters. Study Design Descriptive epidemiological study. Methods This was a prospective cohort study of 140 Wisconsin high school athletes who participated in pole vaulting during the 2005 and 2006 track and field seasons. Baseline athlete information was obtained at the beginning of each season. When an injury occurred, an injury report form was completed to document diagnosis and circumstances of the incident. Injury rates were expressed as injuries per 100 athletes per season as well as injuries per 1000 athletic exposures. Risk factors were analyzed by calculating relative risks for baseline athlete variables. Results The injury rates were 26.4 injuries per 100 athletes per season (95% confidence interval, 18.6–36.4) and 7.1 injuries per 1000 athletic exposures (95% confidence interval, 5.0–9.8). Trauma to the lower extremities accounted for 71.5% of injuries. The most common injury types were ligament sprains (31.6%). Landing incorrectly was the most frequent mechanism of injury (26.3%). A history of pole-vault injury was associated With increased risk of injury (relative risk, 2.4; 95% confidence interval, 1.4–4.1). Conclusion Injuries are common in young vaulters. Injury mechanisms indicate that many could be avoided by using proper technique, particularly during the landing phase. Coaches should focus on vaulters with prior injuries to identify risky behavior and to help correct poor technique.

DXA Provides a Valid Minimum Weight in Wrestlers

To cross-validate the DXA prediction of minimum weight (MW) in high school wrestlers, using a criterion-referenced analysis. The goal was to independently evaluate whether DXA provided a MW within acceptable limits for the sport of wrestling. Secondarily, the DXA prediction error was compared against the currently approved skinfold (SF) method. Criterion MW was calculated by hydrostatic weighing (HW) with measured residual lung volume. Whole-body scans were performed with a Norland XR-36 bone densitometer. All skinfolds were taken by the same experienced measurer. The subject's body density was computed by Lohman and was converted to percent body fat, using the equation of Brozek et al. The measured fat-free mass was used to calculate each wrestler's MW at 7% body fat. Subjects were 94 Wisconsin high school wrestlers (mean (SD): age = 15.1 yr (1.2), height = 170.3 cm (7.1), weight = 63.2 kg (9.6). There was no significant difference in mean MW from DXA (60.6 kg (9.0)) and the HW criterion (59.8 kg (9.0)). The correlation was strong (r = 0.98), and the regression for the relationship between HW and DXA (y = 0.976 x DXA + 0.698 kg) did not significantly deviate from the line of identity. A low standard error of estimate (SEE) of 1.7 kg and a pure error (PE) of 1.9 kg were found, with residuals ranging from -3.94 to 2.88 kg. This PE was similar to the SF method (2.1 kg) in the sample. Bland-Altman analysis showed no systematic bias in the prediction of MW across weight classes. We conclude that DXA provided a valid prediction of MW in this sample of high school wrestlers.

A Prospective Study of Injury Patterns in High School Pole Vaulters

BackgroundThe pole vault is a track and field event that has witnessed a large increase in participants during the past 5 years. Currently there are no prospective studies that have evaluated injury patterns in pole vaulters.ObjectivesTo determine the injury rate and to describe injury patterns in high school pole vaulters.Study DesignDescriptive epidemiological study.MethodsThis was a prospective cohort study of 140 Wisconsin high school athletes who participated in pole vaulting during the 2005 and 2006 track and field seasons. Baseline athlete information was obtained at the beginning of each season. When an injury occurred, an injury report form was completed to document diagnosis and circumstances of the incident. Injury rates were expressed as injuries per 100 athletes per season as well as injuries per 1000 athletic exposures. Risk factors were analyzed by calculating relative risks for baseline athlete variables.ResultsThe injury rates were 26.4 injuries per 100 athletes per season (95% confidence...

Direct and Indirect Pathways between Parental Constructive Behavior and Adolescent Affiliation with Achievement-Oriented Peers

We investigated the direct and indirect pathways through which parental constructive behavior may influence the adolescent’s affiliation with achievement-oriented peers. Using a longitudinal survey data set from nine California and Wisconsin high schools (from 9th through 12th grades, with an approximate age range from 14 through 18) structural equation models were estimated. Our longitudinal analyses confirmed an indirect effect from Time 1 parental constructive behavior and a direct effect from Time 2 parental constructive behavior on an increase in the perceived achievement orientation of friends at Time 2, net of the stability effect from the prior values of the perceived achievement orientation of friends at Time 1. A point to be emphasized is that parental influence on peer affiliation in late adolescence remains significant even as parental involvement in adolescents’ lives diminishes. In addition, the direct effect from Time 2 parental constructive behavior on the perceived achievement-orientation of friends appears stronger for boys than for girls.

