Social Contingencies in Mental Health: A Seven‐Year Follow‐Up Study of Teenage Mothers

This paper reports analyses from a 7‐year follow‐up investigation of women pregnant as teenagers who had been studied during their pregnancy and shortly following their child's birth. The objective of these analyses was to identify potentially modifiable factors that might influence or condition psychological adaptation within this high‐risk population. Consistent with prior research, differences in social support and in personal resources or attributes effectively predicted depressive symptomatology, suggesting that such differences constitute crucial mental health contingencies and thereby represent promising intervention targets. Contrary to prior research, differences in stress exposure were found to be of substantial explanatory significance, with lifetime accumulation of major, potentially traumatic events representing the most significant element. These findings suggest the need to develop a greater understanding of socially or programatically modifiable determinants of stress exposure and to take seriously the prospect of developing interventions that reduce such exposure.     

Helping hands: A study of altruistic behavior

The purpose of this paper is to better understand how altruistic behavior varies by gender, race, age, and dress. Eagly & Crowley’s (1986) social role theory maintains that the traditional male sex role promotes heroic and chivalrous helping behavior. Based on this theoretical insight, we hypothesized that men would be more likely to exhibit helping behavior than women (regardless of their race, age, or dress), especially if the person requiring assistance was a woman. We also expected that fewer women than men would offer assistance to another, especially if the person in need of help was a man. To test our hypotheses, we went to the downtown Waterside Festival Marketplace, where male and female actors “dropped” a stack of books. We found no significant differences in helping behavior between male and female subjects, all else being equal. Elizabeth Monk-Turner is professor of sociology and criminal justice, and chair at Her primary research interests are in education, gender, and labor markets. A developing research interest is in better understanding the factors that shape altruistic behavior.     

Income and reproductive motivation

It is often assumed that family size and income would be positively related if unwanted births among the less advantaged were prevented. But this assumption rests on a prior expectation that family-size preferences bear a direct relation to income in modern societies. Data on such reproductive preferences in relation to economic status from 13 studies in the United States dating between 1936 and 1966 do not support the notion of a positive association between reproductive preferences and income. Only when Catholics are considered is there even a U-shaped relation between family-size desires and income. These results cast doubt on the notion that the economic theory of demand for consumer durables is relevant to reproductive motivation. Rather, the data lend credence to the idea that significant non-economic influences associated with prosperity depress family-size desires among the well-to-do. Only if these influences are specifically weakened by a counter-force (such as Catholicism) do wealthier people show a preference for somewhat larger families. In no case, however, are the Catholic/non-Catholic differences in reproductive preference large. Moreover, no economic group, even among non-Catholics, prefers very small families.     

Too Strict or Too Lenient?: Examining The Role of School Strictness With Educational and Juvenile Justice Outcomes

Abstract

Although there is research exploring how school punishment practices are influencing academic and juvenile justice outcomes, how strict or lenient school punishment practices are related to aspects of education such as grade retention and dropping out, as well as juvenile justice contact, remains unknown. This study draws from the Texas Education Agency’s Public Education Information Management System to investigate the relationship between strict and lenient school punishment practices, academic progress or failure, and juvenile justice contact. Results indicate that schools with more strict punishment practices can contribute to higher grade retention and juvenile justice referral rates; however, it also appears that lenient punishment practices also exacerbate these same outcomes as well as higher referral rates. The importance of fair, just, and balanced school punishment practices is discussed.     

The Role of Positive Alcohol Expectancies in Underage Binge Drinking Among College Students

Abstract

Objective: This study explored associations between positive alcohol expectancies, and demographics, as well as academic status and binge drinking among underage college students. Participants: A sample of 1,553 underage college students at 3 public universities and 1 college in the Southeast who completed the Core Alcohol and Drug Survey in the Spring 2013 semester. Methods: A series of bivariate analyses and logistic regression models were used to examine associations between demographic and academic status variables as well as positive alcohol expectancies with self-reported binge drinking. Positive alcohol expectancies were examined in multivariable models via 2 factors derived from principal component analyses. Results: Students who endorsed higher agreement of these 2 emergent factors (sociability, sexuality) were more likely to report an occurrence of binge drinking in the past 2 weeks. Conclusions: Study results document associations between positive alcohol expectancies and binge drinking among underage students; implications for prevention and treatment are discussed.     

Hurricane Katrina,a Construction Boom,and a New Labor Force: Latino Immigrants and the New Orleans Construction Industry, 2000 and 2006–2010

Disasters provide opportunities to study the social and economic dimensions of large-scale shifts. Drawn by the surge in demand for low-skill construction workers in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Latino immigrants represented a substantial share of the New Orleans reconstruction workforce. Scholars, however, have yet to examine how the increased presence of immigrants affected U.S.-born workers in New Orleans. In this analysis, we investigate how the influx of Latino immigrant construction workers shaped the demographic composition and occupational-wage structure of the New Orleans construction sector. Using IPUMS-U.S.A. data from the 2000 and 2006–2010 periods for the New Orleans MSA, we employ logistic and multinomial logistic regression models to analyze a sample of 3,206 foreign-born Latinos, U.S.-born whites, U.S.-born blacks, and others employed in the construction industry. Our analysis indicates that the probability of U.S.-born workers being employed in construction remained stable from the pre- to post-storm period, even as we find evidence of an emerging immigrant employment niche in the post-Katrina construction industry. After the storm, however, Latino immigrants were much more heavily concentrated in occupations at the bottom end of the construction industry’s wage structure, while the relative position of U.S.-born workers improved across the two periods. Together, these findings show that disasters, like other structural shifts, can yield the conditions that produce immigrant employment niches. Moreover, our results indicate that while employment niches provide economic opportunities for the foreign-born, they can also intensify the disadvantage experienced by immigrant workers.     

Socialization and Newcomer Adjustment: The Role of Organizational Context

Research on how the context of work affects HRMpractices in general, and socialization practices inparticular, is relatively scarce. The present studyassesses a model linking context, socialization, and newcomer adjustment. Self-report data frombusiness school graduates after 4 months (N = 295) and10 months (N = 223) on the job revealed that mechanistic(vs. organic) structure, organization size, and jobs of high motivating potential were eachpositively associated with organizations' use of whatJones (1986) refers to as institutionalizedsocialization, and this form of socialization waspositively associated with newcomer adjustment. Contraryto expectations, neither a newcomer's bureaucraticorientation nor growth need strength moderated therelationship between socialization andadjustment.     

Does continuous passive motion during keyboarding affect hand blood flow and wrist function? A prospective case report

The purpose of this prospective case report was to evaluate the use of a keyboard platform device that uses continuous passive motion (CPM) on vascular flow to the hand for clerical employees who perform daily keyboarding tasks. Subjects were two female volunteers, one symptomatic of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), who were employed in clerical positions and perform daily keyboarding tasks for most of their workday. Data collection consisted of baseline and follow-up measurements at 6 weeks, including: 1) screening for symptoms based on the Carpal Tunnel Function Disability Form, 2) evaluation using standard physical therapy examination and assessment techniques, including modified Semmes- Weinstein monofilament testing, 3) a typing productivity test, and 4) Doppler ultrasound examination to quantify vascular flow at the wrist. Results revealed that both subjects demonstrated an overall increase in both radial and ulnar blood flow velocity with no decrement in typing productivity. The symptomatic subject also demonstrated an overall improvement of 10 wpm in the typing tests, a decrease in her disability score and symptom severity, and improvement in function. Results suggest that use of CPM as a non-intrusive ergonomic intervention may be used to treat, as well as prevent, carpal tunnel-like symptoms in those who keyboard.