Working Beyond the Traditional Retirement Age: The Influence of Health on Australia’s Older Workers

This article examines the relationship between health and workforce participation beyond the age of 65 years in Australia. This study found that people with a chronic health condition were less likely to be employed than those without a health condition (OR, 0.59; 95% CI [0.38, 0.92]). Among those with a chronic health condition, those in income quartile 2 (OR, 0.27; 95% CI [0.11, 0.67]) and 3 (OR, 0.38; 95% CI, [0.15–0.93]) were significantly less likely to be employed relative to those in income quartile 4. Older workers with a chronic health condition were less likely to work beyond the age of 65; however, among those with a chronic health condition, those with very high income and those with very low income were the most likely to keep working.     

Social Capital and Participation in Community Improvement Activities by Elderly Residents in Small Towns and Rural Communities*

Abstract This study critically reviews theoretical concepts and measurements of social capital and tests hypotheses that elaborate how four dimensions of social capital (informal social ties, formal social ties, trust, and norms of collective action) and sense of community are related to participation in community improvement activities for elderly residents in small towns and rural communities. Mail surveys of 2,802 elders in 99 small towns and rural communities in Iowa reveal that many elders are actively involved in their community. Social capital and sense of community are very important in predicting elderly participation in community improvement activities, but they relate differently to elderly community involvement. Formal ties and sense of community have much stronger relationships with community involvement than informal ties and norms of collective action. Generalized trust is not significantly related to elderly community involvement.     

Social Stigma, Social Capital Reconstruction and Rural Migrants in Urban China: A Population Health Perspective

In this study, we examine migrant stigma and its effect on social capital reconstruction among rural migrants who possess legal rural residence but live and work in urban China. After a review of the concepts of stigma and social capital, we report data collected through in-depth interviews with 40 rural migrant workers and 38 urban residents recruited from Beijing, China. Findings from this study indicate that social stigma against rural migrants is common in urban China and is reinforced through media, social institutions and their representatives, and day-to-day interactions. As an important part of discrimination, stigma against migrant workers creates inequality, undermines trust, and reduces opportunities for interpersonal interactions between migrants and urban residents. Through these social processes, social stigma interferes with the reconstruction of social capital (including bonding, bridging and linking social capital) for individual rural migrants as well as for their communities. The interaction between stigma and social capital reconstruction may present as a mechanism by which migration leads to negative health consequences. Results from this study underscore the need for taking measures against migrant stigma and alternatively work toward social capital reconstruction for health promotion and disease prevention among this population.     

Associations between acoustic features of maternal speech and infants’ emotion regulation following a social stressor

Caregiver voices may provide cues to mobilize or calm infants. This study examined whether maternal prosody predicted changes in infants’ biobehavioral state after the still face, a stressor in which the mother withdraws and reinstates social engagement. Ninety-four dyads participated in the study (infant age 4–8 months). Infants’ heart rate and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (measuring cardiac vagal tone) were derived from an electrocardiogram (ECG). Infants’ behavioral distress was measured by negative vocalizations, facial expressions, and gaze aversion. Mothers’ vocalizations were measured via a composite of spectral analysis and spectro-temporal modulation using a two-dimensional fast Fourier transformation of the audio spectrogram. High values on the maternal prosody composite were associated with decreases in infants’ heart rate (β = ?.26, 95% CI: [?0.46, ?0.05]) and behavioral distress (β = ?.23, 95% CI: [?0.42, ?0.03]), and increases in cardiac vagal tone in infants whose vagal tone was low during the stressor (1 SD below mean β = .39, 95% CI: [0.06, 0.73]). High infant heart rate predicted increases in the maternal prosody composite (β = .18, 95% CI: [0.03, 0.33]). These results suggest specific vocal acoustic features of speech that are relevant for regulating infants’ biobehavioral state and demonstrate mother–infant bi-directional dynamics.     

