Difference in Condom Use Between Bear Concordant and Discordant Dyads During the Last Anal Sex Event

The purpose of this study was to understand how bear identity influenced condom use during the last anal sex event. Participants were recruited to complete an online, anonymous self-report survey through bear-related sexual and social networking websites. A total of 1,080 men who identified as gay or bisexual and as a member of the bear community and were 18 years or older completed the survey. Overall, fewer than a third of men reported condom use during the most recent receptive (28%) and insertive (30%) anal sex event. Men in bear concordant pairings were less likely to use a condom during receptive and insertive anal sex compared to those is discordant pairings (p < .05). Findings suggest that bear identity concordance influences condom use during anal sex after accounting for an individual’s relationship to their most recent partner as well as other confounding variables.     

DESPAIR, DISTRUST AND DISSATISFACTION AMONG BLACKS AND WOMEN, 1973–1987

Discontent among American blacks and women is examined with indicators of the anomia of despair and distrust, and of job and financial dissatisfaction. Nine years of General Social Survey data covering 1973 through 1987 show that blacks' discontent exceeds whites' in most instances examined; and black women more frequently show significantly higher discontent than other race/gender groups. Also, blacks' discontent more often exceeds whites' among persons high in SES than among those low in SES. But gender main effects are almost nonexistent; and white women almost never show more discontent than other race/gender groups. This unexpected finding may be related to white women's greater identification with race than gender and their perception of general but not personal discrimination. Failure of the gender/discontent relationships to differ with the American president in office may have a similar explanation. But, as expected, racial differences in discontent tended to be higher during the Nixon/Ford and Reagan administrations than Carter's.     

Gender differences in the associations of self esteem, stress and social support with functional health status among older adults with heart disease

This study explored and compared the role of self esteem, stress and social support in maintenance or improvement in physical and psychosocial functioning over 12 months in older men and women with cardiovascular disease. Data from 502 adults over 60 years of age showed that self esteem and stress were both significantly associated with functioning when demographic and clinical factors were controlled. Men were significantly more likely than women to maintain or improve in functioning. Self esteem, stress, compliance with medication regimens, and marital status were significantly associated with maintenance or improvement of functioning among women. Only age and stress were significantly associated with maintenance or improvement in functioning among men. Findings indicated that: (1) stress and self esteem were stronger predictors of functioning, especially among women, than demographic and clinical factors; and (2) women in the highest quartile of the self esteem distribution were approximately five times as likely to maintain or improve their functioning as women in the lowest quartile.     

Understanding and reducing stress and psychological distress in older women with heart disease

Stress and psychological distress were assessed in 457 older women who were subsequently randomized to a six-week heart disease management program ("Women take PRIDE") or to a "usual care" control group. Baseline distress was significantly associated with age, symptoms, physical functioning, social support, optimism, and self-esteem (p < .05). Only 20% of women reported their physician had recommended reducing stress. At four months follow-up, intervention women compared to controls were significantly more likely to report reductions in stress levels (p = 0.02) and also showed improvement in emotional behavior (p = 0.09).     

Multiple Response System: Evaluation of Policy Change in North Carolina's Child Welfare System

Systemic challenges within child welfare have prompted many states to explore new strategies aimed at protecting children while meeting the needs of families, but doing so within the confines of shrinking budgets. Differential Response has emerged as a promising practice for low or moderate risk cases of child maltreatment. This mixed methods evaluation explored various aspects of North Carolina's differential response system, known as the Multiple Response System (MRS), including: child safety, timeliness of response and case decision, frontloading of services, case distribution, implementation of Child and Family Teams, collaboration with community-based service providers and Shared Parenting. Utilizing Child Protective Services (CPS) administrative data, researchers found that compared to matched control counties, MRS: had a positive impact on child safety evidenced by a decline in the rates of substantiations and re-assessments; temporarily disrupted timeliness of response in pilot counties but had no effect on time to case decision; and increased the number of upfront services provided to families during assessment. Qualitative data collected through focus groups with providers and phone interviews with families provided important information on key MRS strategies, highlighting aspects that families and social workers like as well as identifying areas for improvement. This information is useful for continuous quality improvement efforts, particularly related to the development of training and technical assistance programs at the state and local level.     

Friendship Quality,Peer Group Affiliation,and Peer Antisocial Behavior as Moderators of the Link Between Negative Parenting and Adolescent Externalizing Behavior

Quality of peer relationships and perceived peer antisocial behavior were examined as moderators of the link between negative parenting and externalizing behavior problems in school from middle childhood to early adolescence. Data on negative parenting (i.e., unilateral parental decision making, low supervision and awareness, and harsh discipline) were collected from 362 parents in the summer preceding the adolescents' entry into Grade 6. Adolescent reports of positive peer relationships and peer antisocial behavior were assessed in the winter of Grade 7. The outcome measure was teacher report of adolescent externalizing behavior in the spring of Grade 7, controlling for externalizing behavior in Grade 5. High levels of friendship quality and peer group affiliation attenuated the association between unilateral parental decision making and adolescent externalizing behavior in school; this was particularly true when adolescents associated with peers perceived to be low in antisocial behavior. In addition, having low‐quality peer relationships and having peers perceived to be highly antisocial further amplified the association between unilateral parental decision making and adolescent externalizing behavior problems. Finally, high levels of friend and peer group antisocial behavior exacerbated the predictiveness of harsh discipline for adolescents' externalizing behavior.     

Interpretive Engagement and the Study of Civil Society Networks: An Illustration of Interpretive Methods

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - This article explores the use of interpretive methodologies to study civil society networks within the field of third...     

Male Bisexuality and Condom Use at Last Sexual Encounter: Results From a National Survey

Relatively little is known about condom use among bisexual men as separate and distinct from exclusively homosexual and heterosexual men. Most previous research on bisexual men has relied on nonprobabilistic, high-risk samples with limited generalizability. We examined the relationship between behavioral bisexuality and condom use in the 2002 cycle of the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG). Bisexually active men positively differed from heterosexually and homosexually active men on every indicator of confounding risk. Bisexually active men, however, did not report using condoms less often than other men during their last sexual encounters with males and females. Indeed, with female partners, bisexually active men reported higher rates of condom use than did other men. These relationships remained when all sociodemographic and confounding risk factors were held constant. Our results suggest that caution must be used when making assumptions about condom use in the general population of bisexual men from nonprobabilistic samples.     

Condom Use Completeness,Perceptions, and Sexual Quality at Most Recent Sexual Event: Results from a U.S. Nationally Representative Probability Sample

Abstract

Objectives: To explore perceptions of condoms associated with complete use and evaluate relationships between condom perceptions, condom use, and sexual quality.

Methods: Using data from a U. S. nationally representative probability sample, we assessed individuals’ condom use perceptions and related characteristics of their most recent sexual event through bivariate and regression analyses (n?=?234).

Results: Most participants reported complete condom use and neutral or positive perceptions of condoms. Though incomplete use was associated with orgasm among women, arousal and pleasure did not differ by gender or duration of condom use.

Conclusions: We found no evidence that delayed application or early condom removal increased sexual arousal or pleasure, which may help sexual health promotion interventions address negative cultural ideas about condoms.