Women's and Men's Relative Status and Intimate Partner Violence in India

In recent years, gender‐based violence in South Asia has been of great concern to scholars and policymakers alike. This study explores the effects of women's relative resources on several dimensions of intimate partner violence in India, and tests whether economic resources allow women to “bargain” for less violence, or exacerbate the violence they face. To explore both possibilities, I use data from the 2005–06 Indian National Family Health Survey. The findings indicate that women with relatively higher education, employment, or earnings status than their spouse face more frequent and severe violence than women with lower status. Together, these findings suggest that women's superior material power bases threaten patriarchal norms and are responded to with the use of violence.     

Defining Essential Features of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Considerable debate surrounds the search for the defining features of patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Current case definitions were created through clinical consensus. Failure to operationalize these case definitions has led to considerable variability in the identification of patients. In addition, some case definitions do not require cardinal symptoms of this illness, whereas other case definitions do require core symptoms of this illness, and these latter case criteria appear to identify a more impaired group of patients. Criterion variance is most likely to occur when operationally explicit criteria do not exist for diagnostic categories, or when there are varying criteria for contrasting case definitions, which is an impediment to the research in this field. To deal with this problem, it is possible to differentiate those that meet more loosely defined criteria from those that are more narrowly and defined, thus differentiating CFS from ME. In order to progress the search for biological markers and effective treatments, essential features need to be operationalized and broadly used to increase the probability that individuals included in samples have the same underlying illness.     

Triangulating perspectives to inform the development of a smartphone application for foster,kinship, and adoptive parents

Abstract

This article describes the initial phase of a user-centered, inductive process for informing the development of a smartphone application (app) to complement an in-person trauma-focused knowledge and skills training class for child welfare resource parents (i.e. foster, kinship, and adoptive parents). Based on the participatory design approach for technology development, a qualitative study was designed to capture and triangulate relevant knowledge and opinions from resource parents, training instructors, and parenting education experts. The most prevalent themes emerging among these stakeholder groups included the need for a simple app interface and the potential for the app to (1) cultivate connection, affirmation, and combat resource parent feelings of isolation; (2) reinforce in-class knowledge and support skill practice at home; and (3) monitor resource parent, child, and family progress over time. Detailed findings are presented, including direct quotes from focus group and interview participants and elaboration on the prevalent themes, which may benefit others in the early stages of human services app design and contribute to the creation of guidelines for the development of technology-based human services interventions.     

Women's self‐presentation and the transition from classroom to workplace

Organizations place context‐specific appearance demands on women — demands that often echo wider inequalities, require adaptation of self‐presentation and impact on women's careers. Despite this, the effect of life and career stage transition on women's self‐presentation and embodied identities remains largely unexplored. Drawing on a qualitative study of young British women's body modification, this article examines what impact transitioning from education into the world of work has on women's self‐presentation and body modification regimes and their embodied identities. Body modification here refers to all methods women use to alter their physical body and appearance (e.g., invasive or non‐invasive; self‐administered or other‐administered; permanent or temporary), provided the intention of their use is primarily to alter the user's physical appearance. Expectations of transition, the impact of entering the workplace and of career establishment are considered as well as the significance of career stage and vulnerability for resistance and negotiation of organizational expectations. Transition of life stage is found to be a catalyst for self‐presentation change. The transition from education to work is identified as having a significant impact on body modification practices across workplaces.     

Sing for the Moment: A Choral Ensemble for Persons with Dementia and Their Care Partners

Research suggests that people with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias receive various benefits from singing. This article describes the Sing for the Moment Choir, an ensemble comprised of persons with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias, and their care partners. The choir is sponsored by the greater Pennsylvania Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. As the world’s leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer’s care, support, and research, the Alzheimer’s Association is committed to raising awareness of this fatal brain disease. The program mission statement is: “the Sing for the Moment Choir provides persons with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia and their care partners an opportunity to socialize, connect and inspire others through singing.”     