The Cedar Project: Understanding Barriers to Consistent Condom use over Time in a Cohort of Young Indigenous People who use Drugs

ABSTRACT Little information exists on the use of condoms as protective barriers to sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among indigenous people in Canada. This study explores risk factors of inconsistent condom use (during consensual sex) over time among participants in the Cedar Project, a prospective cohort study of indigenous young people living in Vancouver and Prince George, British Columbia, who use drugs. Due to the serial measurements for each study subject, generalized estimating equations modeling with logit link was used to accommodate the temporal correlation within subjects. For young women, inconsistent condom use over time was predicted by having a recent STI (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.76, 95% confidence interval [CI] [1.12, 2.79]), smoking crack daily (AOR = 1.63, 95%CI [1.02, 2.61]), and having experienced recent sexual abuse (AOR = 2.07, 95%CI [1.20, 3.56]). Among young men, living in Prince George (AOR = 1.63, 95%CI [1.14, 2.39]) and daily crack smoking (AOR = 1.56, 95%CI [1.02, 2.40]) were associated with inconsistent condom use over time. Among participants who used injection drugs, inconsistent condom use was associated with smoking crack daily (AOR = 1.59, 95%CI [1.04, 2.43]) and sharing needles (AOR = 1.78, 95%CI [1.26, 2.51]). The availability and effectiveness of sexual health services must be prioritized for indigenous people, and the design of culturally safe sexual health programs requires the meaningful involvement of young indigenous people.     

Social capital and economic integration of migrants in urban China

Based on data from a 2005 survey conducted in Shanghai, China, this research examines the role of social capital in income inequality between rural migrants and urbanites. We find strong income return on social capital, in particular on social capital from strong ties. We also observe a great disparity in social capital possession between rural migrants and urban local residents. Although social capital from strong ties seems to be more important for rural migrants than for urbanites, local ties and high-status ties do not seem to benefit rural migrants. Hence, migrants not only suffer severe social capital deficits but also capital return deficits. Given the strong income returns on social capital and the substantial differences in access to and return on social capital between migrants and urban residents, social capital is consequently found to explain a large part of the income inequality between the two groups. Overall, our findings reveal macro-structural effects on the role of social capital in labor market stratification. In China, the lack of formal labor market mechanisms continues to create both a strong need for and opportunities for economic actions to be organized around informal channels via social relations. Yet, the long-standing institutional exclusion of migrants caused by the household registration system has resulted in pervasive social exclusion and discrimination which have substantially limited rural migrants’ accumulation and mobilization of social capital. Under these conditions, social capital reinforces the economic inequality between migrants and urban residents in China. Such empirical evidence adds to our understanding of the role of social capital in the economic integration of migrants and in shaping intergroup inequality in general.     

The social capital and mental health of long-term social assistance recipients in Norway

Previous findings have generally demonstrated the positive mental health benefits of social capital. However, the mental health benefits of social capital for social assistance recipients have not been fully demonstrated. This study analyses the mental health benefits of individual-level bonding and individual-level bridging social capital for 551 Norwegian longer-term social assistance recipients. The findings demonstrate that bonding social capital, i.e. contacts with friends and access to social resources, are positively associated with mental health. Of the variables in the study that relate to bridging social capital, social trust and trust towards the social worker particularly show significant associations for mental health. Consequently, it is important that the mental health benefits of various forms of bonding and bridging social capital are acknowledged within social work practices and that social work practitioners actively aim to increase social trust in longer-term social assistance recipients.     

Differences in Tobacco Use Among Two-Year and Four-Year College Students in Minnesota

Abstract

Objective: This study compares tobacco use rates among two-year and four-year college students and explores the demographic variables that predicted that behavior. Participants: 9,931 students at 14 two-year and four-year colleges in Minnesota participated. Methods: Students at 11 schools completed an online survey, and students at 3 schools completed a paper survey in 2007. Results: After controlling for sex, age, ethnicity, relationship status, hours of work per week, and number of school credits, attending a two-year college predicted current and daily smoking (odds ratio [OR]) = 1.70, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.52–1.89; OR = 3.47, 95% CI = 2.94–4.11) and smokeless tobacco use (OR = 1.65, 95% CI = 1.32–2.06; OR = 1.64, 95% CI = 1.06–2.53). Conclusions: Although two-year college students comprise approximately two fifths of the college student population, surveys of college student tobacco use have focused nearly exclusively on four-year college students. Two-year college students should represent a priority population for tobacco control because attending a two-year college predicts increased tobacco use.     

