Use It or Save It? Migration Background and Parental Leave Uptake in Sweden

Sweden is a welfare state with a family policy that strongly emphasizes equality without distinction by place of birth or gender. In this study, we investigate the differences in uptake of parental leave between native and immigrant mothers, and the connection to labour-market attachment. Sweden represents a unique case study, not only because of the strong effort to combine work and family for all women and men, the high level of fertility and the large presence of immigrants in the country; it also enables a detailed and sophisticated analysis based on the high-quality data derived from its population registers. We find that immigrant mothers use more parental leave benefit the first year after their child’s birth, but then fewer in the second year compared with native mothers. The differences diminish when labour-market activity is controlled for. Additionally, after a time in Sweden, immigrant mothers use leave more similarly to how native mothers do.     

Comparison of Two Psycho-Educational Interventions Aimed at Preventing HIV and Promoting Sexual Health Among Portuguese Women

This study compares the efficacy of 2 psychoeducational interventions—ACCENT skills-based and didactic information only—to prevent HIV among Portuguese women. At posttest and follow-up, participants in both intervention groups (n = 127) were more knowledgeable about HIV than at baseline. Although both intervention groups showed an increase in self-reported condom use over time, differences were marginally stronger in the ACCENT group. Both intervention groups showed more positive results than the non-intervention control group (n = 33). The study suggests that HIV prevention interventions can produce significant changes when they target a set of knowledge, social, and cognitive variables relevant to sexual behavior change.     

Book reviews

Sociocybernetics: Complexity, Dynamics and Emergence in Social Science Kybernetes, Vol. 26, No. 6/7 F. Geyer (Ed.) MCB University Press, Bradford, ISSN 0368–492X

Foundations of Futures Studies Wendell Bell New Brunswick, London, Transaction Publishers, 1997     

Friendship in children with internalizing and externalizing problems: A preliminary investigation with the Pictorial Assessment of Interpersonal Relationships

This study examined the relationship between friendship representation and internalizing and externalizing problems in school-aged children. One hundred Caucasian 6–7 year-old children (50 males and 50 females) and their mothers took part in the study. The Draw-a-Man Test, the Pictorial Assessment of Interpersonal Relationships, and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL/6-18) were used. Children with internalizing problems, externalizing problems, comorbid internalizing and externalizing problems, and a control group were compared on their pictorial representations of friendship. Results showed that children with externalizing problems included more pictorial indices of each friend's autonomy and a larger imbalance of importance between them; children with internalizing problems drew themselves as less similar to their friends. In conclusion, children's pictorial representation allows exploring some aspects of their tacit knowledge about the relationship with a best friend, which is not easily expressed verbally by young children. Finally, the implications of these findings for theoretical and empirical research development on friendship are discussed.     

Factors Associated with Gamblers: A Population-based Cross-sectional Study of South Australian Adults

Objective To determine, using a random telephone survey, the prevalence of various gambling activities among South Australian adults, the prevalence of adult problem gamblers using the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) instrument, and to examine the problem gamblers by demographic and health-related risk factors.Method A random representative sample of South Australian adults selected from the Electronic White Pages. Overall, 6045 interviews were conducted (73.1% response rate) using Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) technology.Results Overall, 75.6% (95% CI: 74.5–76.7) of respondents had participated in at least one gambling activity during the last 12 months and 2.0% (95% CI: 1.7–2.4) were identified to be problem gamblers. A wide range of factors was associated with problem gambling at a univariate level, when compared to frequent gamblers. The logistic regression analysis highlighted that problem gamblers were more likely to speak a language other than English, be employed part time and a smoker when compared to frequent gamblers. Problem gamblers were also more likely to have a mental health condition (according to the Kessler 10), have had suicidal thoughts and know of services for gambling problems.Conclusion There is a wide range of characteristics associated with problem gambling in South Australia. All of these factors need addressing during policy development to assist problem gamblers.     

Childbearing among Polish migrant women and their descendants in Sweden: an origin-destination country approach

Journal of Population Research - This paper examines the childbearing behaviour of Polish migrant women and their descendants in Sweden. Also considering stayers in the country of origin, we rely...     

Immigrant Fertility: A Comparative Study between Italy and Russia

In this paper, we contribute to the analysis of fertility differentials between female migrants and the native‐born by examining the transition to first child using event history analysis. We use event history as a quantitative translation of the life‐course approach. The data examined are the Italian Families and Social Subjects (FSS) survey, conducted in 2003, and the Russian Parents and Children, Men and Women in Family and Society survey, conducted in 2004. We examine the data sets separately and contrast the results. The objective of the study is twofold. First, we seek to determine whether differences exist in the decision and timing of childbearing between native and immigrant women in Italy and in Russia. Second, we aim to compare the experiences of immigrants in the two countries, to determine whether there may be any commonalities inherent to the immigrant populations despite moving into widely different contexts. Our results suggest that the age profiles and marital status similarly affect the immigrant regardless of whether she is migrating to Russia or to Italy. In Italy, educational attainment is positively correlated with first‐birth intensities for immigrants – the opposite of what is observed for the native‐born. In Russia, education is not a significant determinant for immigrants. This leads us to the following conclusion: the similarity in the risk profiles of our immigrants into vastly different country contexts is more suggestive of immigrants following a distinct life course, with common risk profiles for bearing their first child, than assimilating or conforming to the native fertility patterns. Social capital in particular may play a different role in determining fertility patterns for immigrants, as it does for the native‐born.