Comparing characteristics of voluntarily childless men and women

Voluntary childlessness among women has been well researched, but the theories derived from that work may not apply to men. In this paper, we test whether or not female-derived explanations of voluntary childlessness are applicable to voluntarily childless men. We use US data from the National Survey of Family Growth to compare voluntarily childless men to other men and to voluntarily childless women in an effort to determine the distinctions between groups. We examine four long-held explanations of female voluntary childlessness and test their application to men: demographic, socialization, economic, and attitudinal differences. We find that demographic and socialization variables predict voluntary childlessness in both men and women similarly. Traditional sex role belief decreases the probability of being voluntarily childless for both men and women, though the effect is slightly stronger for women. However, variables associated with economic theory do not predict voluntary childlessness for men. Most importantly, education is not a significant predictor of voluntary childlessness for men, while it greatly increases the chances of being voluntarily childless among women. We conclude that new theories of voluntary childlessness need to be developed or existing theories refined to take into account the gendered routes to childlessness—especially theories explaining the different effect of education on men’s and women’s childlessness.     

Parental Anger and Trajectories of Emotional Well‐Being from Adolescence to Young Adulthood

This study assesses the relationship of parental anger on children’s anger and self‐derogation from adolescence to young adulthood. We examine a life‐course perspective and incorporate theories of emotion regulation and self‐referent behavior. Using structural equation models and hierarchical growth curve models with the Kaplan Longitudinal and Multigenerational data, the results indicate that parental anger leads to anger in adolescence, supporting theories of learning through modeling in adolescence. In young adulthood, as predicted by self‐referent behavior theory, parental anger contributes to increases in self‐derogation. Interestingly, maternal anger, but not paternal anger, is correlated with child’s anger and self‐derogation.     

Cumulative and Relative Disadvantage as Long‐Term Determinants of Negative Self‐feelings*

We analyze the long‐term effects of neighborhood poverty and crime on negative self‐feelings of young adults. Cumulative and relative disadvantage explanations are tested with the interactive effect of (1) neighborhood and individual‐level economic disadvantage and (2) neighborhood crime and economic disadvantage. Results from a longitudinal study following adolescents to young adulthood show that the development of negative self‐feelings (a combination of depression, anxiety, and self‐derogation) is determined by relative, rather than cumulative disadvantage. The poor in affluent neighborhoods have the highest negative self‐feelings, while the relatively wealthy in poor neighborhoods have the lowest negative self‐feelings. Similarly, we find the highest increase in negative self‐feelings is found in an affluent neighborhood with crime and not in a poor neighborhood with crime.     

Improving ascertainment of risk factors for HIV infection: results of a group-randomized evaluation

To allow appropriate allocation of prevention and care funding, HIV/AIDS surveillance data must include risk factor information, currently available for less than 70% of cases reported in the United States. The authors evaluated an intervention consisting of provider training and materials to improve risk factor reporting. Facilities were matched prior to randomization to intervention or control, and generalized linear mixed models were used to test for an intervention effect. Twenty-one percent of cases from intervention facilities and 33.4% from control facilities (p = .09) were reported without any risk factor information. The pre-post difference (20.7% for intervention and 36.0% for control) was not significant among HIV cases (p = .11) nor among AIDS cases (p = .12; 21.3% for intervention and 31.1% for control). The methods the authors' evaluated may need to be combined with other approaches and/or alternative classification schemes to significantly reduce the percentage of cases reported to surveillance without risk factor information.