Resurgent Ethnicity among Asian Americans: Ethnic Neighborhood Context and Health

In this study I investigate the associations of neighborhood socioeconomic and social environments with the health of Asian Americans living in both Asian ethnic neighborhoods and non-Asian neighborhoods. I use a sample of 1962 Asian Americans from the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS, 2003-04). Three key findings emerge. First, absolute levels of socioeconomic and social resources do not differ greatly between the Asian ethnic neighborhoods and non-Asian neighborhoods in which Asian Americans live. Second, the ethnic neighborhood context conditions the effects of neighborhood education on health so that higher neighborhood education is related to better self-rated health among Asian Americans only when they live in Asian ethnic neighborhoods. Finally, the social environment, measured by everyday discrimination and social cohesion, does not differ in its health effects for individuals living in Asian ethnic and non-Asian neighborhoods. Together, these findings illuminate the complex ways that racial and ethnic neighborhood concentration impacts health.     

Activist practitioner perspectives of website public relations: Why aren’t activist websites fulfilling the dialogic promise?

Kent and Taylor proposed five dialogic principles for mediated public relations in 1998 and numerous studies of activist groups, corporations, and educational institutions have shown that most websites fail to meet their dialogic potential. This study explores some of the reasons why activist organizations do not integrate dialogic features into their websites. Thirteen activist public relations practitioners were interviewed to determine their perceptions of websites as tools for information dissemination and resource mobilization. Three consistent themes emerged from the interviews: (1) website communication is perceived to be most effective when tied to issue-specific events and issue currency, (2) websites cater to existing and highly involved publics, and (3) websites are viewed as passive communication tools that must be supplemented with traditional public relations practices.     

The Systemic Interaction of Attachment on Psychophysiological Arousal in Couple Conflict

Attachment in adult romantic relationships has long been linked to conflict styles. Psychophysiological measures have provided additional insight into this association by accessing less conscious and controlled responses to conflict. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between attachment anxiety, attachment avoidance, and the interaction between attachment styles on skin conductance responses during conflict and recovery from conflict. Using dyadic analysis of 50 heterosexual couples, we found evidence of a systemic effect of attachment, where psychophysiological arousal increased when one partner had higher levels of attachment anxiety and the other partner had higher levels of attachment avoidance. Attachment avoidance was also negatively associated with increased levels of arousal. Relationship and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Using regulatory fit theory to examine how the communication context of compliance-gaining interactions influences compliance

Compliance-gaining research focuses mainly on how message variations differentially affect compliance; however, few studies have examined how framing the compliance-gaining goal (i.e., promotion/prevention) and providing a means to achieve the goal function concurrently to influence compliance. The current study uses regulatory fit theory to examine how a fit between goals and means of compliance-gaining messages affects compliance. A field experiment was conducted in which subjects were presented with a compliance-gaining request in which goals and means were varied. Results indicated that compliance rates and donation amounts were higher under conditions of fit between the regulatory orientation of goals and means rather than non-fit. Findings are discussed in light of their implications for compliance-gaining research and regulatory fit theory.     

Exploring strategies for re-engaging children and young people in learning while living in out-of-home care in the Northern Territory,Australia

The education of children living in out-of-home care (OOHC) has been a long-standing concern for children and their carers, policy-makers and researchers who have long highlighted the issue of low educational attainment and disengagement among children in care. This study investigates the strategies and practices used within a pilot programme based in the Northern Territory, Australia, that aims to re-engage children living in OOHC with education and training. Drawing on qualitative interviews with programme stakeholders, including educators, carers, child and family welfare workers, as well as an analysis of programme and client documentation, this study explores the programme's strategies to achieve re-engagement. The findings highlight the role of agile child-centred practice responding to the learning needs of participants, a focus on the ‘educational futures’ of students, as well as liaison and advocacy with schools and stakeholders on behalf of children in supporting re-engagement in education settings. Barriers to successful re-engagement include limited consideration of the cultural needs of children across education and OOHC systems, in particular the disruptive impact of OOHC placement changes, as well as programme discontinuity.     

Gendering in the Holistic Milieu: A Critical Realist Analysis of Homeopathic Work

Increasing attention is being paid to the economic sector known as the holistic milieu, in which alternative or New Age spiritualities are transformed into commercial products and services. Made up of a wide variety of activities and products, many marketized, this milieu is dominated by women as producers and consumers. The discourses of holism and wellbeing that underpin activity offer promises of gender equality and the freedom to develop subjectivity according to individual preferences. Despite its economic and cultural significance, little is known of why women in particular enter this sector. This article presents a critical realist analysis of how five women negotiated structural conditions and agency when leaving a mainstream occupation or organization to move into homeopathy, a key activity in the holistic milieu. I suggest that while there are numerous tensions and contradictions involved in this move, it is nonetheless a form of action that offers a different subject position and altered gender relations, based on embodied identity and exercise of agency. Whether the holistic milieu offers more equitable gender relations is less clear, but this seems less important for respondents than the other benefits the move implies.     

A national evaluation of community-based youth cessation programs: design and implementation

Although widely available, little is known about the effectiveness of youth cessation treatments delivered in real-world settings. The authors recruited a nonprobability sample of 41 community-based group-format programs that treated at least 15 youth per year and included evidence-based treatment components. Data collection included longitudinal surveys of youth participants (n = 878); posttreatment surveys of program leaders (n = 77); and one-time surveys of organizational leaders (n = 64)and community leaders in education, health, and juvenile justice (n = 94). Information about smoking-related ordinances was collected at the state and local levels. The framework, evaluation design, and implementation strategies described in this article provide a template for large-scale real-world program evaluations.     

Correction to: Parental Status and Biological Functioning: Findings from the Nashville Stress and Health Study

Population Research and Policy Review - Unfortunately, due to an error upon submission of this article, the article was published with an incomplete author group. Dr. Katherine L. Friedman was not...