The permanent records of 562 female adolescents enrolled in school-based programs for pregnant and parenting students in Colorado during the 1984-1985 through 1986-1987 school years were reviewed. The study compared students who graduated with those students who dropped out. The findings indicated that "completers " were more likely to be (a) better students, (b) 16 years of age or older, (c) enrolled in vocational classes, (d) show improved grades once in the special program, (e) fail to show a dramatic drop in their academic performance between grades 7 and 8, and (f) less frequently enrolled in special education classes. Five variables were significant predictors of group membership, predicting group membership with 76% accuracy.

PURPOSE:Multiple concussions lead to decreased physical and cognitive function with age but the effects on young adults are inconclusive. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of multiple concussions on neural control of force production and relaxation in college-aged young adults. METHODS: Thirty-nine volunteers (21 females, 18 males) participated in this study. Sixteen participants did not have concussions (NONE), 12 had 1-2 diagnosed concussion (FEW), and 13 had more than two diagnosed concussions (MANY). Participants performed rapid grip force pulses to varying peak forces (15% and 80% of MVC). Data were filtered with a 50Hz cutoff. Rate of force development (RFD) and rate of force relaxation (RFR) were calculated with the slope of a central tendency 50ms moving window. Peak RFD and peak force were plotted with a best fit regression line, similarly peak RFR and peak force were plotted. The slope of each plot (RFD-scaling factor; RFD-sf, RFR-sf) were recorded. Segments were calculated as the number of zero-crossings from the second derivative of the time-force curve divided by 2 and is an indicator of the steadiness or attempts to reach peak force. Time to peak force and Time to half relaxation were recorded from the time-force curve. One-way ANOVAs were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: All data is displayed in table 1. Chi square goodness of fit revealed no significant differences in psychotropic medication use (χ=0.92, p=0.63). One-way ANOVA showed no significant differences between the groups in any descriptive or experimental variable (all F<0.56, all p>0.37). CONCLUSION: In college-aged young adults, a history of multiple concussions has no effect on time to peak force, time to half relaxation, movement segments, or control of rapid force production/relaxation. With the known long-term cognitive and functional decline associated with multiple concussions, perhaps a longitudinal study would give a better indication of when changes may occur.