Differences Between Men and Women in Social Relations, Resource Deficits, and Depressive Symptomatology During Later Life in Four Nations

This article examines gender differences in social relations and resource deficits in France ( N = 553), Germany ( N = 516), Japan ( N = 491), and the United States ( N = 514). These data, from regionally representative samples, indicate few gender differences in quantity or quality of social relations, but that women are more likely than men to experience widowhood, illness, and financial strain. In all countries, more deficits and more negative social interactions are associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms. Interestingly, among women in France and Japan but not among men in any country, quality of social relations offsets the negative consequences of resource deficits. Findings suggest that quality of social relations may have important implications for helping people, particularly women, cope with resource deficits common in late life.     

Changing living arrangements: A hazard model of transitions among household types

This paper analyzes movements among household types. Persons in one household may join another type. Correspondingly, a household’s structure may change when someone joins it. Data are from the Panel Survey of Income Dynamics, spanning 1968–1980. The individuals followed in the survey generated spells analyzed with a multivariate competing risk hazard model. We develop a map of the flow among household types and of the economic and demographic profiles of individuals making the transitions. We find wide variability in the stability of household types and marked racial differences in the relative stability and pattern of destination choices.     

Weather,nutrition, and the economy: Short-run fluctuations in births,deaths, and marriages,France 1740–1909

This paper analyzes short-run fluctuations in national time series of vital events for France in the period 1740 to 1909. Fertility, mortality, and nuptiality form a simultaneous system which interacts with economic and meteorological conditions. In the short run, the demographic variables are endogenous. Economic and meteorological conditions are exogenous. Our indicator of economic conditions is the price of wheat, the principal food crop. Biometric models of fertility and empirical research on the biologically-based interrelations of fertility and mortality provide insight into the expected timing of events. We combine these results with empirical research on the effects of nutrition on fertility and mortality, research in medical biometeorology, and French historical demographic and economic research to formulate our model. The resultant distributed lag system is estimated. We find that the economic/nutritional effects are more likely to be statistically significant in predicting the time path of vital events than are the demographic variables or the effects of meteorological conditions.     

Persistence of Horned Lizards (Phrynosoma spp.) in urban preserves of Central Arizona

Urbanization is rapidly enveloping isolated remnants of Sonoran Desert habitat in southern Arizona. Understanding the means by which herpetofauna can persist in these habitats in the face of multiple impacts is vital to conservation efforts to retain intact biotic communities, especially those with a high diversity of reptile species. We surveyed ten preserves in the Phoenix Metropolitan region for Desert (Phrynosoma platyrhinos) and Regal (Phrynosoma solare) horned lizards, members of an iconic group of lizards of the Southwest. At least one horned lizard species is found in preserves across the range in size, age and habitat axes we assessed, provided that their primary prey, seed-harvester ants (Pogonomyrmex rugosus) are present. Horned lizards are apparently absent from one large preserve where they were once present, perhaps as a result of a decline in seed-harvester ants, but they may have been absent from other preserves due to the lack of appropriate habitat for their prey rather than due to direct anthropogenic impacts.     

On the positivity and magnitudes of Bayesian quadrature weights

Statistics and Computing - This article reviews and studies the properties of Bayesian quadrature weights, which strongly affect stability and robustness of the quadrature rule. Specifically, we...     

Summer Engagement for At-Risk Youth: Preliminary Outcomes from the New York State Workforce Development Study

The goal of engaging high-risk youth in pro-social activities is to reduce involvement in the criminal justice system and create experiences that increase the youth’s chance of success in education and employment in the future. However, the literature does not support this assumption. The current study looks at the Summer Youth Engagement Program in New York State (NYSYEP). NYSYEP attempts to engage youth in a variety of pro-social activities including employment; education programs; organized recreation programs; and, volunteer work or community service. The hypothesis for the study was that youth who were engaged in pro-social activities would be more likely to be rearrested than youth who were not engaged. The number of hours of youth engagement was found to reduce the odds of being rearrested, but by only 2 %.     

‘Roots and wings’: an exploration of intergenerational play

Play is an important part of life, not only during childhood but also into adulthood and later life. While scholars have emphasized the physical, social, psychological, and cognitive benefits of play for children, few researchers have explored the role of play in later life. One context in which aging adults find opportunities to play is with their grandchildren. This qualitative study employed visual and text analyses to explore the experience of intergenerational play from the perspectives of grandchildren and grandparents. Findings indicated that both groups of participants were motivated to engage in play together, negotiated constraints to experience play, and received various benefits from playing with their grandparent or grandchild. Recommendations are provided to assist professionals in programming for intergenerational play and for further exploration of the motivations, benefits, and constraints associated with intergenerational play.     

Practices of Dual Earner Couples Successfully Balancing Work and Family

Researchers have long explored conflict and strain in dual-career couples. Recently, the focus has begun to shift toward documenting the adaptive strategies of dual-earner couples in balancing family and work. The current study investigates workplace practices perceived as supportive in balancing work and family. Respondents were middle-class, dual-earner couples (N=47) who described themselves as successful in balancing family and work. These supportive practices include: flexible work scheduling, non-traditional work hours, professional/job autonomy, working from home, supportive supervisors, supportive colleagues and supervisees, and the ability to set firm boundaries around work. Additionally, many participants describe their efforts to actively secure employment at workplaces that offered family–friendly alternatives, and describe the tradeoffs they are willing to make.     

The job satisfaction gender gap among young recent university graduates: Evidence from Catalonia

The present paper focuses on the gender differences in job satisfaction reported by recent university graduates in Catalonia (Spain). The data allows distinguishing five areas of job satisfaction: work content, promotion possibilities, earnings, applicability of acquired knowledge, and job security. Young and highly educated women in this study report a lower satisfaction with some aspects of their job. For two of the five job satisfaction domains, the lower reported level can be explained by differences in observable characteristics, notably wages and type of contract. For two other satisfaction domains we are unable to explain the lower female satisfaction level although we argue that unobservables are the most plausible explanation. This is surprising given the nature of the sample, i.e. very young and highly educated population.     

Bequest motives and barriers to giving: The case of direct mail donors

Charitable bequests currently account for 9 percent of overall giving in the United States. In this study we examine the motives for this form of support and the potential barriers to giving perceived by members of bequest societies or legacy clubs solicited through direct mail. Through a series of eight focus groups we delineate the individual motives for offering a bequest, the organizational factors that drive gifts of this type, and the potential barriers that could prevent such a gift from being made. The implications for professional fundraising practice are explored.