Neighborhood disadvantage, network social capital, and depressive symptoms

Research on why neighborhood disadvantage matters for health focuses on the capacity of neighborhoods to regulate residents' behavior through informal social control. The authors extend this research by conducting a multilevel analysis of data from a 1995 telephone survey of 497 residents of 32 neighborhoods in a U.S. city. The authors find that network social capital mediates the contextual effect of neighborhood disadvantage on depressive symptoms and that health effects of network social capital persist when perceived neighborhood disorder, a standard indicator of low informal social control, is controlled for. The findings demonstrate the value of a conceptualization and measurement of network social capital that (1) considers ties that transcend neighborhood boundaries, (2) investigates health benefits of network social capital in the forms of closure and embedded support resources and range and embedded instrumental resources, and (3) uses network data on specific network members with strong and weak ties to respondents.     

Social capital and psychological distress

The author proposes a conceptual model to explain the diverse roles of social capital--resources embedded in social networks--in the social production of health. Using a unique national U.S. sample, the author estimated a path analysis model to examine the direct and indirect effects of social capital on psychological distress and its intervening effects on the relationships between other structural antecedents and psychological distress. The results show that social capital is inversely associated with psychological distress, and part of that effect is indirect through subjective social status. Social capital also acts as an intervening mechanism to link seven social factors (age, gender, race-ethnicity, education, occupational prestige, annual family income, and voluntary participation) with psychological distress. This study develops the theory of social capital as network resources and demonstrates the complex functions of social capital as a distinct social determinant of health.     

Social Capital,Labour Markets,and Job‐Finding in Urban and Rural Regions: comparing paths to employment in prosperous cities and stressed rural communities in Canada1,2

This paper compares paths to employment (job‐finding) in prosperous cities and economically‐stressed rural communities in Canada. Since the pioneering work of Mark Granovetter (1973; 1974 ), sociologists have investigated the role of social capital in job‐finding (specifically, the use of strong and weak social ties to find out about employment opportunities). To date, however, there have been few direct comparisons of job‐finding in urban and rural settings (see Lindsay et al., 2005 ; Wahba and Zenou, 2005 ). Using data from two major surveys and a qualitative interview project, we uncover several important differences in urban and rural paths to employment. First, we find that both strong and weak ties are used more frequently by rural residents to find a job, while city‐dwellers rely more often on formal or impersonal means. Second, we find much stronger evidence of differentiation within rural regions. Long‐time rural residents are much more likely to use strong and weak ties to find employment than are newcomers. However, rural residents who used weak ties as paths to employment have significantly lower incomes. None of these patterns are evident in the cities. Together, these findings lead us to conclude that job‐finding in rural settings is strongly affected by constraints – in the labour market and in social capital resources – that are not present in cities.     

Regional disparities in bonding and bridging social capital: An empirical study of rural and urban Japan

This article investigates regional social capital development by focusing on disparities in bonding and bridging social capital among rural and urban areas of Japan. Rural–urban differences in social capital in Western contexts have been discussed by many studies. Their main finding is that bonding social capital is richer in rural areas and bridging social capital is richer in urban areas. However, the empirical evidence presented in this article suggests that in Japan both bridging and bonding social capital are richer in rural than urban areas, diverging from traditional thinking about these two types of social capital. This finding suggests that urbanization and depopulation in rural areas of Japan have led to changes in people's behavior and their demand for social networks, promoting the development of bridging social capital in rural areas.     

