Stress,Depression and Tiredness among Women: The Social Production and Social Construction of Health*

Cet article traite essentiellement de la production sociale du stress, de la dépression et de la fatigue chez les femmes. Ces problèmes font partie de ceux qui ont été le plus fréquemment évoqués à l'occasion d'une enquête effectuée sur un échantillon aléatoire de 356 femmes canadiennes. Nous avons utilisé les procédures de régression linéaire multiple pour explorer comment ces problèmes de santé sont liés à certains aspects des conditions de vie sociale et matérielle de ces femmes. Certaines de nos conclusions viennent contredire les modéles traditionnels invoqués pour décrire les problemes de santé. En nous appuyant sur les définitions que les femmes ont données, nous croyons avoir décelé un discours sur la santé propre à la classe moyenne. En conclusion, nous soutenons que les études sur la production sociale des maladies devraient aussi explorer la construction sociale des definitions de la santé et de la maladie. This paper focusses on the social production of stress, depression and tiredness among women. These problems were among the most frequently reported by a random sample of 356 Canadian women. The authors use multiple linear regression procedures to explore the links between these health problems and aspects of the social and material conditions of women's lives. Some of the findings contradict the usual patterning of health problems. The authors suggest that by relying on women's own definitions they may have captured a middle-class discourse of health. In conclusion, it is argued that studies of the social production of illness should also explore the ways in which definitions of health and illness are socially constructed.     

Will Economic Crises in Africa Weaken Rural‐Urban Ties? Insights From Child Fosterage Trends in Cameroon*

Abstract The welfare of rural families in many African countries depends on their solidarity ties with urban kin. These ties often channel remittances from urban workers and support the education and economic mobility of children from rural families through fosterage into urban families. The continued operation of these rural‐urban solidarity networks, however, is challenged by recent economic downturns and increased urban poverty. Using Cameroon as a case study, we examine the effects of economic downturns on child fosterage as a component of changes in rural‐urban solidarity. Results show a net decline in rural outfosterage rates during the years of economic decline. Such findings raise concern for the economic mobility prospects for children from rural families, especially in a climate of increased competition for limited formalsector employment.     

Father Involvement in Infancy: Influences of Past and Current Relationships

Men's childhood experiences with their parents, their current relationship with their partners, and demographic factors were examined in relation to father‐infant interactions. Participants were 60 racially and ethnically diverse, inner‐city men and their 6‐ to 11‐month‐old infants. Father‐infant interactions were videotaped during semistructured free play in participants' homes. The quality of men's interactions with their infants was assessed using Likert ratings of their responsive‐didactic and negative‐overbearing behaviors. Men engaged in significantly more responsive‐didactic behaviors than negative‐overbearing behaviors. A cumulative score of protective demographic factors (i.e., men residing with their infants, being married, completing high school, and obtaining income above the sample's median level) and men's experiences of childhood acceptance from their fathers uniquely predicted their responsive‐didactic behaviors. Men's relationships with their partners were homogeneously strong and unrelated to fathering behaviors. This study builds on extant literature by providing a broader conceptualization of father‐infant relationships and applying observational methods to the study of fathering in minority, low‐income men.     

The Geography of Support for Open‐Space Initiatives: A Case Study of New Jersey's 1998 Ballot Measure*

Objectives. By a two to one margin, New Jersey voters in 1998 approved a ballot measure authorizing a 10‐year, 1‐billion dollar open‐space acquisition program. This article's principal objectives are to investigate and explain the spatial character of that vote. Methods. Our methods consists of regression and principal components analyses; we use municipal‐level data to define statewide patterns of voter support and participation in relation to a series of socioeconomic, political, and environmental variables. Results. The analyses yielded two major findings: (1) support for the ballot measure was widespread, but exceptionally strong in the “wealth belt” area of north‐central New Jersey, and (2) voter participation, defined as those voting on the measure as a proportion of all who voted, lagged in the core urban areas. Conclusions. Our conclusions point critically to the importance of socioeconomic status, urban residence, and presence of existing open‐space regulations—as well as rapid changes in the overall sociopolitical landscape—in explaining voter behavior.     

The political rationality of “new regionalism”: Toward a genealogy of the region

Theory and Society -     

Parents' retrospective reports of youth psychological responses to the sniper attacks in the Washington, DC, area

A random-digit-dial telephone survey was conducted in May 2003, with 355 parents of children ages 2-17 years old, living in Washington, DC, or in the two surrounding counties during the October 2002 sniper shootings, to examine parent retrospective reports of child event-related psychological distress. An estimated 32% of parents reported that children experienced at least one psychological distress symptom related to sniper shootings. Older children, females, children with a history of trauma exposure prior to sniper attacks, children whose parents reported routine disruption as the result of attacks, children whose parents perceived them as at great risk for harm from sniper attacks, and those children whose parents reported more traumatic stress symptoms in response to attacks were at greatest risk for reported psychological distress.     

Using Alternate Forms of the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale: Caveat Emptor

This study examined whether Forms A and B ofthe Multidimensional Health Locus of ControlScale (MHLCS) are parallel by comparing (a)mean performance on the internal, powerfulothers, and chance subscales, (b) the internalconsistency and one-week test-retestreliability estimates for each of thesubscales, (c) the intercorrelations among thesubscales, (d) the relationship betweenself-rated health status and each of thesubscales, and (e) the fit of the three-factorstructure for the MHLCS proposed by Wallston etal. (1978) using confirmatory factor analysis(CFA). A non-clinical sample (N = 245) wasused. Overall, the results of the study do notsupport treating Forms A and B of the MHLCS asparallel or exchangeable forms. Directions forfurther revisions to the MHLCS are proposedbased on both the present study as well asfindings from the literature.