Savvy and woke: Gender, digital profile, social media competence, and political participation in gender issues among young Filipino netizens

Social media has become a viable platform for political participation in issues related to gender, especially among the youth. Evidence suggests that gender and sexual identities, digital access, and skills foster political participation in social media. This study sought to determine the predictive relationship of gender, digital profile, and social media competence with social media political participation in gender issues (SMPP-GI) among young Filipino netizens through the lenses of social identity theory and resource model of political participation. A total of 1,090 college netizens aged 18–30 years old participated in this cross-sectional study. An online survey was used to collect data. The respondents reported low to moderate levels of SMPP-GI. Females and non-cisheterosexual respondents report higher scores in certain types of SMPP-GI. Respondents using more social media sites have higher levels of latent and counter engagement SMPP-GI. Among the four domains of social media competence, content generation significantly predicted all types of SMPP-GI, while content interpretation and anticipatory reflection were significantly linked with at least one type of engagement

Student involvement, mental health and quality of life of college students in a selected university in Manila, Philippines

This study was conceived within the context of increasing incidence of mental health challenges observed among college adolescents in the Philippines. Being an important social institution, the school must be able to create a social environment in order to foster better mental wellbeing and quality of life among its students. This research sought to examine the relationship among student involvement, mental health and quality of life among college students in a Philippine university. This study utilized a quantitative cross-sectional, descriptive, correlational design. Survey was administered to 249 students in a private university. Results suggest that involvement in school organizations was correlated to depression levels, general positive affect and life satisfaction. Social interactions with entities in school was also related with quality of life. All subscales of mental health were associated with quality of life among the student respondents. © 2020, © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

Queering the family stigma experiences of Filipino MSMs living with HIV [electronic resource]

This study explores the personal and family characteristics, family life histories, and family stigma experiences among Filipino males-who-have-sex-with-males (MSMs) living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). It deconstructs how heteronormativity is deployed in these experiences, and how sexual minoritization in the family influences becoming and being HIV seropositive using the lens of queer theory. Critical social research on HIV focusing in the family context is wanting in local literature. Using life history approach, 31 self-identified MSMs living with HIV were purposively selected and interviewed using semi-structured open-ended questions. Narrative analysis, constant comparative method and discourse analysis were used to analyze the qualitative data. Findings reveal that the family life histories of the participants were influenced by their visibility as MSMs in the family. Three major categories of family stigma emerged from this study: explicit stigma, implicit stigma and self-stigma. Various heteronormative discourses were deployed in sexual-orientation-gender-identity-and-expression (SOGIE) and HIV related family stigma. The association of family stigma with becoming and being HIV seropositive were conceptualized in five pathways. Major recommendation of the study is to empower families to address the sexual health and rights of its members

Anxious, Apart, and Attentive: A Qualitative Case Study of Overseas Filipino Workers’ Families in the time of COVID-19

Cognizant of the nature and type of family as factors that affect the experience and coping of its members, this study sought to examine the impact of the pandemic on overseas Filipino workers’ (OFW) families using a qualitative instrumental case study off our OFW families. Three themes emerged from the analysis: (1) worry over the conditions of the distant family members, (2)disruptions in plans and family relationships, and (3) monitoring and caring from a distance. From these findings, it could be reflected that despite the negative effects of the pandemic, OFW families can recreate patterns over time to retain their familial relations and routines and protect members from coronavirus and its consequences