Interracial Marriage and Self-Reported Health of Whites and Blacks in the United States

This study examines the self-reported health of 180,291 married non-Hispanic blacks and whites in interracial versus endogamous marriages. Data are from the National Health Interview Survey pooled over the period 1997–2013. The results from ordinal logistic regressions show that non-Hispanic whites intermarried with non-Hispanic blacks, non-Hispanic whites intermarried with non-Hispanic other races, and non-Hispanic white women with Hispanic husbands report significantly poorer health than their endogamous counterparts. Furthermore, non-Hispanic whites with non-Hispanic black spouses also fare worse than their interracially married peers with Hispanic spouses. In contrast, the self-reported health of married non-Hispanic blacks shows no significant difference between the interracially and the endogamously married. Our findings highlight the theoretical significance of spousal characteristics and couple-level contexts in the household production of health.     

Black LGB Identities and Perceptions of Same-Sex Marriage

ABSTRACT

The 2015 SCOTUS ruling legalizing same-sex marriage was hailed as a universal victory for the lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) community, but the pervasive support mobilized to achieve this goal may mask important dissension and inequality within the community. Specifically, how race may shape or perpetuate inequalities in the LGB community through same-sex marriage largely has been absent from the discussion. Focusing on the perceived impact of same-sex marriage in respondents’ lives, I investigate the relationship between Black LGBs’ perception of same-sex marriage legalization and their intersectional identities and community membership. Drawing from the 2010 Social Justice Sexuality Project survey, I explain the complexity of the attitudes of Black LGBs to the legalization of same-sex marriage and illustrate that (1) Black LGBs exhibit heterogeneous interpretation of the effects of same-sex marriage legalization on their lives based on their racial and sexual identities, and (2) same-sex marriage may provide Black LGBs the rationale to affirm their racial community membership as sexual minorities. This study pushes our understanding of the relationship between intersectional identities and individuals’ perceptions of the self, identity-based community memberships, and social institutions.     

Differences between Hispanic and non-Hispanic families in social capital and child development: First-year findings from an experimental study

Disadvantages faced by Hispanic children in the U.S., compared to non-Hispanic Whites, have been widely reported. Economic differences account for some of the gaps, but the social isolation of Hispanic families also serves as a barrier to children's success. Whereas Hispanic families tend to have strong kinship networks, their social ties often do not encompass the school and other authority systems. As a result, Hispanic families may have less access to social capital, that is, relations of trust and shared expectations that foster the flow of relevant information and support social norms that contribute to children's academic and social development. To study the role of social capital in child development, we embarked on a school-randomized trial in two cities with large Hispanic populations: San Antonio, Texas, and Phoenix, Arizona. In this paper, we report on first-year data from what will be a three-year longitudinal study, including 24 of an eventual 52 schools and about 1300 of what will be a sample of over 3000 children. We aimed to manipulate social capital through an intervention called Families and Schools Together (FAST), a multi-family after-school program that enhances relations among families, between parents and schools, and between parents and children through a sequence of structured activities over 8 weekly sessions. In the first year, 12 schools were randomly assigned to participate in FAST, and 12 served as controls. Data come from district administrative records, surveys of parents prior to FAST, and surveys of parents and teachers immediately after FAST. Surveys prior to FAST confirm that Hispanic parents have less extensive parent–school networks compared to non-Hispanic Whites. Comparisons of school means on post-FAST surveys indicate that parents in FAST schools experience more extensive social networks than those in control schools, but the differences are much more apparent in Phoenix than in San Antonio. Similarly, a pattern of better behavioral outcomes for children in FAST schools is evident in Phoenix but not San Antonio. Individual-level comparisons suggest that for some outcomes, effects may be larger for non-Hispanic Whites than for Hispanics, which would undermine potential contributions to reducing inequality.     

Occupational Stratification of Hispanics,Whites, and Blacks in Southern Rural Destinations: A Quantitative Analysis

Since the 1990s, many rural communities in the Southern US have experienced an unprecedented influx of Latino migrants. Some research undertaken on such “new Hispanic destinations” suggests that the newcomers tend to assume low-status jobs shunned by non-Hispanic residents and thus form a segmented labor market, but other work indicates that they heavily compete with natives (particularly African Americans) for less-skilled positions. Drawing on data from the 2000 census and 2009–2011 American Community Survey, this paper examines patterns of occupational stratification between Latino, white, and black men in the rural South to identify whether Hispanic economic relations in the area are better characterized by segmentation or competition. Specifically, occupational dissimilarity indexes and status scores are calculated to map the groups’ relative economic positions in the rural portions of five Southeastern states home to fast-growing nonmetro Latino populations: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Consistent with the segmentation hypothesis, the results reveal that Latinos are highly occupationally dissimilar from non-Hispanic whites and blacks and rank significantly below both in mean occupational status. Standardization of the stratification measures shows that Hispanics’ labor market isolation and disadvantage can be substantially accounted for by their lower average levels of human capital and US citizenship.     

