Development and Assessment of Measures of Adolescents' Attitudes about Sexual Relationship Rights

Objective: Develop and validate measures of adolescents' attitudes about sexual relationship rights. Methods: Items were completed by students in a large U.S. city (N = 655). The authors conducted an exploratory factor analysis, evaluated internal consistency, and assessed construct validity, including ability to predict sexual behavior at 1-year follow-up. Results: Factor analysis identified 2 distinct factors, comprising attitudes about rights to refuse unwanted sexual activity (5 items) and express sexual engagement needs (5 items) in a sexual relationship. The measures showed sound evidence of reliability and construct validity. Conclusions: The psychometric evidence supports the use of these measures in adolescent sexual health research.     

Quality of life in a European Perspective: The EUROMODULE as a New Instrument for Comparative Welfare Research

In this article, a new survey instrument for comparative welfare researchand social reporting is described, the EUROMODULE. It has been set up inintensive discussions among experts from several nations engaged inquality of life research and social reporting. By combining indicatorsof objective living conditions, subjective well-being, and quality ofsociety, with this new survey central aspects of the quality of life ofEuropean citizens can be investigated. The EUROMODULE initiative aimsat strengthening efforts to monitor and systematically analyze thecurrent state and the changes in living conditions and quality of lifein Europe in a comparative perspective. So far, data for eightEuropean countries are available.     

Contents of Volume 67

Volume Contents

Contents of Volume 67     

Mediennutzung und Politische Partizipation

A central topic of empirical social research is the problem of unobserved heterogeneity. To solve this problem at least partially, a new statistical model is presented, the finite mixture of conditional mean and covariance structures. The model and the estimation procedures are then applied covering use of media and political participation to identify heterogeneous types of behavior. Since different LISREL models may be used for each type, it is not only possible to identify different degrees of political participation and use of media, but also different types of relationships between the use of media and political participation.     

Nonconscious processing of sexual information: A generalization to women

Sexually competent stimuli may nonconsciously activate sexual memory and set up sexual responding. In men, subliminally presented sexual pictures facilitated recognition of sexual information (Spiering, Everaerd, & Janssen, 2003). The goal of the two experiments reported here was to investigate to what extent this result can be generalized to women. A direct replication in women failed in Experiment 1. In Experiment 2, besides the male‐oriented sexual picture set, pictures of two other sets were presented: female‐oriented sexual pictures and baby pictures. Effects of the menstrual cycle were also examined. In Experiment 2, only male‐oriented pictures showed a facilitation effect. Sensitivity for reproductive stimuli was enhanced during the midluteal phase. Like men, women may nonconsciously recognize a stimulus as sexual. This recognition process seems unrelated to the potential of the stimulus to elicit subjective arousal.     

Changing the risky beliefs of post-partum women about therapeutic sun-exposure

BackgroundMany post-partum women hold risky beliefs about perceived therapeutic benefits of sun-exposure in the post-partum period and infancy.QuestionCan a maternity hospital based educational intervention reduce the prevalence of such beliefs among post-partum women?MethodsIn this outcome evaluation of an interventional study, two groups of healthy post-partum women (hospital inpatients) were interviewed, 1–4 days following delivery. The first cross-section (106 women) was recruited prior to in-services for maternity staff; the second (203 women) was recruited after completion of the in-services. Data were compared between the groups.FindingsMore pre-intervention than post-intervention women reported they would expose their baby to sunlight to treat suspected jaundice (28.8% vs 13.3%; p < 0.001) or help his/her skin adapt to the sun (10.5% vs 2.5%; p = 0.003); or use sunlight to manage breastfeeding-associated sore/cracked nipples (7.6% vs 2%; p = 0.026).ConclusionThis simple, effective educational intervention could be implemented in programmes for parents, health professionals and students.     

Unter der Fahne des Kalifats

Ever since the proclamation of a caliphate by the so-called “Islamic State” in June 2014, the strategic communication of the terrorist organization has become the subject of public and scientific interest. A focal point of discussion lies at the skillful use of social networks by the “Islamic State”. So far, research has focused primarily on quantitative aspects of agenda setting and has neglected the visual character of terror communication and the specific functions of visuals. The article deals with a selection of video messages of the “Islamic State” that address life in the IS-capital of al-Raqqah. Based on a visual frame analysis the article discusses central topics and visual frames and questions their importance for further research on strategic terrorist communication.     

The cool welcome and the responses to it: Australian-Hungarians negotiate social reality in Hungary after 1989

This article examines the social aspects of Australian-Hungarians’ return to Hungary after the collapse of communism. I suggest that one of the most disillusioning aspects of homecoming for this group of Australian-Hungarians was the cold welcome they received from those who had stayed behind. The main task of this article is to analyse how returnees grappled with the negative attitudes of the stayees. Three major strategies are identified by means of which returnees facilitated their feeling of belonging: contestation, acceptance or dismissal of stayees’ perspectives. Returnees’ efforts to achieve a sense of belonging suggest that the nature of national membership is fundamentally fragile and porous and underlines that self-definitions are far from being either unconditional or ascribed. By placing contrasting narratives side by side, this article draws attention to the intersubjective elements involved in defining belonging.     

Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien als Instrumente f��r Women��s Empowerment

This paper discusses conditions of ICT-use of women in sub-Saharan Africa with regard to possibilities for a shift of structures of social inequality and gender discrimination. In a first step, the concept of empowerment is defined. From a feminist understanding, women??s empowerment is a bottom-up process, challenging inequality, isolation and subordination of women. It entails understanding the dynamics of internalized social norms and societal structures. In a second step, the article criticizes technological determinism and reconsiders the concept of a digital divide. The concluding thesis of the paper is: Information and communication technologies (ICT) can not initiate processes of empowerment. For there to be sustainable change, women have to be agents of their own processes and grounded in their ??power within??.