Decision-making by children

In this paper, we examine the determinants of decision-making power by children and young adolescents. Moving beyond previous economic models that treat children as goods consumed by adults, we develop a noncooperative model of parental control of child behavior and child resistance. Using child reports of decision-making and psychological and cognitive measures from the NLSY79 Child Supplement, we examine the determinants of shared and sole decision-making based on indices created from seven domains of child activity. We find that the determinants of sole decision-making by the child and shared decision-making with parents are quite distinct: sharing decisions appears to be a form of parental investment in child development rather than a simple stage in the transfer of authority. In addition, we find that indicators of child capabilities and preferences affect reports of decision-making authority in ways that suggest child demand for autonomy as well as parental discretion in determining these outcomes.

Social Resources and Psychosocial Adaptation of Homeless School Aged Children

This study examined social resources and psychosocial adaptation of 38 children between the ages of 6 and 12 (21 male, 17 female) who were currently experiencing a housing crisis. Results indicate that the impact of stressors depended on the informant: mother-reported stressors significantly predicted negative parenting, internalizing, and externalizing; and child-reported stressors were inversely associated with positive parenting and school adaptation, and positively correlated with child's negative affect. Mothers were nominated over three times more frequently than any other social network member, and almost half of the children did not identify any friends in their social network. Network size did not significantly predict children's psychosocial adaptation, but satisfaction with support was associated with less negative affect. Results suggest that social resources provide unique opportunities for the development of competence for children.     

Correspondence Between Gonadal Steroid Hormone Concentrations and Secondary Sexual Characteristics Assessed by Clinicians,Adolescents, and Parents

Adolescent sexual maturation is staged using Tanner criteria assessed by clinicians, parents, or adolescents. The physiology of sexual maturation is driven by gonadal hormones. We investigate Tanner stage progression as a function of increasing gonadal hormone concentration and compare performances of different raters. Fifty‐six boys (mean age, 12.7 ± 1.3 years) and 52 girls (mean age, 12.0 ± 1.6 years) were seen at baseline, 6 and 12 months. Estradiol and testosterone concentrations were determined from three morning serum samples and Tanner stage by three different raters (clinician, parent, and adolescent). Results confirm that Tanner criteria reflect gonadal hormone concentrations, and clinician rating provides optimal assessment. Detailed insight about the strengths and limitations of different raters is provided, augmenting the scientific understanding of pubertal development.     

Effects of financial insecurity on social interactions

Little is known about the effects of financial insecurity on social interactions despite consistently observed income effects on social capital and a growing recognition of the potential importance of income volatility in affecting hardships, distress, and other aspects of well-being. We use data on women participating in a longitudinal study in the U.S. to investigate the effects of financial insecurity measured along two dimensions (safety nets and hardships) on two types of social interactions (participating in community organizations and having close friends). In auxiliary analyses we explore the potential mediating effects of mental health. We find that safety nets in the form of bank accounts, credit cards, and ability to borrow money increase both participation in organizations and friendships, whereas material hardships decrease friendships but increase participation in organizations. We find no evidence that mental health, as we have measured it, mediates the observed effects of financial insecurity on social interactions, although it has strong and negative independent associations with having close friends.     

Short-term positive and negative consequences of sex based on daily reports among college students

Because sexual behavior may be associated with a broader range of outcomes than physical consequences like sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy, it is important to understand consequences of sex that may influence mental and social well-being in emerging adulthood. This article describes the short-term intrapersonal and interpersonal consequences reported by college students on days they engage in vaginal sex and what factors predict experiencing particular consequences. Data are from first-year college students who reported vaginal sex on at least one of 28 sampled days (mean age = 18.5 years; 53% female; 30% Hispanic/Latino [HL]; of non-HL participants, 30% were African American, 22% were Asian American, 35% were European American, and 12% were multiracial; N = 209 people and N = 679 person days). Participants reported positive consequences more frequently than negative consequences. Non-use of contraception and sex with a non-dating partner were associated with greater odds of reporting negative consequences. These findings have implications for messages about casual sex and use of contraception in sex education and sexual health programming.     

