Support for new mothers and fertility in the United Kingdom: Not all support is equal in the decision to have a second child

Low fertility across Europe highlights the need to understand reproductive decisions in high-income countries better. Availability of support may be one factor influencing reproductive decisions, though within high-income countries availability varies between environments, including socio-economic environments. We test whether receiving higher levels of support, from different sources (informal and formal) and of different types (practical and emotional), is positively correlated with second births in the United Kingdom (UK) Millennium Cohort Study, and whether these relationships differ by socio-economic position (SEP). Our hypothesis is only partially supported: receiving emotional support correlates with higher likelihood of second birth, but the opposite is true for practical support. Availability of different types of support varies across SEP, but relationships between support and fertility are similar, with one exception: kin-provided childcare increases the likelihood of birth only among lower-SEP women. Our results highlight that not all support is equal in the decision to have a second child.     

Intergenerational Relations between English Students,Graduates Living at Home,and their Parents

Debate about intergenerational relations has become more prominent since the financial crisis of 2007–09, focusing particularly on the difficulties faced by young adults trying to enter the labour and housing markets, whilst often bearing high levels of debt incurred as students. This article reviews the nature of the ‘intergenerational contract’ at both the micro level of the family, and at the macro level between individuals and the state. We then present qualitative, empirical data on the relationship between parents and: (1) their student children; and (2) their graduate children who have returned home. We focus primarily on the financial support provided by parents to the two groups. We explore why support is given, and the nature of similarities and differences in terms of what is given. We find that virtually all parents who were able to support their young adult children financially did so, but to different degrees and with different amounts of tension and anxiety. We suggest that the increased importance of the intergenerational contract at the micro level is likely to contribute to intra‐ rather than intergenerational inequalities.     

Welfare deservingness opinions from heuristic to measurable concept: The CARIN deservingness principles scale

A steadily growing number of studies investigate how popular support for social policies targeting particular groups is rooted in citizens’ deservingness opinions. According to theory, people fall back on five criteria – Control, Attitude, Reciprocity, Identity and Need (CARIN) – to distinguish the deserving from the undeserving. Deservingness opinions are assumed to be important predictors of support for particular welfare arrangements. A striking feature of this emerging research, however, is that there is no agreed-upon strategy to measure deservingness. Most previous studies rely on proxy-variables rather than measuring the actual deservingness criteria. Deservingness functions as a heuristic rather than as a measured concept, which leads to conceptual confusion. To remedy this shortcoming, this contribution proposes and validates a new instrument –the CARIN deservingness principles scale- that captures the five basic deservingness principles. We analyse data from the Belgian National Election Study by means of structural equation modelling (SEM) to (1) test the dimensionality, validity and reliability of the scale, and (2) verify to what extent the five deservingness principles predict specific policy preferences (as a test of construct validity). Our analyses confirm that the five deservingness principles are distinct dimensions that are differently related to social structural variables and have divergent consequences for policy preferences. The finding of theoretically meaningful patterns of differentiated effects illustrates that the CARIN criteria represent distinct logics of social justice, and corroborates that our measurement instrument is capable of tapping into the essence of these criteria.     

Online psychoeducation with parent management training: Examining the contribution of peer support

Psychoeducation is an empirically based intervention that is increasingly delivered online to individuals and groups. Low participation has been a problem for online designs that include peer support. New technology designs have been called for, and in response, we developed a model that synchronized the delivery of individual and group‐based psychoeducational activities for parent management training. We used a problem‐based learning strategy delivered to caregivers of youth demonstrating oppositional behaviours to encourage the development of helping processes and peer support. This mixed methods intervention study had high rates of participant retention and positive measurable changes for two of its three psychoeducational outcome measures. When we merged the study data, we observed that mutual aid—a frequently sought goal of group‐based interventions—contributed to participant outcomes.     

