Life course transitions in early adulthood and SES disparities in tobacco use

A huge literature has documented adult socioeconomic disparities in smoking but says less about how these disparities emerge over the life course. Building on findings that smoking among adolescents differs only modestly by parental SES, we utilize a life course perspective on social differentiation to help explain the widening disparities in smoking in young adulthood. Our theory suggests that achieved socioeconomic status and the nature and timing of adult role transitions affect age-based trajectories of smoking and widen disparities in adult smoking. The analyses use data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, which follows a representative national sample over four waves from ages 11–17 in 1994/1995 to 26–34 in 2007/2008. The results show divergent age trajectories in smoking by parental education and that achieved socioeconomic status and life course roles in young adulthood account in good part for differences in the age trajectories. The findings demonstrate the value of the life course perspective in understanding processes of increasing stratification in health behavior and health during the transition to adulthood.     

Family structure and the economic wellbeing of children in youth and adulthood

An extensive literature on the relationship between family structure and children’s outcomes consistently shows that living with a single parent is associated with negative outcomes. Few US studies, however, examine how a child’s family structure affects outcomes for the child once he/she reaches adulthood. We directly examine, using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, whether family structure during childhood is related to the child’s economic wellbeing both during childhood as well as during adulthood. We find that living with a single parent is associated with the level of family resources available during childhood. This finding persists even when we remove time invariant factors within families. We also show that family structure is related to the child’s education, marital status, and adult family income. Once we control for the child’s demography and economic wellbeing in childhood, however, the associations into adulthood become trivial in size and statistically insignificant, suggesting that the relationship between family structure and children’s long-term, economic outcomes is due in large part to the relationship between family structure and economic wellbeing in childhood.     

Marijuana use development over the course of adolescence among North American Indigenous youth

This study investigated the links between marijuana use trajectories and marijuana abuse/dependence (DSM-IV) using five waves of data from 718 North American Indigenous adolescents between 10 and 17 years from eight reservations sharing a common language and culture. Growth mixture models indicated that 15% of youth began using by 11-12 years of age and that another 20% began shortly thereafter. These early users had odds of abuse/dependence 6.5 times larger than abstainers. Girls were also unexpectedly found to be particularly at risk of early use, and this did not reflect other background and psychosocial factors, including friend use. While the timing, patterns, and consequences of use were similar to those reported for alcohol use previously, the social influences on use differed in important ways.     

Trajectories of marijuana use and the transition to adulthood

Alongside the rise of emerging adulthood, policy contexts for marijuana have rapidly changed, with increases in availability and the number of daily users. We identify heterogeneous pathways of marijuana use from age 16 to 26, and examine how these pathways differentiate adult role transitions by age 28. Latent class analyses identified five trajectories: abstainers, dabblers, consistent users, early heavy quitters, and persistent heavy users. Dabblers are no different from abstainers on educational and labor market outcomes, and both have higher odds of adult role transitions relative to heavier use classes. Dabblers differ from abstainers on certain family transitions, yet remain distinct from the heavier use classes. Besides parenthood, early heavy quitters and persistent heavy users are similar, suggesting that heavy use is particularly detrimental early during transitions to adulthood. Distinct trajectories of marijuana use may differentiate young people into divergent pathways of transitions to adulthood, which may have long-term implications.     

Educational trajectories and inequalities of political engagement among adolescents in England

Through analysing longitudinal data this article explores the effect of education trajectories between the ages 14–19 on voting and protesting at age 20 taking into account both type of education (vocational/academic) and level of qualifications (Levels 1–3). We find that these trajectories exert an independent effect on both outcomes. Gaining low level qualifications (up to Level 2) and in particular low level vocational qualifications diminishes the chances of political participation relative to Level 3 and academic qualifications. Whilst a wider range of qualifications are conducive to voting, only Level 3 academic qualifications support protesting relative to other qualifications. Post-14 education thus seems to make protesting more of an elite affair. Considering that the vast majority of students in the vocational and lower-level pathways come from low SES families, the undermining influence of these pathways on political participation will be felt disproportionally among the group of socially disadvantaged students.     

A cluster analysis of service utilization and incarceration among homeless youth

Our paper examines service usage (e.g., shelter) as well as a typology of individuals who are most likely to use groupings of services among 249 homeless youth. Our results revealed that the majority of homeless young people have used food programs (66%) and street outreach (65%) on at least one occasion within the past year. Cluster analysis of services revealed four distinct groups: (1) basic survival service use, characterized by above average shelter, food, and outreach service use, but below average on counseling, substance abuse/mental health services, and incarceration; (2) multiple service use, which included above average use of all six services; (3) incarceration experience, characterized by above average incarceration experience, but below average use of all other five services; and (4) minimal service use, which included slightly above average use of counseling, but below average use of all other services. These findings have the potential to provide important information that may assist with targeting services to homeless youth.     

清末民初晋水流域乡村社会的变迁:以“营村”为例

清末民初晋水流域乡村社会与华北其他地区共同经历着传统社会近代化的历程。其中"营村"地处汾河太原盆地晋水流域北段,南接太原县城,对于晋水的管理与利用尤具典型意义。清末由于本区社会动荡不安,商品经济持续发展,外国商品与新型经济作物出现,天主教势力也趁机扩张,地方政权控制力减弱,"营村"的社会矛盾空前加剧,一度达到了不可调和的程度。"营村"的主要矛盾表现为耕地频繁流转,但广大无地少地村民难以维持生存转而寻求其他生计手段;传统宗教民俗活动趋向繁荣的同时天主教势力膨胀并成为村庄新的地方势力。民国初年随着地方政权的下沉,传统社会中地方政权与乡村社会的良性互动转变成自上而下的控制,社区发展的动力受到抑制。通过分析营村的具体情况在一定层面上反映出近代华北农村社会变迁的一些基本面向。     

清朝前期黄河上游区域可耕地的开发和利用

清朝入关伊始,黄河上游区域人口稀少,在河西走廊、宁夏平原、河湟谷地以及其他地方分布着大量的可耕地可供开发和利用。清政府采取了减免赋税,贷给农民耕牛、籽种和鼓励移民垦荒等一系列行之有效的措施,使黄河上游区域可耕地得到了垦辟。一方面使黄河上游区域的耕地面积有了大幅度的扩大,人口增长迅速,推动了社会经济的发展;另一方面,黄河上游区域大面积的森林遭到了砍伐,耕地沙漠趋势越来越严重和沙尘天气频频发生,水土流失严重,导致了黄河上游区域生态环境日益恶化。