How Much Is Leisure Worth? Direct Measurement with Contingent Valuation

This paper uses a contingent value survey in a Rocky Mountain city to measure the national income accounting value of leisure activities. Such direct measurement avoids shortcomings of the previously used labor value approach and individually values various types of leisure, e.g., napping and socializing. The results of the study indicate promise for this measurement approach but also raise some issues that require further research. Included are suggestions for overcoming problems discovered with this method and for future research.The authors wish to thank two anonymous referees of this journal who provided insightful comments and suggestions which improved the paper significantly.     

Effectiveness of couples treatment for spouse abuse

Despite its controversy, carefully conceptualized and delivered couples treatment appears to be at least as effective as traditional treatment for domestic violence, and preliminary data suggests that it does not place women at greater risk for injury. However, the body of research on which these conclusions rest is sparse. Only six experimental studies have been done, each using different eligibility criteria, outcome measures, and treatment approaches. Thus, further study of this modality is warranted. Marriage and family therapists have an important part to play in continuing to develop and test innovative ways of helping couples end violence and improve their relationships--an endeavor that promises to improve the quality of the partners' lives as well as those of their children.     

Use of Markov Chain Monte Carlo Analysis with a Physiologically-Based Pharmacokinetic Model of Methylmercury to Estimate Exposures in U.S. Women of Childbearing Age

A Bayesian approach, implemented using Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) analysis, was applied with a physiologically‐based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model of methylmercury (MeHg) to evaluate the variability of MeHg exposure in women of childbearing age in the U.S. population. The analysis made use of the newly available National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHANES) blood and hair mercury concentration data for women of age 16–49 years (sample size, 1,582). Bayesian analysis was performed to estimate the population variability in MeHg exposure (daily ingestion rate) implied by the variation in blood and hair concentrations of mercury in the NHANES database. The measured variability in the NHANES blood and hair data represents the result of a process that includes interindividual variation in exposure to MeHg and interindividual variation in the pharmacokinetics (distribution, clearance) of MeHg. The PBPK model includes a number of pharmacokinetic parameters (e.g., tissue volumes, partition coefficients, rate constants for metabolism and elimination) that can vary from individual to individual within the subpopulation of interest. Using MCMC analysis, it was possible to combine prior distributions of the PBPK model parameters with the NHANES blood and hair data, as well as with kinetic data from controlled human exposures to MeHg, to derive posterior distributions that refine the estimates of both the population exposure distribution and the pharmacokinetic parameters. In general, based on the populations surveyed by NHANES, the results of the MCMC analysis indicate that a small fraction, less than 1%, of the U.S. population of women of childbearing age may have mercury exposures greater than the EPA RfD for MeHg of 0.1 μg/kgg/day, and that there are few, if any, exposures greater than the ATSDR MRL of 0.3 μgg/kgg/day. The analysis also indicates that typical exposures may be greater than previously estimated from food consumption surveys, but that the variability in exposure within the population of U.S. women of childbearing age may be less than previously assumed.     

Sharing genetic origins information in third party assisted conception: a case for Victorian family values?

In the United Kingdom (UK) approximately 2500 children are born each year as a result of third party assisted conception. Since formal record keeping by the statutory regulatory body, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, began in 1991, the total number of children known to have been born from all forms of third party assisted conception exceeds 13 500. Although the records contain information about these children's genetic origins, including the identity of the donor, current legislation severely circumscribes their ability to access this information and, save in very exceptional circumstances, they are not permitted to learn the identity of the donor. Consequently, they are the only individuals in the UK whose inability to learn the identity of both their genetic parents is formally endorsed by statute. This paper identifies different approaches to exchanging genetic origins information in third party assisted conception. It provides a critique of the model currently in force in the UK and advocates its replacement by a system that more closely resembles that introduced in Victoria (Australia) in 1998. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mother and Grandmother Parenting in Low‐Income Three‐Generation Rural Households

This study draws data from the Family Life Project to examine parenting behaviors observed for 105 mothers and grandmothers raising an infant in rural low‐income multigenerational households. Multilevel models are used to examine the relationships between maternal age and psychological distress and parenting of the infant by both generations. The findings indicate that young maternal age is a risk factor for less sensitive parenting in the presence of other risks, including psychological distress. Further, young maternal age is associated with negative parenting behaviors by grandmothers only. Grandmothers and mothers displayed similar levels of negative intrusive parenting, but different factors were linked to the observed parenting of each generation. These findings contribute to understanding the benefits and risks of three‐generation households.