Examining youth and caregiver reports of depression and anxiety in families seeking eating disorder treatment.

This study examines discrepancies between adolescent and caregiver reports of youth internalizing symptoms in families presenting for an initial eating disorder assessment. Initial diagnostic assessments of 49 adolescent-caregiver dyads seeking treatment at an urban pediatric hospital eating disorder clinic were utilized to examine differences between youth and caregiver reports of youth anxiety and depression symptoms. Caregivers reported significantly higher scores of major depression and generalized anxiety than adolescents (p=.000). Caregivers of youth with more severe ED symptoms exhibited more congruence with youth's own reports of their depression and anxiety. Our results suggest that agreement within families regarding comorbid psychological concerns may be beneficial in promoting treatment uptake for those who desire a reduction in depression and anxiety symptoms, regardless of motivation to change eating behaviors.

Sexist Attitudes Among Emerging Adult Women Readers of Fifty Shades Fiction.

Stereotypical sexist representations of men and women in popular culture reinforce rigid views of masculinity (e.g., males as being strong, in control, masterful, and aggressive) and femininity (e.g., women as being fragile and weak, unassertive, peaceful, irrational, and driven by emotions). The present study examined associations between the fictional series Fifty Shades-one popular culture mechanism that includes pervasive traditional gender role representations-and underlying sexist beliefs among a sample of 715 women ages 18-24 years. Analyses revealed associations between Fifty Shades readership and sexism, as measured through the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory. Namely women who reported reading Fifty Shades had higher levels of ambivalent, benevolent, and hostile sexism. Further, those who interpreted Fifty Shades as "romantic" had higher levels of ambivalent and benevolent sexism. Our findings support prior empirical studies noting associations between interacting with aspects of popular culture, such as television and video games, and individual beliefs and behaviors.

Migration and Marriage: Modeling the Joint Process.

BACKGROUND: Previous research on inter-relations between migration and marriage has relied on overly simplistic assumptions about the structure of dependency between the two events. However, there is good reason to posit that each of the two transitions has an impact on the likelihood of the other, and that unobserved common factors may affect both migration and marriage, leading to a distorted impression of the causal impact of one on the other. OBJECTIVE: We will investigate relationships between migration and marriage in the United States using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979. We allow for inter-dependency between the two events and examine whether unobserved common factors affect the estimates of both migration and marriage. METHODS: We estimate a multi-process model in which migration and marriage are considered simultaneously in regression analysis and there is allowance for correlation between disturbances; the latter feature accounts for possible endogeneity between shared unobserved determinants. The model also includes random effects for persons, exploiting the fact that many people experience both events multiple times throughout their lives. RESULTS: Unobserved factors appear to significantly influence both migration and marriage, resulting in upward bias in estimates of the effects of each on the other when these shared common factors are not accounted for. Estimates from the multi-process model indicate that marriage significantly increases the hazard of migration while migration does not affect the hazard of marriage. CONCLUSIONS: Omitting inter-dependency between life course events can lead to a mistaken impression of the direct effects of certain features of each event on the other.

The Shale Boom and Family Structure: Oil and Gas Employment Growth's Relationship to Marriage, Divorce, and Cohabitation.

Shale oil and gas extraction technology has caused a large shift in the United States energy landscape over the last decade. This has had a wide range of impacts on the mostly rural communities in which oil and gas extraction occurs. While many studies have focused on the economic and environmental impact of shale development, researchers have only begun to study the social changes brought on by shale resource extraction. We examine the influence of shale oil and gas employment as a share of overall county employment on county marriage, divorce, and cohabitation rates. We find evidence that oil and gas employment growth is associated with decreased marriage rates and increased divorce rates from 2009-2014. We test several channels through which oil and gas development may influence marriage behaviors and find that changes in female labor force participation, county sex ratios, and median household incomes are associated with oil and gas development. We also test for differences across the rural/urban continuum and find that our results are driven largely by nonmetro counties.

A Cohort Comparison of Predictors of Young Adult Union Formation and Dissolution in the US.

