Uncovering the potential for exurban properties and small working farms in the Midwestern United States to provide food and refuge for pollinators

Creating or restoring habitat is a well-established approach to improve pollinator populations. Rural and exurban properties might constitute a straightforward opportunity to convert land to native plants that are beneficial to pollinators given that, in Ohio, these parcels typically contain substantial lawn cover. The purpose of this study is to gauge the public’s acceptance of planting native plants on low-density rural properties. Out of 7557 properties in Butler County, Ohio (U.S.A.), that had at least ¼ acre lawn, were between 1 and 20 acres, and had a dwelling, 200 were randomly selected to receive a survey; half via the drop-off pick-up method and half via mail (for a combined 58% response rate). Pollinator beneficial plants of differing appearance, management, and pollinator service were shown in the questionnaire: Echinacea purpurea, Monarda fistulosa, Asclepias syriaca, and wildflower prairie (multiple species). Respondents were significantly less likely to be willing to plant Asclepias syriaca compared to the other plants shown. If all respondents planted what they said they would consider planting in the more accepted plants, these potentially new plantings would cover 5.4% of the 146.2 km² devoted to these rural and exurban parcels in the county. However, that proportion decreases to 1% if we only take into account those that said they would make those changes within the year. We discuss what we see as challenges and opportunities to increase pollinator plantings on exurban properties and small working farms in the Midwest. We also describe implications for voluntary habitat restoration on these private lands.

     

Financial Planning for Retirement Village Living: A Qualitative Exploration

This Australian exploratory study investigates the financial considerations retirees experienced before moving into a retirement village. A qualitative content analysis was undertaken on the responses of 52 retirement village residents, who were part of a much larger study on retirees’ accommodation choices in 2007. The respondents were grouped according to income, and the results were compared across the following groups (self-funded retirees, part-pension retirees, and full-pension retirees). Differences between the groups extended beyond affordability. Both pension groups were more anxious about the increasing costs of maintenance fees than self-funded retirees, and the importance of pensions and superannuation was also discussed.     

Patterns of mutual exclusivity and retention: A study of monolingual and bilingual 2-year-olds

When children learn their native language, they tend to treat objects as if they only have one label—a principle known as mutual exclusivity. However, bilingual children are faced with a different cognitive challenge—they need to learn to associate two labels with one object. In the present study, we compared bilingual and monolingual 24-month-olds’ performance on a challenging and semi-naturalistic forced-choice referent selection task and retention test. Overall, both language groups performed similarly on referent selection but differed on retention. Specifically, while monolingual infants showed some retention, bilingual infants performed at chance and significantly worse than their monolingual peers.     

The Joint Development of Traditional Bullying and Victimization With Cyber Bullying and Victimization in Adolescence

The present study investigated the stabilities of and interrelationships among traditional (i.e., face‐to‐face) bullying, traditional victimhood, cyber bullying, and cyber victimhood among adolescents over time. About 1,700 adolescents aged 11–16 years at Time 1 self‐reported levels of both bullying and victimization in four contexts (in school, outside of school, texting, and on‐line) annually for 2 years. Results indicated that all four dynamics were moderately stable over time. The following variables were found to bidirectionally reinforce and predict each other over time: traditional bullying and traditional victimization; traditional bullying and cyber bullying; and traditional victimization and cyber victimization. These results indicate that bullying and victimhood in both face‐to‐face and cyber‐based interactions are related but not identical interpersonal dynamics.     

Risk and Protective Factors for Early Substance Use Initiation: A Longitudinal Study of Mexican‐Origin Youth

Substance use initiation in adolescence is a critical issue, given its association with substance dependency and associated problems in adulthood. However, due to the dearth of fine‐grained longitudinal studies, the factors associated with early initiation are poorly understood, especially in minority youth. The present study examined substance use initiation in a sample of Mexican‐origin youth (n = 674) assessed annually from age 10 to 16. Using discrete‐time survival analyses, we found that initiation escalated rapidly from late childhood to adolescence, and we identified a wide range of factors, from the individual to the cultural level of analysis, that significantly increased or decreased risk for early initiation. These findings have important implications for programs aimed at preventing early substance use by Mexican‐origin youth.     

The quality of mother‐adolescent disclosure: Links with predictors and adolescents’ sociomoral outcomes

Previous work on adolescents’ disclosure has focused on the frequency of disclosure to parents, but not the quality of that disclosure. Therefore, there is a need to examine factors that predict the quality of adolescents’ disclosure, as well as the consequences of the quality for adolescents’ outcomes. In this study, 100 adolescents (M age = 14.27 years; 57 girls; 70.7% White, European American) disclosed to mothers a recent past event in which they felt excluded; the videotaped and transcribed conversations were rated for indices of the quality of disclosure (i.e., the quality of elaboration and emotion discussed). Adolescents completed measures of sociomoral behavior and parental warmth and mothers completed measures of their moral identity, circle of moral regard, and moral socialization. The quality of adolescents’ disclosure was related to adolescents’ sociomoral outcomes (including prosocial behaviors, empathy, and sociability). Adolescents’ disclosure quality was predicted by gender and by aspects of mothers’ moral sophistication. Findings highlight the importance of high‐quality self‐disclosure by adolescents for promoting adolescents’ moral development, potentially because such disclosure gives parents the opportunity to help adolescents cope with challenging peer experiences potentially through emotion coaching and problem‐solving. Moreover, the findings are novel because they highlight how maternal moral processes might promote adolescents’ disclosure.