Developments in National Policies for Food and Nutrition Security in Brazil

Brazil is on track to achieve many of the Millennium Development Goals, and this is widely credited to bold and innovative government policies backed by new forms of popular participation in social policy. This article examines evaluation evidence on two of the most important recent initiatives in Brazil's policies for food and nutrition security (conditional cash transfers through Bolsa Família and support for family agriculture through the Programa de Aquisição de Alimentos). It also considers advances in older policies (such as the School Meals programme) and the work of the National Council for Food and Nutrition Security, which has culminated in national legislation establishing food and nutrition security as a right.     

The Impact of Overeducation on Wages of Recent Economic Sciences Graduates

Social Indicators Research - United Nations Development Program presented the Human Development Index for ranking the countries with regard to three dimensions, namely being knowledgeable, a long...     

Lost in transition: Illicit substance use and services receipt among at-risk youth in the child welfare system

This study examined the use of mental health and substance abuse services among adolescents in the child welfare system (CWS) who reported use of illicit substances. 1004 adolescents age 11–15 years at baseline were followed for 5–7 years, over five waves of data collection. Shortly after the investigation for maltreatment (baseline), 69.1% of youths using illicit substances received mental health and/or substance abuse outpatient specialty services. By the last follow-up, during the transition to adulthood, only 21.5% of young adults using illicit substances received outpatient specialty services. Youth who used illicit substances were more likely to receive outpatient and inpatient specialty services than non-users at the time of contact with the CWS (mostly baseline), but this difference faded over the follow-up period. By 5–7 years follow-up, there was no significant difference in specialty services receipt for illicit substances users versus non-users. Predictors of outpatient service use at most waves were having Medicaid, mental health needs, and having recently seen a school counselor or primary care physician. Among illicit substance users transitioning to adulthood, African American youths were less likely to receive outpatient specialty services than White youths. These findings reveal a need for more attention to illicit substances use among youth in the CWS, better cross agency integration, and special attention to the needs of transition-age youth to better connect them with services as they age out of the CWS.     

The protective function of meaning of life on life satisfaction among Chinese students in Australia and Hong Kong: a cross-cultural comparative study

OBJECTIVE: The authors compared the predictive effects of acculturative stressors and meaning of life on life satisfaction between Chinese students in Australia and in Hong Kong. PARTICIPANTS: In 2006, the researchers recruited 606 Chinese students studying abroad at the University of Melbourne in Australia and at 6 universities in Hong Kong. METHODS: Participants completed a questionnaire that included measures of acculturative stressors, meaning of life, life satisfaction, and demographic information. RESULTS: The Australian sample experienced a significantly higher level of acculturative stressors than did the Hong Kong sample, but life satisfaction did not differ significantly between the 2 samples. Meaning of life had a strong positive contribution and acculturative stressors had a negative contribution in predicting life satisfaction in both samples. Meaning of life partially mediated the relationship between acculturative stressors and life satisfaction in both samples. CONCLUSIONS: The authors discuss the theoretical and practical implications for Chinese students studying abroad.     

Men's Migration and Women's Lives: Views from Rural Armenia and Guatemala*

Objectives. This study seeks to comparatively assess the consequences of men's migration for gender roles and relations in Armenia and Guatemala. Methods. We use 29 in‐depth interviews conducted with women in Guatemala and 27 interviews conducted in Armenia, complemented with field observations. Results. Men's migration exerts diverse effects on their wives' lives, and these effects are mediated by the sociocultural milieu in which the women live and by the context in which the men generate incomes. As do other studies, we find that women take on added responsibilities when their partners migrate for work, but unlike most other studies, our data do not show that these new responsibilities significantly transform women's status and relationships. Conclusions. On balance, the division of labor established through the husbands' migration further reinforces gender inequality. Men's role as breadwinners and primary decisionmakers is further strengthened, as is women's subordinate position in the household.     

