Infant Distress and Regulatory Behaviors Vary as a Function of Attachment Security Regardless of Emotion Context and Maternal Involvement

Differences in infant distress and regulatory behaviors based on the quality of attachment to mother, emotion context (frustration versus fear), and whether or not mothers were actively involved in the emotion-eliciting tasks were examined in a sample of 98 16-month-old infants and their mothers. Dyads participated in the Strange Situation, a limiting task designed to elicit infant frustration, and a novelty task designed to elicit infant fear. Mothers were asked to remain uninvolved during the first minute of each task, and then instructed to engage with their infants as they wished for the remaining three minutes. Independent of concurrent maternal sensitivity, resistant infants were significantly more distressed than secure and avoidant infants. Avoidant infants engaged in fewer active mother-oriented regulation behaviors than secure and resistant infants and engaged in more self-soothing in the mother involved condition than the mother uninvolved condition. Resistant infants engaged in more physical comfort with their mothers and more venting than both secure and avoidant infants, and exhibited a smaller variety of adaptive non-mother-oriented strategies than did secure infants. There were few differences in infant distress and regulatory behaviors as a function of emotion task and maternal involvement. Limitations and implications for future research are discussed.     

Family size and educational attainment in England and Wales

In this paper, we use linked census data from England and Wales to investigate whether having a large number of siblings leads to lower educational attainment. There is a large literature suggesting that with large sibship size, parental resources will be diluted and this, in turn, will lead to lower educational attainment. Using twin births and the sex composition of the sibling group as instrumental variables, we find that the evidence of a family size effect on educational attainment is rather uncertain. Similar results are obtained when we use occupational attainment as the dependent variable. We also demonstrate the confounding of birth order and family size effects, and show that an adjusted birth order index proposed by Booth and Kee provides an effective solution to this estimation problem.     

Promoting Fathers' Engagement With Children: Preventive Interventions for Low‐Income Families

Few programs to enhance fathers' engagement with children have been systematically evaluated, especially for low‐income minority populations. In this study, 289 couples from primarily low‐income Mexican American and European American families were randomly assigned to one of three conditions and followed for 18 months: 16‐week groups for fathers, 16‐week groups for couples, or a 1‐time informational meeting. Compared with families in the low‐dose comparison condition, intervention families showed positive effects on fathers' engagement with their children, couple relationship quality, and children's problem behaviors. Participants in couples' groups showed more consistent, longer term positive effects than those in fathers‐only groups. Intervention effects were similar across family structures, income levels, and ethnicities. Implications of the results for current family policy debates are discussed.     

Sick building syndrome and perceived indoor environmental quality: A survey of apartment buildings in Hong Kong

The outbreak of a highly communicable disease, SARS, in Asia in 2003 has revealed the health risk of living in a high-density environment. To show the important connection between human health and environmental quality, this study surveys the prevalence of sick building syndrome (SBS) among apartment residents and their evaluation of indoor environmental quality (IEQ). Based on a sample of 748 households living in Hong Kong, two interesting findings are revealed: (1) nasal discomfort was the commonest home-related SBS symptom despite the absence of any central ventilation system in apartment buildings; (2) noise, rather than ventilation, was the major IEQ problem perceived by residents. Our statistical analysis further showed that residents with SBS symptoms were less satisfied with their IEQ than those without. That is, despite a positive evaluation of specific IEQ criteria with respect to the building residents lived in, if they reported feeling SBS related symptoms, the overall IEQ evaluation of their building could still be negative. This perception bias gives rise to a sample selection problem in measuring perceived IEQ, which has implications on housing management practices and the formulation of a healthy housing policy.     

Age structure of the workforce in growing and declining industries: evidence from Hong Kong

Industry-specific human capital reduces the incentive for older workers to leave declining industries and raises the incentive for younger workers to join growing industries. Using the industry restructuring experience of Hong Kong, we find that a 1% increase in employment share of an industry is associated with a 0.60-year decrease in the average age of its workforce. The relationship is more pronounced among less educated workers, who have less general human capital, and male workers, who are more committed to the labor force, than among well educated workers and female workers.     

‘Pains of imprisonment’: narratives of the women partners and children of the incarcerated

This paper focuses on an important line of inquiry in contemporary criminal justice social work research: the collateral consequences of incarceration in the Chinese context. It gives an insight into the impact of incarceration on families from an insider's perspective. An analysis of interviews with 10 partners and 10 children yielded three major themes concerning the impact of imprisonment: the problems associated with the imprisonment of a family member, the coping strategies used and views on the importance of maintaining family ties. It is hoped that this study will give practical guidance regarding what should be done, and how, to reduce the negative consequences brought about by the absence (temporary or permanent) of the imprisoned on their families, including both their partners and vulnerable children.     

Family Control and Stock Market Reactions to Innovation Announcements

Although family firms are common around the world, studies on family‐controlled business are limited. Prior studies mainly focused on the influences of family ownership on overall firm performance, and the results were mixed. In this study we attempted to explore the impacts of family ownership on innovation by examining the association of family control and stock market reactions to innovation announcements. We found that firms with greater family control experienced significantly more negative stock market reactions to innovation announcements. The results further indicated that divergence of cash flow and voting rights was strongly and negatively correlated with announcement‐period abnormal returns. In addition, the findings suggested a significantly positive moderating effect of institutional ownership. The conclusions were robust under various measures of family control, and remained valid after controlling other influential factors for stock market reactions to innovation announcements.     

Social Development in Hong Kong: Development Issues Identified by Social Development Index (SDI)

Surviving the aftermaths of the Asian Financial Crisis and SARS in 2003, Hong Kong’s economy has re-gained its momentum and its economic growth has been quite remarkable too in recent few years. Nevertheless, as reflected by the Social Development Index (SDI), economic growth in Hong Kong does not seem to have benefited the people of the city at large as we see social qualities such as cohesion, security, equity, and empowerment are gradually eroded. This paper aims to summarize the current state of social development in Hong Kong based on the SDI-2008 and identify the major social, political and economic challenges that are confronted by Hong Kong. Based on the findings, a range of policy options proposed for promoting a more balanced approach to social and economic development are discussed. The article illustrates the utility of social indicators research such as the SDI in assessing quality of life and assisting related social planning initiatives in Asian communities such as Hong Kong.     

Queer-friendly nation? The experience of Chinese gay immigrants in Canada

In the past decade, the People’s Republic of China has become the leading source country of immigrants to Canada. However, little is known about the experience of Chinese gay immigrants in Canada. Using narratives collected through a qualitative study, we show the way in which Chinese gay men construct their experience of immigration in Canada. Unlike the national discourse that claims Canada is a friendly nation for members of the LGBTTQ community, the experiences of Chinese gay immigration present a different story. As racialised gay men, they continue to be subjected to social violence in Canada – albeit differently from what they experienced in China. The analysis demonstrates the complexity of social marginalisation experienced by these men, the understanding of which is essential for social workers to engage in practice with them that is socially transformative.