Health Outcomes of Hispanic Parents Caring for Children with Disabilities

The purpose of this correlational study is to investigate the impact of the child’s functional status, family context, parent acculturation, and social support on parenting stress and, ultimately, on parents physical and mental health. A convenience sample of 50 Hispanic parents was recruited through a Facebook page and from agencies in South Florida providing services to children with disabilities and their families. The parents ages range from 21 to 62 years and the majority were mothers (n= 45). The majority of parents in this study live in low income households, have no college education, showed little participation in the workforce, and low acculturation. There were 30 boys and 20 girls between the ages of three to 21 years. Parents provided the data during an interview and through questionnaires. Data analysis included descriptive statistics and correlation analyses. Correlation analyses were conducted with the child’s characteristics, family context, socioeconomic status, parent acculturation, social support, parenting stress, and parent’s physical and mental health. The most frequent health problem reported by parents was neck and back pain. Parenting stress had a positive correlation with low acculturation and depression. The parents’ physical and mental health had a positive correlation with parents’ perception of social support. Parenting stress had a negative correlation with perceived social support, parents’ mental health, educational achievement and years lived in the U.S. There was a negative correlation between parent depression, perceived social support, and parents’ physical health. These parents reported low perceived social support and high levels of parenting stress. The results of this study indicate that parents with low acculturation reported higher level of parenting stress. Future research ought to continue exploring which interventions will better serve these parents and how cultural constructs influence their attitudes, expectations, decision making, and priorities

Periodic Atlas of the Metroscape: Lassoing Urban Sprawl

This issue\u27s atlas compares the metroscape with four other metropolitan areas (San Antonio, Columbus, Charlotte, and Orlando). Using 1990 and 2000 census block group data, density classifications were used to show patterns of urban (3 ,000+ persons/ sq.mi .), suburban (1 ,000 to 3,000 persons/sq.mi .), exurban (300 to 1,000 persons/sq .mi.) , and rural (/sq.mi.) growth. While the metroscape experienced significant population growth from 1990 to 2000, compared to the other four, it realized the smallest loss of rural lands and significantly less suburban and exurban style development as well. By comparison, Orlando - the other metro area in the sample using urban containment policies - realized significantly more outward development

Effectiveness of urban containment regimes in reducing exurban sprawl

Journal ArticleDuring the 1990s, the exurban landscape grew faster and added more people than urban, suburban, and rural landscapes. In many respects, exurbanization is the quintessential representation of urban sprawl and the problems it poses. More than 100 metropolitan areas across the US attempt to manage exurbanization through various forms of urban containment at regional or subregional scales. In this article, we assess the extent to which urban containment is effective in managing exurban sprawl in the 35 largest metropolitan areas in the US. Through simple cross-section analysis, we found that relative to metropolitan areas without urban containment, those pursuing "strong" containment efforts performed best in reducing exurbanization. Strong containment programs are those that direct urban development into areas defined by urban containment boundaries and restrict development outside the boundaries. Metropolitan areas with "natural" containment, i.e., where development is constrained because of oceans, mountains, public ownership, and water supply, did not perform as well but saw less exurbanization than noncontained metropolitan areas. Least effective relative to other forms of containment were metropolitan areas with weak containment efforts, principally because such approaches do not substantially restrict development outside containment boundaries. Strong urban containment appears to be effective in reigning in exurban sprawl but without apparently dampening population growth generally

Debunking the exurban myth: a comparison of suburban households

Journal ArticleAs American cities spill over their traditional boundaries into 'exurbia', the debate about whether this new growth is substantively different from what preceded is an important one. We disagree with the idea that the counterurbanization the United States is experiencing represents a dramatic break from previous growth patterns. Using parametric and nonparametric analysis, we examine whether or not the behavioral patterns and demographic characteristics of exurbanites differ from those of suburbanites. Is exurbanization really different from suburbanization and are exurbanites really different from suburbanites? Our research shows that the answer is no. Exurbia should not be defined separately from suburbia. Rather, the development on the metropolitan fringe is simply the latest incarnation of the continued suburbanization of American cities