Effectiveness of a school-based backpack health promotion program: Backpack Intelligence

A prominent school health issue in the United States is the use of backpacks, however, there is a paucity of literature on the effectiveness of backpack safety programs. The purpose of this paper is to describe a school-based backpack health promotion program: Backpack Intelligence, report on its effectiveness, and suggest avenues for future research. Three-hundred-seventy-two 6th and 7th grade students participated in the program which was integrated into their physical education curriculum. Of those students, 242 completed post-education surveys to assess its effectiveness. Pre-education, 44% reported that their backpack was uncomfortable to carry, and 61% reported two or more warning signs that their backpack was too heavy. Only 57% wore their backpack properly and less than half organized the contents in their backpack correctly. Post-education, 63% reported the program worthwhile. Forty-two percent changed the way they used their backpack, and 93% felt knowledgeable about backpack safety, a 24% increase. Both grade and gender differences were found. Areas identified in the literature as fruitful for future research were suggested. Until we have definitive research on the link between backpack use and injury, interventions may be imperfect, but as a society we are compelled to safeguard the health of our children.     

Divorce in sub‐Saharan Africa: Are Unions Becoming Less Stable?

Divorce is one of the main drivers of family instability in sub‐Saharan Africa. Using data from 101 Demographic and Health Surveys and novel estimation techniques, we 1) provide the first systematic estimates of divorce across 33 countries; 2) assess trends in divorce in 20 countries; and 3) investigate the key country‐level correlates of divorce both across and within countries. Despite considerable geographic variation, our estimates show that divorce is common in most countries. Contrary to expectations, however, we find no evidence that divorce is increasing. Instead, divorce has been either stable or declining in recent decades. We show that socioeconomic factors associated with industrialization have countervailing effects on divorce. Urbanization and female employment are associated with higher levels of divorce, while age at first marriage and female education correspond to lower rates. These findings have implications for current and future family dynamics in sub‐Saharan Africa.     

Inter-generational effects of disability benefits: evidence from Canadian social assistance programs

Individuals with disabilities face greater challenges in the labor market than able-bodied individuals, and a growing body of research is finding that their children also tend to have more developmental problems than the children of able-bodied parents. Can transfer payments help reduce this gap? In this paper, we present the first evidence on how parental disability benefits affect the well-being of children. Using changes in real benefits under ten disability benefit programs in Canada as an identification strategy and Statistics Canada’s National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) as the data source on child outcomes, we find strong evidence that higher benefits lead to improvements in children’s cognitive and non-cognitive development, as measured by math scores in standardized tests, hyperactive symptoms, and emotional anxiety behavior. The effect is larger on children with a disabled mother than on those with a disabled father.     

A review of the effectiveness of empowering leadership

Based on a review of empirical literature on empowering leadership, given incongruent and mixed results, the current work suggests reconsidering the effectiveness of empowering leadership. We propose a framework for examining the effectiveness of empowering leadership that considers: 1) feasibility of non-linear main effects of empowering leadership on work-related outcomes, 2) possibility of reverse causation between empowering leadership and work-related outcomes, 3) potential contradictory mediating mechanisms through which empowering leadership influences work-related outcomes, 4) consideration of boundary conditions which could alter the relationships between empowering leadership and work-related outcomes, and 5) consideration of levels-of-analysis and multilevel issues in empowering leadership. Our framework considers the multifaceted nature of empowering leadership and offers a guiding tool for advancing future research in this area.     

A 25-year perspective on levels of analysis in leadership research

The purpose of this article is to present a comprehensive 25-year review of the incorporation of levels of analysis into conceptual and empirical leadership research published within Leadership Quarterly throughout its history. We assessed the population of Leadership Quarterly's research (790 research articles) on four key levels of analysis-based issues: (1) explicit statement of the focal level(s) of analysis; (2) appropriate measurement given level of constructs; (3) use of a multi-level data analysis technique; and, (4) alignment of theory and data. Prior reviews regarding levels of analysis incorporation into leadership research have been limited to major research domains. Results revealed that while both conceptual and empirical articles only explicitly state the focal level of analysis in approximately one-third of the articles, appropriate levels-based measurement and alignment between theory and data are relatively strong areas of achievement for the articles within Leadership Quarterly. Multi-level data analysis techniques are used in less than one-fifth of all articles. Although there is room for improvement, there is evidence that Leadership Quarterly is a premier outlet for levels-based leadership research. Given the increasing complexity of organizational science with regard to groups, teams and collectives, Leadership Quarterly has an opportunity to model for organizational research on how to build and test complicated multi-level theories and models.     

“Because being fat means being sick”: children at risk of type 2 diabetes

This study addresses the social and cultural underpinnings that shape children’s risk of type 2 diabetes, as identified by a racially and economically diverse group of parents and their children living in Anaheim, California. Based on in-depth interviews with 28 adults and 17 children, we explored how they understood what constitutes “good health” in children and the aspects of their neighborhoods and communities that acted as resources or impediments to their children’s well-being. We found that parents and children employed a language of food that reflected a fear-based, medicalized orientation to food consumption. Although nearly all agreed that children should stay active, densely populated neighborhoods, apartment complexes with rigid outdoor rules, high crime rates, police surveillance, and diminished access to public parks and recreational facilities posed challenges. Similarly problematic were deficits in school lunch programs and the limited sometimes demeaning, conversations with healthcare professionals about diabetes risk and prevention. Together, these narratives identify key structural processes attendant to type 2 diabetes risk in children and call for a more politicized conversation regarding prevention strategies and public healthcare practices.     

Structure, Agency, and Context: The Contributions of Geography to World-Systems Analysis

The interaction of geography and world-systems theory has created two groups of work. The first body of work uses world-systems theory as its theoretical framework with minor levels of critique or change. The second body of work attempts to inform world- systems theory by explicitly including a geographical perspective. Human geographers attracted to world-systems theory provide a perspective that highlights the role of agency in what is widely perceived to be a rigid structuralist approach. Key geographical concepts of region and place are viewed as social constructs created within an overarching context of structural imperatives. By conceptualizing places, states, and the macroregions of core, semiperiphery, and periphery as geographical scales, the role of agency in creating and maintaining the important structures and institutions of the capitalist world-economy, such as hegemony, is illustrated. The geographer's interest in the creation of geographical scales results in analysis of the dynamism of the contemporary world-system.     

Family Cohesion in the Lives of Mexican American and European American Parents

This study investigated similarities and differences in relations between stress and parenting behaviors for 509 Mexican American and European American fathers and mothers in Southern California. Our model posited that family cohesion mediates the relation between stressors and parenting behavior, and we found that family cohesion strongly mediated most of the relations between stress and parenting behaviors. Important ethnic and gender differences were evident. In contrast with other groups, Mexican American fathers reported higher levels of family cohesion when faced with economic pressures. Implications for future research on stress and parenting are discussed.