Estimating the Effect of Personality on Male and Female Earnings

The authors adopt the Five-Factor Model of personality structure to explore how personality affected the earnings of a large group of men and women who graduated from Wisconsin high schools in 1957 and were re-interviewed in 1992. All five basic traits—extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience—had statistically significant positive or negative earnings effects, and together they appear to have had effects comparable to those commonly found for cognitive ability. Among men, substantial earnings advantages were associated with antagonism (the obverse of agreeableness), emotional stability (the obverse of neuroticism), and openness to experience; among women, with conscientiousness and openness to experience. Of the five traits, the evidence indicates that agreeableness had the greatest influence on gender differences in earnings: men were considerably more antagonistic (non-agreeable) than women, on average, and men alone were rewarded for that trait.

Wisconsin High School Coaches?? Training, Knowledge and Attitudes Toward the Medical Care of Athletes

University of AlbertaEdmonton, Alberta, Canada Source of funding for the original study: Australian Physiotherapy Association (in part). Correspondence about the original study: Dr. Gabbe, Monash University, Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Central and Eastern Clinical School, Alfred Hospital, Commercial Road, Prahran, Victoria 3181, Australia (e-mail: [email protected]).

Environmental Sensitivity among Wisconsin High School Students

A two-phase study was conducted to assess influences on environmental sensitivity (ES) in Wisconsin high school students. Phase I employed a focus group methodology; phase II employed a paper survey. Three categories of influences emerged from phase I: environmental, role model, and personality. Other results were consistent between both study phases. The influence most frequently cited by students as most important was time spent outdoors. The second most frequently mentioned influence was male teachers. The most frequently mentioned trait of role models was that they were 'friendly/personable'. A profile of environmentally sensitive high school students was developed.

Socioeconomic Status and Health at Midlife: A Comparison of Educational Attainment with Occupation-Based Indicators

PURPOSE: Educational attainment is a widely used indicator of socioeconomic status (SES) in health studies. However, little is known about its relationship to health relative to measures of occupational standing. This study directly compared education with an array of occupational measures—including social class—in relation to health. METHODS: The Wisconsin Longitudinal Study collected self-reported health data from a sample of 6875 Wisconsin high school graduates aged 53–54 in 1992–1993. The analysis regressed overall health, physical symptoms, and medical conditions on socioeconomic indicators, using logistic regression. RESULTS: Associations of health outcomes with occupational standing net of educational attainment are mainly weak or non-existent. “Occupational education” is the only indicator to have a strong association with health net of education in analyses of both men and women. CONCLUSIONS: While occupation is sometimes an important mechanism linking education and health, control for the overall relation between SES and health may not require measures of occupational standing when educational attainment is measured well. However, the present findings are limited to non-Hispanic white high school graduates from Wisconsin at ages 53–54.

Medical coverage of high school football in Wisconsin in 1997.

The goals of this study were to assess the health care available to Wisconsin high school football players and to assess high schools' compliance with safety requirements of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA). The design was a cross-sectional survey-based study. The setting consisted of WIAA high schools. Athletic directors of WIAA high school football programs participated in the survey. The main outcome measures were the prevalence of medical coverage by physicians, certified athletic trainers, and ambulance personnel at football games and practice and the prevalence of compliance with WIAA requirements. Seventy-seven percent (302/392) of surveys were returned. Thirty-six percent of schools had a designated team physician. Eighty-seven percent had a trainer, and 86% were certified athletic trainers (Athletic Trainer Certified, ATC). At practice and scrimmage, 79% had an ambulance available or on call, 52% had a trainer present, and 28% had a physician on call. At football games, 71% had an ambulance, 67% a certified athletic trainer, 48% an emergency medical technician, and 45% a physician present. Regarding WIAA requirements, 9% had no accessible phone, 27% had no written emergency plan of action, 92% had gloves, and 92% had blood spill kits. Larger schools had better compliance with WIAA requirements than did smaller schools. Health care coverage was provided mainly by trainers and ambulance personnel, although physicians were routinely present at almost half of all games. Failure to comply with WIAA medical coverage requirements was not infrequent. This study forms the basis for an informational intervention, providing an opportunity to correct deficits.