Does the Hispanic Paradox in U.S. Adult Mortality Extend to Disability?

Studies consistently document a Hispanic paradox in U.S. adult mortality, whereby Hispanics have similar or lower mortality rates than non-Hispanic whites despite lower socioeconomic status. This study extends this line of inquiry to disability, especially among foreign-born Hispanics, since their advantaged mortality seemingly should be paired with health advantages more generally. We also assess whether the paradox extends to U.S.-born Hispanics to evaluate the effect of nativity. We calculate multistate life tables of life expectancy with disability to assess whether racial/ethnic and nativity differences in the length of disability-free life parallel differences in overall life expectancy. Our results document a Hispanic paradox in mortality for foreign-born and U.S.-born Hispanics. However, Hispanics’ low mortality rates are not matched by low disability rates. Their disability rates are substantially higher than those of non-Hispanic whites and generally similar to those of non-Hispanic blacks. The result is a protracted period of disabled life expectancy for Hispanics, both foreign- and U.S.-born.     

Older women on the U.S.-Mexico border: exploring the health of Hispanics and non-Hispanics Whites

Research on ethnicity and socioeconomic status (SES) suggests that Hispanics are more likely than non-Hispanic Whites to experience poverty and low levels of education, which may relate to poorer health status. This study used a health survey to examine income, education, ethnicity, birthplace, and age on self-reported health factors of women age 60 and older on the U.S.-Mexico border. Results show that income, age, and education were significantly associated with several health factors (Physical Health, Emotional Health, General Health, Energy Level, and Activity Potential). Older women with lower SES, regardless of ethnicity, reported poorer health than younger-old women with higher SES.     

Diverging Demography: Hispanic and Non-Hispanic Contributions to U.S. Population Redistribution and Diversity

The substantial growth and geographic dispersion of Hispanics is among the most important demographic trends in recent U.S. demographic history. Our county-level study examines how widespread Hispanic natural increase and net migration has combined with the demographic change among non-Hispanics to produce an increasingly diverse population. This paper uses U.S. Census Bureau data and special tabulations of race/ethnic specific births and deaths from NCHS to highlight the demographic role of Hispanics as an engine of new county population growth and ethnoracial diversity across the U.S. landscape. It highlights key demographic processes—natural increase and net migration—that accounted for 1990–2010 changes in the absolute and relative sizes of the Hispanic and non-Hispanic populations. Hispanics accounted for the majority of all U.S. population growth between 2000 and 2010. Yet, Hispanics represented only 16 % of the U.S. population in 2010. Most previous research has focused on Hispanic immigration; here, we examine how natural increase and net migration among both the Hispanic and non-Hispanic population contribute to the nation’s growing diversity. Indeed, the demographic impact of rapid Hispanic growth has been reinforced by minimal white population growth due to low fertility, fewer women of reproductive age and growing mortality among the aging white population America’s burgeoning Hispanic population has left a large demographic footprint that is magnified by low and declining fertility and increasing mortality among America’s aging non-Hispanic population.     

LGB Identity Among Young Chinese: The Influence of Traditional Culture

Based on the social construction perspective, this research aims to investigate how traditional cultural values may affect the way individuals interpret and negotiate with their minority sexual identity. Using an online survey questionnaire with a student sample of 149 Chinese lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals, 2 elements of traditional Chinese culture were found to be associated with negative LGB identity among Chinese LGB students—namely, perceived parental attitudes toward marriage and participants' endorsements of filial piety values. In addition, the endorsement of filial piety moderated the relation between perceived parental attitudes toward marriage and LGB identity, such that the effect of parental attitude on LGB identity was only present among LGBs of high filial piety. This study suggests the importance of cultural values in shaping the way LGB individuals perceive their sexual identities.     