An evaluation of Midwifery Group Practice. Part II: women's satisfaction

BACKGROUND: Midwifery Group Practice (MGP) is a continuity of midwifery care model for women of all levels of pregnancy risk available at a tertiary metropolitan hospital in Australia. This paper presents Part II of the demonstration study exploring the effectiveness of MGP, and reports on women's satisfaction with the model of care. METHODS: A Maternal Satisfaction Questionnaire was developed and sent to all women (n=120) enrolled in MGP over a three-month period. The questionnaire comprised two open-ended questions asking women to list up to three things they liked and did not like about MGP, and a structured section exploring levels of satisfaction through a five-point Likert response format. The open-ended questions were analysed using qualitative content analysis, and analysis of the structured part of the questionnaire was undertaken by comparing mean scores of satisfaction ranging from -2 (very negative attitudes) to +2 (very positive attitudes). RESULTS: Of the 120 women who were sent a Maternal Satisfaction Questionnaire, 84 returned their questionnaire (70% response rate). Three overarching themes were identified in the content analysis of open-ended questions, namely: Continuity of care; Accessibility; and Personal and professional attributes of the midwife. Analysis of the structured part of the questionnaire showed that women were satisfied with the care they received in MGP, as indicated by positive scores on all questions. CONCLUSIONS: Women being cared for in MGP are satisfied with their care.     

Happily ever after? Fates of translocated nuisance woodchucks in the Chicago metropolitan area

Urban Ecosystems - Human-wildlife conflict is increasing as urbanization expands and wildlife species adjust to living near people. Translocation is often used to manage human-wildlife conflict...     

Racial Disparities in US Infant Birth Outcomes: A Protective Effect of Military Affiliation?

Research has been unable to determine why African Americans have higher infant mortality and preterm birth prevalence than whites, even taking into account measurable social and economic differences. This is, in part, due to the difficulty of adequately measuring the impacts of racial inequality and residential segregation. As an alternative approach, this paper comparatively examines infant outcomes among military-affiliated and civilian black and white women. The military setting provides higher-than-average economic equality and universal healthcare access. Although military-affiliated populations are usually left out of most major datasets, we construct a new variable that allows us to identify military affiliation using the CDC’s PRAMS survey data. Multinomial logistic regression analyses show that there is a negative association between adverse birth outcomes and military affiliation for both white and black women. Thus, the black-white infant mortality gap persists in the military even though black affiliates experience significant improvement in outcomes relative to their same-race civilian counterparts. Nevertheless, the black-white disparity among military-affiliated women is somewhat lessened compared to the black-white civilian disparity.     

The Success Frame and Achievement Paradox: The Costs and Consequences for Asian Americans

The status attainment model highlights the role of family socioeconomic status (SES) in the intergenerational reproduction of educational attainment; however, the model falls short in predicting the educational outcomes of the children of Asian immigrants, whose attainment exceeds that which would have been predicted based on family SES alone. On the other hand, the cultural capital model gives primacy to the role of middle-class cultural capital in reproducing advantage, but neglects contextual factors outside the family. We fill a theoretical and empirical niche by introducing a model of cultural frames to explain how the children of immigrants whose families exhibit low SES and lack middle-class cultural capital attain exceptional educational outcomes. Based on in-depth interviews with adult children of Chinese and Vietnamese immigrants randomly drawn from the survey of Immigration and Intergenerational Mobility in Metropolitan Los Angeles, we show that Chinese and Vietnamese immigrant parents and their children use ethnicity as a resource to construct and support a strict “success frame” that helps the poor and working class override their disadvantages. However, there are unintended consequences to adopting such a strict success frame: those who do not meet its exacting tenets feel like ethnic outliers, and as a result, they distance themselves from coethnics and from their ethnic identities because they link achievement with ethnicity. We conclude by underscoring the benefits of decoupling race/ethnicity and achievement for all groups.