Socioeconomic Achievements of Siblings in the Life Course

About 8,500 graduates of Wisconsin high schools and a randomly selected brother or sister have been followed from 1957 through the early 1990s. Data include multiple measures of social background, cognitive ability, schooling, and occupations held from career entry to midlife. The authors have analyzed occupational standing across the life course, using complementary measures of occupational education and occupational income. The analysis is based on structural equation models of sibling resemblance. The models estimate the effects of social background, cognitive ability, and schooling—both within and between families—across the life course of women and men. Across families, educational attainment levels are determined largely by cognitive ability and, to a lesser degree, by social background; family levels of occupational standing are determined largely by family education levels. Within families, cognitive ability also affects occupational standing primarily through schooling. Occupational inequalities and the effects of educational attainment on those inequalities both tend to decline across the life course.

Social Stratification across Three Generations: New Evidence from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study

While two-generation studies provide important insights into how social and economic advantages and disadvantages are passed from one generation to the next, much less attention has been paid to stratification over three or more generations. In a regression analysis of several thousand parents who graduated from Wisconsin high schools in 1957, the authors found that the schooling, occupational status, and income of grandparents have few significant effects on the educational attainment or occupational status of their grand-children when parents' characteristics are controlled. Even when the authors consider both maternal and paternal grandparents and account for errors in variables, the data are not consistent with the hypothesis that grandparents' schooling, occupational statuses or incomes directly affect grandchildren's educational or occupational attainments

A comparison of methods to predict minimal weight in high school wrestlers

The purpose of this study was to compare the accuracy of body fat determinations and subsequent calculation of minimal weight (MW) by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA), bioelectrical impedance (BIA), near-infrared photospectometry (NIR), and anthropometry (LOHMAN). Necessitated by mandatory state minimal weight testing, the methods were cross-validated on 95 Wisconsin high school wrestlers (mean +/- SD; age: 15.1 +/- 1.2 yr, height: 170.4 +/- 7.1 cm, weight: 63.4 +/- 9.8 kg). MW, defined as fat-free body/0.93, determined by hydrostatic weighing (HW) and residual volume via O2 dilution, served as the criterion. The validity of the four selected MW predictions were evaluated against HW by examining mean differences (MD), standard deviation differences (SDD), correlations (r), standard error of estimate (SEE), and total errors (TE). Statistically significant differences were shown between the methods and the criterion by t-tests; however, these were clinically small in Lohman (0.6 kg) and BIA (0.9 kg). TE ranged from 2.25 kg (Lohman) to 6.03 kg (NIR). The results indicated that Lohman skinfold equation provided the most accurate prediction of MW, demonstrating the highest correlation (0.972), lowest MD (0.6 kg), lowest SEE (2.12 kg), and lowest TE (2.25 kg) of the methods evaluated.

The Wisconsin Longitudinal Study: Adults As Parents And Children At Age 50

The Wisconsin Longitudinal Study: Adults As Parents And Children At Age 50

Interpreting higher order interactions in log-linear analysis.

In the present article, I call for a change in focus in the log-linear analysis of multiway contingency tables. Up to this point, researchers have concentrated largely on procedures for finding the model that most adequately fits the observed data. In many cases, the best fitting model contains one or more complex, higher order interactions involving several variables. It is often desirable to understand the pattern of these interactions. In this article, I present a procedure for substantively interpreting such higher order interactions. This procedure is based on the analogy between log-linear analysis and the general linear model. An example taken from the occupational aspirations literature illustrates the application of the procedure. With the development of the log-linear method, the analysis of nominal and ordinal variables in multiway contingency tables has attained a sophistication comparable to that found in the use of the general linear model to analyze interval and ratio variables. Complex conditional relations can now be discerned, and the procedure allows one to select a model containing such relations that best fits the observed data. (See Bishop, Feinberg, & Holland, 1975; Feinberg, 1981; or Goodman & Magidson, 1978, for a complete presentation and examples of the procedure.) Recently, psychologists have begun to make more extensive use of log-linear analysis (Bonett & Bentler, 1983; Kriska M to determine whether the hypotheses are supported in confirmatory analysis or to extend one's theory in exploratory analysis, one must understand the pattern of the higher order interaction. In the present article, I present a procedure for interpreting such higher order interactions. To illustrate the procedure, I reanalyze a five-dimensional contingency table taken from an investigation of occupational aspirations. Consider Table 1, taken from Sewell and Orenstein's (1965) investigation of occupational aspirations of Wisconsin high school seniors. Staring at the table does relatively little to help one identify the patterns of association in the table, especially when one admits that these associations might be quite complex. In applying log-linear analysis to this table, contingent relations that escaped prior analysis come to light, revealing new insights into the determinants of occupational aspirations. Further, the procedure described below provides comprehensible and theoretically meaningful interpretations for any such higher order interactions.

