Spillover and Crossover of Work-to-Family Conflict and the Health Behaviors of Dual-Earner Parents with Young Children

Scholars have identified an association between one's own work-family conflict and health. Yet the study of work-family intersections implicitly calls into question the roles played by multiple members in the family system. A contagion model is used to examine health behaviors and work-to-family conflict among dual-earner parents of young children—for whom role obligations are high and competing. Controlling for workplace characteristics, perceptions of both spouses' work-to-family conflict are considered. For mothers, their own work-to-family conflict was significantly and negatively associated with health behaviors until the perception of their spouse's work-to-family conflict was considered. For fathers, their own job pressure was negatively associated with health behaviors. Thus, it appears wives may be responding to what they perceive as the interference of husbands' work lives by reducing their own personal health behaviors, such as sleeping and taking time to relax, but fathers are not responding in kind.     

Components of landscape pattern and urban biodiversity in an era of climate change: a global survey of expert knowledge

There is sufficient evidence to show that both humans and fauna are profoundly affected by landscape pattern composition and configuration in relation to adaptation to climate change impacts in urban landscapes. Despite this, global-scale research that ranks which components of landscape pattern play the most pivotal roles in this process is absent. Also lacking is in-depth examination of the potential areas of conflict between biodiversity conservation targets and those that pertain to human dimensions of climate change adaptation goals in relation to landscape patterns. The research aim was to determine how to identify, rank, and weight the most important components of landscape pattern affecting urban biodiversity in the changing climate and how to address areas of conflict between biodiversity conservation and human dimensions of climate change adaptation goals in terms of the spatial patterning of land cover classes distributed across urban landscapes. To do this, a global survey of 87 participants from 69 academic centres involved in at least 325 research projects between 2000 and 2017 was conducted. Of the eight components of landscape pattern identified and ranked by participants worldwide, the three most important components are respectively patch size, connectivity and proximity, and land cover heterogeneity. This research reveals that opinions of participants with experience in conducting research in the Southern Hemisphere in general and Oceania in particular influence this ranking. While a range of recommendations from specialists have been gathered and weighted, there is still much more research required to address areas of conflict between what fauna and humans need in the face of climate change.     

Work-to-Family Conflict and the Maternal Gatekeeping of Dual-Earner Mothers with Young Children

Survey data from 78 dual-earner mothers of preschool children were used to examine the association between perceptions of both spouses’ work-to-family conflict and maternal gatekeeping. Two regression models were estimated: One in which mother’s work-to-family conflict was included as a predictor, and one in which mother’s perception of father’s (spouse’s) work-to-family conflict was added. Competing hypotheses using role theory and identity theory were proposed. Results provided support for identity theory through a positive association between mothers’ work-to-family conflict and maternal gatekeeping. In regard to perception of spouse’s work-to-family conflict, both role and identity theories can be interpreted to suggest a positive association with maternal gatekeeping, and we found this was empirically the case.     

Karen Youth transitions at the Thai-Myanmar border

This article examines youth transitions within a context of forced migration including rural areas in Eastern Myanmar and temporary shelters for displaced persons at the Thai-Myanmar border, as well as a Jesuit education project in Chiang Mai province. The study is informed by a life course approach that emphasizes the interlinkage between individual biographies and socio-political developments. Drawing on qualitative research methods such as participant observation, participatory research methods, essay writing and informal interviews, research data highlight the pivotal role of formal education even in a context of war and displacement. Making the vertical transition from one school stage to the next gives meaning and structure to the lives of the displaced youth who participated in this study and shapes their horizontal transitions between different geographical and social spaces along the Thai-Myanmar border. In this respect the study suggests that within the continuum of displacement at the Thai-Myanmar border ethnicity and citizenship status, coupled with social relations and individual skills for institutional networking, predominantly shape young Karen womeńs and meńs pursuit for education, as well as their decisions to interrupt their studies for transition to work.     

Come Back or Stay? Spend Here or There? Return and Remittances: The Case of Moldova

This paper examines the determinants and consequences of temporary and permanent migration from the perspective of migrant source countries. Based on a large and detailed household dataset on migration in the Republic of Moldova, the most important factors that influence a respective migrant’s decision whether to return to the home country or to stay abroad for good are presented first. Second, the remittance behaviour of temporary and permanent migrants is analysed to investigate how developing countries benefit from either type of migration. The results indicate that the most important determinants of permanent migration relate to the economic conditions at home and abroad, as well as to the legal status of a migrant in the host country. Furthermore, economic and political frustration plays an important role in the decision of permanent migrants not to come back. On the contrary, family ties as measured by the number of close family members at home act as a pull factor for migrant return. Interestingly, permanent migrants use source country networks that differ from those of temporary migrants, indicating that the return decision of individuals is influenced by the decision of their migrant peers. Concerning remittances, the results reveal that, in absolute terms, temporary migrants remit around 30 per cent more than their permanent counterparts. This outcome is surprising, because temporary migrants often reside in countries where wages are much lower. Overall, the findings indicate that when compared to permanent migration, temporary migration is favourable for developing countries, as it fosters not only repatriation of skills, but also higher remittances, and home savings.     

Young Infants Detect the Direction of Biological Motion in Point‐Light Displays

In the present study, we examined if young infants can extract information regarding the directionality of biological motion. We report that 6‐month‐old infants can differentiate leftward and rightward motions from a movie depicting the sagittal view of an upright human point‐light walker, walking as if on a treadmill. Inversion of the stimuli resulted in no detection of directionality. These findings suggest that biological motion displays convey information for young infants beyond that which distinguishes them from nonbiological motion; aspects of the action itself are also detected. The potential visual mechanisms underlying biological motion detection, as well as the behavioral interpretations of point‐light figures, are discussed.     

What's the problem? A problem-based approach to the reform of the Norwegian drug rehabilitation sector

This article explores how the scope of solutions to complex problems is determined by the way in which the problem is formulated. We inquire into this by means of a theory-driven case study of the reform in the Norwegian drug rehabilitation sector and the Tyrili facility. We analyze divergent approaches to drug rehabilitation by means of a problem formulation framework, which distinguishes between (1) the value dimensions of given problems, and (2) the phases of problem solving activities. Based on this inquiry, we arrive at a set of propositions, in which we propose that the two approaches differ in their inclusion of various value dimensions. Moreover, we suggest that the reform pursued increased efficiency as a solution to a reductionist formulation of the problem, which challenged Tyrili's opportunity to solve the problem in the multidimensional manner they conceive of it. This is an argument against a one-dimensional maximization of efficiency as a pursuit of quality in social services.