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I join two methodologies by illustrating the application of multilevel modeling principles to hazard-rate models with an emphasis on procedures for discrete-time data that contain repeatable events. I demonstrate this application using data taken from the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) to ascertain the relationship between multiple covariates and risk of subsequent marital dissolution. I consider both fixed- and random-effects versions of the multilevel model, as well as a Generalized Estimating Equation alternative to estimating random effects. I compare results obtained from the various estimators, noting why differences occur, and recommend when to choose the various alternatives. I also provide a set of SAS and STATA programs that can be used to analyze the NSFG data.

Using longitudinal data covering 25 years from 1979 to 2004, the author examines the relationship between wives' economic resources and the risk of marital dissolution. The author considers the effects of labor force participation, income, and relative income while accounting for potential endogeneity of wives' economic resources. The extent to which wives' economic resources are differentially related to marital disruption for Whites and Blacks is also ascertained. The author finds that the economic resources of women are tightly linked to the risk of divorce, both negatively and positively, for Whites but not for Blacks. (Contains 2 tables.)

Despite progress in identifying the covariates of divorce, there remain substantial gaps in the knowledge. One of these gaps is the relationship between health and risk of marital dissolution. I extend prior research by examining the linkages between work-related health limitations and divorce using 25 years of data (N = 7919) taken from the 1979 National Longitudinal Study of Youth (NLSY-79). I found that work-related health limitations among husbands, but not wives, were linked to an increased risk of divorce. In addition, I found that this relationship was moderated by education in a fashion that varies according to race. For White men, education exacerbated the effect of health limitations, but for Black men, education attenuated the effects of work-related health limitations.

Using data from the 1979 National Longitudinal Study of Youth, the author investigates the relationship between military service and the transition to the first intimate union. The author argues that active-duty military service promotes marriage over cohabitation. The results are consistent with this argument, showing that active-duty members of the military are much more likely to choose marriage over cohabitation compared to reserve-duty service members, veterans, and comparable civilians. These results are particularly strong for Black men, indicating a possible relationship between working in a largely race-neutral environment and the choice of first intimate union. (Contains 3 tables.)

Several researchers have suggested that the persistently higher rate of divorce among Blacks may be due to hard-to-measure concepts such as culture or norms. To attack this problem, we use data from the NLSY-79 to examine the risk of divorce among enlisted active-duty military servicemen where economic differences and the negative effects of discrimination are minimized. Our results indicate that military service reduces the likelihood of marital dissolution among Blacks serving in the Army and that this finding is not likely the result of unobserved selectivity. We attribute the latter finding to the fact that the Army has a well-defined career ladder for Blacks that fully integrates them into leadership positions providing role models and positive work environments that reduce stress associated with discrimination and promote stable marriages.

In this article, I use data on women (N= 655) from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth to examine the correlates of second marital dissolution. I update the limited number of previous studies on this topic by focusing on the relationships between divorce and the complex life course patterns that characterize respondents in second marriages. I pay particular attention to the roles played by stepchildren and cohabitation. I find that women who brought stepchildren into their second marriage experience an elevated risk of marital disruption. Premarital cohabitation or having a birth while cohabiting with a second husband did not raise the risk of marital dissolution, however. In addition, marrying a man who brought a child to the marriage did not increase the risk of marital disruption.

The author uses data from the 1997 and 1999 rounds of the National Survey of America's Families to estimate a set of descriptive regression equations examining the relationship between a detailed measure of childhood living arrangements and the educational well-being of children measured as their engagement in school and participation in extracurricular activities. He considers three dimensions of family environment linked to childhood living arrangements that might generate differences in school engagement and participation in extracurricular activities. These dimensions of family environment are turbulence (degree of instability in children's social and physical environment), parenting context (parental activities experienced by children), and economic resources (family income relative to poverty). The author finds strong bivariate relationships between childhood living arrangements and the measures of educational well-being that are reduced and sometimes eliminated when differences in turbulence, parenting, and economic resources are controlled. (Contains 3 tables.)

This article uses data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to examine the relationship between service in the All Volunteer Force (AVF) military and educational attainment. Through the use of fixed-effects estimators, the author generated estimates of the effect of military service on the highest grade of school completed by men that are purged of the confounding effects of constant unmeasured household-specific and person-specific variables. He also implemented another series of controls for selectivity involving potential time-varying factors by comparing active-duty veterans to reserve-duty veterans and nonveterans who at some time indicated their intentions to enter the military. The results indicate that there is considerable diversity in the effect of military service among veterans according to such variables as education prior to service, score on the Armed Forces Qualification Test, branch of service, length of service, age at entry into the military, and race. Overall, however, veterans of the AVF receive less education than their civilian counterparts, and this educational gap tends to grow over time. (Contains 3 tables and 11 notes.)

Introduction: Currently there are various definitions of patient care complexity with little consensus. The numbers of patients with complex care needs are increasing. To improve interventions for 'complex patients' and [...]