Spouses' division of labor and marital stability: Applying the multiple-equilibrium theory to cohort trends of divorce in East and West Germany

Objective: In comparing East and West Germany, we investigate task specialization and its association with marital stability twofold: (1) Has the association between women’s employment and divorce risk changed across marriage cohorts? (2) Are men’s levels of engagement in domestic tasks associated with divorce risk? Background: While older theories assumed that women’s employment destabilized marriages, newer theories suggest that men can re-stabilize marriages by changing their behavior and engaging in housework. Method: We analyze data from the SOEP using discrete-time event history models in a historical and a dyadic perspective. Results: Our results show that the associations between women's employment and the risk of divorce have been changing across marriage cohorts, and that this trend began earlier in East Germany. Husbands' relative contribution to division of housework is not found to stabilize marriages in East and West Germany, but we find differences between marriage cohorts in West Germany. Conclusion: Our findings confirm that the traditional male breadwinner model is no longer associated with a stable equilibrium in marriage in Germany. It appears that either the German society is still in the transitional stage, as men’s contributions to housework are shown to be irrelevant for marital stability; or that gender equality is not associated with the new stable equilibrium in marriages

Predicting Birth Weight with Conditionally Linear Transformation Models

Low and high birth weight (BW) are important risk factors for neonatal morbidity and mortality. Gynecologists must therefore accurately predict BW before delivery. Most prediction formulas for BW are based on prenatal ultrasound measurements carried out within one week prior to birth. Although successfully used in clinical practice, these formulas focus on point predictions of BW but do not systematically quantify uncertainty of the predictions, i.e. they result in estimates of the conditional mean of BW but do not deliver prediction intervals. To overcome this problem, we introduce conditionally linear transformation models (CLTMs) to predict BW. Instead of focusing only on the conditional mean, CLTMs model the whole conditional distribution function of BW given prenatal ultrasound parameters. Consequently, the CLTM approach delivers both point predictions of BW and fetus-specific prediction intervals. Prediction intervals constitute an easy-to-interpret measure of prediction accuracy and allow identification of fetuses subject to high prediction uncertainty. Using a data set of 8712 deliveries at the Perinatal Centre at the University Clinic Erlangen (Germany), we analyzed variants of CLTMs and compared them to standard linear regression estimation techniques used in the past and to quantile regression approaches. The best-performing CLTM variant was competitive with quantile regression and linear regression approaches in terms of conditional coverage and average length of the prediction intervals. We propose that CLTMs be used because they are able to account for possible heteroscedasticity, kurtosis, and skewness of the distribution of BWs

Theater rockt die Wiener Szene

Die vorliegende Arbeit erörtert das Genre „Rocktheater“ unter theaterwissenschaftlichen Aspekten und unternimmt den Versuch, eine Definition für diese spezifische Verbindung von Rockmusik und Theater zu finden. Die Wiener Rocktheatergruppen Drahdiwaberl und Hallucination Company, deren Erfolge im Wien der 1970er und 1980er Jahre zurückliegen, boten ihrem Publikum ein Spektakel der besonderen Art: Rockmusik gepaart mit Theatereinlagen, Sketches, Klamauk und sexuell überborstende Performances. Ein besonderes Augenmerk meiner Diplomarbeit wurde auf die in- und ausländischen, musikalischen als auch theater- und kunstheoretischen Einflüsse gelegt. Auf der einen Seite findet man den Wiener Aktionismus und Punk bei Drahdiwaberl. Auf der anderen Seite floss die Arbeit der alternativen europäischen und auch Wiener Theaterszene in die Shows der Hallucination Company maßgeblich ein. Diese Einflüsse wie auch die theatralischen Zeichen werden an ausgewählten Beispielen von Konzertmitschnitten bzw. Videoclips dargestellt und illustriert. Die Untersuchung wurde wesentlich bereichert durch die Interviews mit den Protagonisten dieser zweier Rocktheaterbands

PISA 2018: Reporting Australia’s Results. Volume I Student Performance

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an international comparative study of student performance directed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). PISA measures the cumulative outcomes of education by assessing how well 15-year-olds, who are nearing the end of their compulsory schooling in most participating educational systems, are prepared to use the knowledge and skills in particular areas to meet real-life opportunities and challenges. The term literacy is attached to the assessment domains of reading, mathematics and science to reflect the focus on these broader skills and as a concept it is used in a much broader sense than simply being able to read and write. The OECD considers that mathematics and science are so pervasive in modern life that it is important for students to be literate in these areas as well. This report presents the results for Australia as a whole, for the Australian states and territories and for the other participants in PISA 2018, so that Australia’s results can be viewed in an international context, and student performance can be monitored over time

Changes in employment and relationship satisfaction in times of the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from the German Family Panel

Families have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated lockdown, but barely any research has been conducted yet, investigating how COVID-19-related stressors - and, specifically, disruptions in established employment arrangements - affected couples' relationship quality. To account more comprehensively for such non-monetary costs of the COVID-19 pandemic, the present study investigates whether changes in partners' employment situation during the COVID-19 crisis - particularly home-office and short-time work - had an immediate impact on the relationship satisfaction of cohabiting married and unmarried couples. To do so, we estimated fixed-effects regression models, exploiting unique data from the German Family Panel (pairfam; wave 11) and its supplementary COVID-19 web-survey. We observed a substantial proportion of respondents experiencing positive (20%) or negative (40%) changes in relationship satisfaction during the crisis. Relationship satisfaction has decreased, on average, for men and women alike, almost irrespective of whether they experienced COVID-19-related changes in their employment situation. While partners' employment situation hardly moderated the negative association between respondents' employment and relationship satisfaction, the presence of children seemed to buffer partly against a COVID-19-related decrease. Our results thus confirm previous findings suggesting that the COVID-19 pandemic constitutes a threat to couples' relationship quality and healthy family functioning more generally

