Postnatal quality of life — A content analysis of qualitative results to the Mother-Generated Index

Background

The Mother-Generated Index (MGI) assesses postnatal quality of life (QoL) without providing a predefined checklist, thus offering mothers the opportunity to identify areas of life affected by having a baby.

Entropic Latent Variable Integration via Simulation

This paper introduces a general method to convert a model defined by moment conditions that involve both observed and unobserved variables into equivalent moment conditions that involve only observable variables. This task can be accomplished without introducing infinite‐dimensional nuisance parameters using a least favorable entropy‐maximizing distribution. We demonstrate, through examples and simulations, that this approach covers a wide class of latent variables models, including some game‐theoretic models and models with limited dependent variables, interval‐valued data, errors‐in‐variables, or combinations thereof. Both point‐ and set‐identified models are transparently covered. In the latter case, the method also complements the recent literature on generic set‐inference methods by providing the moment conditions needed to construct a generalized method of moments‐type objective function for a wide class of models. Extensions of the method that cover conditional moments, independence restrictions, and some state‐space models are also given.     

Einkommenseinbu?en durch Arbeitslosigkeit in Deutschland:

The article analyses the consequences of unemployment for earned income after reentering employment. The magnitude of these effects and their changes over the life course are described on the basis of existing research as well as own empirical analyses. The latter are based on administrative data from the German Pension Insurance (Versicherungskontenstichprobe VSKT 2006). Since previous studies differ with regard to both, sample definitions and the applied methods of causal analysis, our own empirical analysis of age- and gender-specific effects is based upon various methods of analysis while using a common dataset. We can show that income and wage penalties due to unemployment increase significantly with age. Moreover, women??s overall financial losses are higher than men??s, especially in the youngest age group.     

Update on ecstasy

After years of declining use in the United States, youth consumption of ecstasy has increased significantly. Although ecstasy (3, 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) is known to be a drug with detrimental effects, users view the drug as a safe and attractive social lubricant. To update and clarify misperceptions, this article reviews current evidence regarding ecstasy's side effects and risks and encourages honest discussion focusing on risk-reduction behaviors.     

Alternative food in the global south: Reflections on a direct marketing initiative in Kenya

Amidst booming scholarship on alternative food networks (AFNs) in the global North, research on AFN in the global South remains scarce. Partly this is because explicitly alternative initiatives are themselves scarce, except for those focused on export markets. Yet in countries such as Kenya, urban consumers and rural smallholders have good reason to want alternatives to agrichemical dependency, insecure marketing channels, and food of dubious safety. This article describes one attempt to provide an alternative. A pilot box scheme launched by the Kenya Institute of Organic Farming (KIOF) in 2007 aimed to connect organic smallholders to consumers in Nairobi, the capital city. It did not last long, and we reflect on the reasons why. In particular, we argue that efforts to build AFN in “developing” countries must take account of the problematic history of development itself, both as an ideology and as a set of institutions, policies and activities. In the case of the Kenyan box scheme, the pervasive yet often ineffectual presence of aid-dispensing non-governmental organizations, in particular, influenced different actors’ perceptions and participation in ways we did not fully anticipate. More broadly, this article emphasizes the need to appreciate the macro-historical and socioeconomic contexts that inform on-the-ground practices and understandings of alternative food.     

Update on energy drinks and youth

Energy drinks are attractive and readily available in every grocery store and gas station. While most youth verbalize an understanding that too much caffeine is bad for one's health, at an age of multiple demands, an over-the-counter offer of increased energy and alertness is hard to ignore. What makes energy drinks different from regular coffee? Although the heavily caffeinated drinks promise increased energy and stamina and are loaded with healthy natural ingredients, excessive consumption is of concern on many levels. This article will discuss some of the effects of excessive caffeine, as well as risks associated with energy drinks mixed with alcohol.     

„Nem Kind nun vorzumachen, du kriegst’ ne Lehrstelle, ist für mich unrealistisch.“

Subject of this contribution are the strategies of action and the practices of social binding under the condition of precarious employment relations. In the case of a young retail saleswoman I want to explore the question if and how situations of insecurity and uncertainty produce specific habitual changes and acquisitions. Which significance do discontinuous life courses have on biographical self-construction? How do the practices of everyday life and the relation to an uncertain future differ between the younger generation and their parents? And finally: which consequences do the pragmatic use of chance and contingency have on lived gender arrangements?     

Does gender matter? Policies,norms and the gender gap in work-to-home and home-to-work conflict across Europe

This article examines gender differences in work-to-home conflict (WHC) and home-to-work conflict (HWC) in 10 European countries and considers to what extent such differences can be linked to the institutional/societal context. This study combines the conventional demand-resource approach and an institutional framework on work–family reconciliation policies and gender norms by using data from the European Social Survey. The analyses reveal that work and home demands affect men's and women's perceived conflict somewhat differently, and that the two conflict dimensions are gender asymmetrical and linked to patterns that result from men's and women's traditional home and work spheres. This cross-country comparative analysis shows greater gender gap in perceived conflict in countries with weaker policy support for work–family reconciliation and more traditional gender norms suggesting that individuals' perceptions of WHC and HWC are institutionally embedded.     

Bespoke program design for school-aged therapy disability service delivery

This article uses the evaluation of a school-aged therapy service for children with disabilities in Western Australia to investigate models of service delivery. The current literature on family-centered practice, multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches, and 4 models of service are reviewed. The models include the life needs model, the relational goal-orientated model of optimal service delivery to children and families, the quality of life model, and the collaborative model of service delivery. Analysis of the data is presented together with a bespoke model of service delivery for children with disabilities, arguing that local contexts benefit from custom-made service design.     

Evaluation of the mandatory construction induction training program in Western Australia: unanticipated consequences

Since January 1, 2007, Government legislation in Western Australia required all workers in construction to complete mandatory safety awareness training before they began work on site. During the implementation of this new legislation there was considerable resistance from the construction sector due to the mandatory nature of the training. The construction industry viewed this as an unnecessary impost as they considered that there was already sufficient safety training delivered through individual company and site inductions. In 2010, we evaluated the new Construction Induction Training (CIT) in the commercial construction sector in Western Australia to find that since 2007 there has been an unanticipated change in support for the mandatory training. The 2010 study shows a shift in the values of the safety culture for the commercial sector of the construction industry. In 2010, the industry not only supports the mandatory CIT, but is very vocal in its request to re-institute the refresher courses that were withdrawn in 2009. Indeed, 79% of respondents claimed there were measurable benefits to their business having their employees complete the CIT, while 96% claimed the CIT assisted in reducing accidents/incidents on their worksites. This 2010 study indicates that in this case, mandatory training has had a positive effect on safety culture change and gradually reduced work-related injury in the industry since 2007 to the present. The paper uses data from two studies conducted in 2006 and 2010 to highlight the unanticipated change in perception of the value of mandatory safety training in the WA construction industry to one which is positive and supportive.