Problem Gambling Among Urban and Rural Gamblers in Limpopo Province,South Africa: Associations with Hazardous and Harmful Alcohol Use and Psychological Distress

Little is known about the mental health correlates of problem gambling in low- and-middle-income countries such as South Africa and whether these correlates vary by urbanicity. To address this gap, we examined mental health factors associated with problem gambling among gamblers in Limpopo Province, South Africa disaggregated by rural, peri-urban and urban location. A survey of gambling behaviour and mental health was conducted among 900 gamblers. Overall, 28.3 % were at high risk and 38.1 % were at moderate risk for problem gambling. For the entire sample, hazardous/harmful alcohol use was associated with almost twofold increased chance of being at moderate risk (AOR 1.83; 95 % CI 1.08, 3.11) and almost sevenfold greater odds (AOR 6.93; 95 % CI 4.03–11.93) of being at high risk for problem gambling. Psychological distress was associated with being at high risk for problem gambling only (AOR 1.18; 95 % CI 1.14–1.22). After stratifying by urbanicity, hazardous/harmful alcohol use and psychological distress remained associated with high risk gambling across all locations. We found little knowledge of a free gambling helpline and other gambling services—particularly in less urbanised environments [χ² (2), 900 = 40.4; p < 0.001]. These findings highlight the need to increase awareness of free helpline services among gamblers and to ensure gambling services include screening and treatment for common mental disorders.     

Place of Origin,Types of Ties,and Support Networks in Mexico–U.S. Migration*

Previous studies explored how urban or rural place of origin influences the source of social capital. There remains a need to consider how the place of origin affects the type of ties—family, friends, or paisanos (countrymen)—with those who provide support to migrants. We use data from the Mexican Migration Project (MMP128) and perform multinomial logistic regression models to predict who (among family, friends, or paisanos) provides lodging to first‐time undocumented male migrants from Mexico, taking into account the size of their place of origin. We find that paisanos are important in providing lodging to those from rural areas, and family members are more likely to assist those from urban settings. Paisanos are more likely to help at the beginning of the migratory flow of the community (rural or urban), and family members to do so once the flow has matured. Also, paisanos are more likely to help those in rural areas during more difficult times, such as after the enactment of the North American Free Trade Agreement. We suggest that paisanos fulfill a role similar to that in Granovetter's (1973) concept of the strength of weak ties in which they act as substitutes for other ties (such as to friends and family) to provide social capital, making the first‐time undocumented migration possible.     

Social mobility and social capital in contemporary Britain

This paper seeks to contribute to social capital research by linking measures of formal and informal forms of social capital to social mobility trajectories and assessing their impact on social trust. Drawing on data from a recent national survey – Cultural Capital and Social Exclusion (2003/2004 ) – we analyse formal civic engagement and informal social connections. The latter data are obtained using, for the first time in a study in Britain, Lin's (2001 ) 'Position Generator' approach as a means to identify the volume, range and position of individuals' informal social contacts. The pattern of contacts suggests that access to social ties is strongly conditioned by mobility trajectory. We also show that civic engagement in formal associations is especially high among second-generation members of the service class. It is also shown that both class trajectory and possession of two types of social capital have significant impacts on trust. Among the social groups disadvantaged in terms of bridging social ties are not only those in lower classes but also women and members of minority ethnic groups.     

Variability in measures of health and health behavior among emerging adults 1 year after high school according to college status

Objective: To examine changes in health behaviors among US emerging adults 1 year after high school. Participants: The national sample of participants (N = 1,927), including those attending 4-year college/university (n = 884), 2-year colleges/technical schools (n = 588), and no college (n = 455), participated in annual spring surveys 2013–2014. Methods: Health behaviors were assessed the last year of high school and first year of college; differences by college status controlling for previous-year values were estimated using regression analyses. Results: Relative to 4-year college attendees, those attending technical school/community college were less likely to binge drink (odds ratio [OR] = 0.57, confidence interval [CI] = 0.38–0.86) but more likely to speed (OR = 1.26, CI = 1.0–2.84), consume sodas (OR = 1.57, CI = 1.0–2.47), and report lower family satisfaction (p < .01), with marginally more physical and depressive symptoms. College nonattendees reported more DWI (driving while intoxicated; OR = 1.60, CI = 1.05–2.47), soda drinking (OR = 2.51, CI = 1.76–3.59), oversleeping (OR = 4.78, CI = 3.65–8.63), and less family satisfaction (p < .04). Conclusions: Health risk behaviors among emerging adults varied by college status.     

