Home is Where the Heart Is? Forced Migration and Voluntary Return in Turkey's Kurdish Regions

What influences the decisions of internally displaced persons (IDPs) to return home after prolonged displacement? This article investigates the attitudes of victims of forced migration by analysing survey data on Kurdish displaced persons and returnees in Turkey. In an attempt to give a voice to displaced persons, we survey the conditions under which IDPs return home despite continuing tensions, lack of infrastructure and risk of renewed violence. The findings suggest that integration into a new environment in Western Turkey, measured by economic advancement and knowledge of Turkish, reduces the likelihood of return. Yet contrary to conventional wisdom, more educated IDPs demonstrate a stronger desire to return to their ancestral communities, suggesting that education increases available options for displaced persons. The findings are relevant in informing global responses to forced migration as well as understanding the local experiences and perceptions of IDPs in conflict ridden societies

Risk of recurrent disease in women with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grades 2 and 3

BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer has historically been a major cause of mortality for women worldwide. Over the last 50 years, thanks to advances in screening technologies and the implementation of standardized management algorithms, the incidence of cervical cancer in the United States has been declining. LITERATURE REVIEW: In the most recent set of algorithms, the 2012 Updated Consensus Guidelines for the Management of Abnormal Cervical Cancer Screening Tests and Cancer Precursors, the authors conclude that there is high-level evidence to support extended screening intervals for women who are at average-risk for cervical cancer and who have a history of negative screening tests. However, there is large population of women with a history of abnormal screening tests, and their risk of recurrent disease is not well understood. Additionally, the predictive value of the available screening tests for this cohort of women is unknown. The authors of the 2012 Guidelines warn that there is insufficient evidence for optimal management of these women, the current guidelines are based on expert opinion only, and studies providing high-level evidence are lacking. PROPOSED PROJECT: This thesis proposes a systematic literature review of the existing evidence regarding to what extent women who are treated for cervical abnormalities at baseline are at an increased risk for persistent or recurrent disease in the future. Journal articles will be gathered from three different databases and abstracts will be screened for duplicity and relevancy. After article selection, the quality of evidence presented in each paper will be evaluated using the GRADE system to facilitate a methodical and accurate comparison of the existing evidence. Finally, a scheme for data abstraction from the articles will be outlined. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this systematic literature review will serve multiple purposes, including identifying what research has been done since the latest revision of management guidelines, and aiding in the revision of the algorithms for the population of women who have had abnormal screening test results. It will also identify persistent gaps in the body of knowledge regarding this cohort of patients, and guide the development of additional research studies to fill those gaps. SIGNIFICANCE: Determining the risk of recurrent disease in women with abnormal cervical cancer screening tests will serve to more optimally manage this cohort of women. This will allow providers to effectively monitor patients for the recurrence of cervical disease, while also minimizing the risks associated with overscreening

The social relationships of three generations identified as disabled in childhood

Social isolation and loneliness have received substantial attention for their impacts on well-being and mortality. Both social isolation and loneliness can be experienced by anyone across the life course, but some are more vulnerable than others. One risk factor for poorer social outcomes is disability. We draw on data from three longitudinal studies, the National Child Development Study (Great Britain), Next Steps (England) and the Millennium Cohort Study (UK) to compare social relationships across three generations, born between 1958 and 2000/02 in countries of the UK. We examine social relationships at different life stages and how they differ between those who were and were not identified as disabled when they were teenagers. Adjusting for family background and educational attainment, which are associated with both disability and poorer social outcomes, we identify the long-term consequences of childhood disability for risks of social isolation among the older cohort. For the younger cohorts, we evaluate early indications of such patterns. We find substantially smaller intimate and friendship networks, and lower perceived social support among 50-year-olds who were disabled in childhood. Today’s disabled youth and teenagers also experience greater social isolation and risks of loneliness than their non-disabled contemporaries

