Cross‐Cultural Measurement Invariance of Adolescent Self‐Report on the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory™ 4.0

This study evaluated the cross‐cultural measurement invariance of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory version 4.0 (PedsQL^?) among adolescents sampled from Bulgaria, Croatia, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Serbia, and Turkey. The multiple‐indicator multiple‐cause (MIMIC) model was used, which allowed controlling of demographic variables (i.e., age, gender, and socioeconomic status). Significant effects of country on scores within the PedsQL^? domains were observed, with up to 17 items showing differential item functioning (DIF) across the countries. We did not find support for cross‐cultural measurement invariance hypotheses for scores on the PedsQL^? adolescent self‐report in this study. Researchers should use caution in making cross‐cultural quality of life comparisons while using the PedsQL.     

Suburban taste*

The cultural production of Japanese suburban housing between 1910 and 1939 was informed by changing perceptions of family and self in relation to domestic space and the everyday. This article focuses on the Hankyu Corporation, an Osaka-based railway company that presented itself as a cultural authority for middle-class families in a wide range of enterprises, including the construction of suburban estates. By revisiting its publicity material, including a monthly magazine and housing catalogs, we demonstrate the complex process through which Hankyu narratively visualized and materialized an image of suburban life in its housing designs. We address the subjective nature of taste in influencing and shaping consumer choices around the spatial production of neighborhoods and the conduct of daily life in the suburbs.     

Gross primary productivity of a large metropolitan region in midsummer using high spatial resolution satellite imagery

Although gross primary productivity (GPP) is estimated with remote sensing over large regions of Earth, urban areas are usually excluded due to the lack of light use efficiency (LUE) parameters for urban vegetation and the spatial heterogeneity of urban land cover. Here, we estimated midsummer GPP, both within and among vegetation and land-use types, across the Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota metropolitan region. We derived LUE parameters for urban vegetation types using estimates of GPP from tree sap flow and eddy covariance CO₂ flux observations, and from fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation based on 2 m resolution WorldView-2 satellite imagery. Mean GPP per unit land area (including vegetation, impervious surfaces, and soil) was 2.64 g C m^?2 d^?1, and was 4.45 g C m^?2 d^?1 per unit vegetated area. Mapped GPP estimates were within 11.4% of estimates from independent tall tower eddy covariance measurements. Turf grass GPP had a larger coefficient of variation (0.18) than other vegetation classes (~0.10). Vegetation composition was largely consistent across the study area. Excluding golf courses, mean land-use GPP for the total study area varied more by percent vegetation cover (R²?=?0.98, p?<?0.001) than by variability within vegetation classes (R²?=?0.21, p?=?0.19). Urban GPP in general was less than half that of natural forests and grasslands in the same climate zone.     

Professional judgements and decisions on placement in foster care and reunification in Portugal

This study aims to analyse professional judgements and decisions made in the Portuguese child care system in face of a case vignette of child maltreatment. Using the approach proposed by Benbenishty et al. [(2015). Decision making in child protection: An international comparative study on maltreatment substantiation, risk assessment and interventions recommendations, and the role of professionals’ child welfare attitudes. Child Abuse & Neglect, 49, 63–75. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2015.03.015], we assessed the decisions of professionals, such as to place the child in foster care or reunify her with her family, on the basis of a series of judgements (e.g. substantiation of alleged abuse and neglect, risk assessments) that are influenced by the characteristics of the case, the decision-making context, and mother's and child's wishes. We conclude that there are different approaches to the case based on different professionals' attitudes that can be classified in two groups: one more pro-removal and the other anti-removal. These groups presented different risk assessments and intervention recommendations, and their decisions where significantly influenced by the mother's and child's wishes. Furthermore, we have done comparisons with studies made in other countries, concluding that the country context can be an important factor that leads to different outcomes. Implications for both practice and research are presented.     

Élaboration et validation d'un questionnaire sur le travail décent

Les auteurs cherchent à élaborer un outil de mesure du travail décent reposant sur un questionnaire inédit axé sur les perceptions des travailleurs. Les items proposés se fondent sur les «éléments fondamentaux» du travail décent selon l'OIT. Une première version de soixante‐douze items est administrée sur deux grands échantillons au Portugal et au Brésil. Les analyses factorielles exploratoire et confirmatoire menées sur cette base permettent d'isoler sept facteurs spécifiques et un facteur global du travail décent. Avec de bons coefficients de fiabilité et une bonne validité convergente et discriminante, le questionnaire proposé ouvre la voie à de nouvelles études empiriques dans le domaine.     

Living on the edge? Professional anxieties at work in academia and veterinary practice

ABSTRACT

Through empirical research on academics and veterinary surgeons, this article focuses on identity and how it is reflected in, and reproduced by, anxiety and insecurity at work. Three analytical themes – perfection, performativity and commodified service – each of which generates anxiety indicates a loss of autonomy as academics and vets are subjected to competitive market forces as well as an intensification of masculine managerial controls of assessment, audit and accountability. We see these pressures and their effects as reflecting a commodification of service provision where the consumer (student or client) begins to redefine the relationship between those offering some expertise and those who are its recipients, partly achieved through the performative gaze of constant and visible rating mechanisms. Our empirical research also identifies sources of anxiety concerns in their attempts to achieve perfection against this background of uncertain knowledge and precarious contexts of the performative nature of professional expertise.     

The effects of preconception desires and intentions on pregnancy wantedness

Do preconception intentions to conceive add to the prediction of pregnancy wantedness beyond the effect of preconception desires? This paper addresses that question, using data regarding the most recent pregnancy of 2,299 women respondents to the 2002 U.S. National Survey of Family Growth. We test a structural equation model predicting a woman’s pregnancy wantedness with her preconception desires, her perception of her partner’s preconception desires, and her preconception intentions. In this multivariate setting, preconception intentions do not predict pregnancy wantedness in the overall sample. However, they do predict wantedness in certain demographic contexts. We identify three patterns of change in our model that occur in selected contexts. We then use these patterns to hypothesize three psychosocial mechanisms by which preconception intentions may increase the wantedness of a pregnancy beyond that resulting from the woman’s preconception desires to get pregnant and her perception of her partner’s preconception desires.     

Working with Signs of Safety: Parents' perception of change

Signs of Safety (SoS) is an approach used to work with families involved with children's services that was developed in Australia during the 1990s. Despite the fact that it has been adopted by countries across the globe, the evidence for its effectiveness in relation to improved outcomes for children has not been established. This study attempted to take an initial step in measuring the impact of SoS on families. In the course of evaluating SoS in 10 areas across England, the authors collected data from social workers using the approach and from families with whom they were working who also gave permission for their case records to be examined. Where social workers were more confident about using SoS and had consistently applied its elements, more families reported improvements in their lives. Families with social workers who had higher confidence in using SoS were also more likely to say that they had achieved more than expected against their earlier stated goals and were more likely to report positively against self‐defined goals.     

Temporary Labour–Migration System and Long–term Residence Strategies in the United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates’ migration system, the sponsorship–based kafala system, is defined as a temporary labour–migration regime. Although there are policies making permanent residence unattainable for virtually all migrants, it is still relevant to explore the temporality of migrations in the UAE. The purpose of this study is to investigate developments in migration, migration policies and population trends in the country, including trends that concern the duration of migrants’ stay. We also identify some of the major strategies used by migrants to prolong their sojourn in the UAE. It is maintained that the migrant stock has increased continuously in the last decades and that a large number of migrants devise strategies to continue their residence and remain in the country for years. The authors also identify and discuss migrants’ transition within and in-between regularity and irregularity, and analyse the reasons for utilizing different strategies over time.