“We walk on eggshells”: A phenomenological inquiry of wives’ experiences of living with active-duty Marine husbands with PTSD

ABSTRACT

In this qualitative study, the authors explored the lived experiences of wives married to active-duty male Marines who have a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The first author and primary investigator conducted in-depth interviews with eight women, all of whom had been married more than 3 years and experienced at least one deployment while married. Transcendental phenomenology was used to gain an understanding of each woman’s experience. The central research question in this study was “What is it like to live with an active-duty male Marine with PTSD?” Findings demonstrated five essential themes: (1) the unpredictability of living with someone with PTSD, (2) the spouse had to take on different roles, (3) the wives felt unprepared to handle PTSD, (4) the wives received different messages when trying to seek help for their husbands, and (5) the wives wanted to send messages to other wives living with Marines with PTSD.     

Should They Stay or Should They Go: Greek Housing on Campus as Substance Use Prevention?

Greek life on college campuses offers many student benefits, including leadership skills and career networking, but is also associated with risk factors such as excessive alcohol use. This cross-sectional study compares hazardous alcohol and drug use, and use of protective behavioral strategies among non-Greek and Greek-affiliated students at 2 universities and differences among students at a university that offers on-campus Greek housing and a college with off-campus Greek housing. Findings reveal that Greek-affiliated students report more alcohol use, and no difference in drug use or in protective behavioral strategies, than non-Greek students. Among Greek students, those living in on-campus Greek housing report significantly lower alcohol use than students residing in off-campus Greek housing. Regardless of Greek status, students at the college with off-campus Greek housing are significantly more likely to use alcohol and marijuana in a fraternity or sorority house than students at the university with on-campus Greek housing.     

Petrochemical releases disproportionately affected socially vulnerable populations along the Texas Gulf Coast after Hurricane Harvey

Hurricane Harvey resulted in a natural-technological disaster in which flooding caused petrochemical facilities to release hazardous chemicals. Natural-technological disasters are rarely analyzed from an environmental justice (EJ) perspective. We calculated a Hurricane Harvey petrochemical hazard density index (PHDI) based on the locations of 42 facilities with reported releases along the Texas Gulf Coast. We used sociodemographic data from the American Community Survey to examine census tract-level social inequalities in PHDI (n?=?1099 tracts). Results from generalized estimating equations indicate that tracts with higher proportions of Hispanic, disabled, or young residents had greater PHDI. PHDI was positively associated with tract poverty, with a slight downward curve at high poverty. Under conditions of higher Hispanic composition, the positive effect of poverty on PHDI was amplified. With more frequent storms predicted, regulatory agencies need to ensure that the petrochemical industry prepares for rapid shutdowns in order to protect residents from natural-technological disasters.

     

Paid family leave: supporting work attachment among lower income mothers

ABSTRACT

Around the time of childbirth, low-income families are at particular economic risk for reasons including mothers’ relatively high levels of separation from work. Lower wage jobs typically come with minimal paid leave that can be used at childbirth. Paid Family Leave (PFL) programs provide partially subsidized wages to new parents. Quantitative research links PFL with greater post-birth work attachment among mothers, including lower wage mothers. This qualitative study sought to explore factors that facilitate – and inhibit – lower income mothers’ returns to work following childbirth and the role of PFL programs. Seventy-one percent of the 75 mothers in the study returned to work. They cited their need for income, desire for financial independence, preference for combining work and caregiving, supportive workplace practices, family help, and accessible and trustworthy child care. They described ways PFL supported employment, especially for single mothers and those with the fewest family resources. Twenty-nine percent of the mothers left work after childbirth for reasons including child care costs, a desire (or need) to remain home rather than work, low job quality, lack of job protection, and PFL program limitations. The findings suggest future research directions and pathways for service providers and others to support these families.     

Evaluating excellence: A model of evaluation for public relations practice in organizational culture and context

This paper represents the development of an innovative and comprehensive model designed to measure public relations excellence within an organizational context. Drawing on established scales of evaluation for public relations practice, researchers propose a measurement model situated within excellence Theory. Through a partnership between the research team and The Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) organization, a case study approach was developed and implemented, highlighting the relationships between organizational culture and communication. The Excellence in Organizational Context model was tested within the AER, using empirical data gathered through in-depth semi-structured interviews and a self-report questionnaire survey conducted with individuals from various identified organizational stakeholder groups. This mixed-method approach was employed to explore and understand the multi-dimensional nature of public relations practice within this organization.Researchers investigated eight dimensions of excellence in this model. Initial findings indicate that the Excellence in Organizational Context model proposed here is a valid and appropriate method for measuring public relations performance when applied as a mixed-method approach for measuring practice and establishing context within an organizational culture. This indicates the need for both organizational, stakeholder, and sector/national level data in confirming relevant benchmarks.     

The Impact of Work and Volunteer Hours on the Health of Undergraduate Students

Abstract

Objective: To examine the impact of work and volunteer hours on 4 health issues among undergraduate college students. Participants: Full-time undergraduate students (N = 70,068) enrolled at 129 institutions who participated in the Spring 2011 American College Health Association–National College Health Assessment II survey. Methods: Multiple linear regression and binary logistic regression were used to examine work and volunteer hour impact on depression, feelings of being overwhelmed, sleep, and physical activity. Results: The impact of work and volunteer hours was inconsistent among the health outcomes. Increased work hours tended to negatively affect sleep and increase feelings of being overwhelmed. Students who volunteered were more likely to meet physical activity guidelines, and those who volunteered 1 to 9 hours per week reported less depression. Conclusions: College health professionals should consider integrating discussion of students' employment and volunteering and their intersection with health outcomes into clinical visits, programming, and other services.     

Pre-marital pregnancy, childspacing, and later economic achievement

Abstract The nature of the first-birth interval has a persistent, if diminishing relation to the family's economic position at successive observations in a longitudinal study of Detroit. The pre-maritally pregnant (PMP) were at a disadvantage at either the first (1961) observation or the fourth (1966) as compared with other married couples with either a short or long first birth interval (short-spacers and long-spacers). The PMP disadvantage was much greater for assets than for income, but disadvantage in each area persisted and was not a result of age, duration of marriage, or other factors likely to disappear in time. Poor education combined with early age at marriage was probably responsible. On the other hand, the economic disadvantages of the short-spacers (not PMP) as compared with the long-spacers, diminished consistently between 1961 and 1965. The initial disadvantage results from shorter marriage and career duration for husbands at each parity. At comparable marriage durations the difference disappears. Nevertheless, this means substantially smaller resources per head at the actual time of birth of successive children.     

Reproductive goals and achieved fertility: A fifteen-year perspective

A measure of underlying family size preference obtained for a sample of Detroit married women in 1962 is related to their fertility over a 15-year follow-up period. The data represent completed fertility. The I-scale preference measure used differs from the conventional single-valued statement of number of children wanted; it is a more fine-grained measure reflecting the respondent's utility for children as evidenced by her entire preference order. The scales are found to be consistently predictive of fertility over the 15-year prospective period, net of other variables usually associated with differential fertility. The results for the just-married sample, in which preferences and expectations are not confounded with the number of children already born, are particularly striking, with underlying preference much better than expected family size as a predictor of fertility over the entire reproductive cycle. The question of prediction for continuous and discontinuous marriages is discussed.