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Whether age or gender or both influenced severity of injuries suffered in head-on automobile collisions on rural highways was assessed. The initial hypothesis was that, because of physiological changes, and possibly other changes related to aging (including loss of bone density), older drivers and passengers would suffer more severe injuries when involved in head-on collisions. Results of logistic regression analysis indicate that four separate factors, incorporating 14 individual and interactive variables, were strongly related to injury severity. Individual variables included age of driver or passenger (either linear or quadratic), position in the vehicle, and form of protection used, along with a set of interactive variables (such as age and position). The importance of age-related effects in injury severity is verified by hierarchical and principal components logistic regression models, amplifying findings of exploratory stepwise logistic analysis. Variations in findings resulted when the population was divided by gender. Although age remained a very important factor in predicting injury severity for both men and women, use of lap and shoulder restraints appeared to be more beneficial for men than for women, while deployed air bags seemed more beneficial for women than for men.

The generalizations drawn from this study are limited to the sample of selected Iowa high school students studied. Participants were selected from students of teachers who attended a workshop on parent education at Iowa State University in December, 1978. Assumptions It was assumed that the researcher would be able to develop an instrument to measure attitudes toward family planning education which would be interpreted consistently by the respondents, and that the respondents would be willing to respond to the instrument. It was further assumed that the instrument would be administered by the teachers of each group in a similar manner to each group. Explanation of Dissertation Format This thesis contains three papers designed for immediate submission to the appropriate scholarly journals, "Adolescent Fertility," the first paper, is a review of the literature related to adolescent sexuality, pregnancy, and parenting. This paper has been submitted to The Family Coordinator. The second paper, "Development of an Instrument to Measure Attitudes Toward Family Planning Education," includes a description of the development of the attitude 4 instrument and the comparative analysis of the theoretical and statistical derivation of the dimensions of the instrument. The second article has been submitted to Educational and Psychological Measurement. Both of these papers were authored by J, M. Mercier. The third paper, "Attitudes of Selected Secondary Students Toward Family Planning Education," was authored by J. M. Mercier and R. P. Hughes. Ruth P. Hughes, the major professor, has supplied literary assistance and assistance in the interpretation of the data. The third paper has been submitted to the Home Economics Research Journal.

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Three cohorts of older Americans are examined to determine how they perceive the likelihood of being able to access health care in the future. A modified Andersen (1968) model provides the framework for the study. A representative sample of 2,404 noninstitutionalized midwestern older persons separated into three age cohorts (60-69, 70-79, and 80+ ) was used. Predisposing, enabling, and need factors were examined by logistic regression. Significant differences were found between age cohorts, with the perceptions of the oldesi-old and the youngest-old appearing to be markedly more sensitive than those of the middle-old. Need factors of health and the respondents' perceptions of help they needed with instrumental activities of daily living, and enabling factors of community size and the barrier imposed by lack of transportation, combined to explain the perceptions of the oldest-old. For the youngest-old, the significant variables were bills, gender, barriers imposed by inadequate insurance, lack of transportation, and a perception that physicians charged more than allowed by Medicare. Recommendations are made for health care policy with respect to different age cohorts among the elderly, their families, and the rurality of the population.