Influences on Adult Basic Skills

The factors influencing development of basic skills from birth to age 37 were examined by analyzing a sample of 1,700 people who were part of the National Child Development Study (NCDS), a longitudinal study in which data on more than 17,000 people who were born in Great Britain in a single week in 1958 were collected when they were 7, 11, 16, 23, 33, and 37 years old. Data from the study were subjected to multiple regression analysis to determine the extent of the impact of family and home circumstances, education and early schooling, transition from school to work, and adult working life on adults' acquisition of basic skills. Early cognitive performance variables proved the most dominant predictors of later reading and math skills in both childhood and adulthood. Cognitive attainments in schooling mediated much of the influence of family disadvantage, parental support, and schooling. (Thirty-four figures/tables are included. Appended are the following: information about scoring of the adult literacy and numeracy assessments; tests of attainment administered to the NCDS cohort at ages 7, 11, and 16; the Rutter Scale; regression analysis results; and predictors of early cognitive skills. Contains 12 references.) (MN

Does the trauma associated with out-of-home care transmit across generations? Evidence from the 1970 British Cohort Study during a major health pandemic

Objectives: Children with experience of out-of-home care (OHC) are at an increased risk of adverse outcomes in later life, including poorer levels of psycho-social adjustment. Less is known about the intergenerational transmission of the trauma associated with OHC and psychosocial outcomes in mid-adulthood, particularly during a major health pandemic. Design: To examine if there is evidence of intergenerational transmission of trauma associated with OHC in mid-adulthood, we used data from the 1970 British Cohort Study 2020 COVID-19 Survey. Participants: Cases were defined as cohort members (CMs) who had themselves experienced OHC (OHC1) and those whose mother reported to have been in OHC (OHC2). Among the 5320 CMs who participated in the second COVID-19 Survey, we have OHC information for n=4236. Our analytical samples range from n=2472 to 3864 depending on outcome: the largest sample comprised 105 (2.5%) CMs with direct OHC experience (OHC1), 93 (2.2%) CMs with a mother who had OHC experience (OHC2) and 3666 CMs with no OHC experience (OHC0). Outcome measures: Self-reported outcomes at age 50 included indicators of depression, health and psychological well-being. Multivariate logistic regression models control for socioeconomic childhood background and current circumstances. Results: Compared with the majority OHC0, the OHC1 group report higher levels of depression (OR 2.18 (95% CI 1.09 to 4.36) p<.05) and are at a greater risk of poor mental (OR 2.23 (95% CI 1.24 to 4.02) p<0.01) and general health (OR 3.32 (95% CI 1.65 to 6.67) p<0.001) during the pandemic. OHC2 was more than twice as likely to report poor mental health prepandemic (OR 2.52 (95% CI 1.37 to 4.64) p<0.01), but not during the pandemic. Conclusion: Children of care leaver mothers (OHC2) appear to be better adjusted than those who were themselves in care (OHC1), although compared with those without care experience (OHC0) both groups had an increased risk of poorer adult outcomes. However, the findings point to both continuity and discontinuity of disadvantage

Enhancing social surveys through the postal collection of shed milk teeth: an example of large-scale cost-effective collection on a longitudinal study.

Social scientists and health researchers often need valid and reliable health measures from survey respondents to address key research questions, whether on environmental risks, weight and nutrition, physical activity or risky health behaviours, such as smoking. There are long-standing debates on the validity of self-reported measures of health status and health behaviours in representative sample surveys. Such problems are particularly acute when the health status or behaviour occurred in the past and depends on retrospective recall. Increasingly social surveys are collecting direct biomarkers to provide more precise information on health status and behaviours. While much of this biomarker collection requires clinic visits or in-home nurse visits, some biomarkers are amenable to less costly and intrusive collection. Shed milk teeth are a good example of a stable biomarker that can provide extensive information on early (including in utero) child environmental and family contexts that may shed valuable light on childhood and adult health and social outcomes. Shed milk teeth are also potentially cheap (and non-intrusive) to collect as well as to store. In this paper we report on the collection of shed milk teeth in a nationally representative sample in the UK using postal methods. We conclude that for surveys involving children, particularly interview-led surveys, incorporating the postal collection of shed milk teeth could prove a cost-effective enhancement, providing valuable environmental, nutritional and health information