Rural Women,Anti-Poverty Strategies,and Black Feminist Thought

Rural U.S. poverty rates have been persistently high. Market-based anti-poverty strategies, specifically microenterprise programs, have gained currency as a feasible avenue for moving women out of poverty. While rural women may share some commonality, homogeneity among rural women is often assumed in poverty scholarship. It is imperative that poverty scholars contribute to closing the gap between theoretical explanations and the actually experiences of poverty among individuals occupying different social locations. As researchers address this gap, this article argues for the value of integrating two important components consistent with black feminist epistemology: (1) an intersectionality perspective, and (2) the voices of the local actors/stakeholders. This article concludes that without a purposeful examination of individuals located at the intersection of race/ethnicity, gender, and/or class; even carefully formulated policy can inadvertently discriminate against or benefit some women more than others.     

The Structure of Pregnancy Intervals by Planning Status

Measures of pregnancy intervals are reported for data from the 1975 National Fertility Study in the United States. The structure of such intervals is aggregated into its components by planning status. A measurement model is devised to infer from a survival function some dimensions of the initial distribution of respondents by propensity to experience the event in question. It is adaptable to the study of reproductive intention as well as fecundability and contraceptive effectiveness. The model is applied to the study of the dependence of such behaviour in a given interval on the planning status of the previous pregnancy. Planning status is sequentially well-ordered. Those previously successful with contraceptive use are less likely to fail than those who had previously failed; those who had previously used contraception, whether successful or not, are less likely to fail than those who had not previously used. The credibility of the findings is prejudiced less by the form of model than by the reliability of the basic data.     

The Canadian sample for labour force and other population data

An area sample is now being taken quarterly in Canada for labour force and a wide variety of other population data. Since reliable lists of households cannot be obtained without substantial expense the amount of field work is reduced to a minimum by the use of maps which may be thought of as an implicit listing. Random selection with known probabilities is applied in several stages, the overall result being a 1 % sample of the population. The survey data provide not only estimates of unemployment, movement of population, etc., but also give the errors of estimate. During the 3 years of its operation, information has been obtained for government and public use on housing conditions, rents, farm fires and accidents, sickness, fish consumption and many other matters.     

Assisted Living and the Aging Trajectory

ABSTRACT

Assisted living (AL) is a caregiving option between independent living and nursing home placement. This study explores women residents' experience of AL in four Midwestern facilities, using interview and field research methods. We found that most residents wanted to stay in AL rather than move to a nursing home; they looked backward nostalgically toward home, and complied with staff rules and directives in order to remain in place. In contrast to nursing homes, AL allows residents to experience continuities with self and home: a private room, some of their own belongings, and access to relationships and activities associated with self and home. Given the expanded lifespan and growing popularity of AL, it is becoming a new stage in the trajectory of women's aging.     

Does the impact of anti-drinking and driving Public Service Announcements differ based on message type and viewer characteristics?

The purpose of this study was to inform future Public Service Announcement (PSA) development by examining the potential effectiveness of different types of anti-driving under the influence (DUI) PSAs for persons with different characteristics. PSAs utilizing empathy, fear, and informational approaches were shown to persons recruited from psychology courses (n = 137) and individuals that were mandated to treatment following a DUI offense (n = 17). The empathy approach was perceived to be the most effective and evoked the most negative affect, followed by fear and informational approaches. Less experience with DUI, lower sensation seeking, higher motivation to change, and higher perception of dangerousness of DUI all emerged as good predictors of higher perceived effectiveness of anti-DUI PSAs. Gender differences in perceived effectiveness were examined for fear and empathy PSAs, with inconclusive findings.     

