Developmental trajectories of positive and negative affect in children at high and low familial risk for depressive disorder

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/86902/1/j.1469-7610.2010.02331.x.pd

Exploring the Influence of Family Worldview and Cultural Socialization on Positive Outcomes in American Indian Youth

The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of family worldview and cultural socialization on indicators of positive youth development in American Indian youth. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to determine whether cultural socialization moderated the relationship between family worldview and indicators of positive development in American Indian youth as measured by ethnic identity, pro-social activity, positive family relationships, hope, self-regulation, and future orientation. Individual and family differences were also examined. Participants included a community sample of 311 American Indian children and youth from 174 American Indian families from three tribes in the Pacific Northwest. Results demonstrated that the amount of variance between families for each of the positive youth outcomes was significant enough to warrant hierarchical linear modeling (HLM). Family worldview was not significantly related to any of the positive youth outcomes and when entered into the HLM models did not significantly explain any variation in mean scores between families. The relationship between cultural socialization and ethnic identity was significant and positive and when entered into the HLM models significantly explained 10% of the variation in mean scores between families. There was a significant difference between the ethnic identity scores of males and females, with females having a higher mean than males. Positive family relationship scores were negatively correlated with age. Older youth tended to report less positive family relationships than their younger counterparts. Implications for research and practice are discussed

Transgenerational Patterns of Communication Orientations and Depression Among Mothers and Adult Children

This study investigated intergenerational transmissions of conversation orientations, conformity orientations, and depressive symptoms among 235 (N = 470) mother–child dyads. The analysis revealed that mothers’ reports of conformity orientation in her family of origin positively predicted her child’s report of conformity orientation and conversation orientation. Moreover, maternal depressive symptoms predicted child reports of family communication climates, which in turn predicted child depressive symptoms. A mediation analysis showed a significant indirect effect from maternal depressive symptoms to child depressive symptoms through child reports of conformity orientation. Implications for transgenerational patterns of family communication climates and depressive symptoms are discussed

Models for prediction, explanation and control: recursive bayesian networks

The Recursive Bayesian Net (RBN) formalism was originally developed for modelling nested causal relationships. In this paper we argue that the formalism can also be applied to modelling the hierarchical structure of mechanisms. The resulting network contains quantitative information about probabilities, as well as qualitative information about mechanistic structure and causal relations. Since information about probabilities, mechanisms and causal relations is vital for prediction, explanation and control respectively, an RBN can be applied to all these tasks. We show in particular how a simple two-level RBN can be used to model a mechanism in cancer science. The higher level of our model contains variables at the clinical level, while the lower level maps the structure of the cell's mechanism for apoptosis

Uncovering Hegemony in Higher Education: A Critical Appraisal of the Use of “Institutional Habitus” in Empirical Scholarship

This article critically examines the empirical scholarship that applies institutional habitus, a conceptual extension of Bourdieu’s theory of practice, to investigations of higher education. Given Bourdieu’s extensive scholarly focus on higher education as well as the field’s undertheorization of its own exclusionary history, application of institutional habitus to higher education is particularly apt. This critical appraisal finds that the reviewed scholarship corroborates the concept’s value by drawing attention to the role of institutional habitus in differentially privileging and rewarding students based on their possession of institutionally legitimized knowledge, values, and behaviors. Nevertheless, this review reveals a series of missed opportunities, including a tendency to conflate individual and institutional habitus and limited attention to the impact of institutions’ own social status. These oversights dampen the theoretical and empirical richness of the concept and obscure a significant influence on institutional beliefs and behavior as well as a mechanism of exclusion for marginalized populations. After discussing contributions and critiques of the reviewed scholarship, I propose a definition of institutional habitus that centers the social position of educational institutions as the primary avenue through which social power influences institutional practice and offer a set of guiding principles to inform the application of institutional habitus within education research. It is argued that such robust operationalization of institutional habitus would greatly enhance organizational analysis within educational contexts by helping scholars and practitioners to identify and remediate the institutional mechanisms that facilitate student failure. In clarifying this problem, different, and perhaps more equitable, solutions may emerge

