Demographic differences in response rates for PHQ9 in a university student population

Objective: To examine differences in complete response rates for depression screening questions based on demographic characteristics. Methods: Cross-sectional study examining associations between demographic characteristics and completely responding depression-screening questions. Participants: “Healthy Minds Study” data, collected in a public University in February 2016, where 7,326 students participated. Results: women (AOR: 0.69; 95% CI =0.57–0.83) and gay/lesbian students (AOR: 0.24; 95% CI =0.10–0.60) had better complete response rates. Non-US (AOR: 1.46; 95% CI =1.03–2.07), black (AOR: 3.32; 95% CI =1.92–5.77), and Middle-Eastern students (AOR: 3.73; 95% CI =1.73–8.02) had lower complete response rates. Conclusions: Our study shows sex, gender, citizenship, and race categories have significant differences in complete response rates for the outcome. Our findings have several implications; including recognizing interventions for depression based on responders may not target those that tend to be “partial-responders”. Efforts in survey design, recruiting and completion of surveys should be maximized.     

Rural Appalachian High School Students’ College‐Going and STEMM Perceptions

The authors examined perceptions of key social cognitive career theory (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994) variables related to college‐going and science, technology, engineering, math, and medical (STEMM) careers in 10th and 11th graders (N = 892) attending 3 rural Appalachian high schools. The authors examined differences in perceptions related to gender, prospective 1st‐generation college student status, and the presence or absence of aspirations to pursue a STEMM career. Young women and young men scored similarly on all but 1 dependent variable, college‐going self‐efficacy (young women scored higher). Students who had STEMM career aspirations had higher scores on every measure than those who did not. Results suggest examining a 3rd prospective 1st‐generation college student status group—students who are unsure of their parents’ education level—as a distinct group in future research. By examining the college‐going and STEMM attitudes of rural Appalachian high school students, this study advances the literature and informs practitioners on reducing educational and vocational inequalities in this region.     

A revised approach to racism in youth multiculture: the significance of schoolyard conversations about sex,dating and desire

Anxieties about social cohesion in multicultural societies have prompted scrutiny of how young people negotiate culturally diverse spaces. A key perspective of the literature at the intersections of youth studies and urban multiculture is that young people shift between racist and convivial modes of relationality to navigate their complex social worlds. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in a culturally diverse high school in Melbourne, Australia, I suggest that this binary framing fails to capture some of the diverse logics and practices within multicultural youth sociality. Reconciling dichotomous conceptual frames that position young people as moving back-and-forth between forms of exclusion and openness, I propose an alternative frame – a perverse form of everyday cosmopolitanism – through which to consider young people’s intercultural relations. To do this, I draw on young people’s conversations about sex, dating and desire as an entry point for new theorising about racism. Race and ethnicity were cornerstones of students’ frequent discussions about sexual ‘tastes’ and activity, discourses that have racist histories and effects. However, students did not understand their social world in such terms. These students’ social practices offer a situated illustration of how racism can function as part of a more inclusive cosmopolitan ethos in young lives, which I term ‘perverse cosmopolitanism’.     

Parental Divorce,Residence Arrangements,and Contact Between Grandchildren and Grandparents

When parents divorce, grandparents can play a supportive role in the lives of their grandchildren, but a parental divorce may also put grandchild–grandparent ties under pressure. In this study the authors investigated how grandchildren of married and divorced parents differ in the frequency of face‐to‐face contacts with grandparents and how this is mediated by postdivorce residence arrangements. Based on the multi‐actor survey “Divorce in Flanders,” they used reports of contact provided by more than 1,000 grandchildren and compared them with more than 1,100 grandparent reports for validation. The results showed that grandchildren from divorced parents have fewer contacts with their grandparents than grandchildren whose parents are married but that it is the postdivorce residence arrangement of grandchildren that produces this result. When grandchildren live with their divorced father or in a shared residence arrangement, they even see paternal grandparents more often than grandchildren with married parents.     

Implicit and Explicit Sexual Attitudes: How Are They Related to Sexual Desire and Sexual Satisfaction in Men and Women?

