Advance care planning by unmarried women of different sexual orientations: the importance of social support

We examined social support as a facilitator of advance care planning in unmarried women of different sexual orientations. Survey participants consisted of 215 women, 90 who reported a preference for partnering with women (WPW) and 125 for partnering with men (WPM). Our findings indicate that the association between social support and advance care planning was mixed. Specifically, social support had no significant impact on executing a will for either WPW or WPM. Among WPW, naming a health-care proxy was associated with reporting a partner who provided social support. For WPM, having a partner for social support was not associated with naming a health-care proxy. These insights help in the understanding of women's advance care planning.     

Parental Self‐Efficacy for Reducing the Risk of Adolescent Depression and Anxiety: Scale Development and Validation

Burgeoning research suggests that parents can reduce the risk of anxiety and depression in their adolescents and that parental self‐efficacy (PSE) may be related to parental risk and protective factors for these disorders. As there are currently no measures available to assess PSE in relation to parenting behaviors that may reduce adolescent risk for depression and anxiety, we developed and validated a measure of PSE, the Parental Self‐Efficacy Scale (PSES). Using a sample of 359 parents and 332 adolescents (aged 12–15), the PSES was found to have high reliability, confirmatory factor analysis supported its validity, and most of the hypothesized relationships between the PSES and other measures of parenting practices and adolescent depressive and anxiety symptoms were supported.     

Exploring the impact of health inequalities on the health of adults with intellectual disability from their perspective

Across every indicator of health inequality, adults with intellectual disability are disadvantaged. However, first-hand accounts from adults with intellectual disability exploring the impact health inequalities have for their health and are absent from the literature. The research was underpinned by a participatory approach, involving Men with intellectual disability as members of a steering group and through 20 interviews. Thematic analysis revealed how low income and reduced employment had a negative impact on the men’s physical and psychological health. New findings show how living in deprived areas exposed men to constant threats to their safety with an adverse effect on their health.     

The Variable Nature of the Gender Gap in Political Knowledge

ABSTRACT

Previous research demonstrates that long-standing gender gaps in political knowledge are often a function of measurement artifacts. This article examines two potential measurement issues – question content and format – to determine whether gender differences in knowledge are sensitive to decisions we make when choosing and constructing knowledge measures. Using an original survey from the 2014 Cooperative Congressional Election Study (CCES), we demonstrate that, while expected gender differences exist when we ask traditional knowledge questions, these gender gaps are ameliorated when we employ items that measure knowledge about women in politics. We also examine gendered response patterns regarding “don’t know” responses, which can deflate women’s knowledge levels. Finally, we examine the determinants of political knowledge for women and men, and uncover an important role for political interest in shaping women’s knowledge levels. These results suggest that scholars should take steps to create political knowledge measures that can most accurately gauge the political capacities of women and men.     

Evaluating the vocational rehabilitation program using longitudinal data. Evidence for a quasiexperimental research design.

The study presents benefit-cost ratios for 14 disability cohorts served by the Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Program. The earnings impacts are estimated in a quasiexperimental framework using an internal comparison group. The earnings data are from a unique national panel constructed by linking client data of the Rehabilitative Services Administration with earnings histories from the Social Security Administration. These earnings data accommodate a series of statistical tests that allow us to identify and control for the presence of selection bias when estimating treatment impacts. The results indicate that the VR program is cost-effective in general, although not universally so across specific disabilities.     

The Measure Matters: An Investigation of Evaluative and Experience-Based Measures of Wellbeing in Time Use Data

Measures of subjective wellbeing (SWB) are used to understand how people think and feel about their lives and experiences. But the measure used matters to conclusions about how well people’s lives are going. This research compares life evaluations and experienced SWB using nationally representative time use diaries, advancing previous research because diaries are less subject to recall biases than other, more popular methods. Analyses of over 20,000 US residents in 2012–2013 show life evaluations are more closely associated with positive and negative affect than experienced meaningfulness. Women have higher SWB than men except for negative affect, older age groups have higher SWB than middle age groups except for experienced meaningfulness, and younger age groups report the lowest experienced meaning. The unemployed have low life evaluations but experiences of SWB are similar across employment groups. A complete picture of SWB requires a complete set of measures.     

Figurational dynamics and parliamentary discourses of living standards in Ireland1

While the concept of living standards remains central to political debate, it has become marginal in sociological research compared to the burgeoning attention given to the topic of consumer culture in recent decades. However, they both concern how one does and should consume, and, indeed, behave at particular times. I use the theories of Norbert Elias to explain the unplanned but structured (ordered) changes in expected standards of living over time. This figurational approach is compared to other alternative explanations, particularly those advanced by Bourdieu, Veblen and Baudrillard. Though these offer some parallels with Elias's theories, I argue that consumption standards are produced and transformed through the changing dependencies and power relations between social classes. They cannot be reduced to the intentions, interests or ambitions of particular elites, nor to the needs of social systems. Using qualitative data from parliamentary debates in Ireland to trace changing norms and ideals of consumption, as well as historical data to reconstruct shifts in social interdependencies, I further contend that discourses of living standards and luxury are vital aspects of the growing identification and empathy between classes, which in turn encourages greater global integration in the face of emigration and national decline.     

Looking ahead: Subjective time perception and individual discounting

Journal of Risk and Uncertainty - We disentangle hyperbolic discounting from subjective time perception using experimental data from incentive-compatible tests to measure time preferences, and a...     

Using regulatory fit theory to examine how the communication context of compliance-gaining interactions influences compliance

Compliance-gaining research focuses mainly on how message variations differentially affect compliance; however, few studies have examined how framing the compliance-gaining goal (i.e., promotion/prevention) and providing a means to achieve the goal function concurrently to influence compliance. The current study uses regulatory fit theory to examine how a fit between goals and means of compliance-gaining messages affects compliance. A field experiment was conducted in which subjects were presented with a compliance-gaining request in which goals and means were varied. Results indicated that compliance rates and donation amounts were higher under conditions of fit between the regulatory orientation of goals and means rather than non-fit. Findings are discussed in light of their implications for compliance-gaining research and regulatory fit theory.     

Linking illicit substance misuse during pregnancy and child abuse: what is the quality of the evidence?

In most Australian states, legislation makes provision for professionals to report their concerns about the future welfare of an unborn child to appropriate authorities. The legislation establishes guidance for the implementation of family supports to minimize future child protection involvement. Given the legislation and the potential benefits, empirical research linking substance misuse during pregnancy and child protection involvement is relatively limited. We review 21 original studies linking substance misuse during pregnancy with child protection outcomes and the potential generalizability of results to the Australian context. The majority of studies reviewed were conducted in the USA and were mostly retrospective. Other differences between studies include sample sizes, comparison groups, study setting, participants’ ethnicity and pattern of drug use. In the postnatal literature, it is well established that child abuse is associated with a complex array of factors including partner, as well as broader family factors and yet, the studies reviewed focus upon maternal substance abuse without including the wider context. Given the available evidence‐based literature, it is difficult to come to definitive conclusions that can assist clinicians involved in frontline decision‐making for early intervention. Well‐designed research, accessible by antenatal health‐care professionals, is needed to adopt an evidence‐based approach to risk assessment in the prenatal context.