Match quality and maternal investments in children

Marriage advocates contend that the unstable environment caused by divorce can have adverse effects on children’s educational and behavioral outcomes. However, the assignment of poor outcomes to the divorce itself fails to take into account relationship quality and heterogeneity in place before or in the absence of union dissolution. I explore the link between heterogeneity of relationship quality and investments in children by showing that women who report less satisfaction in their relationships spend less time reading with their children. I test various theoretical mechanisms by which we would expect women to decrease their investments in a child using information about the match including reported argument frequency and whether the union dissolves. The results suggest that subjective measures tell a more complete story about investments in children than indicated by future union status, argument frequency or parental quality.     

Characteristics of university students who mix alcohol and energy drinks

Objective: Research has identified correlates (eg, drug use, risky sex, smoking) of using alcohol mixed with energy drinks (AMEDs). Few studies have investigated common mental health-related concerns (eg, depression, sleep). Participants: Alcohol-using college students (n = 380 never used AMEDs, n = 180 used AMEDs) were recruited in the study during the fall 2011 semester. Methods: The study examined demographics, substance use, depressive symptoms, and sleep problems in association with AMED use. Results: Multivariable logistic regression indicated that alcohol use severity (AOR = 1.24; 95% CI = 1.14+1.34), drug use severity (AOR = 1.20; 95% CI = 1.04–1.39), depressive symptoms (AOR = 1.06; 95% CI = 1.01–1.12), and smoking (AOR = 2.12; 95% CI = 1.22–3.68) were independently associated with AMED use; sleep problems were non-significant. Conclusions: Administrators may consider policies regarding energy drink availability on campus, and campus health personnel may increase screening and education surrounding AMED use to reduce risks among students.     

Risky Business: Breastfeeding Promotion Policy and the Problem of Risk Language

Over the past decades, the rhetoric surrounding breastfeeding promotion policy has been increasingly focused on couching formula feeding in terms of “risk” rather than, as had been the norm, focusing on the “benefits” of breastfeeding. We examine this major policy shift in breastfeeding promotion and public health efforts. Analyzing qualitative data collected from 214 expectant mothers exposed to differently worded breastfeeding promotion materials, we identify several overwhelming trends in evaluations of the materials by those women exposed to “risk” language. These trends, we argue, point to strategic and normative reasons to reconsider this policy shift to the language of risk.     

A Reexamination of Women’s Electoral Success in Open Seat Elections: The Conditioning Effect of Electoral Competition

This article reexamines gender differences in electoral outcomes. We consider whether electoral competition has a differential impact on the electoral fortunes of male and female quality candidates. This study uses an original data set containing detailed candidate information for US House open seat primary and general elections between 1994 and 2004. The results indicate that when multiple quality candidates enter the race, female quality candidates are at a greater disadvantage than their male counterparts. The results suggest that null findings from previous work are a product of the way the relationship between gender and electoral outcomes is typically modeled.     

Turning Points and Trajectories in Military Deployment

Previous military family research has assumed a stable set of deployment phases. In line with critiques of such models within family communication, we identified the varied turning points and trajectories military spouses experience across deployment. We interviewed 50 Army and Army National Guard wives whose husbands served in missions to Iraq and Afghanistan. Participants graphed turning points and corresponding marital satisfaction levels across a recent deployment. Participants reported 519 turning points that fell into four supraordinate categories: Deployment/Military-Related Events, Life Events, Communication Events, and Other. Trajectories within each deployment phase reflected five patterns: Turbulent, Increasing, Decreasing, Stabilized, and Dipped. Most participants' trajectories reflected turbulence during the predeployment and deployment phases, and declining or dipped satisfaction during the postdeployment period. Results reflect varied experiences and provide useful information for those experiencing wartime separations or those supporting military families through deployment.     

Adolescent Sexuality: Disentangling the Effects of Family Structure and Family Context

Growing up in single‐parent, step‐, cohabiting, or lesbian families has been suggested to have negative effects on adolescent sexual behavior. However, our analysis reveals that, with the exception of girls in single‐parent families, family structure does not significantly influence adolescents' sexual initiation. Rather, the family context—more specifically the mother‐child relationship, their level of interaction, and the mother's attitudes toward and discussion of sex—is associated with adolescent sexual debut. When looking at sexually active teenagers, neither family structure nor family context have an impact on the sexual partnerships of boys, and they explain little in terms of girl's sexual partnering.