A new way for handling mobility in longitudinal data

In the social sciences, applied researchers often face a statistical dilemma when multilevel data is structured such that lower-level units are not purely clustered within higher-level units. To aid applied researchers in appropriately analyzing such data structures, this study proposes a multiple membership growth curve model (MM-GCM). The MM-GCM offers some advantages to other similar modeling approaches, including greater flexibility in modeling the intercept at the time-point most desired for interpretation. A real longitudinal dataset from the field of education with a multiple membership structure, where some students changed schools over time, was used to demonstrate the application of the MM-GCM. Baseline and conditional MM-GCMs are presented, and parameter estimates were compared with two other common approaches to handling such data structures – the final school-GCM that ignores mobile students by only modeling the final school attended and the delete-GCM that deletes mobile students. Additionally, a simulation study was conducted to further assess the impact of ignoring mobility on parameter estimates. The results indicate that ignoring mobility results in substantial bias in model estimates, especially for cluster-level coefficients and variance components.KEYWORDS: HLM, growth curve model, multiple membership, mobility     

“We're in this together”: Attachment insecurities,dyadic coping strategies,and relationship satisfaction in couples involved in medically assisted reproduction

Attachment is an important predictor of relationship satisfaction and attachment insecurities are a risk factor for couples under stress. Drawing from the Vulnerability–Stress–Adaptation model, we investigated whether dyadic coping strategies (DCS) would explain the links between attachment insecurities and relationship satisfaction in 97 couples involved in medically assisted reproduction (MAR). Path analyses revealed that for women and men, attachment insecurities (anxiety, avoidance) were associated with their own lower relationship satisfaction through their lower use of positive DCS. Attachment avoidance was also associated with participants' own lower relationship satisfaction through their own lower use of negative DCS. Men's attachment avoidance was also related to their partner's lower relationship satisfaction via their own and their partner's lower use of positive DCS. The findings suggest that promoting the use of positive DCS may be important to preserve relationship satisfaction in couples involved in MAR.     

Attachment insecurities and under-commitment in distressed couples: The role of positive and negative partner behaviors

Research has rarely considered intermediate variables in the association between attachment insecurities and relationship commitment. Based on attachment theory and Rusbult's Investment Model, we tested whether positive and negative partner behaviors explain this association in 91 distressed couples undergoing therapy. Path analyses based on the Actor–Partner Interdependence Model revealed that individuals with attachment avoidance reported perceiving fewer positive behaviors from their partner, which was associated with their own higher under-commitment. Partners of individuals with avoidance also reported perceiving fewer positive partner behaviors, which was in turn associated with their own higher under-commitment. Partners of individuals with attachment anxiety perceived more positive behaviors from their partner, which was associated to their own lower under-commitment. Perceived negative partner behaviors were only directly associated with higher under-commitment. These findings imply that perceived positive partner behaviors may be a key aspect to target in relationship therapy in couples who present with high attachment insecurities.     

Access to universal childcare and its effect on maternal employment

Review of Economics of the Household - Subsidized childcare is a key instrument to support maternal employment in most OECD countries. Using a major reform implemented in Luxembourg in 2009, I...