How to Describe It? Why the Term Coming Out Means Different Things in the United States and France

Drawing on 30 in‐depth interviews with U.S. and French lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals, we find important similarities in how U.S. and French respondents strategically managed the visibility of their sexual identities but differences in the vocabulary used to discuss those experiences. Specifically, all of the Americans used the expression coming out spontaneously while only five French respondents did so. Instead, French respondents typically rejected coming out in favor of other words or expressions. Rather than simple effects of speaking different languages, these differences stemmed from distinct connotations given to the same—widely diffused—expressions within each local context. Unlike their American peers, who saw the expression's origin in their own history and used in everyday lives, most French respondents resisted what they perceived to be an American cultural object imported by the French media. We also find evidence that the meaning of coming out is changing in both contexts such that in the future, the French and Americans may perceive and use it more similarly. This research contributes to our understanding of the intersection between language, meaning, and political context, within a cross‐national setting.     

Sexual Behavior Latent Classes Among Men Who Have Sex With Men: Associations With Sexually Transmitted Infections

Men who have sex with men (MSM) are at disproportionate risk of acquisition of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). We used latent class analysis (LCA) to examine patterns of sexual behavior among MSM and how those patterns are related to STIs. We examined patterns of sexual behavior using behavioral and clinical data from a cross-sectional study of 235 MSM who presented to an urban sexual health clinic for STI testing. Analyzed data were collected using a combination of interviewer- and self-administered surveys and electronic health records. We used LCA to identify underlying subgroups of men based on their sexual behavior, described the demographics of the latent classes, and examined the association between the latent classes and STI status. We identified three latent classes of sexual behavior: Unprotected Anal Intercourse (UAI) Only (67%), Partner Seekers (14%), and Multiple Behaviors (19%). Men in the Multiple Behaviors class had a 67% probability of being STI positive, followed by men in the UAI Only class (27%) and men in the Partner Seekers class (22%). Examining the intersection of a variety of sexual practices indicates particular subgroups of MSM have the highest probability of being STI positive.     

A comparative gradient approach as a tool for understanding and managing urban ecosystems

To meet the grand challenges of the urban century??such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and persistent poverty??urban and ecological theory must contribute to integrated frameworks that treat social and ecological dynamics as interdependent. A socio-ecological framework that encapsulates theory from the social and ecological sciences will improve understanding of metropolitan dynamics and generate science for improved, sustainable management of urban ecosystems. To date, most urban ecological research has focused on single cities. A comparative approach that uses gradients within and between cities is a useful tool for building urban ecological theory. We offer five hypotheses that are testable using a comparative, gradient approach: (i) the current size, configuration, and function of larger metropolitan ecosystems predicts the potential trajectory of smaller urban areas; (ii) timing of growth explains the greatest variance in urban ecosystem structure and function; (iii) form and function of urban ecosystems are converging over time; (iv) urban ecosystems become more segregated and fragmented as populations increase; and (v) larger cities are more innovative than smaller cities in managing urban ecosystems.     

Multivariate logistic regression for familial aggregation in age at disease onset

Familial aggregation studies seek to identify diseases that cluster in families. These studies are often carried out as a first step in the search for hereditary factors affecting the risk of disease. It is necessary to account for age at disease onset to avoid potential misclassification of family members who are disease-free at the time of study participation or who die before developing disease. This is especially true for late-onset diseases, such as prostate cancer or Alzheimer's disease. We propose a discrete time model that accounts for the age at disease onset and allows the familial association to vary with age and to be modified by covariates, such as pedigree relationship. The parameters of the model have interpretations as conditional log-odds and log-odds ratios, which can be viewed as discrete time conditional cross hazard ratios. These interpretations are appealing for cancer risk assessment. Properties of this model are explored in simulation studies, and the method is applied to a large family study of cancer conducted by the National Cancer Institute-sponsored Cancer Genetics Network (CGN).     

Desire for and to Avoid Pregnancy During the Transition to Adulthood

Unintended pregnancies disproportionately occur among teenage women, yet little is known about the determinants of pregnancy desire among this group. The authors use a comprehensive baseline survey and data on pregnancy desires to investigate which unmarried 18‐ to 20‐year‐old women want a pregnancy, want to avoid pregnancy, and report consistent pregnancy desire and disinclination. Variables that positively predict pregnancy desire generally negatively predict desire to avoid pregnancy. Although most young women have no desire and strong disinclination in most weeks, childhood public assistance is a strong predictor of wanting pregnancy and not wanting to avoid it. Comparing nested models suggests that the effects of childhood disadvantage operate through social environments where early pregnancy is less stigmatized. Young women in serious relationships, who are depressed, and who are not pursuing postsecondary education have more desire for pregnancy and less disinclination, but little of childhood disadvantage is mediated by these factors.