False positives or hidden dimensions: What can monetary and multidimensional measurement tell us about child poverty in Vietnam?

Roelen K, Gassmann F, de Neubourg C. False positives or hidden dimensions: what can monetary and multidimensional measurement tell us about child poverty in Vietnam? A widely used division between poverty measures based on conceptual underpinnings and analytical outcomes is that of monetary versus multidimensional measures. Comparisons of the use and outcomes of the two methods have shown that they predominantly provide different pictures of poverty in terms of size, rank and group. This article contributes to the long‐standing and ongoing debate on poverty measurement by comparing the use of monetary and multidimensional poverty approaches, with a special focus on children in Vietnam and extending the empirical analysis beyond conventional methods. In addition to investigating whether poverty outcomes or groups of identified poor children differ when using the two different poverty measures, we also investigated the drivers underlying these differences. Findings confirm a considerable degree of mismatch: both poverty measures proved to be inadequate proxies for the other and factors underlying the identification by either one or both of the measures differed.     

Pathways to parenting stress reduction among parents in South Africa

Parenting stress has a range of effects on parents and their children. Despite existing evidence on the effectiveness of family-based interventions on reducing parenting stress, little is known about the mechanism of change that contributes to its reduction. This study investigates the mechanism of change in a parenting programme (Parenting for Lifelong Health [PLH]) on reducing parenting stress among parents of adolescents in South Africa. A pragmatic cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted among a total sample of 552 parents and primary caregivers (aged, M = 49.37; SD = 14.69) who were recruited from 40 communities in South Africa's Eastern Cape Province. A mediation analysis was performed to investigate direct and indirect effects using PROCESS macrostatistical software. The findings of the study indicate that parenting stress reduction operates via three significant mediators: improved parent–child relationship (β = 0.058, P < 0.000), reduced parental depression (β = −0.103, P < 0.000) and reduced family financial strain (β = −0.049, P < 0.000). The findings of the study highlight the importance of considering child, parental and contextual factors in the design and development of interventions aimed at reducing parenting stress in families in low- and middle-income settings.     

Exposure to Gambling Advertisements and Gambling Behavior in Young People

A cross-sectional survey of 4617 adolescents and young adults from 38 schools in two German states was conducted in 2014 to assess the association between gambling advertisements and gambling behavior. Exposure to ten gambling advertisements was measured with masked ad images; students indicated contact frequency and brand recall. Main outcomes were several gambling behaviors including probable pathological gambling assessed with the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS ≥ 5). A total of 65.4 % of the students reported gambling at least once in their life; 42.2 % gambled in the last 12 months; 6.9 % gambled in the last week, and 2.8 % reported probable pathological gambling. The average frequency that one of the selected ads had been seen at least once was 29.5 %, the average brand recall rate was 9.4 %. After adjustment for confounding, multilevel mixed-effects logistic regressions revealed that high gambling ad exposure was positively related to all assessed gambling outcomes, with the strongest association for weekly gambling. Future studies need to clarify the temporal sequence and specificity of these associations.     

Child Poverty in Vietnam: Providing Insights Using a Country-Specific and Multidimensional Model

Despite a wide under-prioritization, the issue of child poverty has received increasing attention worldwide over the last decade. The acknowledgement in Vietnam that child-specific poverty measurement is crucial for poverty efforts directed towards children, and the current lack thereof, instigated the development of a Vietnam child poverty approach. This paper proposes a country-specific, multidimensional and outcome-based approach for the measurement of the incidence, depth and severity of child poverty. It does so at the level of the individual child using household survey data. The development of such an approach at the level of the individual child presents an appropriate alternative for or supplement to the widely used monetary poverty approach, allowing for the use of compatible analytical methods. Findings suggest that 37% of all children in Vietnam live in poverty, with the most pressing areas of deprivation being water, sanitation and leisure. We do not find evidence for a gender bias but do observe a large urban–rural divide, regional disparities and large ethnic inequalities. We argue that this tailor-made approach is a valuable new tool for policy makers and analysts in Vietnam as it enables identification and analysis of poor children, their characteristics and most pressing areas of deprivation within the country’s specific social and cultural context.     

The crisis communication preparedness of nonprofit organizations: The case of German interest groups

A national survey of German interest groups showed that these nonprofit organizations are substantially lacking crisis preparations. Less than one third use crisis plans, crisis management teams, or crisis scenarios. In terms of web-based crisis communication, nonprofit organizations primarily relied on traditional forms of online communication for crisis response. Organizational experience with crises, the general status of the public relations function, as well as the crisis communication expertise of practitioners were positively related to the degree of crisis preparedness of these interest groups.     

Decision-making in Swiss home-like childbirth: A grounded theory study

Background

Decision-making in midwifery, including a claim for shared decision-making between midwives and women, is of major significance for the health of mother and child. Midwives have little information about how to share decision-making responsibilities with women, especially when complications arise during birth.

The impact of different fit dimensions on spillover effects in brand alliances

Brand alliances represent a popular business strategy in many industries, because firms hope to evoke positive consumer evaluations of both the alliance’s product and the partner brands. However, extant research offers mixed findings regarding the effects of a brand alliance on its partner brands (i.e., spillover effects). In response, this study separates spillover effects into the effects of the alliance product on the partner brands (brand alliance effects) and the effects between partner brands (brand contrast effects), while also noting the potential moderating impact of perceived attitude- and product-based fit between partner brands on resulting spillover effects. Two experimental studies consistently reveal the existence of brand contrast effects; furthermore, the partner brand’s attitude-based fit reduces undesired brand contrast effects and positively moderates spillover effects in brand alliances, whereas product-based fit does not. Therefore, a third study identifies relevant drivers of partner brand’s attitude-based fit for different brand alliances (i.e., co-branding, ingredient branding, and joint advertising). The findings have notable implications for the design and management of brand alliances.