Risk factors associated with overweight and obesity in college students

College obesity is increasing, but to the authors' knowledge, no researchers to date have evaluated risk factors in this population. OBJECTIVE: The authors assessed whether abnormal eating perceptions and behaviors were associated with overweight in college students. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: A sample of undergraduates (N = 4,201) completed an online survey containing demographic questions and the Eating Attitudes Test-26 (EAT-26) questionnaire. The authors stratified participants into normal-weight and overweight/obese groups and evaluated physical activity, EAT-26 score, purging behaviors, and answers to selected overweight screening questions on the basis of body mass index. A modified EAT-26 score of > or = 11 was associated with overweight (p = .016). RESULTS: Compared with normal-weight peers, overweight participants displayed an increased fear of bingeing, preoccupation with food, desire to be thinner, and engagement in dieting behavior. Mean body mass index also increased with age and physical inactivity (p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Because physical inactivity, disordered eating perceptions, and disordered behaviors are associated with increased rates of overweight and obesity, identification of these risk factors in obese youths may increase understanding of weight loss barriers and facilitate the treatment of adolescent obesity.     

Using alcohol to sell cigarettes to young adults: a content analysis of cigarette advertisements

OBJECTIVE: Advertising influences the health-related behaviors of college-aged individuals. Cigarette manufacturers aggressively market to young adults and may exploit their affinity for alcohol when creating advertisements designed to increase cigarettes' appeal. Internal tobacco industry documents reveal that cigarette manufacturers understood the popularity of alcohol among young adults and sought to produce pertinent marketing strategies. METHODS: The authors conducted a content analysis of cigarette and alcohol advertisements in young adult-oriented magazines to investigate portrayed associations between cigarettes and alcohol. RESULTS: The content analysis revealed that 32 of 114 cigarette advertisements referenced alcohol and that those advertisements were more likely than others to portray active smoking. Conversely, 0 of 317 alcohol advertisements referenced cigarettes, and alcohol advertisements were only slightly more likely than cigarette advertisements to feature alcohol-related settings. CONCLUSIONS: Such advertising may detrimentally affect smoking patterns of college students. An understanding of these strategies can benefit on-campus tobacco control efforts.     

Battling body image: confessions of a health educator

As a college health educator, the author knows much about healthy behaviors. In spite of this, however, the author discusses finding herself struggling with the same problems of body image that her students express. With a variety of influences tied to negative body image, it is important that college health professionals create a plan of action for reducing the negative effects of such influences. The author proposes that health professionals take a more active role in combating body image problems by using 3 important strategies: incorporating body image into basic health curricula and classes, focusing research efforts on intervention, and exploring the use of advocacy to initiate change at the societal level.     

Excitement-seeking Gambling in a Nationally Representative Sample of Recreational Gamblers

Excitement-seeking and related constructs have been associated with heavier gambling and negative health measures in problem and/or pathological gamblers. Most adults gamble recreationally and an understanding of the relationship between excitement-seeking as a motivation for gambling amongst subsyndromal gamblers has significant public health implications. Logistic regression analyses were used to examine a national sample of past-year recreational gamblers (N = 1,476) to identify characteristics distinguishing gamblers acknowledging gambling for excitement (“Excitement-seeking Gamblers” or EGs) and gamblers denying gambling for excitement (“Non-excitement-seeking Gamblers” or NEGs). EGs were more likely than NEGs to report alcohol use and abuse/dependence, any substance abuse/dependence, incarceration, large gambling wins and losses, more frequent and varied gambling, and symptoms of pathological gambling (i.e., at-risk gambling). Together, these findings indicate that EGs are more likely than NEGs to demonstrate problems in multiple areas characterized by impaired impulse control.     

Child abuse in the context of domestic violence: prevalence, explanations, and practice implications

This article addresses the following questions: (a) How common is child abuse among domestically violent families? (b) Are there specific patterns of child abuse among domestically violent families? (c) What may explain occurrences of child abuse in domestically violent families? (d) How might domestic violence affect treatment for child abuse? We review research on child abuse in the context of domestic violence. We discuss implications of this research for service-delivery programs for domestically violent families.