Interview with Dr. Marsha Martin,US Department of Health and Human Services

With this edition, the Journal of Children & Poverty introduces a new section titled Inquiry. The purpose of this section is to highlight a series of frontline issues simultaneously facing policymakers and practitioners, as well as the burgeoning research interests of the academic community. Inquiry is not meant to be an opinion or editorial section, but rather a glimpse into what some of the journal's readership, be they academics, policymakers or practitioners, are currently thinking. This section also intends to put forth a cross-national perspective on issues that transcend national boundaries, while being deeply rooted in a country's political, economic and social history. Our hope is that the Journal of Children & Poverty's Inquiry section can provide a place for thought and reflection on the issues that affect children and their families today, as well as the bold and pragmatic solutions necessary for tomorrow. We launch Inquiry with an interview conducted on September 6, 2000 with Dr. Marsha Martin, Special Assistant to Secretary Donna Shalala, US Department of Health and Human Services. In her role as Special Assistant, Dr. Martin is assigned to work on issues at the discretion of the Secretary. Given that the Health and Human Services Agency is the only federal agency dedicated to the health and social well-being of all Americans, particularly America's families, her position requires that she work on a variety of cross-cutting issues that confront the public. She functions as the eyes and ears of the Secretary, focusing on the issues as brought to the attention of the Secretary by various constituencies, particularly those that are disproportionately or adversely affected by policy changes, as well as vulnerable populations or those with special needs. She must function in both a responsive and proactive way assuring all the while that the Department's domestic and international policies are consistent.     

Younger Siblings Can Be Good for Your Health: An Examination of Spillover Benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is a food assistance program designed to help pregnant (or postpartum) women and young children consume a nutritious diet. With WIC’s emphasis on providing healthy foods, and food being (generally) a communal commodity, age-ineligible children may benefit from living with a WIC participant. This paper used data from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to examine whether age-ineligible children who lived in WIC households were in better health than similar children who lived in households that did not participate in the program. Results suggested that older males received a health benefit as a result of living in a WIC household; however, no similar effect was found for younger males or for female children.     

The Role of Rape-Supportive Attitudes,Alcohol, and Sexual Arousal in Sexual (Mis)Perception: An Experimental Study

While sexual misperception does not irrevocably lead to sexual aggression, it remains a significant risk factor. The present study investigated the effects of rape-supportive attitudes, alcohol, and sexual arousal on sexual perception. We used a 2 × 2 between-participants factorial design to randomly assign 135 men from the general population to a condition with or without alcohol (blood alcohol concentration target of .08%) and to a condition with or without sexual arousal. Participants were asked to listen to an audiotape depicting a sexual interaction between a man and woman and to indicate if and when they believed the woman was no longer interested in having sex. Results, obtained through survival analyses, indicate that the effects of rape-supportive attitudes on sexual misperception are moderated by alcohol consumption. Alcohol appears to be an important situational factor for activating men’s implicit theories. Our study sheds new light on the role of knowledge structures in sexual perception: It identifies when, as well as suggesting how, rape-supportive attitudes may disturb sexual perception and ultimately lead to sexual misperception.     

Pathological Gambling, Problem Gambling and Sleep Complaints: An Analysis of the National Comorbidity Survey: Replication (NCS-R)

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between sleep disturbances and gambling behavior. Data from the National Comorbidity Survey—Replication (NCS-R) was used to examine the relationship between three specific sleep complaints (difficulty initiating sleep [DIS], difficulty maintaining sleep [DMS], and early morning awakening [EMA]) and gambling behavior. Bivariate logistic regression models were used to control for potentially confounding psychiatric disorders and age. Almost half of respondents with problem gambling behavior (45.9%) and two thirds (67.7%) of respondents with pathological gambling behavior reported at least one sleep compliant. Compared to respondents with no gambling pathology, respondents with pathological gambling were significantly more likely to report at least one sleep complaint (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR] = 3.444, 95% CI = 1.538–7.713), to report all sleep complaints (AOR = 3.449, 95% CI = 1.503–7.914), and to report any individual complaint (DIS: OR = 2.300, 95% CI = 1.069–4.946; DMS: AOR = 4.604, 95% CI = 2.093–10.129; EMA: AOR = 3.968, 95% CI = 1.856–8.481). The relationship between problem gambling and sleep complaints were more modest (any sleep complaint: AOR = 1.794, 95% CI = 1.142–2.818; all three sleep complaints: AOR = 2.144, 95% CI = 1.169–3.931; DIS: AOR = 1.961, 95% CI = 1.204–3.194; DMS: AOR = 1.551, 95% CI = 0.951–2.529; EMA: AOR = 1.796, 95% CI = 1.099–2.935). Given the individual and societal ramifications linked with the presence of sleep problems, this study presents another health-related repercussion associated with gambling pathology rarely discussed in the literature.     

Book Review: The Demography of Health and Health Care, 2nd ed. Louis G. Pol and Richard K. Thomas. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers,New York, 2001, 374 pp., $95.00 (hardbound), $42.50 (paperback)

Sociological Practice -