Fraternal Resemblance in Educational Attainment and Occupational Status

This article develops simple structural equation models of the regression of occupational status on schooling in a sample of 518 Wisconsin high school graduates and their brothers. The models correct for response variability and incorporate a family variance component structure. Methodological complications follow from the facts that the sample consists of sibling pairs; that members of a cohort of high school graduates, rather than their families, are the sampling units; and that the primary respondents are informants about some of the characteristics of their brothers. The regression of occupational status on educational attainment is relatively insensitive both to response variability and to the specification of common family factors. Family membership accounts for about half the variance in schooling and more than one-third of the variance in occupational standing, but there is little evidence that failure to control family background leads to upward bias in estimates of the effect of schooling on occ...

A New Approach to Athletic Training in Southern Wisconsin High Schools

In brief: The authors surveyed a random sample of 50% of Wisconsin high schools in each of the three classes to see how they were handling (1) organization of medical coverage, (2) first aid and initial care of sports injuries, and (3) follow-up care and reconditioning of sports injuries. The data showed that the medical coverage of the athletes was poorly organized and supervised. To help alleviate this problem, the University Hospital Sports Medicine and Fitness Center developed an outreach program in which 19 schools contract for (1) twice-weekly visits by an athletic trainer; (2) educational programs for coaches, athletes, and parents; and (3) trainer coverage at competitive events. This program provides the expertise and services of a certified trainer to schools that would otherwise go without.

Birth Order and Educational Attainment in Full Sibships

The idea that birth order influences intellectual development and social success has recently been revived, despite the accumulated evidence that birth order effects are often negligible or artifactual. In this paper, the association of birth order with educational attainment (as measured by years of schooling completed) is examined among 9,000 Wisconsin high school graduates of 1957 and among their full sibships, including more than 30,000 men and women. Whether we look at selection into the sample of high school graduates, postsecondary educational attainments of those graduates, or educational attainments within full sibships, there are no significant or systematic effects of birth order on schooling when other relevant variables have been controlled. Years of education appear to increase with birth order when family size is controlled, but this happens because secular increases in schooling have occurred within as well as across families.

Earnings, Relative Income, and Family Formation

The probability of first marriage for men who graduated from Wisconsin high schools in 1957 was analyzed with respect to their Social Security earnings records, Wisconsin income tax reports for parents, and other variables. The findings provide no support for Easterlin's hypothesis that marriage will occur earlier when young men judge their economic prospects favorably with respect to their parents' income. However, young men's earnings and time spent in schooling to increase them were found to be important influences on marriage timing. Additional schooling had little effect net of the time it absorbed.

Religio-Ethnic Effects on Attainments in the Early Career

A cultural explanation for religio-ethnic effects on attainments is tested by a structural equation model applied to a sample of white males who were seniors in Wisconsin high schools in 1957. Jews have a highly positive cultural orientation to education and occupational status, while that of Irish and Anglo-Saxon Catholics is mostly positive, that of Italian Catholics is mixed, and that of German Lutherans is mostly negative. Cultural mediation through high-school academic performance, significant others, and educational plans accounts for part of the religio-ethnic effect on education. Structural factors may account for remaining direct effects. Educational and occupational aspirations are critical cultural mediators of religio-ethnic effects on early occupational attainment. Religio-ethnic effects on achievements-particularly first job-are heightened in an urban subsample. Context-specific group cultural patterns may partly account for this finding, but historically rooted patterns of differential occupational opportunity unique to this city may also be at work.

Sex, Schooling, and Occupational Status

Based on data from an 18-year follow-up of Wisconsin high school seniors, this paper describes the process of occupational achievement among men and women from labor market entry to mid-life. In contrast to several earlier studies, there are marked sex differences in the acquisition and maintenance of occupational status. The effect of post high school education on the status of first jobs is twice as great among men as among women, and the effect of the status of first jobs on that of current jobs is one-third greater among men than among women. Men gain an average of nine points on the Duncan scale betweentheir first civilian jobs and their jobs at age 36, but women lose an average of more than two points on the Duncan scale. At the same time, sex differences in occupational attainment are not all disadvantageous to women. First jobs of women are six points higher in status on the average than first jobs of men, and when the status of first jobs is controlled, the continuing influence of schooling on oc...