信任缺失:新生代农民工身份建构与政治认同

新生代农民工城市融入的本质是新生代农民工与城市市民、城市社会组织及政治的互动与认同,这种互动与认同以信任为基础。其中人际信任、组织信任与政治信任分别构成新生代农民工身份建构的基础、融入城市的社会资本与政治认同的基础。由于当前社会人际信任缺失、组织信任匮乏与政治信任偏低,导致新生代农民工陷入身份建构与政治认同困境。因此只有通过修复新生代农民工的人际信任、增进其组织信任、重构政治信任方能构建起积极的身份认同。     

Daytime Sleepiness,Poor Sleep Quality,Eveningness Chronotype,and Common Mental Disorders Among Chilean College Students

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate whether daytime sleepiness, poor sleep quality, and morningness and eveningness preferences are associated with common mental disorders (CMDs) among college students. Methods: A total of 963 college students completed self-administered questionnaires that collected information about sociodemographic characteristics, sleep quality characteristics, CMDs, and other lifestyle behaviors. Results: The prevalence of CMDs was 24.3% (95% confidence interval [CI] [21.5%, 27.1%]) among all students. Prevalence estimates of both excessive daytime sleepiness and poor sleep quality were higher among females (35.4% and 54.4%) than males (22.0% and 45.8%). Cigarette smoking was statistically significantly and positively associated with having CMDs (p = .034). Excessive daytime sleepiness (odds ratio [OR] = 3.65; 95% CI [2.56, 4.91]) and poor sleep quality (OR = 4.76; 95% CI [3.11, 7.29]) were associated with increased odds of CMDs. Conclusion: Given the adverse health consequences associated with both sleep disorders and CMDs, improving sleep hygiene among college students is imperative to public health.     

Networking Through Loose and Strong Ties: An Australian Qualitative Study

Given the significant role attributed to community organizations by many social capital scholars, it is appropriate to investigate the dynamics of that process. In particular, Woolcock and Narayan (World Bank Res. Obs. 15(2): 225–249, 2000) have suggested that bridging and bonding are two different types of connections, whereby bridging is associated with loose ties across communities and bonding is associated with strong ties within a limited group. This qualitative study explores the loose and strong ties of 39 participants connected through community organizations in rural and urban New South Wales. The results suggest that loose and strong ties are not synonymous with bridging and bonding. In general loose and strong ties differ in degree rather than in kind and people prefer to bridge through their strong ties. The interesting exceptions were ties to professionals, which were highly trusted but defined as loose ties. It is suggested that a model for a high social capital society might be a chain of well-bonded groups each with strong links to some other groups.     

Why Does Involvement in Voluntary Associations Promote Trust? Examining the Role of Network Diversity

Scholars argue that trust is fundamental to maintaining a healthy society, and consequently, recent evidence that trust may be declining in the United States has generated an interest in the determinants of trust. According to the social capital literature, particularly the work of Robert Putnam, involvement in voluntary associations influences the development of generalized trust. One way in which organizational participation is thought to foster trust is through creating more diverse, or bridging, social networks. However, scarcely any research has empirically examined this mechanism. Using data from the Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey, I test whether network diversity (ties to persons from different social backgrounds) accounts for some of the influence of organizational involvement on trust. The results suggest that the influence of involvement in multiple associations on trust is largely mediated by its influence on network diversity. In addition, while recent research observes that some predictors of trust vary by race and ethnicity, I find no differences in these relationships across non‐Hispanic white, African American, and Latino respondents.