Heterosexual Marital Intention: Effects of Internalized Homophobia,Homosexual Identity,Perceived Family Support,and Disclosure Among Chinese Gay and Bisexual Men

ABSTRACT

The present study explored the factors that influence the likelihood that 217 Chinese gay/bisexual men will engage in heterosexual marriage, focusing on the Chinese cultural context, in which filial duties to marry, have children, and support one’s parents in their old age are taken seriously. Data on heterosexual marital intention (HMI) were examined in relation to demographics, internalized homophobia, homosexual identity formation (HIF), perceived family support, and disclosure. We estimated a multinomial logistic regression model for HMI. Internalized homophobia was a predictor for HMI. Lower levels of HIF and disclosure were found in gay/bisexual men who have married or who intend to marry; and the more family support gay/bisexual men perceived, the more likely they were to enter heterosexual marriages. The findings could help to better evaluate and comprehend the factors leading to heterosexual marriages involving Chinese gay/bisexual men. The social implications of this research are also discussed.     

A mixed-effects least square support vector regression model for three-level count data

Hierarchical study design often occurs in many areas such as epidemiology, psychology, sociology, public health, engineering, and agriculture. This imposes correlation in data structure that needs to be account for in modelling process. In this study, a three-level mixed-effects least squares support vector regression (MLS-SVR) model is proposed to extend the standard least squares support vector regression (LS-SVR) model for handling cluster correlated data. The MLS-SVR model incorporates multiple random effects which allow handling unequal number of observations for each case at non-fixed time points (a very unbalanced situation) and correlation between subjects simultaneously. The methodology consists of a regression modelling step that is performed straightforwardly by solving a linear system. The proposed model is illustrated through numerical studies on simulated data sets and a real data example on human Brucellosis frequency. The generalization performance of the proposed MLS-SVR is evaluated by comparing to ordinary LS-SVR and some other parametric models.     

Differential perceptions of a hypothetical sexual assault survivor based on race and ethnicity: Exploring victim responsibility,trauma, and need for social support

Objective: Explore the ways in which a sample of college women interpret racially/ethnically coded vignettes to understand their perceptions of responsibility and trauma experienced by a hypothetical female sexual assault survivor and her need for social support. Participants: Convenience sample of college women (N?=?51) attending a large, predominately white university in the Southeastern United States recruited between January and March 2013. Methods: Participants were randomly assigned one of three vignettes describing a hypothetical date rape scenario. Vignette scenarios were identical except for discrete statements coded to signify either an African American, Latina, or white female student. Participants responded to open-ended questions that gauged their interpretations of responsibility, trauma, and social support. Results: Qualitative analysis of open-ended responses revealed six overarching themes, including overt victim blaming/shaming, justification of the sexual assault, and perceived need for social support. Conclusions: Findings point to the significance of including race in discussions about and programs that address sexual assault on college campuses to ensure that all women who experience sexual violence receive the support that they need.     

The practical utility of the Welch Emotional Connection Screen for rating parent–infant relational health

Emotional Connection (EC) measured by the Welch Emotional Connection Screen (WECS) was related to the Parent–Infant Interaction Rating System (PIIRS), a 5‐point adaptation of the rating system developed for the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (e.g., NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 1999, Developmental Psychology, 35, 1399). Parent–infant dyads (n = 49 mothers; 43 fathers) were videotaped during face‐to‐face interaction at infant age 6 months; interactions were coded with both the WECS and PIIRS. At age 3, mothers completed the Child Behavior Checklist. WECS ratings of EC were associated with PIIRS rating items for both mother–infant and father–infant dyads. Mother–infant EC related positively to maternal sensitivity and positive regard for child, child positive mood and sustained attention, and dyadic mutuality, and negatively with maternal intrusiveness. Father–infant EC related positively to fathers' positive regard for child, child positive mood and sustained attention, and dyadic mutuality. Mother–infant EC predicted child behavior problems at age 3 better than mother–infant PIIRS ratings of dyadic mutuality. With fathers, neither EC nor dyadic mutuality ratings predicted mother‐reported child behavior problems. Findings highlight the practical utility of the WECS for identifying potentially at‐risk dyads and supporting early relational health.