Real-life closeness of social media contacts and depressive symptoms among university students

ABSTRACT

Objective: To examine the association between degree of real-life closeness of social media (SM) contacts and depressive symptoms. Participants: Students ages 18–30 (N = 1124) were recruited in August 2016. Methods: Participants completed an online survey assessing SM use and depression. We used multivariable logistic regression to assess associations between real-life closeness of SM contacts and depressive symptoms. Results: After controlling for covariates, each 10% increase in the proportion of SM friends with whom participants had no face-to-face relationship was associated with a 9% increase in odds of depressive symptoms (AOR = 1.09; 95% CI = 1.05–1.13). However, each 10% increase in the proportion of SM friends with whom participants had a close face-to-face relationship was associated with a 7% decrease in depressive symptoms (AOR = 0.93; 95% CI = 0.89–0.97). Conclusions: Having no in-person relationship with SM contacts is associated with increased depressive symptoms; however, having close in-person relationships with SM contacts is associated with decreased depressive symptoms.     

Negotiating Risk and Promoting Empowerment through Rap Music: Development of a Measure to Capture Risk and Empowerment Pathways to Change

The purpose of this study was to report on the development and construction of the Individual and Community Empowerment (ICE) inventory, a measure seeking to capture the specific pathways by which either risk-enhancing impacts or empowering impacts of rap music manifest. Data were analyzed via structural equation modeling from a convenience sample of 128 high school and college students. Results found that respondents elicited (1) empowering themes that related to them individually and to the broader community and (2) high-risk themes that may promote risky health behaviors. Implications about research and practice relevance of the ICE inventory are discussed.     

Dual effects of ‘losses disguised as wins’ and near-misses in a slot machine game

Individually, both near-misses and losses disguised as wins (LDWs) have been seen to exert pro-motivational effects on gambling. However, it is not clear whether both structural characteristics are effective within the same game. Participants (n = 40) played a slot machine simulation. The simulation delivered near-misses, wins and ‘full-misses’. Half the participants also received LDWs that occurred independently of the outcomes on the payline. Valence and motivation ratings were collected after each round. Results showed that the LDW group reported increased valence ratings compared to the no-LDW group. Within the LDW group, trials with LDWs also resulted in increased enjoyment compared to trials without LDWs. We distinguished near-misses falling either side of the payline. Near-misses before the payline (NMB) were rated as more motivational than near-misses after the payline (NMA), whereas NMAs were rated as more aversive than NMBs. These differences between the two near-miss types were exacerbated by LDWs. Results demonstrate LDWs increase the trial-by-trial enjoyment of non-win outcomes. The motivational and hedonic effects of near-misses differed for events either side of the payline, and these differences were exaggerated by the presence of LDWs. Thus, near-misses can retain their effectiveness in complex forms of gambling that also deliver LDWs.     

Book reviews

’Rearing Wolves to Our Own Destruction’: Slavery in Richmond, Virginia, 1782–1865. Midori Takagi. Charlottesville, Virginia: University Press of Virginia. 1999. xi, 187 pp. $37.50 (cloth). ISBN 0–8139–1834–0.

Hidden Lives: The Archaeology of Slave Life at Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest. Barbara J. Heath. Charlottesville and London: University of Virginia Press. 1999. x, 81 pp. $12.50 (paper). ISBN 0–8139–1867–7.

Disowning Slavery: Gradual Emancipation and ‘Race’ in New England, 1780–1860. Joannk Pope Melish. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. 1998. xvii, 296 pp. £26.50 (cloth). ISBN 0–8014–3413–0.

American Slaves in Victorian England: Abolitionist Politics in Popular Literature and Culture. Audrey A. Fisch. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2000. x, 139pp. £35.00/$59.95. (cloth). ISBN 0–521–66026–2.

Slaves and Slaveholders in Bermuda, 1618–1782. Virginia Bernhard. Columbia. Missouri: University of Missouri Press. 1999. xviii, 316pp. £29.95. ISBN 0–8262–1227–1.

Centering Woman: Gender Discourses in Caribbean Slave Society. Hilary McD. Becklks. Kingston, Jamaica: Ian Randle Publishers; Princeton: Marcus Weiner Publishers; Oxford: James Currey Publishers. 1999. xxv, 211 pp. £15.95 (paper). ISBN: 976–8123–78–8.

Empire and Antislavery: Spain, Cuba, and Puerto Rico, 1833–1874. Christopher Schmidt‐Nowara. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. 1999. xiii, 239 pp. $50.00(cloth). ISBN 0–8229–4089–2; $22.95 (paper), ISBN 0–8229–5690 X.

Shaping the Discourse on Space: Charity and Its Wards in Nineteenth‐Century San Juan, Puerto Rico. Teresita MartíNez‐Vergne. Austin: University of Texas Press. 1999. xv, 235 pp. $32.50 (cloth). ISBN 0–292–75220–2; $17.95 (paper). ISBN 0–292–75221–0.

The Colonial Caribbean in Transition: Essays on Postemancipation Social and Cultural History. Edited by Bridget Brereton and Kevin Yelvington. Kingston and Gainesville: The Press, University of the West Indies and the University Press of Florida. 1999. xxiii, 319 pp. $49.95 (cloth) ISBN 0–8130–1696–7; $30.00 (paper) ISBN 976–640–030‐X.     

