Sexual functioning and practices in a multi-ethnic study of midlife women: baseline results from SWAN

This study examined the sexual practices and function of midlife women by ethnicity (African American, Caucasian, Chinese, Hispanic, Japanese) and menopausal status. Sexual behavior was compared in 3,262 women in the baseline cohort of SWAN. Participants were 42 to 52 years old, premenopausal or early perimenopausal, and not hysterectomized or using hormones. Analysis used multivariate proportional odds regression. In our sample, 79% had engaged in sex with a partner in the last 6 months, and a third considered sex to be very important. Common reasons for no sex (n = 676) were lack of partner (67%), lack of interest (33%), and fatigue (16%). Compared with Caucasians, Japanese and Chinese women were less likely, and African Americans more likely, to report sex as very important (p < 0.005). Significant ethnic differences were found for frequency of all practices. Perimenopause status was associated only with higher frequencies of masturbation and pain during intercourse.     

Learning environments for infants

Learning environments in a sample of communal families and a sample of two-parent married nuclear families are compared for both intragroup and acrossgroup differences likely to influence childrearing and socialization outcomes. Learning environment variables include family and demographic backgrounds of parents; newborn health, developmental, and feeding patterns; personnel, size, and density in households; caretaking patterns; work loads and domestic tasks for mothers; kin and social supports for mothers; beliefs and value orientations of the parents; and change and mobility in families. Creedal and domestic types of communes also differed. The learning environment variables are interdependent with each other and with demographic features of the groups, and there is rapid change in communal lifestyles; both these features suggest that intragroup and longitudinal data are essential for generalizing about the effects of lifestyles on young children.     

Consumer evaluation of community treatment

Development of community programs for offenders requires innovation in program design and evaluation. The Complex Offender Project (COP) provided intensive community treatment, and its clients' opinions were used as a component of its evaluation. Treated clients perceived the same needs for services as did other offenders, but more of them reported receiving the services. Compared to probation, COP was perceived to be more helpful in resolving problems, more continuously helpful, and of helping more to learn useful skills and achieve meaningful goals. The Complex Offender Project provides a model for program development, and the techniques of consumer evaluation are recommended as a means of evaluating such programs.     

The multiple service needs of drug dependent mothers

Maternal drug use has been the subject of much political discussion. Increases in the foster care population are reported to be a result of drug use by mothers. However, there is little information about the characteristics and service needs of drug using mothers. This study obtained data on drug dependent mothers referred to a child welfare agency, and suggests the need for coordinated treatment.