Family issues and custodial mothers' quest for justice: Evidence from Colombia.

Access to justice is limited for many worldwide. Although prior research generally recognizes the legal needs and barriers faced by women, less is known about mothers. This study examined the legal needs of mothers in different family configurations and the actions they took in response to these needs through the lens of help-seeking theories. We used unique data from the 2016 Colombian Quality of Life Survey (QLS) to produce descriptive statistics on the legal needs of mothers in two-parent families and custodial mothers. We then conducted multivariate analyses to examine the factors associated with having a family issue and seeking institutional help. Custodial mothers were more likely than mothers in two-parent families to have reported any legal need, and to report a family legal issue. The most frequent legal issues related to the family were issues with child support, custody, and/or visitation. The most frequent action taken to resolve issues was through an institutional actor. Among custodial mothers, single, younger mothers and mothers with more children were more likely to experience family legal issues, but they were not the ones seeking institutional help-those mothers were often more socioeconomically advantaged. That more socioeconomically disadvantaged mothers are more likely to experience a family legal issue but less likely to seek institutional help, the most frequent route to action, calls for research that examines the barriers faced by these mothers and policies to improve their access to justice.

Brain changes following mindfulness: Reduced caudate volume is associated with decreased positive urgency.

Mindfulness training has been shown to improve psychological health and general well-being. However, it is unclear which brain and personality systems may be affected by this practice for improving adaptive behavior and quality of life. The present study explores the effects of a 5-week mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) at the neuroanatomical level and its relationship with dispositional mindfulness and impulsivity. Sixty-six risky drivers were quasi-randomly assigned to a mindfulness training group (MT) or a control group (N). Participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging and completed the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) and the UPPS-P impulsivity scale twice, at baseline and after receiving the MBI. We observed that MBI changes dispositional mindfulness in the non-reactivity and observing facets. Further, we observed that the magnitude of change in impulsivity was associated with the change in dispositional mindfulness. Whole-brain voxel-wise analysis revealed that the volume of the right caudate nucleus of the MT group (n = 27) showed a reduction compared to that of the control group (n = 33), which increased in terms of the pre-post measurement (MT=-1.76 mm3; N = 6.31 mm3). We also observed that reduced caudate nucleus volume correlated with decreased positive urgency in the MT group. Taken together, our results show that MBI improves the skills of observing and non-reactivity to inner experience, while producing changes in the structure of the caudate nucleus. These structural changes are associated with a reduction in impulsivity levels, decreasing the tendency to act rashly in situations that generate positive emotions and thus facilitating more adaptive behavior.

Efectos de algunos factores demográficos sobre el bienestar de las madres y sus hijos en Colombia / Effects of some demographic factors on the well-being of the mothers and its children in Colombia

Los resultados indican que la fecundidad adolescente tiene efectos negativos y estadísticamente significativos sobre la educación, la participación laboral y la estructura y el tamaño del hogar de las madres adolescentes.