Economic Trajectories in Non-Traditional Families with Children

Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study this paper examines associations between family structure and economic trajectories during the first five years after a child’s birth, paying special attention to non-traditional families. Among families with stable structures, married-parent families have the highest economic wellbeing, followed by cohabiting-parent families and then single mothers. Among unstable families, exits from marriage and cohabitation are associated with declines in mothers’ economic wellbeing. Entering coresidential unions after a non-marital birth is associated with gains in single mothers’ economic wellbeing, especially if those unions involve the child’s biological father. Findings are robust across several measures of economic wellbeing including household income, income-to-needs ratios, and material hardship.family structure, divorce, cohabitation, income, Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), growth curve analysis

Unmarried Fathers’ Earnings Trajectories: Does Partnership Status Matter?

Married men earn more than unmarried men. Previous research suggests that marriage itself causes some of the difference, but includes few men who fathered children out of wedlock. This paper asks whether increasing marriage (and possibly cohabitation) following a non-marital birth is likely to increase fathers’ earnings and labor supply. The analyses are based on a new birth cohort study the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study which follows unmarried parents for the first five years after their child’s birth. Results provide some support for the idea that increasing marriage will lead to increased fathers’ earnings.Cohabitation, marriage, income, men, males, earnings, income, children

Libbie & Grove Urban Design Plan

This plan was created for the City of Richmond Department of Planning and Development Review to serve as a recommendation for urban design improvements and suggested changes to zoning ordinances for the Libbie and Grove commercial area located in the Westhampton neighborhood. To begin, an in-depth demographic analysis was conducted for the Westhampton neighborhood. Special attention was paid to socioeconomic factors and trends in census tracts directly surrounding the Libbie and Grove commercial corridor. Based on these analyses and new development occurring in the Libbie and Grove commercial corridor, we were able to allocate six sites or “study areas” as candidates for redevelopment. All of these sites represent valuable areas within the Libbie and Grove commercial corridor. The sites were selected and designed with different intentions, but aim to create a complete streetscape for the commercial area. Based on this analysis and study, it is our recommendation that a new zoning code be implemented for the Libbie and Grove commercial area in order to codify form based design requirements in order to preserve and enhance a village feel at Grove and Libbie and promote compatible future development

Unen sosiologia: hoiva, sukupuoli ja uniongelmat

Tämän artikkelin tarkoituksena on kuvata, miten sosiologinen tutkimus voi lisätä ymmärrystämme unesta. Korostamme kvalitatiivisen unitutkimuksen merkitystä luomalla katsauksen viimeisimpiin tutkimustuloksiin, joissa on tarkasteltu sukupuolen, yhdessä nukkumisen ja yöaikaisen hoivaamisen vaikutuksia uneen. Artikkelissa tarkastellaan myös kvantitatiivisia unitutkimuksia. Aineistona käytetään Britanniaa koskevaa “Understanding Society 2009” -tutkimusta (n = 14 746). Osoitamme, miten ikääntyneen tai sairastuneen sukulaisen hoivaaminen kotona on yhteydessä uniongelmiin ja että matala sosioekonominen asema ja huono terveydentila vaikuttavat hoivan ja unen yhteyteen vain vähän

The development of concrete operations: a short term longitudinal study

Piaget's theory of concrete operations structures d'ensemble is discussed, and certain predictions derived from it investigated in a longitudinal study of 120 children aged between 5.0 and 11.10. The data of these testings were submitted to a variety of analyses. The results suggested that the development of concrete operations was unlike the succession of discontinuous generalised stages which Piaget has postulated. His model is criticised as taking insufficient account of individual differences and of the structure of the testing situation. <p

Unmarried fathers' earnings trajectories: does partnership status matter?

Married men earn more than unmarried men. Previous research suggests that marriage itself "causes" some of the difference, but includes few men who fathered children out of wedlock. This paper asks whether increasing marriage (and possibly cohabitation) following a non-marital birth is likely to increase fathers' earnings and labor supply. The analyses are based on a new birth cohort study—the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study—which follows unmarried parents for the first five years after their child's birth. Results provide some support for the idea that increasing marriage will lead to increase

Identification of a resilient mouse facial motoneuron population following target disconnection by injury or disease

Background: When nerve transection is performed on adult rodents, a substantial population of neurons survives short-term disconnection from target, and the immune system supports this neuronal survival, however long-term survival remains unknown. Understanding the effects of permanent axotomy on cell body survival is important as target disconnection is the first pathological occurrence in fatal motoneuron diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Objective: The goal of this study was to determine if facial motoneurons (FMN) could survive permanent target disconnection up to 26 weeks post-operation (wpo) after facial nerve axotomy (FNA). In addition, the potentially additive effects of immunodeficiency and motoneuron disease on post-axotomy FMN survival were examined. Methods: This study included three wild type (WT) mouse strains (C57BL/6J, B6SJL, and FVB/NJ) and three experimental models (RAG-2-/-: immunodeficiency; mSOD1: ALS; Smn-/-/SMN2+/+: SMA). All animals received a unilateral FNA, and FMN survival was quantified at early and extended post-operative timepoints. Results: In the C57BL/6J WT group, FMN survival significantly decreased at 10 wpo (55 ± 6%), and then remained stable out to 26 wpo (47 ± 6%). In the RAG-2-/- and mSOD1 groups, FMN death occurred much earlier at 4 wpo, and survival plateaued at approximately 50% at 10 wpo. The SMA model and other WT strains also exhibited approximately 50% FMN survival after FNA. Conclusion: These results indicate that immunodeficiency and motoneuron disease accelerate axotomy-induced neuron death, but do not increase total neuron death in the context of permanent target disconnection. This consistent finding of a target disconnection-resilient motoneuron population is prevalent in other peripheral nerve injury models and in neurodegenerative disease models as well. Characterization of the distinct populations of vulnerable and resilient motoneurons may reveal new therapeutic approaches for injury and disease