This article examines individual variability in sexual desire and sexual satisfaction by exploring the relation between these sexual aspects and sexual attitudes (implicit and explicit) and by taking gender into account, as this has been shown to be an influential factor. A total of 28 men and 33 women living in heterosexual relationships completed questionnaires assessing sexual desire (dyadic, solitary), sexual satisfaction, and explicit sexual attitudes. An adapted version of the Affect Misattribution Procedure was used to assess implicit sexual attitudes. Results showed higher levels of dyadic and solitary sexual desire in men than in women. No gender differences were found regarding sexual satisfaction or sexual attitudes. High dyadic sexual desire was associated with positive implicit and explicit sexual attitudes, regardless of gender. However, solitary sexual desire was significantly higher in men than women and was associated, in women only, with positive implicit sexual attitudes, suggesting that solitary sexual desire may fulfill different functions in men and women. Finally, sexual satisfaction depended on the combination of explicit and implicit sexual attitudes in both men and women. This study highlights the importance of considering both implicit and explicit sexual attitudes to better understand the mechanisms underlying individual variability in sexual desire and satisfaction.     

Quality of work and job satisfaction: comparing female part-time work in four European countries

Adding to the debate on the integrative or marginalizing nature of female part-time work, this article provides a comparative analysis of the implications of female part-time work for different intrinsic job quality dimensions and job satisfaction. Drawing on national micro-data from Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden, our multivariate analyses show cross-national similarities in terms of lower job learning opportunities for female part-timers. We found a significantly higher incidence of repetitiveness only among Swedish female part-timers and lower degrees of task discretion among British, Dutch, and Swedish women working part-time hours. Female part-timers were either equally satisfied with their work as female full-timers or even more satisfied. This held true also after accounting for the lower intrinsic job quality of part-time work. While women working part-time hours were as affected by their job quality characteristics as were full-timers, we conclude that the shorter hours of work per se provide an important additional source of job satisfaction.     

NPO Financial Statement Quality: An Empirical Analysis Based on Benford’s Law

In order to assess the accuracy of the figures reported in NPOs’ financial statements, I perform a digital analysis on Belgian non-profit organizations’ financial statements for accounting years 2007 up to 2012. Specifically, I compare observed frequencies for digits in the second-from-the-left position with expected frequencies based on Benford’s Law. Results based on the full sample indicate that observed frequencies strongly conform to Benford’s Law (and thus suggest a high degree of accuracy of the figures reported in NPOs’ financial statements). Nevertheless, I note statistically significant deviations from Benford’s Law (both for the entire distribution and at the individual digit level). The largest deviation is noted for zeroes in the second position (i.e., a significantly positive deviation), which can be explained based on humans’ reliance upon so-called cognitive reference points. Considering different sub-samples, I note that observed deviations from Benford’s Law are largest for the smallest non-profits and those non-profits that rely most heavily on grants and/or donations.     

Becoming the mother of a child with disabilities: a systematic literature review

The transition to motherhood starts early in pregnancy and is completed when the mother feels competent in caring for the infant. Becoming the mother of a child with disabilities is demanding as their needs are complex. The aim of the review was to appraise completed qualitative and quantitative reports on the challenges of mothers of children with disabilities regarding their own transition to motherhood. A review of the literature was carried out through, first, a computerized search strategy to identify relevant studies from selected databases and, second, quality appraisal and thematic analysis of selected studies. The transition to motherhood of children with disabilities takes place in the inside world at home, the outside world external to home and the ‘going-between’ world of travelling between the two worlds. The mothers are challenged at home to integrate basic infant care with technical care of their children. In the outside world they often struggled to ensure that their children got the necessary professional care. Travelling between their homes and healthcare services posed many problems.     

Migration aspirations of European youth in times of crisis

In recent years, the European Union (EU) passed through a significant economic crisis. All across Europe, European young people are among the groups which are hit hardest, with youth unemployment rates rising to over 50% in member states such as Greece and Spain. In the classical migration literature, it is suggested that such unfavourable economic climate would make people more likely to move abroad. Whereas in press releases we are regularly confronted with stories about South European young adults with tertiary education working in bars in Northern European cities, limited empirical evidence exists as such on the relationship between the recent Euro-crisis and migration aspirations. This paper addresses this gap in the academic literature. Using data from Flash Eurobarometer 395, I investigate which micro- and macro-level characteristics influence migration aspirations of young people across the member states of the EU. The results reveal the importance of individual characteristics and feelings of discontent with the current climate in explaining migration aspirations. Furthermore, I detect a negative relationship of relative welfare levels with migration aspirations, and a positive relationship of the youth unemployment ratio. Together, the results suggest that potential young intra-EU movers are positively selected from the population.