Residential Mobility Across Early Childhood and Children’s Kindergarten Readiness

Understanding residential mobility in early childhood is important for contextualizing family, school, and neighborhood influences on child well-being. We examined the consequences of residential mobility for socioemotional and cognitive kindergarten readiness using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort, a nationally representative longitudinal survey that followed U.S. children born in 2001 from infancy to kindergarten. We described individual, household, and neighborhood characteristics associated with residential mobility for children aged 0–5. Our residential mobility indicators examined frequency of moves, nonlinearities in move frequency, quality of moves, comparisons between moving houses and moving neighborhoods, and heterogeneity in the consequences of residential mobility. Nearly three-quarters of children moved by kindergarten start. Mobility did not predict cognitive scores. More moves, particularly at relatively high frequencies, predicted lower kindergarten behavior scores. Moves from socioeconomically advantaged to disadvantaged neighborhoods were especially problematic, whereas moves within a ZIP code were not. The implications of moves were similar across socioeconomic status. The behavior findings largely support an instability perspective that highlights potential disruptions from frequent or problematic moves. Our study contributes to literature emphasizing the importance of contextualizing residential mobility. The high prevalence and distinct implications of early childhood moves support the need for further research.     

Predictors of supplementation for breastfed babies in a Baby-Friendly hospital

Problem

Supplementation of breastfed babies is common during the hospital stay.

Not making the transition to college: School, work, and opportunities in the lives of American youth

Unlike traditional research on educational stratification that focuses on the pursuit of higher education, our study examines why young adults do not make the transition to college, using a nationally representative sample of college non-enrollees (N = 2640). In applying latent class analysis techniques, we identified multiple types of students who do not pursue college. One group of non-enrollees (27.6%) reports forgoing college because the economic barriers are too high - either because of college affordability or family financial responsibility. These youth had both low math test scores and low family income, and thus closely align with regression-based analyses on college enrollment that emphasize academic and economic constraints as the central barriers to educational progress. However, we also identified a second, often overlooked group of youth who had the academic preparation and family income support to enroll in higher education, but decided to forgo college because they preferred to work and to make money (18.3%). The heterogeneous motives of these youth suggest that postsecondary decisions are not always guided by academic and economic barriers, but sometimes driven by previous work experience and perceptions of local opportunities for school and work.     

Return migration as a ‘family project’: exploring the relationship between family life and the readjustment experiences of highly skilled Austrians

Most research studies on return migration analyse remigration and reintegration as individual projects, without considering the interconnectedness of remigrants with their family members. This article addresses this research gap and seeks to add to our understanding of the role which the family plays in shaping reintegration outcomes through a qualitative analysis of the experiences of highly skilled Austrians who returned, with their co- or inter-ethnic family members, in the last 10 years. Results show that the relationship between family and reintegration is complex. Core family members may act both as constraints and as enablers of readjustment. Partners and children ease reintegration by providing enthusiasm, motivation and emotional support. At the same time, family members may also complicate the reintegration process by increasing the amount of administrative work to be done in order to re-organise family life or by triggering feelings of alienation, when family members face (re)-integration challenges. The reintegration process was also found to have a significant impact on highly skilled returnees’ family life. The problem-solving strategies which returnees develop during their process of reintegration either impede the formation of new families, impact on the structure of existing families or change the division of family work in the household.     

Extended household transitions, race/ethnicity, and early childhood cognitive outcomes

Beyond mothers’ union status transitions, other adults’ transitions into and out of the household contribute to family instability, particularly in early childhood. Using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (N ≅ 8550), this study examines associations between extended household transitions and age 2 cognitive development. A substantial minority of toddlers experiences these transitions, and their consequences vary by household member type, entry versus exit, and race/ethnicity. Extended household transitions predict lower cognitive scores for white children, but the selection of low-socioeconomic status families into extended households explains these disparities. Grandparent transitions predict significantly higher cognitive scores for African American and Latino children than whites, and some “other adult” transitions predict higher scores for Latinos than African Americans and whites. Extended household transitions’ consequences are independent of co-occurring residential moves and partner transitions. Findings suggest that studying extended household transitions is useful for understanding children’s early development, and their consequences vary by race/ethnicity.     

Nationwide Newspaper Coverage of Immigration Reform: A Community Structure Approach

A community structure analysis compared community characteristics and nationwide coverage of immigration reform in newspapers in 21 major U.S. cities, sampling all 250+ word articles April 23, 2010 to November 12, 2013. The resulting 262 articles were coded for “prominence” and “direction” (“favorable,” “unfavorable,” or “balanced/neutral” coverage), then combined into each newspaper's composite “Media Vector” (range = .632 to ?.4800). Nineteen of 21 newspapers showed favorable coverage of immigration reform. Pearson correlations yielded 4 significant results, the most powerful of which supported immigration reform. The “vulnerability” hypothesis (media “mirror” the interests of marginal/disadvantaged groups) was essentially confirmed. Higher percentages below the poverty line (r = .607, p = .003) and higher crime rates (r = .490, p = .017) correlated with more favorable coverage of immigration reform. By contrast, higher percentages of women in the workforce (r = ?.543, p = .008) and higher proportions of hate crimes (r = ?.403, p = .048) were linked with less favorable coverage. Regression analysis yielded the percentage living below the poverty line accounting for 37.2% of the variance, and proportion of hate crimes yielded an additional 19.1% of the variance. The Midwest had by far the most favorable coverage of immigration reform, more than any other region.     