Older Women on the U.S.-México Border: Exploring the Health of Hispanics and Non-Hispanic Whites

ABSTRACT

Research on ethnicity and socioeconomic status (SES) suggests that Hispanics are more likely than non-Hispanic Whites to experience poverty and low levels of education, which may relate to poorer health status. This study used a health survey to examine income, education, ethnicity, birthplace, and age on self-reported health factors of women age 60 and older on the U.S.-México border. Results show that income, age, and education were significantly associated with several health factors (Physical Health, Emotional Health, General Health, Energy Level, and Activity Potential). Older women with lower SES, regardless of ethnicity, reported poorer health than younger-old women with higher SES.     

Explaining the association of race and ethnicity with the HIV/AIDS-related attitudes,behaviors and skills of high school students

This study deals with intervening factors such as family composition, religiosity, and HIV/AIDS knowledge in understanding the association of race and ethnicity with HIV/AIDS-related attitudes and behaviors. Data represent Wave 1 of a five-month panel design involving 10th grade students in eight public high schools in Dade County (greater Miami) Florida. Significant differences in attitudes and behaviors were found among racial/ethnic groups. Specifically, Hispanics had more negative attitudes about condom use than blacks or whites. Whites had the most permissive, and blacks the least permissive, sexual attitudes. Hispanics felt least confident and blacks felt most confident about interpersonal sexual skills. Blacks were most likely to have had sexual intercourse, and whites least likely. Religiosity was found to be a significant intervening variable in the less permissive sexual attitudes of both blacks and Hispanics. The most significant implication of this study is that racial/ethnic differences in sexual behavior can be explained more fully by socio-environmental factors such as family structure or religiosity than by knowledge or attitudes. Thus, interventions directed toward minority populations should focus on the development of alternative social environments that would support more positive behaviors. More specifically, extended family, religious youth groups, and other community organizations should be brought into the HIV/AIDS risk-reduction arena.     

Challenging the Black Church Narrative: Race,Class, and Homosexual Attitudes

In recent years, scholars have pointed to the Black church as the driving force behind Blacks’ more conservative lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) attitudes. Although evidence suggests a robust association between religiosity and LGBT attitudes, contemporary scholarship has not examined the role of class or the extent to which religiosity actually explains these trends. Using the 2004–2014 waves of the General Social Survey, we find that class moderates in the effect of race on negative LGBT attitudes, resulting in a noticeably larger gap between middle-class Blacks and Whites than in the top or the bottom of the class distribution. Although religiosity and moralization explain a portion of racial differences in homosexual attitudes across class groups, we find that neither fully accounts for the more conservative attitudes of the Black middle class. We conclude by discussing the shortcomings of these narratives for understanding Blacks’ more conservative LGBT attitudes.     

Key issues for elderly patients contemplating clinical trial participation

ABSTRACT

This pilot study explored issues important to enrollment in clinical trials by elderly patients. We surveyed and interviewed elderly patients who had been asked to participate in trials. The information covered general attitudes toward research and specific aspects of trial recruitment. Elderly patients had favorable attitudes toward research. This favorable attitude was significantly stronger in men than in women and stronger in Whites than non-Whites but not significantly so. Altruistic motives, physician recommendations, and individual assessment of inconveniences, benefits, and risks of trial participation drove decisions. Elderly patients have positive views of research; however, this will only facilitate trial participation if patients perceive the commitment of enrolling, the potential risks, and possible side effects as reasonable.     

Hispanic Fertility,Religion and Religiousness in the U.S.

Is the higher fertility of Hispanics in the United States due to their religion and/or to their greater religiousness? Evidence from national survey data indicates no difference in fertility between Protestant and Catholic Hispanic women but Hispanics are more religious than non-Hispanics in terms of the perceived importance of religion in their personal lives. Religiousness is associated with higher fertility but Hispanic fertility is higher than non-Hispanic fertility regardless of religion or religiousness. Ethnic differences in education and income in turn are more important for fertility than the religious dimension.     

Mortality among elderly hispanics in the United States: Past evidence and new results

We used vital records and census data and Medicare and NUMIDENT records to estimate age- and sex-specific death rates for elderly non-Hispanic whites and Hispanics, including five Hispanic subgroups: persons born in Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico, other foreign countries, and the United States. We found that corrections for data errors in vital and census records lead to substantial changes in death rates for Hispanics and that conventionally constructed Hispanic death rates are lower than rates based on Medicare-NUMIDENT records. Both sources revealed a Hispanic mortality advantage relative to non-Hispanic whites that holds for most Hispanic subgroups. We also present a new methodology for inferring Hispanic origin from a combination of surname, given name, and county of residence.     

