He Said What? Guided Cognitive Reframing About the Co‐Resident Father/Stepfather–Adolescent Relationship

We studied young adolescents' seeking out support to understand conflict with their co‐resident fathers/stepfathers, and the cognitive and affective implications of such support‐seeking, phenomena we call guided cognitive reframing. Our sample included 392 adolescents (M_age = 12.5, 52.3% female) who were either of Mexican or European ancestry and lived with their biological mothers and either a stepfather or a biological father. More frequent reframing was associated with more adaptive cognitive explanations for father/stepfather behavior. Cognitions explained the link between seeking out and feelings about the father/stepfather and self. Feelings about the self were more strongly linked to depressive symptoms than cognitions. We discuss the implications for future research on social support, coping, guided cognitive reframing, and father–child relationships.     

Exploring youths' perceptions of the hidden practice of youth work in increasing social capital with young people considered NEET in Scotland

This small-scale research explores the generation of social capital in young people growing up in one urban area and one rural area in Scotland via community-led youth work projects that aim to re-engage young people categorised as NEET (Not in Employment Education or Training). By looking at their varied and complex biographies, it considers young people's experiences and perceptions of their communities and their transitions from education to the workplace. Using social capital as a theoretical lens, we examined the impact that youth work can have not just on these important transitions but also upon the young people themselves. By visiting two different sites of engagement we were able to explore whether the type of initiative (media or sports) or place (urban or rural) had an impact on the generation of capital for young people. The youth work practice in both areas acted as a glue between the young people and their communities, creating opportunities where the two could be bound together and relationships created. This occurred in both sites regardless of the area or type of initiative and confirmed in this study that youth work acts as a site of capital building.     

Diagnosis as Subculture: Subversions of Health and Medical Knowledges in the Orthorexia Recovery Community on Instagram

Qualitative Sociology - Diagnoses are powerful tools that fulfill various practical and symbolic functions. In this paper, I examine how a contested diagnosis called orthorexia nervosa has been...     

Connecting Cash Transfers with Care for Better Child and Family Well-Being: Evidence from a Qualitative Evaluation in South Africa

Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal - Limited evidence exists of the effectiveness of combining cash transfers and family strengthening interventions in developing country contexts. This study...     

Growing the Volunteer Pool: Identifying Non-Volunteers Most Likely to Volunteer

There are ongoing management and societal challenges affecting volunteering participation. These place a premium on organizations identifying individuals that currently do not volunteer but have the willingness and capacity to do so, the “Potentials”. Supplementing the limited non-volunteer literature, we seek to quantify this potential volunteer pool using constructs aligned to the willingness, capability and availability dimensions from Meijs et al.’s (Volunt Action 8:36–54, 2006) volunteerability framework. Using binary logistic regression testing with a nationally representative sample of Australian volunteers and non-volunteers, we found partial support for the framework’s willingness and capability dimensions determining volunteer status. We then applied a predictive equation to the non-volunteer sample to calculate their percentage likelihood of volunteering, to identify a cohort of “Potential” volunteers. Further testing revealed statistically significant differences between this cohort compared to other non-volunteers based on various interventions for promoting volunteering. The implications of our novel study and an associated research agenda are discussed.

     

Parental Control and Affect as Predictors of Children's Display Rule Use and Social Competence with Peers

Seventy‐six fourth‐grade children and their parents participated in a study of the linkages among parental control and positive affect, children's display rule use, and children's social competence with peers. Using observational measures of parental behavior and children's display rule use, it was found that parental positive affect and control were related to children's display rule use (including both positive and negative responses). Moreover, the links between parental affect and control and children's social competence one year later (as rated by teachers and peers) were found to be mediated by children's display rule use. Finally, fathers’ behavior was found to be particularly important in the prediction of children's display rule use. The importance of fathers in children's social and emotional development and the importance of examining multiple parental behaviors are discussed.     

Gender and the Politics of Death: Female Representation,Political and Developmental Context,and Population Health in a Cross-National Panel

There is considerable speculation that female political empowerment could improve population health. Yet, evidence to date is limited, and explanations for why political empowerment would matter and the conditions under which this might be enhanced or muted are not well understood. In this article, we draw on theoretical work on the politics of representation to frame an investigation of whether increases in the percentage of females in a country’s parliament influence mortality rates. We further examine whether the relationship is conditioned by extent of democracy and economic and social development. Through multivariate longitudinal regression, we analyze four indicators of mortality in 155 countries spanning 1990 to 2014 with controls for initial country conditions, time-stable structural predispositions to higher mortality, and a number of time-varying potential confounders. Results indicate that a high level of female representation—30 % or greater in our models—has large negative associations with mortality, that these are particularly strong in lesser developed and weak democratic contexts, that high female political representation effectively offsets liabilities associated with low development, and that the relationships are robust to various operationalizations of social development. In the end, our research provides a particularly thorough accounting of the relationship between female political representation and population health, particularly by specifying the conditions under which female representation is most salient. In doing so, the research suggests important links between issues of female empowerment, political context, and developmental trajectories of countries more generally.     

Robust F-tests for linear models

The author presents a robust F-test for comparing nested linear models. It is suggested that the approach will be attractive to practitioners because it is based on the familiar F-statistic and corresponds to the common practice of reporting F-statistics after removing obvious outliers. It is calibrated in terms of a real parameter that can be directly interpreted as the willingness of the data analyst to remove observations, and the sensitivity of the F-statistic to this parameter is easily examined. The procedure is evaluated with a simulation study where a scale mixture distribution is used to generate outliers. The procedure is also applied to some data where the occurrence of an outlier is confounded with the significance of a regression term. This provides a comparison of two competing models for the data: one removing an outlier and the other including an additional regression term instead.     

Child well-being before and after the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns in three Australian states

This paper reports on changes in the social-emotional well-being of 6- to 12-year-old children tested before the COVID-19 pandemic and during 2020 and 2021. Well-being was assessed using a video game that empowers children to report their own well-being, including school attachment, social and emotional well-being, behavioural conformity and family support. We compared well-being over time for two groups of children in government schools in Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania. The treatment group of 580 children were tested in 2019 (Time 1) and a second time in mid-late 2020 and early 2021 (Time 2). The comparison group of 841 children were tested twice before the pandemic. Results showed that children in the treatment group reported significantly lower family support at Time 2 than those in the comparison group. This reduction in perceived family support was stronger for girls. In addition, children in the treatment group who reported lower levels of family support at Time 1 reported a steeper decline in family support by Time 2. Finally, boys in the treatment group reported significantly better behavioural conformity and emotional well-being relative to girls over time. Results highlight the varied impacts of the pandemic lockdowns and the need to provide continued support to vulnerable families.