Export agriculture is feeding malaria: a cross-national examination of the environmental and social causes of malaria prevalence

Malaria rates remain high across many less-developed regions, including Southeast Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and parts of Latin America. Although case studies find elevated malaria rates in locales with increased levels of environmental degradation, the current body of comparative environmental research lacks investigation of infectious disease trends. This study draws upon world-system theorizing to consider agricultural export flows and resulting alterations to the natural environment in poor nations as key causes of malaria prevalence. Additionally, relationships among world-system position, economic development, and socio-health characteristics are examined alongside the environmental predictors using structural equation modeling for data on 99 less-developed nations. The findings emphasize that deforestation and biodiversity loss associated with primary sector export flows are key drivers of malaria rates, alongside notable influences of basic health and social services. The results suggest that environmental and social conditions greatly shape malaria transmission in poor societies.     

Parallel Process of Posttraumatic Stress and Externalizing Problems Among Youth at High Risk for Victimization

Research shows comorbidity between posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and externalizing problems among polyvictimized youth. However, the impact of polyvictimization on the longitudinal co-development of PTSS and distinct forms of externalizing problems remains unclear. Growth trajectory modeling was used to address this gap. At ages 8, 12, and 16, polyvictimization was measured using youth, caregiver, and official records; whereas youth self-reported PTSS and caregivers reported aggression and delinquency. Results demonstrate that changes in PTSS and each externalizing domain were independent. Further, polyvictimization and PTSS/aggression were only associated at concurrent time points. In contrast, polyvictimization and delinquency were generally associated at concurrent and distal time points, suggesting that polyvictimization may have a more enduring impact on youths' delinquent behaviors than other symptoms.     

Reorganizations of Gendered Labor During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Review and Suggestions for Further Research

Across a range of countries, analysts have found that adaptations to the COVID-19 pandemic often exacerbated previously existing labor inequalities between men and women in formal employment markets and households. This has been especially true for mothers with children in their households. Drawing on decades of sociological and feminist scholarship on labor, we suggest the following three strategies to strengthen ongoing research concerning pandemic-induced reorganizations of gendered labor. First, ongoing research should expand considerations of gendered labor to account for more types of work and workers. Second, initial findings should be extended through the continued utilization of diverse methodologies to better account for the ambivalent experiences and meanings associated with emergent reorganizations of gendered work during the pandemic. Finally, ongoing research should pursue intersectional analyses of gendered labor that are sensitive to the complex dynamics of place and time. By expanding and strengthening considerations of gendered labor in these manners, ongoing analyses could generate more comprehensive, precise findings that better guide policy interventions meant to address the gendered inequities being sharpened by the pandemic. Foundational theoretical understandings of gendered labor and its associated inequalities could also be extended.     

Depressive Symptoms,Acute Alcohol Intoxication,and Risk Rationale Effects on Men’s Condom Use Resistance

This study examined the role of depressive symptoms, acute intoxication, and risk rationale in men’s use of condom use resistance (CUR) tactics in an experimental study. Participants included 313 heterosexual male, nonproblem drinkers, ages 21 to 30. Participants were randomized to one of four beverage conditions: no alcohol, placebo, low (.04%) alcohol dose, or high (.08%) alcohol dose. They read an eroticized scenario depicting a consensual sexual encounter with a female partner who requested a condom to prevent either pregnancy or sexually transmitted infections (STIs) (risk rationale) and then indicated their intentions to use 10 different CUR tactics. Hypotheses related to the pharmacological, dosage, and expectancy effects of alcohol were tested in a generalized linear model. In intoxicated (.04% and .08%) men who were given a pregnancy risk rationale, depressive symptoms were associated with stronger intentions to use CUR tactics than in sober (control and placebo) men. Men who received a high alcohol dose (.08%) and who were given a pregnancy risk rationale reported higher intentions to use CUR tactics than those who received a lower alcohol dose (.04%). Findings suggest that the pharmacological effects of alcohol on men’s likelihood to resist condoms vary by the saliency of the risk rationale and mood-related variables.     

Moral conformity in online interactions: rational justifications increase influence of peer opinions on moral judgments

Over the last decade, social media has increasingly been used as a platform for political and moral discourse. We investigate whether conformity, specifically concerning moral attitudes, occurs in these virtual environments apart from face-to-face interactions. Participants took an online survey and saw either statistical information about the frequency of certain responses, as one might see on social media (Study 1), or arguments that defend the responses in either a rational or emotional way (Study 2). Our results show that social information shaped moral judgments, even in an impersonal digital setting. Furthermore, rational arguments were more effective at eliciting conformity than emotional arguments. We discuss the implications of these results for theories of moral judgment that prioritize emotional responses.