Sexual Identity in the American Deep South: The Concordance and Discordance of Sexual Activity,Relationships, and Identities

This research explores the association between sexual identity and sexual behavior and how that association varies across gender and race in the American Deep South. Multinomial logistic regression analysis is used to determine the likelihood of each sexual identity given past sexual behavior, sexual relationships, and other social characteristics. The more traditional cultural climate of the South appears to suppress identification as a sexual minority. Sexual identification in the Deep South is primarily a product of sexual activity and sexual relationships, although attitudes toward and contact with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community play a minor role. Although most participants' sexual behaviors and identities were in concordance, sexual discordance was highest for White women and lowest for White men. Discordance was also associated with traditional men's roles attitudes, negative homosexuality attitudes, and contact with the LGBT community. It is hoped that these results encourage scholarship that deconstructs the sexual behavior and identity of all groups, not just oppressed groups.     

Smoking and Intention to Quit Among a Large Sample of Black Sexual and Gender Minorities

The purpose of this study is to more completely quantify smoking and intention to quit from a sample of sexual and gender minority (SGM) Black individuals (N = 639) through analysis of data collected at Pride festivals and online. Frequencies described demographic characteristics; chi-square analyses were used to compare tobacco-related variables. Black SGM smokers were more likely to be trying to quit smoking than White SGM smokers. However, Black SGM individuals were less likely than White SGM individuals to become former smokers. The results of this study indicate that smoking behaviors may be heavily influenced by race after accounting for SGM status.     

White Residential Segregation in U.S. Metropolitan Areas: Conceptual Issues, Patterns, and Trends from the U.S. Census, 1980 to 2010

Racial and ethnic diversity continues to spread to communities across the United States. Rather than focus on the residential patterns of specific minority or immigrant groups, this study examines changing patterns of White residential segregation in metropolitan America. Using data from the 1980 to 2010 decennial censuses, we calculate levels of White segregation using two common measures, analyze the effect of defining the White population in different ways, and, drawing upon the group threat theoretical perspective, we examine the metropolitan correlates of White segregation. We find that White segregation from others declined significantly from 1980 to 2010, regardless of the measure of segregation or the White population used. However, we find some evidence consistent with the group threat perspective, as White dissimilarity is higher in metro areas that are more diverse, and especially those with larger Black populations. Nevertheless, our findings indicate that Whites having been living in increasingly integrated neighborhoods over the last few decades, suggesting some easing of the historical color line.     

Men's attitudes toward parenthood

In recent family literature, men are often characterized as deadbeat dads, with a focus on their lack of involvement, mainly financial but physical and emotional as well. At the same time, there has been little attention paid to how men feel about being parents. This paper examines men's attitudes toward parenthood using data from the National Survey of Families and Households. The results indicate (1) married men are significantly less likely than unmarried men to think that the stress of raising children, the ability to purchase goods, career time, leisure time, and old age security are important considerations in deciding whether or not to have a child; (2) men with higher education are more likely than less educated men to consider time for career and time for leisure and social activities important in making fertility decisions but are less likely to consider having someone to love important; and (3) black and Hispanic men are more likely to place importance on old age security than non-Hispanic white men.     

Contraception,attitude-practice,and fertility differentials among US Hispanic,African–American and white women

Hispanic fertility (primarily among nationals from Mexico, Central and South America in the US) is higher today than it is in Mexico and the other nations of origin (Frank and Heuveline 2005). It persists into the second and third generations, with only moderate signs of declining to replacement. Meanwhile, the fertility rates of African–Americans, American Indians Cubans, and Puerto Ricans have all declined to replacement, only slightly above the non-Hispanic white population. This study attempts to clarify the question why African–American fertility has declined to replacement, but Hispanic fertility has not. The data used are from Cycle 6 of the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) of 2002. Differences in physiological or marital-status factors are found not to explain these fertility differences; however, there are significant differences in the practice of contraception during early childbearing years. Slightly less effective methods if contraception is used, and less recourse to abortion if a pregnancy is undesired, all imply higher fertility for Hispanic women. Underlying contraceptive behaviour are sets of attitudes and motives that favour, permit, or seek childbearing. A much higher percentage of Hispanic than African–American women report that they wanted their last birth and intend to have another in the future. Hispanic women of all socio-economic statuses are considerably more pronatal in their attitudes, particularly with respect to the births of first and second children.