Major Depressive Disorder and Cardiovascular Disease in African-American Women

Major depression is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). This study used the National Survey of American Life (NSAL) to examine the co-occurrence of major depressive disorder (MDD) and CVD in a nationally representative sample of African American women (n = 2,216). Results from a series of logistic regression models indicated high rates of MDD and CVD in the sample, and the African American women with MDD were 1.59 times more likely to have CVD compared to those without MDD. High rates of MDD/CVD co-morbidity appeared across those living in and not living in poverty. These individuals demonstrated greater functional impairment and were high users of mental health services. Our findings validate that MDD and CVD co-occur and the need for more holistic interventions are warranted. The interface of co-morbid health conditions is critical to developing integrated models of care. Integrated health care systems are central for improving physical and mental health outcomes. These findings facilitate developing targeted assessment procedures and culturally appropriate treatment interventions. Increased knowledge regarding the role of gender, chronic health conditions, and the burden of mental illness in African American Women provides the opportunity to examine other chronic health conditions co-occurring with MDD.     

Crisis Rhetoric,Stigma Play: The Contested Status of Humanities Majors on an Elite University Campus

This article extends symbolic interactionist thought on authenticity and stigma allure into the context of higher education in the United States where the status of the humanities is contested. Our abductive analysis of twenty‐nine, semistructured interviews with undergraduates at an elite university reveals that selecting a humanities major has social costs. Yet the students who opt into these majors renegotiate ideologies, practices, and resources in ways that generate meaningful educational experiences. Navigating these problematic situations in which status is threatened enables the social production and personal aesthetic experience of authenticity. These findings add a new evidentiary basis to theory on stigma allure and, in doing so, demonstrate that when rhetorics of crisis collide with the late modern quest for authenticity voluntary stigma can become a powerful, if also unwieldy, resource.     

From Political to Material Inequality: Race,Immigration, and Requests for Public Goods

Studies of political participation typically analyze voting, contentious collective action, or membership in voluntary associations. Few scholars investigate a more mundane—but highly consequential—form of neighborhood politics: requests for basic city services. We conceptualize city service requests as a direct, instrumental contact with local government that alters the geographical distribution of public goods. We hypothesize that rates of service requests vary with the ethnic and immigrant composition of neighborhoods, due to differences in these communities’ expectations of local government. We test this hypothesis using administrative data from the City of Boston. We find neighborhoods with high concentrations of first‐generation immigrants less likely to request services, relative to need. The concentration of African Americans, however, is associated with large increases in neighborhood service requests. We conclude with implications for the study of race, inequality, and political incorporation.     

The Home and the ‘Hood: Associations Between Housing and Neighborhood Contexts and Adolescent Functioning

Adolescents from low‐income families face various opportunities and constraints as they develop, with possible ramifications for their well‐being. Two contexts of particular importance are the home and the neighborhood. Using adolescent data from the first two waves of the Three‐City Study (N = 1,169), this study explored associations among housing problems and neighborhood disorder with adolescents' socioemotional problems, and how these associations varied by parental monitoring and gender. Results of hierarchical linear models suggest that poor‐quality housing was most predictive of the functioning of girls and of adolescents with restrictive curfews, whereas neighborhood disorder was a stronger predictor for boys. Implications for future research on associations between housing and neighborhood contexts and adolescent development are discussed.     

“I'm in this world for a reason”: Resilience and recovery among American Indian and Alaska Native two-spirit women

ABSTRACT

American Indian and Alaska Native sexual minority (two-spirit) women are vulnerable to substance misuse and mental health challenges due to multiple minority oppressed status and exposure to stress and trauma. Yet, these women find pathways toward healing and wellness. We conducted a qualitative data analysis of interviews derived from a national health study and gained an understanding of 11 two-spirit women's resilience and recovery patterns. Emergent from the data, a braided resiliency framework was developed which elucidates multilayered abilities, processes, and resources involved in their resiliency. We recommend that resilience-promoting strategies be incorporated into substance misuse and mental health interventions.     

More than profits? The contribution of the slave trade to the Dutch economy: assessing Fatah-Black and Van Rossum

We assess Fatah-Black and Van Rossum’s analysis of the Dutch slave trade by detailing six 1750s voyages of the Middelburg Commercial Company. The costs of transporting captives from Africa to Suriname are explored along with their relation to the Dutch economy. We also examine the implications of the concept ‘gross margin’, which is central to Fatah-Black and Van Rossum’s work. We find that, given the nature of the transport costs, the impact of the slave trade on the Dutch economy was minimal, and more generally that gross margin is not a useful measure for testing the Williams Thesis.     

Oral Sex,Young People,and Gendered Narratives of Reciprocity

Young people in many countries report gender differences in giving and receiving oral sex, yet examination of young people’s own perspectives on gender dynamics in oral heterosex are relatively rare. We explored the constructs and discourses 16- to 18-year-old men and women in England used in their accounts of oral sex during in-depth interviews. Two contrasting constructs were in circulation in the accounts: on one hand, oral sex on men and women was narrated as equivalent, while on the other, oral sex on women was seen as “a bigger deal” than oral sex on men. Young men and women used a “give and take” discourse, which constructed the mutual exchange of oral sex as “fair.” Appeals to an ethic of reciprocity in oral sex enabled women to present themselves as demanding equality in their sexual interactions, and men as supporting mutuality. However, we show how these ostensibly positive discourses about equality also worked in narratives to obscure women’s constrained agency and work with respect to giving oral sex.     

Adolescence and Youth among Displaced Ethiopians: A Case Study in Kaliti Camp

The effects of trauma on adolescent mental health were studied via ethnographic fieldwork and the application of psychological testing. A random sampling of 108 war-traumatized subjects (68 male and 40 female) was given the Trauma Event subscale of the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire and the Symptom Check List 90-Revised. More than 90% of the sample lost their property, 70% suffered extreme thirst, and more than a third witnessed death. They had all been living for the past six years in an extremely poor camp for the displaced. Yet, the psychopathology of the group was considerably less than expected. The authors attributed this to the adolescents' appraisal of the particular circumstances of their lives. They compared their poverty with other Ethiopians, and they compared their relative freedom given to them by their community with the adolescence of their parents and of other Ethiopians. The openness of the community in allowing adolescents to live outside of traditional norms was particularly salient for the females. The authors concluded that situational and circumstantial factors must be considered in assessing the mental health of war-traumatized adolescents.