Academic Goals, Achievement, and Age at First Sexual Intercourse: Reciprocal Influences

This study examined the reciprocal relationship between the age of first sexual intercourse and academic goals and achievement. It was hypothesized that lower educational goals and achievement were likely to be associated with an adolescent who initiated sexual intercourse at a younger age than those with higher educational goals and achievement. It was also hypothesized that initiating sexual activity early would be associated with a decrease in subsequent academic achievement and goals. Possible explanations are that the costs of engaging in sexual intercourse (pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases) may deter adolescents from initiating intercourse. Weak attachment to parents and future goals may increase the influence of negative peer associations as well. It is also possible that adolescents who engage in sexual intercourse experience a change in mind set against community standards, one being high academic achievement and goals. This project analyzed data from the National Survey of Children (NSC), which is a national longitudinal sample of children aged 7 to 11 beginning in 1976, with additional data collection points in 1981 and 1987. A regression analysis examined the correlation of selected educational variables with the age of first sexual intercourse. The sample was then divided into two groups: those who had experienced voluntary sexual intercourse prior to the time of a data collection point and those who had not. I tests were performed examine the difference in educational variables for virgins and nonvirgins in 1981 and 1987. To examine the change in educational goals and achievement that could have resulted due to the onset of sexual activity, an analysis of covariance was performed on educational variables that were measured at two points in time. The results of this research confirm that reciprocal relationships exist between adolescent sexual activity and educational achievement and goals. Lower educational achievement and goals, measured at an earlier point in time, were related to a younger age of first sexual intercourse. Also, engaging in sexual intercourse was related to a decrease in subsequent educational goals and achievement. The relationship between lower academic achievement and goals and the age of first sex varied by race and gender. Black females showed the strongest association with educational variables and black males the least association. White females and white males both showed significant relationships between education and sexual activity. Sexual activity had the most impact on subsequent academic achievement, followed by educational goals

Impact of international humanitarian service-learning on emerging adult social competence: A mixed-methods evaluation

This article presents the results from a study into international humanitarian service-learning experiences on young adult volunteers. Specifically, the service-learning experiences of emerging adults who had served in orphanages in Latin America were assessed, in a pre- and post-test design, for their development in areas of social competency such as identity, self-efficacy, self-esteem and ethnocentric attitudes. A mixed-methods design using both qualitative and quantitative measures was used. Both qualitative and quantitative results identified significant and important impacts on the development of the social competencies of these emerging adults. In addition, several qualitative themes illustrated that longer term international service-learning experiences have a profound impact on the social competence of emerging adults.Keywords: International humanitarian service, service-learning, emerging adult competenc

The effects of siblings on the migration of women in two rural areas of Belgium and the Netherlands, 1829-1940

This study explores the extent to which the presence and activities of siblings shaped the chances of women migrating to rural and urban areas in two rural areas of Belgium and the Netherlands during the second half of the nineteenth and first decades of the twentieth century. Shared-frailty Cox proportional hazard analyses of longitudinal data from historical population registers show that siblings exerted an additive impact on women's migration, independently of temporal and household characteristics. Just how siblings influenced women's migration depended on regional modes of production and on employment opportunities. In the Zeeland region, sisters channelled each other into service positions. In the Pays de Herve, where men and women found industrial work in the Walloon cities, women were as much influenced by their brothers' activities. Evidence is found for two mechanisms explaining the effects of siblings: micro-economic notions of joint-household decision-making and social capital theory

Children's Perceptions and Definitions of Family in China, Ecuador, Turkey, and the United States

With rapid economic development and modernization, changes may be occurring among younger generations in regard to their attitudes towards family life and marriage. This research project is a cross-cultural comparison of how the broader social and cultural contexts have impacted the ways children perceive and define family functions, family structure, and roles within families. The sample included a total of 231 children aged 5 to 12 years and their parents from four countries: China, Ecuador, Turkey, and the United States. Mixed methods including qualitative interview questions, dyadic scenarios using dolls as manipulations with children, and a parent questionnaire were utilized for measurement. Regardless of the different social and cultural contexts influencing their lives, children who participated in this study were found to form similar understanding of family functions and parental roles. A universal theme influencing children's perceptions of family was family as an ultimate source of survival, providing shelter, nutrition and protection. Distinct differences were found among the four cultures regarding children's acceptance of traditional and non-traditional family structure and forms. Findings of this study provide important clues about how family-related concepts are being perceived and defined by children from vastly different cultures. In addition, this exploratory study provides a means of understanding culturally based shifts from traditional to diverse attitudes and practices across generations