Becoming married, depression, and alcohol problems among young adults

This paper examines three questions regarding the relationship between marriage and mental health, specifically depression and alcohol problems. First, does marriage lead to improved mental health compared to never marrying? Second, do any mental health benefits of marriage primarily accrue to men? Third, what qualitative aspects of marriage are related to psychological disorder? We explore these questions in a longitudinal sample of young adults sampled at age 21 and again at age 24. We find no indication that marriage reduces depression. Married people do report fewer alcohol problems than the never-married but this could be due to the selection of less problematic drinkers into marriage. We also fail to find that men receive disproportionate mental health benefits from marriage. Finally, we find that marital conflict is associated with problem drinking for men and depression for women. The results indicate the importance of considering stage in the life cycle and gender-sensitive indicators of psychological disorder in studies of marriage and mental health.     

Respondent characteristics in citizen evaluation of municipal services

Research on citizen surveys tend to focus on how to conduct a survey and how to best utilize the survey data. How respondent characteristics affect responses to a survey has received only cursory treatment in the literature. The present study investigated the role of demographics and generalized attitude, two types of respondent characteristics, in citizen evaluations of municipal services. Of particular interest was the pattern of respondent-responses interaction across time. The Automatic Interaction Detector (AID) was used to analyze survey data collected annually from 1974 through 1979 by a University-affiliated Urban Studies Center in a mid-size metropolitan area. Results indicated that these respondent characteristics could account for a substantial portion of the variance associated with service evaluation. However, the relationship between respondent characteristics and service evaluations is nonlinear, interactively complex and lacking in consistency across time. This widely varying pattern of respondent-responses interactions across time was explained in terms of the effect of a third exposure-experiential factor. Implications for future research and for using citizen survey data in public policy analysis and program development were discussed.     

Age-specific survivorship analysis ofHeliothis spp. Populations on cotton

Summary Population dynamics ofHeliothis virescens (F.) andHeliothis zea (Boddie) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) eggs and larvae were studied for two years in a small plot of cotton,Gossypium hirsutum (L.). Due to morphological and ecological similarities, the pooledHeliothis population was considered for most of the analyses. Two generations ofHeliothis eggs and larvae were completed during each year. Stage recruitment was estimated for the eggs and larval instars 2–6, and recruitment variances were estimated by a Monte Carlo method. A modified form of the Weibull distribution was developed and used as a model to characterize survivorship curves for each of the fourHeliothis generations. A Type I survivorship curve (mortality rate increasing with age) was inferred for both Generation 1 (early season) data sets, whereas a Type II survivorship curve (mortality rate constant and thus independent of age) was inferred for both Generation 2 (late season) data sets. The shapes of the survivorship curves for the individualH. virescens andH. zea populations were inferred to be the same as those for the pooled populations. Analysis of the contributions of various factors toHeliothis stage-specific mortality indicated that natural enemies (predators and parasites) and the availability of food for larvae were responsible for between-generation differences in survivorship patterns.     

The expected likelihood of transitivity: A survey

May developed an algebraic choice model to describe pairwise comparisons from an empirical study. A probabilistic choice variation of May's model has also been developed. This study presents a survey of work that considers the expected likelihood that a subject using the probabilistic model will have transitive responses for pairwise choices on a set of three alternatives. Of particular interest is the impact that various factors that influence the probabilistic choice model have on the expected likelihood of transitivity. These factors include the degree of accuracy with which the subject perceives the attributes of the alternatives, the number of attributes of comparison, and the consistency with which alternatives are ranked across attributes.This research was supported through a fellowship from the Center for Advanced Study of the University of Delaware.     

Continuities in Size of Place Preferences in the United States, 1972–19921

Abstract The directions of net migration and population redistribution in the U.S. have switched from nonmetropolitan deconcentration during the 1970s, to metropolitan concentration during the 1980s, and back to deconcentration once again in the early 1990s. The complex causes of these distribution shifts are thought to involve both structural reconfigurations of economic activities that affect the location of opportunities and residential preferences that are tied more closely to amenities and quality of life considerations. This paper uses comparable data from three representative sample surveys of the U.S. population to update and extend earlier research on the preferential basis of redistribution trends. Our analysis does not support the view that shifts in the direction of residential preferences during 1972–1992 tend to coincide with shifts in metropolitan-nonmetropolitan net migration and population redistribution. Rather, a consistent finding across all three surveys is that most people prefer their current residence type, and those who do not are almost twice as likely to prefer lower rather than higher density settings. These findings support the importance of preferences to explanations of recent population trends, but these preferences are not in isolation from the economic contexts in which they occur.     

POST-REFORM INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTIVITY PERFORMANCE OF CHINA: NEW EVIDENCE FROM THE 1985 INDUSTRIAL CENSUS DATA

Beginning in the late 1970s, a series of reforms to improve industrial productivity were implemented in China. We estimate changes in productivity growth and identify its sources in the post-reform period 1980-85. Our work is based on the newest and most comprehensive data set available on Chinese industrial activities. Productivity growth estimates are shown to be strongly affected by output specification. Overall, we find sharp increases in productivity growth in the 1984-85 period as compared to the 1980-84 period. Collective and private enterprises show higher output and productivity gains than do state-owned enterprises.     

When a loved one has AIDS: care for the significant other

1. The significant others of persons with AIDS, whether they assume the role of primary caregiver or not, have a number of unique experiences, concerns, and needs specifically related to their situations. 2. During the initial period following the diagnosis of a loved one, the significant others indicated their primary needs as sensitivity to their situations, assistance in securing appropriate information, and psychological support in dealing with uncertainty, and a general sense of dread. 3. Other common concerns and needs expressed by the significant others included support and reassurance, assistance in adjusting to a myriad of personal relationship changes, and help in meeting needs for active involvement in some form of AIDS-related work.     

War-wounded refugees in Sweden

Sixty-one newly arrived war-wounded refugees were interviewed about their background and flight while treated at the Medical Center for Refugees, University Hospital, Linköping, Sweden. They came from 9 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Spinal cord injuries, nerve lesions, amputations and fractures were the most frequent injuries. The group was heavily burdened with regard to factors that might be of significance for wellbeing and integration in Swedish society: torture (51%), imprisonment (49%), loss of kin in war (62%), difficulties while growing up (54%), little or no schooling (48%), not having made the decision to flee oneself (46%) and having to leave the family behind (90%). This study is a first step in a longitudinal research project to shed light upon the situation of war-wounded refugees on arrival in Sweden and after 2 years.     

The case conference revisited: a systems view

To disentangle clients from a social service network that has turned into a web, the author suggests a method: case conferences that include staff members of involved services, and a role: the systems-oriented case manager. As the coordinator of the client's social service network, the case manager would mediate the overt and convert conflicts that often exist among the professionals who are involved simultaneously with the client.