Trajectory Discrimination and Peripersonal Space Perception in Newborns

The ability to discriminate the trajectories of moving objects is highly adaptive and fundamental for physical and social interactions. Therefore, we could reasonably expect sensitivity to different trajectories already at birth, as a precursor of later communicative and defensive abilities. To investigate this possibility, we measured newborns' looking behavior to evaluate their ability to discriminate between visual stimuli depicting motion along different trajectories happening within the space surrounding their body. Differently from previous studies, we did not take into account defensive reactions, which may not be elicited by impending collision as newborns might not categorize approaching stimuli as possible dangers. In two experiments, we showed that newborns display a spontaneous visual preference for trajectories directed toward their body. We found this visual preference when visual stimuli depicted motion in opposite directions (approaching vs. receding) as well as when they both moved toward the peripersonal space and differed only in their specific target (i.e., the body vs. the space around it). These findings suggest that at birth human infants seem to be already equipped with visual mechanisms predisposing them to perceive their presence in the environment and to adaptively focus their attention on the peripersonal space and their bodily self.     

The public view of immigrant integration: multidimensional and consensual. Evidence from survey experiments in the UK and the Netherlands

Despite the growing interest in immigrant integration in a wide range of scholarly literature, there is less interest in how integration might be understood by the public. Using a survey-embedded conjoint experiment in the Netherlands and the UK, we ask the public what they think constitutes successful immigrant integration. We show that the public has a multidimensional view of integration, which goes beyond a simple preference for cultural assimilation. We discover that there is a remarkably stable hierarchy of preference of integration outcomes, which is a matter of wide spread consensus in both our countries among different social groups and people with different attitudes on immigration. Using the British data we also show an integration penalty for immigrants of non-white origins. Our article places public opinion of immigrant integration at the heart of a rapidly expanding research agenda into the social and political impacts of immigration.     

Race Disparities in Pubertal Timing: Implications for Cardiovascular Disease Risk Among African American Women

Compared to white girls, sexual maturation is accelerated in African American girls as measured by indicators of pubertal development, including age at first menses. Increasing epidemiological evidence suggests that the timing of pubertal development may have strong implications for cardio-metabolic health in adolescence and adulthood. In fact, younger menarcheal age has been related prospectively to poorer cardiovascular risk factor profiles, a worsening of these profiles over time, and an increase in risk for cardiovascular events, including non-fatal incident cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular-specific and all-cause mortality. Yet, because this literature has been limited almost exclusively to white girls/women, whether this same association is present among African American girls/women has not been clarified. In the current narrative review, the well-established vulnerability of African American girls to experience earlier pubertal onset is discussed as are findings from literatures examining the health outcomes of earlier pubertal timing and its antecedents, including early life adversity exposures often experienced disproportionately in African American girls. Gaps in these literatures are highlighted especially with respect to the paucity of research among minority girls/women, and a conceptual framework is posited suggesting disparities in pubertal timing between African American and white girls may partially contribute to well-established disparities in adulthood risk for cardio-metabolic disease between African American and white women. Future research in these areas may point to novel areas for intervention in preventing or lessening the heightened cardio-metabolic risk among African American women, an important public health objective.     

The Effect of Social Capital on Health Among European Older Adults: An Instrumental Variable Approach

One of the key policy question for an ageing population is the identifications of the factors which influence health. Very recently, an increasing interest on social capital has developed and, surprisingly, not much is known for the European population. This study analyzes the effect of structural social capital on health (measured as self-perceived health) of the individuals aged 60 or more residing in European countries. The sample comes from the fourth wave of the survey on health and retirement in Europe. We use an instrumental variables approach in order to account for the reverse causality between social capital and health. We found that structural social capital exerts a positive effect preventing people to suffer of a poor self-perceived effect. Results are robust to different estimation methods.     

Knowledge and practices regarding iodine supplementation: A national survey of healthcare providers

Background

Little is known of healthcare providers’ awareness and implementation of the National Health and Medical Research Council's recommendation regarding iodine supplementation during pre-conception, pregnancy and lactation.

Construction of Peer Support Groups in Child Protection Social Work: Negotiating Practicalities to Enhance the Professional Self

This paper reports on a research project that was developed between a cohort of child protection social workers in the Republic of Ireland and the authors. The focus of the research was on researching participants’ experiences of developing peer support groups (PSGs) in child protection social work. Eleven participants formed two PSGs; one group had six participants, the other had five. This qualitative research study involved focus groups with each of the peer groups at the beginning, middle and end of the 12-month period. Data from the focus groups were analysed using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Findings from the research indicate that the organic development of a PSG involves negotiating a range of practicalities which, working together, help to promote reflective practice and to advance the development of the professional self. A number of important and interconnected subthemes emerged within the texts of the focus groups. These included: the establishment of PSGs as a work activity; consideration of logistical matters in forming PSGs; identification of the influence of group dynamics in structuring and negotiating PSGs; PSGs as a conduit for integrating personal and professional values and as a context for facilitating and enabling an increased consciousness of self in practice. Drawing on these findings, the authors consider the implications for integrating PSGs within child protection agency services.     

Representations of homelessness,home environments,and authority in the context of runaway behaviors reported by foster care youth residing in an emergency shelter

Between 31 and 46% of youth with histories of foster care placement were homeless at least once. Studies of the incidence of runaway behavior have identified a host of risk factors associated with running away from foster care placement, but less is known about the internalized processes of these individuals at risk for running away or the contextual experience surrounding it. This study is designed to investigate the representations made by individuals who have engaged in running away to uncover and explore thematic patterns. Accordingly, a secondary analysis was performed on data from four group interviews (n?=?15) collected from youth under the care of one child protective services (CPS) agency-operated emergency shelter setting, using thematic content analysis by two independent reviewers. Codes were networked and themes that emerged were discussed through a framework of power dynamics. Themes around the participants’ perceptions of homelessness, lack of control, and their resistance to authority were all identified as contributory to the theme of running away. The act of running away is, therefore, framed as a threshold event representing a multifaceted phenomenon combining perceptions of self-identity, conflict, and power in the home.     

Is Working with Your Spouse Good for Business? The Effect of Working with Your Spouse on Profit for Rural Businesses

The goal of this article is to uncover more precise and unbiased estimates of the relationships between relationship satisfaction, a copreneurial business structure, and profit. Because of the suspected simultaneity between profit levels, the choice to be copreneurial and relationship satisfaction, a multivariate recursive probit is used to test for endogeneity between these variables. The results of the empirical analysis suggest that spouses self-select into a copreneurial business structure depending on the level of satisfaction they feel in their interpersonal relationships. Additionally, copreneurial businesses with high relationship satisfaction are more likely to have higher profit than if they were non-copreneurial.