People who live apart together (LATs) – how different are they?

‘Living apart together’– that is being in an intimate relationship with a partner who lives somewhere else – is increasingly recognised and accepted as a specific way of being in a couple. On the face of it, this is a far cry from the ‘traditional’ version of couple relationships, where co‐residence in marriage was placed at the centre and where living apart from one's partner would be regarded as abnormal, and understandable only as a reaction to severe external constraints. Some commentators regard living apart together as a historically new family form where LATs can pursue a ‘both/and’ solution to partnership – they can experience both the intimacy of being in a couple, and at the same time continue with pre‐existing commitments. LATs may even de‐prioritize couple relationships and place more importance on friendship. Alternatively, others see LAT as just a ‘stage’ on the way to cohabitation and marriage, where LATs are not radical pioneers moving beyond the family, but are cautious and conservative, and simply show a lack of commitment. Behind these rival interpretations lies the increasingly tarnished spectre of individualisation theory. Is LAT some sort of index for a developing individualisation in practice? In this paper we take this debate further by using information from the 2006 British Social Attitudes Survey. We find that LATs have quite diverse origins and motivations, and while as a category LATs are often among the more liberal in family matters, as a whole they do not show any marked ‘pioneer’ attitudinal position in the sense of leading a radical new way, especially if age is taken into account.     

An Exploration of Psychosocial Factors Associated with Female Genital Self-Image

Negative genital self-perceptions or female genital self-image (FGSI) is a prevalent concern for women. This is a significant problem in and of itself but also because it is associated with a variety of negative outcomes including less frequent sexual behavior, more negative cognitive-affective sexual responses, and poorer decision-making about genital health. This study examined the extent to which various psychosocial factors are associated with more negative FGSI. Two hundred cisgender women with diverse ages and relationship statuses completed an online survey that included measures of sexual health education (quality of school-based sexual health education (SHE), female genital knowledge), pornography use, sexual experiences (positive and negative partner genital feedback, frequency of sexual activity), and cognitive-affect appraisals (body image, sexual comfort). Social desirability, cognitive-affective appraisals, sexual experiences, and SHE were associated with FGSI at the bivariate level. The results of a multiple regression analysis indicated that only sexual comfort, body image, and positive genital feedback contributed uniquely to the prediction of FGSI. The results are interpreted in terms of the importance of the psychosocial context for understanding women’s genital self-perceptions as well as their implications for prevention and intervention strategies aimed at addressing the problem.     

Less or more? Maternal requests that go against medical advice

Problem and background

This study explores the experiences of Dutch midwives and gynaecologists with pregnant women who request more, less or no care during pregnancy and/or childbirth.

Interrelatedness of children’s psychological and physiological responses to interparental conflict: A moderating role of harsh parenting

Children’s psychological and physiological responses to interparental conflict have received considerable attention due to their implications for later adjustment, yet limited research has investigated the interplay between these two response systems. This study investigates patterns of association between children’s psychological responses (e.g., emotional distress) and cortisol reactivity to interparental conflict, including possible moderations by negative caregiving environment. Participants included 193 families (mother, father, and child). Parents completed questionnaires relating to their caregiving behaviors toward the child (107 girls and 86 boys, M age = 7.99 years, SD = 0.53 years) and children’s psychological responses to interparental conflict. Children provided three saliva samples over the course of watching videos depicting conflicts between two adults, whom children were asked to pretend were their parents. Based on a series of Latent Growth Curve Models, only children’s emotional responses to interparental conflict (indicated by increased distress) were associated with greater cortisol reactivity. Additionally, fathers’ harsh parenting behavior moderated the relation between children’s emotional reactivity and cortisol reactivity, yet the moderation effect was not found for mothers’ parenting. Findings are discussed in terms of the importance of exploring both psychological and physiological reactivity to conflict and the possible moderating role of harsh parenting.     

Comments on “Sums,Products, and Ratios of Non-Central Beta Variables” by Saralees Nadarajah

Brief comments on “Sums, Products, and Ratios of Non-Central Beta Variables” by Saralees Nadarajah, which appeared in Communications in Statistics – Theory and Methods, Volume 34, Issue 1, pp. 89–100.     

Gay men's experiences coming out online: A qualitative study

The current study employed qualitative methodology to investigate the experiences of 12 gay men who came out online, using Facebook. Analysis of coding data yielded several key themes. First, gay men discussed a range of experiences that influenced their online disclosure, including homophobia, internalized homophobia, and previous salient sexual identity disclosures. Participants also commonly expressed a variety of goals and concerns about coming out online, including improving relationships and loss of friends, respectively. Finally, gay men identified several benefits to coming out on Facebook, including increased efficiency in coming out as compared to face-to-face disclosures, increased authenticity, and decreased ambiguity about their sexuality. Results are discussed within the context of literature on men's coming-out experiences and online identity management.     

Ergonomics analyses of five joineries located in Florianópolis-SC, using the LEST Method

Considering the goal of Ergonomic Work Analysis to establish, from the point of view of workers, safe, healthy, comfortable and efficient environments, this study propose to analyze the work situation of machine operators at five joineries from Florianópolis-SC. For this, it was applied the LEST Method to evaluate the task made by the operators, considering the physical, cognitive and organizational work environment. As results, it was identified the main ergonomics problems of these workstations, presenting an ergonomic diagnosis and their implications on health and safety of workers. As result, it was concluded that the main ergonomics problems at joineries are related with noise, with constant load of weight and with the postures taken. Besides these problems, others were diagnosed, for example, the pressure for workers to comply strictly the task stipulated and also the poor training and capacity of workers.