Impact of attachment style on the 1-year outcome of persons with an at-risk mental state for psychosis

Attachment theory provides key elements for understanding the psychosocial vulnerability for and response to the emergence of psychosis. This study examined (1) whether pre-treatment attachment styles are differentially associated with clinical and functional outcome in at-risk mental state (ARMS) for psychosis patients across one year of psychosocial treatment, and (2) whether clinical change is associated with changes in attachment ratings beyond the effect of baseline symptom severity. Thirty-eight ARMS patients (mean age=16.7, S.D.=5.9) identified from a psychosocial needs-adapted treatment were evaluated with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, the Global Assessment of Functioning, and the Relationships Questionnaire. Lower levels of insecure–avoidant attachment predicted better clinical outcomes, whereas higher levels of secure attachment predicted improvement in functioning. A decrease in preoccupied–anxious attachment was associated with symptom amelioration. The findings suggest that the intensity of insecure attachment plays a significant role in the clinical outcome of ARMS patients involved in psychosocial treatment. Reducing the levels of insecure attachment in the therapeutic setting probably favors a better course in the early phases of psychosis. Furthermore, the finding that negative models of the self and others were associated with symptom outcome is consistent with current psychosocial models of psychosis

Intimate partner homicide in rural areas: an exploration in three parts

PROBLEM STATEMENT: Prior research has indicated that intimate partner homicide (IPH) increased in rural areas between 1980 and 1999, while all other types of homicide across all communities decreased during the same time period. This suggests that there are structural differences in rural communities that make rural IPH different than IPH in other communities and that make IPH different from familial and acquaintance/stranger homicide in rural communities. Moreover, research indicates that there are several barriers to victims’ accessing current community interventions that may be able to interrupt violence before it escalates to homicide. Understanding the relationship between rural communities and IPH—both how community characteristics increase the risk of IPH and how community interventions respond before and after an IPH—is a critical step towards the development and evaluation of rural IPH prevention methods. METHODS: A parallel mixed methods design was used to explore these associations. The quantitative and qualitative data collections and analyses occurred in tandem. Their findings were then interpreted together to develop practice, policy, and research implications. Study 1: The first study used a multilevel model to test the extent to which individual-level (e.g., victim sex), county-level (e.g., unemployment rate), and state-level (e.g., firearm prevalence) characteristics associated with IPH in a national sample of rural counties between 2009 and 2016. Study 2: The second study utilized spatial and non-spatial analytic techniques to examine how the clustering of community characteristics predicted intimate partner homicide (IPH) rates in Massachusetts' towns between 2005 and 2014. Study 3: The third study examined the effect of IPH on worker and organizational health among victim advocacy agencies. Nine advocates were recruited from a rural New England state and interviewed in 2016 about their perceptions of organizational responses after IPH. Advocate interviews were analyzed using narrative and thematic approaches to explore how advocates talked about IPH and patterns of responses they received. Findings from both approaches were examined in tandem to describe advocate perceptions of organizational responses after IPH. IMPLICATIONS: Despite the significant association between IPH and rural communities, there has historically been a dearth of research on rural IPH; this dissertation contributed to a nascent understanding of rural IPH and its relationship to the community. Findings from both quantitative studies indicated that an increased community economic need, as measured by the receipt of public assistance among households, was associated with IPH and an increased IPH rate. Causal studies are needed to examine this relationship further, particularly as public assistance is a key intervention used by advocates and social workers to enable victims of intimate partner violence to live independently of their abusive partner. The qualitative study indicated that advocates wanted opportunities to connect and act after an IPH, a desire that could be capitalized on to collaborate with other sectors to develop new programming to intervene in violence and prevent IPH. All three studies highlighted the importance of considering place when examining IPH, and contributed to the literature on how to operationalize rural, urban, and semi-urban using more precise and nuanced methods. Future studies should consider the use of multiple, continuous measurements when defining place. More causal research that examines the extent to which community characteristics predict IPH and evaluative research on rural prevention interventions are needed in order to begin to uncouple the association between rurality and IPH

Paid work between age 60 and 70 years in Europe: a matter of socio-economic status?

