对2000年人口普查出生性别比的分层模型分析

本文对以往出生性别比研究中的若干观点进行了学术评论,并讨论了个别经验统计分析中的方法问题。在此基础上,本文应用非线性分层模型将2000年全国人口普查1‰数据和1999年的地区级生育政策数据结合起来对出生性别比失调的影响因素进行了初步分析。结果表明,育龄妇女现有子女数量及性别和一些社会特征对出生性别比存在单独的影响,并且肯定了生育政策既存在对出生性别比的直接影响,也通过其与妇女以往生育结果以及其他社会特征之间的交互效应来影响出生性别比。     

辩证唯物主义自然观形成过程的两阶段

辩证唯物主义自然观的形成是一个时间较长的过程,经历了“根本观点的产生”和“理论体系的确立”这样两个阶段。二者在自然科学基础的厚度、马克思和恩格斯对自然科学及自然哲学的研究深度、相关理论观点的广度和精度、理论本身的逻辑性和体系化程度等方面都存在着明显的区别。正视这一点,对我们准确把握辩证唯物主义自然观具有重要的意义。     

当代美国儿童养育中的父亲角色：内涵、影响因素与启示

当代美国儿童养育中的父亲角色呈现出由相对单一向多元化发展的趋势,特别是父亲角色从工具型角色逐步向教养型角色扩展。这一过程受到美国二战后松弛的社会环境、公共卫生理念对儿童家庭环境的关注、大众传媒对父亲角色的宣扬、学界理论导向支持、性别权利运动推动以及国家政策鼓励等诸多因素的影响。借鉴美国儿童养育中的父亲角色转变经验,我国有必要以提升女性经济地位为关键,通过加快完善家庭友好政策及相关立法、转变社会性别角色观念、提升男性育儿意识、推行父职教育等措施,推动父亲角色向责任型、教养型方向发展。     

Trends and characteristics of women undergoing induction of labour in a tertiary hospital setting: A cross-sectional study

BackgroundIn many well-resourced countries, rising rates of intervention are being observed during pregnancy, labour and childbirth with induction of labour (IOL) fast becoming one of the most common. In Australia, the rate of induction of labour has increased by over 30% since 2007, and today one in three women have their labours induced. We do not however have a good understanding of the contribution of specific obstetric populations to this trend.MethodsWe examine the contribution of specific obstetric populations to induction of labour over a six-year period at one tertiary maternity service, using the Nippita classification system. Average Annual Percentage Changes (AAPC) were calculated along with 95% confidence intervals and P values set at 0.05.ResultsThe overall rate of induction of labour increased from 21.3% in 2012 to 30.9% in 2017, representing an Average Annual Percent Change of 8.1, P < 0.0001 (95% CI 7–9.6). The greatest AAPC was seen in group 5 (parous, no previous caesarean section, 39–40 weeks, single cephalic), followed by group 2 (nulliparous, 39–40 weeks, single cephalic) and 1 (nulliparous, 37–38 weeks, single cephalic).ConclusionsThe use of the Nippita classification system allowed for standardised comparison across timepoints, facilitating identification of the subpopulations driving changes in rates of induction of labour. Rates of induction of labour saw a year on year increase which in this maternity service, it is not being driven by post-dates pregnancies. Further work is required to understand the role of other potential contributors such as diabetes.     

Improving women’s experiences of perineal suturing: A pragmatic qualitative analysis of what is helpful and harmful

BackgroundPerineal trauma requiring suturing is increasing, along with the associated physiological and psychological morbidities for women. Provider training appears to focus more on technical aspects rather than respectful, relational care for women. Studies exploring women’s experiences have identified that how women are cared for can significantly impact upon overall experiences.AimTo identify areas of improvement to the perineal suturing process and provide robust recommendations for urgent change by investigating what aspects are most traumatic to women and which are most supportive.MethodsA pragmatic qualitative analysis of data generated from 15 in-depth interviews with women who were sutured following birth.FindingsRegardless of tear severity, what was identified as helpful included anything that made the process better by increasing feelings of trust and reassurance, and providing women with a sense of being seen and heard. Harmful experiences were identified as those that worsened the experience, by increasing feelings of fear and vulnerability and leaving women with a sense of being disregarded or disrespected.ConclusionThe study confirmed that how the suturing process is conducted can have a significant detrimental impact upon women’s short- and longer-term physical and psychological well-being.Implications for practiceAn improved experience for women is most likely with kind professionals who explain the process as it goes along, check-in regularly and validate how the women feel. Women prefer to be sutured by a known professional, only if this provider is also kind and respectful.     

