What does self-esteem have to do with behavioral health among low-income youth in Chicago?

Many studies have examined risk factors associated with poorer behavioral health among low-income African American youth, such as low school engagement, delinquency, mental health problems, drug use, and risky sex. However, fewer studies have examined protective factors for such behavioral health risk behaviors. This study sought to address this gap by examining whether high levels of self-esteem were associated with better behavioral health factors for this population. A survey was administered to a sample of 638 low-income African American adolescents in Chicago to examine the degree to which high self-esteem was associated with less delinquency, substance use, and sexual risk behaviors, and more school engagement, and whether such associations varied by gender. Stepwise linear and logistic regression models were estimated to assess the influence of self-esteem. Higher self-esteem for this sample of low-income African American adolescents was associated with lower rates of delinquency, drug use, and risky sexual behaviors and increased rates of school engagement. Gender moderated only a few of these relationships. These findings suggest that programs that promote high self–esteem alone or in combination with other resilience factors may promote better behavioral health factors for African American adolescents.     

‘Widening cross-disciplinary research for mental health’: what is missing from the Research Councils UK mental health agenda?

This current issues article is a brief critical examination of the recent Research Councils UK agenda and call for cross-disciplinary research in mental health. Our argument is based on the fact that patient and public involvement (PPI) is the only involvement and influencing strategy for service users and survivors in the agenda. Service user and survivor research as a discipline in itself remains unacknowledged. We conclude that service user and survivor research is distinct and is different to PPI, and should be recognised in any mental health research agenda.     

#Boycottautismspeaks: communicating a counternarrative through cyberactivism and connective action

A growing body of research is examining the role of cyberactivism in facilitating social movements. Yet, few have considered the interplay between cyberactivism and disability advocacy. Through a case study of the #boycottautismspeaks movement, this study finds that cyberactivism may provide platforms for self-advocates to connect through bridging and bonding in unique ways that draw together and give voice to individuals who otherwise may not have means for such dynamic engagement. Drawing on a sample of approximately 10,000 tweets that circulated with the #boycottautismspeaks hashtag, this research applies thematic analysis and the Social Identity Model of Deindividuation Effects to reveal how counternarratives of disability are developed and circulated via cyberactivism. Findings reveal that #boycottautismspeaks contributors communicated to enhance bonding through (a) (dis)identification, (b) collaboration, and (c) creative resistance. In addition, they communicated to facilitate bridging by (a) demonstrating morality, (b) appealing to humanity, and (c) aligning with other causes. The #boycottautismspeaks movement melded the logic of collective and connective action, provided opportunities for both coordinated and self-directed activity, developing a network of networks through various stitching mechanisms, and cultivating an affective public. Implications for cyberactivism research and practice as well as disability advocacy are discussed.     

How Does Premarital Cohabitation Affect Trajectories of Marital Quality?

We investigate the link between premarital cohabitation and trajectories of subsequent marital quality using random effects growth curve models and repeated measures of marital quality from married women in the NLSY‐79 (N = 3,598). We find that premarital cohabitors experience lower quality marital relationships on average, but this is driven by cohabitors with nonmarital births. Premarital cohabitors without nonmarital births report the same marital quality as women who did not cohabit before marriage. Nonmarital childbearing is more strongly associated with lower subsequent marital quality for White women than for Black or Hispanic women. Marital quality declines at similar rates for all couples regardless of cohabitation or nonmarital childbearing status. These findings are robust to numerous alternative model specifications.     

Using an Anti-racist Framework for Assessment and Intervention in Clinical Practice with Families from Diverse Ethno-racial backgrounds

Cultural competency and cultural sensitivity are now widely considered to be essential for clinical social work practice with individuals and families from diverse cultural, racial, and ethnic backgrounds. Failing to incorporate these concepts into clinical services can be harmful to clients, can fail to meet the needs of members of diverse ethnoracial communities, and can result in inappropriate services. Yet a sole focus on culture can obliterate our understanding of the consequences of race and racism on individuals and families. The use of a discursive anti-racist framework for assessment and intervention in practice with members of diverse ethnoracial communities is suggested and explained through the use of a case example.     

Medicalization, Natural Childbirth and Birthing Experiences

Although much of the early sociological and feminist analysis of medicalization focused on reproductive issues and childbirth, attention has moved away from this topic over time as new conditions have become subject to the medicalization process. At the same time, one of the major concepts within this analytical framework, the dichotomy of 'natural' versus 'medical', has not been sufficiently problematized. In this article, we call for a renewed examination of the medicalization of childbirth from a critical perspective that neither takes for granted the meaning of this dichotomy, nor presupposes feminist perspectives or those of privileged groups of women. We revisit sociological frameworks and feminist critiques of medicalization, specifically around childbirth, and review scholarship that addresses their limitations. We propose a research agenda that goes beyond the traditional assumptions about 'natural' and 'medical' childbirth and examines more closely how medicalization processes both shape and conflict with women's subjective experiences of childbirth.     

Explaining religious differentials in family-size preference: Evidence from Nepal in 1996

We examine how religio-ethnic identity, individual religiosity, and family members' religiosity were related to preferred family size in Nepal in 1996. Analyses of survey data from the Chitwan Valley Family Study show that socio-economic characteristics and individual experiences can suppress, as well as largely account for, religio-ethnic differences in fertility preference. These religio-ethnic differentials are associated with variance in particularized theologies or general value orientations (like son preference) across groups. In addition, individual and family religiosity are both positively associated with preferred family size, seemingly because of their association with religious beliefs—beliefs that are likely to shape fertility strategies. These findings suggest the need for improvements in how we conceptualize and measure supra-individual religious influence in a variety of settings and for a range of demographically interesting outcomes.     

What’s the Relationship Got to do with It? Understanding the Therapeutic Relationship in Therapeutic Foster Care

The therapeutic relationship is increasingly recognized as important to understanding how process variables contribute to treatment outcomes. In this paper, we examine the therapeutic relationship between children with serious emotional and behavioral disorders and their treatment providers in the context of an observational study of Therapeutic Foster Care (TFC). Our findings suggest that the quality of the relationship between the treatment parent and youth in a TFC setting is significantly associated with better emotional and behavioral functioning for the youth. It appears from these findings that the quality of the relationship between the youth and treatment parent in a TFC setting is at least one of the mechanism or process factors that contribute to improved functioning for the youth.