Transitioning to stepfamily life: the influence of closeness with biological parents and stepparents on children's stress

Family transitions, such as stepfamily formation, can be a source of stress for adults and children. Yet, the stepfamily literature lacks a focus on factors that influence child stress levels while transitioning to stepfamily life. Using a social support perspective, the purpose of this study was to assess the independent and additive influence of closeness with three common parental figures on retrospective reports of stress experienced by children during stepfamily formation. A sample of 1139 emerging adults from a retrospective, US‐based national quota sample, the Stepfamily Experiences Project, was analysed. Results indicated that parental relationships have independent, not combined, effects on stress. More specifically, we found that greater closeness with resident stepparents and resident biological parents was associated with less stress in children, whereas greater closeness with non‐resident biological parents was associated with slightly greater levels of stress. These findings reflect (i) the primacy of residential relationships in children's stress reduction; (ii) the benefit of parental relationships to children as sources of social support during stressful family transitions; and (iii) the potential for children to experience stressful loyalty binds during stepfamily formation. Implications for social work practice, limitations and future directions for research are discussed.     

TRANSFER-PRICING AND OUTPUT DECISIONS: THE DYNAMIC INTERACTION

This paper is concerned with the dynamic interactions between output and transferprice decisions in a three-country model for a multinational firm when profits taxation and ad valorem tariffs are applied simultaneously. A numerical example is used to illustrate that the three-country model modifies considerably conclusions reached in the traditional two-country, two-goods framework.     

Food Deserts and Overweight Schoolchildren: Evidence from Pennsylvania*

Abstract The concept of the food desert, an area with limited access to retail food stores, has increasingly been used within social scientific and public health research to explore the dimensions of spatial inequality and community well‐being. While research has demonstrated that food deserts are frequently characterized by higher levels of poverty and food insecurity, there has been relatively little research examining the relationship between food deserts and obesity, particularly in rural areas. In this article we use Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques to identify food desert areas in rural Pennsylvania. We then analyze student body mass index (BMI) data along with census and school district‐level data to determine the extent to which the percentage of a school district's population residing within a food desert is positively associated with increased incidence of child overweight among students within the district. We find that school districts with higher percentages of populations located within food deserts are more likely to be structurally and economically disadvantaged. Net of these district‐level structural and economic characteristics, we additionally find a positive relationship between increased rates of child overweight and the percentage of the district population residing in a food desert.     

Finding Farms: Comparing Indicators of Farming Dependence and Agricultural Importance in the United States

Abstract Many scholars have commented on the changing significance of farming for understanding the dynamics of social and economic change in contemporary rural America. Quantitative analyses of relationships between farming, local socioeconomic conditions, demographic trends, and policy have often relied on an indicator of “farm‐dependent” (FD) counties developed by the USDA Economic Research Service. In this article, we argue that measures of economic dependency imperfectly identify the places in the United States where farming is significant, and can paint an incomplete picture of the contemporary geographic distribution and structure of agriculture in the United States. We propose an alternative categorical indicator—agricultural importance (AI)—that provides a better direct measure of the relative size and intensity of farming across diverse U.S. counties. We compare the characteristics of FD and AI counties along a set of dimensions and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each typology.     

A Cox-type regression model with change-points in the covariates

We consider a Cox-type regression model with change-points in the covariates. A change-point specifies the unknown threshold at which the influence of a covariate shifts smoothly, i.e., the regression parameter may change over the range of a covariate and the underlying regression function is continuous but not differentiable. The model can be used to describe change-points in different covariates but also to model more than one change-point in a single covariate. Estimates of the change-points and of the regression parameters are derived and their properties are investigated. It is shown that not only the estimates of the regression parameters are [Formula: see text] -consistent but also the estimates of the change-points in contrast to the conjecture of other authors. Asymptotic normality is shown by using results developed for M-estimators. At the end of this paper we apply our model to an actuarial dataset, the PBC dataset of Fleming and Harrington (Counting processes and survival analysis, 1991) and to a dataset of electric motors.     

Adolescents’ Responses to Cigarette Advertisements for Five “Youth Brands” and One “Adult Brand”

Almost all smoking initiation takes place during adolescence, and the appeal of cigarette advertising is frequently proposed as one of the reasons adolescents begin smoking, but few studies have investigated adolescents’ responses to cigarette ads. This study examined responses to cigarette advertisements among 400 adolescents ages 12 to 17 years in Arizona and Washington, who were surveyed in shopping malls. Adolescents were presented with two ads for each of five youth brands (Marlboro^TM, Newport^TM, Camel^TM, Kool^TM, and Winston^TM) and one ad for an adult brand (Merit^TM), and were asked how often they had seen the ad, how much they liked the ad, and whether or not the ad made smoking more appealing. A substantial proportion of adolescents, especially smokers, liked the ads for the youth brands and believed the ads made smoking more appealing. The ads for Marlboro and the new Camel and Winston ads were especially attractive to adolescents. In contrast, few adolescents liked the ad for the adult brand and few believed that it made smoking more appealing.     

Ergonomics and sustainability--challenges from global supply chains

The development of globalised supply chains is a major challenge for sustainability. For several years, there has been discussion within the profession whether and how ergonomics and human factors can play a role. Based on our research, we have identified five major challenges from global supply chains especially related to the social aspects of sustainability: (1) criteria for social sustainability, (2) the role of key performance indicators in the management of supply chains, (3) the constant changes in supply chains, (4) the challenge in establishing participation, and (5) the development of agency and regulatory mechanisms. There are obviously no clear and simple solutions to these challenges. One possible avenue for progress might lie in acquiring a greater understanding of the challenges from global supply chains and developing a strategy which combines social and long-term business sustainability. Starting from such a basis, the next step would be to find ways for the ergonomics and human factors community to create international collaboration which can impact specific global supply chains.     

Affluence,Feelings of Stress,and Well-being

Data from the Gallup World Poll highlighted the differential relations between perceived stress, well-being, and wealth at the individual- versus nation-level. At the nation level, stress was a distinct concept from negative affect (NA). It correlated positively with well-being (positive affect, life satisfaction, and domain satisfaction) and wealth (as measured by income, gross domestic product, and modern conveniences). In contrast, NA correlated inversely with well-being and income. Although similar to NA at the individual level, stress showed weaker negative relations with well-being than NA did. In sum, nation-level stress and NA were related in the opposite direction to wealth (and poverty), well-being, and life expectancy. Furthermore, the concept of stress differed at the individual and nation levels. For the former, stress appeared to be purely a negative marker of affective well-being (albeit weaker than other discrete negative emotions); for the latter, it appeared to reflect lifestyle differences that were strongly associated with wealth, and with affective and cognitive well-being to a smaller degree.