Mountain chickadees adjust songs,calls and chorus composition with increasing ambient and experimental anthropogenic noise

Vocal plasticity may allow birds to reduce masking effects of noise pollution arising from urbanization. Mountain chickadees (Poecile gambeli) use both songs and calls during the dawn chorus, which vary in masking susceptibility. Thus, increasing song or call frequency, or switching between vocalization types are all potential mechanisms to reduce masking during fluctuating noise conditions. Further, prior experience with noise pollution may be a necessary precursor to allow birds to alter signals in response to sudden noisy conditions. To determine how mountain chickadee songs, calls, and chorus composition are affected by noise, we recorded 55 males across gradients of local ambient noise and habitat urbanization in three cities in British Columbia, Canada. Of these individuals, 31 were also exposed to 5-min experimental noise treatments. Habitat urbanization was quantified through a continuous index reflecting properties of urbanized areas. Only song frequency increased with local ambient noise, and this effect varied regionally. In response to experimental noise exposure, males increased the frequency of their calls (but not of their songs), and varied their use of songs vs. calls. Interestingly, this response was dependent on local ambient noise levels: males in noisy areas shifted to using relatively more songs, whereas males in quiet areas shifted to using relatively more calls. These findings may suggest that although mountain chickadees are capable of adjusting their vocalizations, choosing a response which can lead to masking release may require prior exposure to high levels of ambient noise.     

Urban environments are associated with earlier clutches and faster nestling feather growth compared to natural habitats

Urbanization creates new habitats with novel benefits and challenges not found in natural systems. How a species fares in urban habitats is largely dependent on its life history, yet predicting the response of individual species to urbanization remains a challenge. While some species thrive in urban areas, others do poorly or are not present at all. Mountain chickadees (Poecile gambeli) are year-round residents of montane regions of western North America. Commonly found in higher-elevation coniferous forests, these birds can also be found in urban areas where they will regularly visit bird feeders and nest in nest boxes. We monitored mountain chickadees nesting along a habitat gradient, from natural habitat to suburban areas, to determine if the degree of urbanization was associated with: clutch size and success; nestling growth rates; or variation in parental size and age. Females nesting in urbanized areas initiated clutches earlier in the breeding season than those in natural areas, but neither fledging success nor the rate of nestling mass-change differed between habitats. Nestling feather growth-rate increased with later first egg dates in both habitats, and the magnitude of this increase was greatest in urban habitats. We found no difference in the proportion of first-time breeders versus experienced breeders between habitat types, nor any differences in male or female mass or size. Our results indicate no detriment to nesting in urban habitats, suggesting mountain chickadees are able to adapt to moderate urbanization much like other members of the Paridae family.     

„Da gibt es Sachen,die macht man einfach nicht“ – Deutungsmuster von Banken im Kontext von Nachhaltigkeit und Krise

Banks in Germany are experiencing a profound legitimacy crisis. In the wake of financial and economic crises, failures, and bailouts, as well as new oversight and stricter regulations, banks have lost the reputation and trust they once had. The present article uses an analysis of interpretative patterns to examine how banks seek to legitimize themselves in times of crisis, with reference to sustainability as a guiding principle of society. Following the concept of social legitimacy by new institutionalism in sociology, and based on discursive interviews with 18 representatives of German banks, we reconstructed three interpretative patterns: a) the differentiation from “bad” banks, which abandons profit-maximizing business models and promotes the moral superiority of sustainable banking, b) responsibility for society, which promotes the role and responsibility of banks as socially relevant actors that spur social change, and c) “right” return, whereby banks seek an appropriate relationship between their value orientation and a return on investments. Although a return on investment is economically necessary and confers legitimacy, it may not be understood as an end in itself. Banks discredited during the crisis can refocus on a banking model which promises social legitimacy by referring to sustainability.     

Life-Coaching zur Entwicklung der Lebenszufriedenheit

This research explores with the help of pretest-posttest-design with two repeated measures, control group and 19 clients, whether a Life Coaching can change a life dissatisfaction. As a result, dissatisfaction decreased in 81% of the clients or terminate completely. Stressors were reduced by 100% (T(11) = 4; p < 0.005), strains were reduced by 88%. A significant decline of the emotional-cognitive strains by 89% (T(13) = 0; p < 0.005) was noticed. The stress load all over was significantly lower (T(13) = 20; p < 0.05). It exists a within-subjects effect between intervention and one of the subscales, F(1.24) = 5.776, p = 0.024.