Stagnation as a Distinct Clinical Syndrome: Comparing 'Yu' (Stagnation) in Traditional Chinese Medicine with Depression

Background: Depression was translated into Chinese as yiyu,with reference to the yu syndrome in traditional Chinese medicine.Literally meaning ‘not flowing, entangled or clogged’,yu, or ‘stagnation’ in English, is, however, a constructdistinct from depression. Objective: The study aimed to explorethe construct of stagnation through scale development. Method:A concept-driven approach was adopted to generate candidateitems for the Stagnation Scale. Other measures were a validitychecking item, a Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and a twelve-itemGeneral Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). Respondents were recruitedby convenience and snowball sampling, resulting in 602 questionnairesbeing completed by adults between the ages of eighteen and sixty-five.Results: Exploratory factor analysis provided a three-factor,sixteen-item solution. The three factors were named Overattachment,Body-Mind Obstruction and Affect-Posture Inhibition. Cronbach’salphas of the entire scale and subscales ranged from 0.82 to0.91. Correlations of the scale total with the validity checkingitem, BDI and GHQ-12 were 0.71, 0.53 and 0.48, respectively.Stagnation showed a pattern of associations with demographicvariables different from depression. Conclusion: The StagnationScale has good psychometric properties, and has meaningful factorstructures. The evidence supports the contention that stagnationis a clinical syndrome distinct from depression. The new concepthas important implications for social work practice.     

Micro-Genetic Development of Timing in a Child

The purpose of this study is to analyze the micro-genesis of a child’s appropriation of timing. The data consist of video observations from a primary classroom with a focus on one child (7 years old) participating in a musical activity. The results show that the teacher scaffolds the child in several steps: from establishing a platform for participation in the activity, via demonstration to explanation. The child goes from being uncoordinated with the teacher to being able to play in time with her. The meta-issue of how to represent developmental processes in research is discussed.     

A Randomized,Waiting-List-Controlled Study Shows That Brief,Mindfulness-Based Psychological Interventions Are Effective for Treatment of Women’s Low Sexual Desire

We evaluated two treatment conditions for low sexual desire in women: one where participants were administered a mindfulness-based treatment protocol and another with exercises focusing on scheduled sex and motivations for sex in addition to the aforementioned protocol. Seventy women (M_age 39.2, SD = 9.8) with complaints of low sexual desire were randomly allocated to one of these treatment conditions or a waiting-list condition. Participants attended four individual sessions and completed homework exercises. Questionnaire data were collected before and after treatment and at follow-ups three and six months later. Primary outcomes were the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) desire subdomain and the Sexual Interest and Desire Inventory–Female (SIDI-F). Secondary outcomes were the Female Sexual Distress Scale–Revised (FSDS-R), the Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale (RDAS), the Perceived Relationship Quality Components Inventory (PRQC), and the Brief Symptom Inventory–18 (BSI-18). Women in both treatment conditions reported significantly higher sexual desire (FSFI desire d = 0.75 to 1.06) immediately following treatment, compared to the waiting list. Improvements were sustained at follow-up, accompanied by improvements in some secondary outcomes. We found no significant differences between the treatment conditions in terms of treatment effectiveness. Our study adds to the literature suggesting that mindfulness-based treatments are suitable options for treating low sexual desire in women.     

Typologies of Childhood Exposure to Violence: Associations With College Student Mental Health

Abstract

Objective: This study examined typologies of childhood violence exposure (CVE) and the associations of profiles with current demographic characteristics and mental health in emerging adulthood. Participants: The study evaluated a sample of college students from 2 US geographic regions (Midwest, n = 195; Southeast, n = 200). Methods: An online questionnaire (collected 2013–2014) assessed CVE and current mental health. Latent class analysis was used to identify typologies of CVE. Follow-up analyses were conducted to distinguish differences between typologies in demographic characteristics and mental health. Results: Four distinct profiles emerged: High-Exposed, Domestic-Exposed, Community-Exposed, and Low-Exposed. High- and Domestic-Exposed groups were more likely to be first-generation college students and to experience symptoms of psychopathology. Conclusions: This study offers a unique presentation of CVE profiles and a nuanced interpretation of their differential relationship to current demographic characteristics and mental health. It may befit university mental health initiatives to engage first-generation students and utilize comprehensive assessments of previous victimization.