COLLEGE STUDENTS AND BINGE DRINKING: AN EVALUATION OF SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY

ABSTRACT

Although binge drinking is a prevalent and often problematic behavior among college students, there has been relatively little sociological research on this phenomenon. This study evaluates the applicability of social learning theory (Akers 1985 Akers , Ronald L. 1985 . Deviant Behavior: A Social Learning Approach . 3rd ed. Belmont , CA : Wadsworth . [Google Scholar] 2000 — . 2000 . Criminological Theories: Introduction, Evaluation, and Application , 3rd ed. Los Angeles : Roxbury . [Google Scholar]) to the binge drinking of a sample of approximately 1,500 students enrolled at four institutions of higher education. The social learning model explains approximately 45% of the variance in the binge drinking of these students. The results indicate that differential peer associations are by far the best predictor of this behavior. Other significant predictors include the definitions that students hold about binge drinking as well as their perceptions of the direct effects of alcohol consumption. These social learning variables also mediate the effects of demographic variables (i.e., gender, race, fraternity/sorority membership) on binge drinking. The results are discussed with respect to programs designed to prevent binge drinking. Possible directions for future research in this area are also suggested.     

Single Motherhood and Child Mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Life Course Perspective

Single motherhood in sub-Saharan Africa has received surprisingly little attention, although it is widespread and has critical implications for children’s well-being. Using survival analysis techniques, we estimate the probability of becoming a single mother over women’s life course and investigate the relationship between single motherhood and child mortality in 11 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Although a mere 5 % of women in Ethiopia have a premarital birth, one in three women in Liberia will become mothers before first marriage. Compared with children whose parents were married, children born to never-married single mothers were significantly more likely to die before age 5 in six countries (odds ratios range from 1.36 in Nigeria to 2.61 in Zimbabwe). In addition, up to 50 % of women will become single mothers as a consequence of divorce or widowhood. In nine countries, having a formerly married mother was associated with a significantly higher risk of dying (odds ratios range from 1.29 in Zambia to 1.75 in Kenya) relative to having married parents. Children of divorced women typically had the poorest outcomes. These results highlight the vulnerability of children with single mothers and suggest that policies aimed at supporting single mothers could help to further reduce child mortality in sub-Saharan Africa.     

Life values,family support and psychosocial adaptation among older people in Taiwan: an institutional and community comparison

The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychosocial adaptation among elderly persons in institutional and community settings, and to explore factors influencing their adaptation. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with a convenience sample of 165 residents of four institutions (two assisted-living facilities and two nursing homes) and 209 community-dwelling elders served by a primary care centre, all located in middle Taiwan. A structured interview questionnaire was used to collect data. Results: community-dwelling elderly had significantly higher adaptation scores than those in institutional settings. Factors related to adaptation differed between institutional and community settings, with more variables influencing adaptation in the community than in the institution. Physical functional status was the major influence on adaptation of the elderly in institutions. Dietary support from family was negatively associated with adaptation in this group. Influencing factors for community-dwelling elders were more complicated, including perceived family emotional and economic support, personal life values and physical functional status. Implications: greater support from government, including economic resources and assistance in community care are needed to achieve the policy goal of ‘aging in place’. Further investigation of the influence of family interaction on elders' adaptation is needed.     

Long-term effects of forearm support: computer users working at conventional desks

Recent research has demonstrated that forearm support might be preferable to working in the traditional "floating" posture for computer users. A previous field study in a call centre reported a significant decrease in discomfort following 12 weeks of using a conventional desk for forearm support. The aim of this follow up study was to determine the long-term effect (21 months post intervention) of forearm support on reported musculoskeletal discomfort in the previous sample of intensive computer users. METHODS: The follow-up sample consisted of 33 females and 2 males (59% of original group). Data were collected via self-report questionnaires and workstation assessments. RESULTS: Despite a significant reduction in discomfort for most body regions following the initial intervention, the only significant decrease in discomfort over 21 months was for the neck. Reported discomfort for all other body regions had decreased, apart from the shoulder in which there was a reported increase in discomfort. The results of this follow up study indicate that forearm support has a positive effect on the reduction of neck discomfort. The increase in shoulder discomfort indicates that a concave desk may be preferable to the conventional desk if the forearm support posture is to be adopted.     

The Capability Approach and Fuzzy Poverty Measures: An Application to the South African Context

One way of making the capability approach (CA) operational uses fuzzy poverty measures. In this paper, we present a new approach to applying these measures in the South African context using responses to a questionnaire on ‘The Essentials of Life’ in conjunction with a methodology for dealing with the vagueness of poverty. Our results suggest very low cut-offs for people or households to classify as definitely poor for some social indicators. These cut-offs are far lower than those Klasen used in his application of the CA. The attempt to apply the CA using Cheli and Lemmi’s ‘totally fuzzy and relative’ poverty measure in conjunction with our approach to specifying cut-offs can lead to incoherence. This measure can, nonetheless, be useful when social indicators have a ‘relativist component’. While the Cerioli and Zani measure does not lead to such incoherence, it also has a serious weakness.