Over the past years, older persons' workforce participation has increased and, after years of studying early retirement, the focus has gradually shifted to workforce participation between age 60 and 70 years. Those are the years directly below and above the mandatory retirement age in most of the European countries. We investigate the influence of socio-economic status (SES) on older persons' workforce participation. Moreover, we study whether the importance of private pensions in a country modifies the effect of SES. Survey data from eleven European countries are analysed in multilevel analyses. Results show that paid work in old age is the domain of persons with high SES. Moreover, a high share of private pensions in a country diminishes the influence of occupational prestige on men's workforce participation. This suggests that older persons with low SES deserve particular attention in labour market reforms. Additionally, it suggests that pension reforms be monitored concerning their effects on social inequalities. © The Authors

When gender stereotypes get male adolescents into trouble : a longitudinal study on gender conformity pressure as a predictor of school misconduct

School misconduct is a threat to educational careers and learning. The present study sheds light on why male adolescents in particular are prone to school misconduct. Qualitative research has argued that male adolescents' construction of masculinity is a factor driving their school misbehavior. We examined the role of felt pressure to conform to gender stereotypes in predicting school misconduct among male and female adolescents. Data were provided by a three-wave panel study encompassing more than 4200 Flemish early adolescents (ages 12-14). Three-level growth curve models showed that male adolescents misbehaved more in school than female adolescents did. Male adolescents also demonstrated a steeper increase in school misconduct than female adolescents. Furthermore, greater felt gender conformity pressure predicted an increase in school misconduct in male adolescents but not in female adolescents. We conclude that school misconduct forms part of an enactment of masculine gender identity with detrimental consequences for male adolescents' educational achievement

Social Stratification, Life Course, and Political Inequality

No abstract availableThe topic of this dissertation is the relationship between social stratification and inequality in electoral participation in European countries, examined from a life course perspective. This participatory inequality across social strata is considered as particularly worrisome by social scientists, due to a potential vicious circle arising between socio-economic and political inequalities. The goal of this dissertation is to contribute to the exploration of said vicious circle, focusing on theoretical perspectives originating in sociology, at the intersection of social stratification and life course research: unemployment scarring, precarious work, relative cohort size, and age-class intersections. Broadly, I posit how the impact of individual social stratification on turnout is moderated by contextual-level dynamics, such as the unemployment rate, the size of the birth cohort, and the ideological convergence in the party system. I test the hypotheses by fitting logistic and multilevel regressions to data from the European Social Survey, combined with data from the EUROSTAT, Fraser Institute’s World Project, and the International Database of the US Census for Chapters 1-3. In Chapter 4, I integrate data from British Social Attitudes, the British Election Study, and the Manifesto Research on Political Participation in the case study of Great Britain. The key findings are the following: unemployment scarring decreases electoral participation by 10%, but its impact is amplified (up to 17%) by lower contextual unemployment, and nullified by higher levels of the latter. Precarious work decreases probability of voting in 21 European countries, on top of traditional predictors such as social class and education. In contrast with the Easterlin Hypothesis, larger Relative Cohort Size increases electoral participation, especially in upper social strata. Ideological convergence in Great Britain depresses the turnout of the working class and the self-employed, and this is driven mainly by younger cohorts within those classes. In sum, integrating the social stratification and life course approaches sheds new light on how inequality in electoral participation is jointly affected by individual and contextual characteristics. In future work, this joint approach may orient research on additional socio-political outcomes, towards a broader research programme on the Political Sociology of Inequalities