Ethnic Identity and Psychosocial Functioning in Navajo Adolescents

The current study assessed associations among theoretically driven measures of ethnic identity and psychosocial adjustment among 137 Navajo adolescents. For both sexes, measures of students' sense of affirmation and belonging to their ethnic heritage emerged as a strong predictor of positive psychosocial functioning. Less-consistent patterns of association emerged between other measures of ethnic identity and psychosocial adjustment. Students with achieved ethnic identity status, characterized by high levels of exploration of their ethnic heritage and high levels of affirmation or commitment to their Navajo culture, reported the most positive functioning on several measures. Interesting interactions with biological sex suggested that ethnic identity may function differently for male and female Navajo adolescents. Implications of results for educators, parents, and policy makers are discussed.     

Lability of prenatal stress during the COVID-19 pandemic links to negative affect in infancy

The association between prenatal stress and children's socioemotional development is well established. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a particularly stressful period, which may impact the gestational environment. However, most studies to-date have examined prenatal stress at a single time point, potentially masking the natural variation in stress that occurs over time, especially during a time as uncertain as the pandemic. This study leveraged dense ecological momentary assessments from a prenatal randomized control trial to examine patterns of prenatal stress over a 14-week period (up to four assessments/day) in a U.S. sample of 72 mothers and infants. We first examined whether varied features of stress exposure (lability, mean, and baseline stress) differed depending on whether mothers reported on their stress before or during the pandemic. We next examined which features of stress were associated with 3-month-old infants' negative affect. We did not find differences in stress patterns before and during the pandemic. However, greater stress lability, accounting for baseline and mean stress, was associated with higher infant negative affect. These findings suggest that pathways from prenatal stress exposure to infant socioemotional development are complex, and close attention to stress patterns over time will be important for explicating these pathways.     

Race and Ethnic Self-Identification Influences on Physical and Mental Health Statuses Among Blacks

We examine if commonly used distress measures, rates of psychiatric disorders, and chronic health conditions are affected by alternate measures of race-ethnicity for African Americans and Caribbean blacks. We examined two alternative self-identification measures to investigate if their influence might differ. A study on national household probability sample of non-institutionalized African Americans (n = 3,570) and blacks from Caribbean countries, who now live in the United States (n = 1,621), was conducted between February 2001 and June 2003, using a slightly modified version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. The method used to measure black race and ethnicity has influence on physical and mental health outcomes. The distributions of depressive symptoms are not affected, while the distributions of DSM IV disorders and chronic health conditions vary by race and ethnic self-identifications among the African American and Caribbean black populations. There are serious implications of using alternate measures of race-ethnicity on the distribution of physical and mental health morbidity among African Americans and Caribbean blacks. The conceptualization and assessment of race-ethnicity should be carefully considered when studying mental and physical health statuses and service needs in the American black population.     

Should St. Merciful Hospital Become CorpHealth,Inc.?: Ownership and Quality in U.S. Health Care Organizations

In this article, a review of empirical research on ownership and quality of care suggests the existence of a quality gap between for‐profit and nonprofit firms in some health sectors, depending on the prevailing type of financial payment for health care. Results of a theoretical model incorporating quality of care suggest that the nondistribution constraint is a simple and powerful explanation for a higher level of patient care quality at nonprofit health care facilities when reimbursement for health services is fixed prospectively. Analysis suggests that review of future conversions of health care facilities from nonprofit to for‐profit status should take into consideration the implied effects of the conversion on patient outcomes.     

Kinship care or upbringing by relatives? The need for ‘new’ understandings in research

This article addresses knowledge production on formal kinship foster care. In spite of growing interest in this phenomenon, little attention has been paid to how kinship care should be understood in research – as a service under child protective services or as upbringing by relatives. Each of these understandings leads to different research questions and creates guidelines for what falls into or outwith the focus of research. In kinship care research, this phenomenon has primarily been studied as a service. Research that seeks to evaluate the effect of kinship care compared to non-kinship care is used as a case to discuss the implications for the type of knowledge that researchers produce. While we acknowledge the importance of this research, we demonstrate the many challenges it involves and why this should not be the primary focus in kinship care research. On the background of these limitations, we argue in favour of approaching kinship care as upbringing by relatives – as ways in which family life can be organised and structured. This can lead to relevant knowledge that will enable us to obtain a better understanding of what kinship care is and involves.     

The relationship between social media use and sleep quality among undergraduate students

Insufficient sleep is a growing health problem among university students, especially for freshmen during their first quarter/semester of college. Little research has studied how social media technologies impact sleep quality among college students. This study aims to determine the relationship between social media use and sleep quality among freshman undergraduates during their first quarter in college. Specifically, we explored whether variations in Twitter use across the time of day and day of the week would be associated with self-reported sleep quality. We conducted a study of freshman Twitter-using students (N?=?197) over their first quarter of college, between October and December of 2015. We collected students’ tweets, labeled the content of the tweets according to different emotional states, and gave theme weekly surveys on sleep quality. Tweeting more frequently on weekday late nights was associated with lower sleep quality (β?=??0.937, SE?=?0.352); tweeting more frequently on weekday evenings was associated with better quality sleep (β?=?0.189, SE?=?0.097). Tweets during the weekday that were labeled related to the emotion of fear were associated with lower sleep quality (β?=??0.302, SE?=?0.131). Results suggest that social media use is associated with sleep quality among students. Results provided can be used to inform future interventions to improve sleep quality among college students.     

Kinship foster parenting; gender,class and labour-force participation

Objective: Knowledge about gender, class and labour-force participation of kinship foster parents in European countries is scarce. This study examines the gendered structure and generational pattern of kinship foster parenting in Norway and compares class components and labour-force participation of kinship foster mothers to the larger female population and to non-kinship foster mothers.

Method: The analysis is based on survey data on relationships between foster parents and child, social demographics and placement characteristics from 123 kinship and 88 non-kinship foster mothers of children in state custody. Labour Force Survey and Education Statistics from Statistics Norway were used to compare the kinship sample to the average female population.

Findings: Kinship foster care in Norway is gendered, in that it is women who assume the responsibility for relatives' children. Kinship foster care reflects class differences in that the educational level of kinship foster mothers and their household income are lower than the average female population and of non-kinship foster mothers in Norway. The labour-force participation of kinship foster mothers in Norway is comparable to that of the country's female population in general, except for women aged 35–55 with children under seven, among whom labour-force participation is lower than for the female population.     

Intimate Partner Violence in Late Life: An Analysis of National News Reports

Intimate partner violence (IPV) in late life takes various forms including physical harm, sexual assault, and murder. Using national newspaper reports of IPV among elders, we identified the types of violence reported most frequently in media and examined how the abuse was conceptualized by reporters. We found that most cases of IPV reported involved murder, with men as perpetrators and women as victims. Caregiving stress and health problems were frequently cited as contributing factors in the cases. Interpreting these findings from a feminist perspective, we suggest implications for practitioners working with older adults.