Life Satisfaction during the Second Lockdown of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Germany: The Effects of Local Restrictions and Respondents' Perceptions about the Pandemic

This study examines the consequences of the pandemic on subjective well-being. First, we investigate to what extent regional and temporal differences in COVID-19 restrictions can explain individuals' life satisfaction in Germany. Second, we examine to what extent "subjective" evaluations of the pandemic are related to life satisfaction. Third, we examine whether these relationships vary with gender, parenthood, and partnership status, or whether relationships changed regarding specific sub-populations (i.e., mothers, fathers, childless women/ men). Merging representative survey data from the German Family Demography Panel Study (FReDA) and contextual data on COVID-19 restrictions (i.e., the stringency index), we analyze a sample of 32,258 individuals living in Germany in their regional settings on the NUTS-3 level during the "second lockdown" in spring 2021. Furthermore, we use the FReDA field period between April and June 2021 to assess temporal variations in COVID-19 restrictions and their association with life satisfaction. To answer our research questions, we compare aggregated means and use variance decomposition and multivariate regression models. Our results show strong regional and temporal differences in COVID-19 restrictions, but neither temporal nor regional differences in "subjective" perceived pandemic burden or in life satisfaction at the aggregated level. At the individual level, we find substantive negative associations between perceived pandemic burden and life satisfaction, which are particularly strong among mothers. Our study shows that individuals' negative perceptions of the pandemic are an important correlate to life satisfaction, whereas regional differences or temporal changes in COVID-19 restrictions appear to be irrelevant for the period under investigation

Dementia During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Experiences From Clinicians, Patients, and Caregivers in Switzerland

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the Swiss health care system, affecting especially vulnerable people, such as patients suffering from dementia. The purpose of this study was to investigate the challenges experienced by dementia patients, their carers, and clinicians during the pandemic in Switzerland. Methods: An online survey was sent to all memory clinics in the German speaking part of Switzerland. Patients diagnosed with dementia and their carers were recruited for semi-structured telephone interviews at the memory clinic of the University Hospital Zurich. Results: A total of 28 clinicians, 17 carers, and seven patients participated in this study. According to the clinicians, all aspects of clinical work were affected by the pandemic. Carers did not perceive a significant role of the pandemic in the disease progression of the patients, despite many challenges faced. Patients described a high level of conscientiousness during the pandemic. Recommendations for future scenarios were provided from all groups. Conclusion: In order to increase the systemic resilience of the Swiss health care system, it is important to consider the experiences and recommendations of vulnerable groups and health care professionals for future public health measures and policies

Prevention of secondary stroke in VA: Role of occupational therapists and physical therapists

Occupational therapists (OTs) and physical therapists (PTs) have the opportunity and obligation to advocate secondary stroke prevention via health promotion (HP) behaviors. This prospective survey of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) OTs and PTs determined whether they know about VA stroke rehabilitation guidelines and whether they integrate secondary stroke prevention into poststroke rehabilitation care. Questions revolved around knowledge of VA guidelines, inclusion of stroke risk-factor modification, and HP education to patients. Thirty-four surveys (45%) were returned from six facilities. Participants included 12 OTs and 22 PTs. Half (53%) of the therapists were aware of the VA guidelines and nearly half (48%) provided HP activities to patients; PTs were significantly more likely to do so than OTs (p = 0.02). Half of the queried therapists were unaware of the VA guidelines; increasing therapists’ education about the guidelines and the necessity of HP and secondary stroke prevention may reduce veterans’ risk of a second stroke. Because many stroke risk factors are modifiable and stroke survivors spend a great deal of time with the rehabilitation therapist, OTs and PTs can and should provide such education to reduce the risk of a second stroke

HaSpaD - Data Manual (September 2021)

Extensive harmonization of survey and especially biographical data has not been common in the social sciences. HaSpaD provides a tool for harmonizing and accumulating, and thus comprehensively analyzing, survey-based longitudinal data sets on partnership biographies. The following studies were harmonized and merged for a joint analysis for the third-party funded project "Harmonizing and synthesizing partnership histories from different research data infrastructures" (HaSpaD): the panel studies pairfam, SOEP and SHARE; the cross-section studies General German Social Survey, Mannheim Divorce Study and the Fertility and Family Survey; as well as the cross-section studies combined with partially repeated surveys Family Surveys, German Life History Studies and the Generations and Gender Surveys. The project provides syntax-based harmonization processes available through the HaSpaD Harmonization Wizard. The HaSpaD Harmonization Wizard enables a customized selection of survey programs and variables. After downloading the source data sets from their repositories, the HaSpaD syntax package enables to generate an individually customized and harmonized data set of the source datasets. In addition to biographical data on partnerships, the HaSpaD target dataset may include other variables such as age, gender, citizenship, and education level. If all surveys are selected, the target data set will contain approximately 182,000 partnership biographies