Social Dominance Orientation, Dispositional Empathy, and Need for Cognitive Closure Moderate the Impact of Empathy-Skills Training, but Not Patient Contact, on Medical Students' Negative Attitudes toward Higher-Weight Patients

Anti-fat bias in healthcare providers and medical students has serious implications for quality of care of higher-weight patients. Studies of interventions aimed at reducing anti-fat attitudes in medical students have generally been disappointing, with little enduring effect. It is possible that some students may be more receptive to prejudice-reducing influences than others, due to underlying differences in their personal characteristics. It is also possible that attitudes toward patients, specifically, may differ from anti-fat attitudes in general, and prejudice-reduction effectiveness on patient-specific attitudes has not yet been evaluated. The present study explored the effect on general and patient-specific anti-fat attitudes of (1) contact with higher-weight individuals prior to and during medical school; and (2) training designed to increase medical students' empathy toward patients by encouraging them to take the patient's perspective during clinical encounters. The moderating role of individual difference factors on effectiveness of contact and student-reported hours of empathy training on patient-specific attitudes was assessed. A total of 3,576 students enrolled across 49 US medical schools completed an online survey at the start of their first year of medical school and at the end of their fourth year. Favorable contact experience with higher-weight patients predicted improved attitudes toward heavier patients after 4 years of medical school, and appeared sufficient to partially offset the effects of dislike of higher-weight individuals at baseline. The impact of favorable contact on general anti-fat attitudes was less strong, highlighting the importance of using target-specific outcome measures. The positive effects of favorable contact on attitudes toward higher-weight patients did not differ based on students' baseline levels of social dominance orientation, dispositional empathy, or need for cognitive closure. In contrast, the effectiveness of training did vary by student characteristics, generally being more effective in students who were more egalitarian and empathic at baseline, with little effect, or even adverse effects in students low in these traits. Overall, however, perspective-taking training produced only small improvements in attitudes toward higher-weight patients

Signalling hostility: The relationship between witnessing weight-based discrimination in medical school and medical student wellbeing

Environments that are hostile to one or more marginalised groups are known to have a negative effect on the mental health and wellbeing of both targets and observers. Anti-fat attitudes have been well documented in medical education, including the use of derogatory humour and discriminatory treatment towards higher-weight patients. However, to date, it is not known what effect observing weight stigma and discrimination during medical school has on medical students’ psychological health and wellbeing, sense of belonging, and medical school burnout. The present study surveyed a total of 3,994 students enrolled across 49 US medical schools at the start of their first year and at the end of their fourth year. Participants reported the frequency with which they had observed stigmatising and discriminatory behaviours targeted at both higher-weight patients and higher-weight students during their four years of medical school. Observed weight stigma was prevalent, and was associated with worse psychological and general health, reduced medical school belonging and increased medical school burnout. The indirect effects of observed weight stigma on medical school burnout, via belonging, psychological health, and general health, were statistically significant in the sample as a whole, but were more pronounced in higher-weight students. This effect may be explained, in part, by the relationship between observed stigma and medical school belonging. Higher levels of observed stigma were associated with reduced feelings of belonging in higher-weight but not normative-weight students. Top-down institutional culture change is needed to rectify this situation, which is detrimental to both students and patients

Characteristics of patients initiating raloxifene compared to those initiating bisphosphonates

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Both raloxifene and bisphosphonates are indicated for the prevention and treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis, however these medications have different efficacy and safety profiles. It is plausible that physicians would prescribe these agents to optimize the benefit/risk profile for individual patients. The objective of this study was to compare demographic and clinical characteristics of patients initiating raloxifene with those of patients initiating bisphosphonates for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This study was conducted using a retrospective cohort design. Female beneficiaries (45 years and older) with at least one claim for raloxifene or a bisphosphonate in 2003 through 2005 and continuous enrollment in the previous 12 months and subsequent 6 months were identified using a collection of large national commercial, Medicare supplemental, and Medicaid administrative claims databases (MarketScan^®). Patients were divided into two cohorts, a combined commercial/Medicare cohort and a Medicaid cohort. Within each cohort, characteristics (demographic, clinical, and resource utilization) of patients initiating raloxifene were compared to those of patients initiating bisphosphonate therapy. Group comparisons were made using chi-square tests for proportions of categorical measures and Wilcoxon rank-sum tests for continuous variables. Logistic regression was used to simultaneously examine factors independently associated with initiation of raloxifene versus a bisphosphonate.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Within both the commercial/Medicare and Medicaid cohorts, raloxifene patients were younger, had fewer comorbid conditions, and fewer pre-existing fractures than bisphosphonate patients. Raloxifene patients in both cohorts were less likely to have had a bone mineral density (BMD) screening in the previous year than were bisphosphonate patients, and were also more likely to have used estrogen or estrogen/progestin therapy in the previous 12 months. These differences remained statistically significant in the multivariate model.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In this sample of patients enrolled in commercial, Medicare, and Medicaid plans, patients who initiated raloxifene treatment differed from those initiating bisphosphonates. Raloxifene patients were younger, had better overall health status and appeared to be less likely to have risk factors for new osteoporotic fractures than bisphosphonate patients. Differences in the clinical profiles of these agents may impact prescribing decisions. Investigators using observational data to make comparisons of treatment outcomes associated with these medications should take these important differences in patient characteristics into consideration.</p