Siblings in lockdown: International evidence for birth order effects on child adjustment in the Covid19 pandemic

Supportive family relationships may mitigate the impact of the Covid19 pandemic on young children's adjustment, but existing work is limited by its focus on within-country variation and parental influences. Addressing these gaps, and drawing on reported buffering effects of older siblings on child mental health (Lawson and Mace, 2010), the current international study examined whether child adjustment problems were, on average, elevated by the pandemic and whether this buffering effect of older siblings would be maintained. In the first wave of the Covid19 pandemic (April to July 2020), 2516 parents of 3- to 8-year-old children living in Australia, China, Italy, Sweden, United Kingdom, and United States of America—six countries with contrasting governmental responses to the pandemic—completed an online survey about family experiences and relationships and child adjustment, as indexed by ratings on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ: R. Goodman, 1997). As expected, child SDQ total difficulty scores were elevated in all sites except Sweden (which notably did not enforce mass school closures). Compared to children without siblings, children with one or more older siblings showed fewer adjustment problems. Children from lone-parent households displayed more adjustment problems, as did those whose parents reported increased sibling conflict. Finally, child adjustment problems were negatively associated with family socio-economic status, but positively related to the indices of Covid-19 family disruption and government stringency. We discuss these findings in relation to existing work on asymmetric effects of older versus younger siblings, and siblings as sources of support.     

Midwives’ experience of personal/professional risk when providing continuity of care to women who decline recommendations: A meta-synthesis of qualitative studies

ProblemWomen’s autonomous choices in pursuit of physiological childbirth are sometimes limited by the midwife’s willingness to support those choices, particularly when those choices are contrary to recommendations or outside of guidelines.BackgroundWomen’s reasons for making such choices have received some research attention, however there is a paucity of research examining this phenomenon from the perspective of caseloading midwives’ and their perception of personal/professional risk in such situations.AimTo synthesise qualitative research which includes the voices of midwives working in a continuity of carer model who perceive any kind of risk to themselves when caring for women who decline current established recommendations.MethodsSystematic literature search and meta-synthesis were carried out following a pre-determined search strategy. The search was executed in April 2021 and updated in July 2021. Studies were assessed for quality using JBI Critical Appraisal Checklist for Qualitative Research. Data extraction was assisted by JBI QARI Data Extraction Tool for Qualitative Research. GRADE-CERQual was applied to the findings.FindingsEight studies qualified for inclusion. Five main themes were synthesised as third order constructs and were incorporated into a line of argument: Women’s rights to bodily autonomy and choice in childbearing are violated, and their ability to access safe midwifery care in pursuit of physiological birth is restricted, when midwives practise within a maternity system which is adversarial towards midwives who provide the care which women require. Midwives who provide such care place themselves at risk of damaged reputation, collegial conflict, intimidating disciplinary processes, tensions of ‘being torn’, and a heavy psychological load. Despite these personal and professional risks, midwives who provide this care do so because it is the ethical and moral thing to do, because they recognise that women need them to, because it can be very rewarding, and because they are able to.ConclusionMaternity systems and colleagues can be key risk factors for caseloading midwives who facilitate women’s right to decline recommendations. These identified risks can make it unsustainable for midwives to continue providing woman-centred care and contribute to workforce attrition, reducing options/choices for women which paradoxically increases risk to women and babies.     

Looked after children's right to contact with birth parents: An Australian study

In Australia, there are more than 46 000 children in out-of-home care (OOHC). Most of these children have been in OOHC for more than 2 years. Similarly, there are more than 407 000 children in the United States and over 80 800 in England who are ‘looked after’ with approximately one third of these children being in OOHC for more than 2 years. This paper concerns ‘looked after’ children's rights to contact with their birth parents. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) requires child protection systems to recognize the rights of children to maintain contact with their families except where this is not in the child's ‘best interests’. In this paper, we report on a qualitative study conducted in Australia exploring legal and family support practitioners' perceptions of barriers to contact between children in OOHC and their birth parents. The thematic analysis identified four themes: These were as follows: a focus on systems driven responses; lack of cultural recognition and responsiveness; carers' disconnection from birth parents; and parents' exclusion. We discuss the implications of these findings for understanding and recognizing children's right to contact with birth parents.     

Trajectories of low-income mothers’ and fathers’ engagement in learning activities and child socioemotional skills in middle childhood

Using Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing data (N = 3259), the current study examined Black and Latinx mothers’ and fathers’ trajectories of engagement in learning activities (e.g., storytelling) from infancy to age 5, and whether those trajectories predicted socioemotional skills at age 9, predictors of the trajectories (poverty, mother-father nonresidence, temperament, race/ethnicity), and moderators of the trajectories. Mothers’ and fathers’ learning activities decreased significantly over time as children got older. Higher rates of decline in fathers’ engagement in learning activities over time significantly predicted lower socioemotional skills. Mother-father nonresidence during infancy was associated significantly with higher rates of decline in mothers’ and fathers’ learning activities. Difficult temperament moderated the association between fathers’ trajectories and child outcomes.