The theory of the second demographic transition argues that as educated Americans began valuing self-actualization and individual autonomy, delays in union formation spread through the US. The accelerated adulthood theory suggests that socioeconomic disadvantage distinguishes young adulthood such that those with fewer resources have shorter, more informal (i.e. cohabitation) unions, and those with more resources delay but achieve marriage and have greater union stability. We use two large, nationally representative samples of young adults collected about twenty years apart, the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth 1979 and 1997 cohorts to examine cohort differences in union formation and dissolution and test interaction effects in demographic and socioeconomic correlates. We found that the NLSY97 cohort 1) entered into unions earlier than the NLSY79 cohort, 2) entered direct marriage (marriage without premarital cohabitation) later than the NLSY79 cohort, and 3) entered cohabiting unions earlier than the NLSY79 cohort. A greater proportion of young adults in the NLSY97 cohort dissolved their first union between ages 16 and 30. We found that socioeconomically disadvantaged young adults had earlier unions by some indicators (e.g. lower maternal education) and later unions by other indicators (e.g. unemployment) in both cohorts. We also found that in both cohorts, socioeconomic disadvantage undermined union stability. We also found evidence for interaction effects; some indicators of socioeconomic disadvantage (e.g. income, employment, and maternal education) had exacerbated effects on union formation and stability in the NLSY97 as compared to the NLSY79 cohorts perhaps because inequality grew over the twenty years between cohorts.

Moving and union formation in the transition to adulthood in the United States.

Although previous research has paid attention to profound changes in union formation among young adults, few studies have incorporated moving events in the estimation of union formation. Moreover, less attention has been given to detailed moving experiences in young adults' life course. Using panel data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, we examine the relationship between moving and first union formation of young adults in the United States. Moving events are aggregated by distance moved, economic conditions in origin and destination places (i.e. moving within the same county, moving to new counties with better or the same economic conditions, and moving to new counties with worse economic conditions) and the time since a move. Our findings suggest that moving events, regardless of type, are significantly related to first union formation for females while the time since a move is important to union formation of males.

Exiting and Returning to the Parental Home for Boomerang Kids.

Young adults commonly exit from and return to the parental home, yet few studies have examined the motivation behind these exits and returns using a life course framework. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, the authors examined associations between mental health problems and economic characteristics and exits from (n = 8,162), and returns to (n = 6,530), the parental home during the transition to adulthood. The average age of the respondents was 24 years. The authors found evidence that mental health and economic characteristics were related to home leaving and returning. Emotional distress was associated with earlier exits from, and returns to, the parental home; alcohol problems were associated with earlier returns to the parental home. The findings regarding economic resources were unexpectedly mixed. Greater economic resources were linked to delayed exits from, and earlier returns to, the parental home. The implications of these findings for young adults are discussed.

Longitudinal Predictors of Homelessness: Findings from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-97.

Homeless youth represent a vulnerable and understudied population. Little research has prospectively identified factors that may place youth at risk for experiencing homelessness. The current study utilizes data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-97 (NLSY-97) to examine predictors of experiencing homelessness as a young adult (before age 25). The NLSY-97 includes a nationally representative sample of 8,984 youth. Data were first collected from these youth when they were between the ages of 12 to 18 years. The current study examined whether individual and family risk factors reported during adolescence predict homelessness by the age of 25. The findings showed that multiple runaway episodes, non-traditional family structure, lower educational attainment, and parental work limitations due to health increased the risk of homelessness. A permissive parenting style and being Hispanic protected against homelessness. This study offers unique insight into risk and protective factors for youth homelessness, and has important clinical implications.

Pathways from teacher depression and child-care quality to child behavioral problems.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the associations among teacher depression, global child-care quality, and child internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems in early child-care settings. METHOD: We analyzed data from 3-year-old children (N = 761) and their mothers, primarily of disadvantaged socioeconomic status in urban areas, in the late 1990s using the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. We also had data from the children's teachers, who reported their own depressed moods. Child behavioral problems were reported by both teachers and parents, and global environmental quality of child care was observed. Path analysis tested direct and indirect effects of teacher depression on children's behavioral problems via global child-care quality. RESULTS: Teacher depression was directly and indirectly linked to teacher-reported externalizing and internalizing problems through observed global child-care quality, whereas for parent-reported outcomes, teacher depression was only directly related to children's internalizing problems. CONCLUSIONS: Results of this study suggest that teachers' depressive symptoms can be a contributor to global environmental child-care quality and to child externalizing and internalizing behavioral problems. Practical implications are that programs and policies must take into account effects of teacher depression on child-care quality and young children's school readiness regarding behavioral problems. Future research should further explore these relationships.

Fiction or not? Fifty Shades is associated with health risks in adolescent and young adult females.

BACKGROUND: No prior study has empirically characterized the association between health risks and reading popular fiction depicting violence against women. Fifty Shades--a blockbuster fiction series--depicts pervasive violence against women, perpetuating a broader social narrative that normalizes these types of risks and behaviors in women's lives. The present study characterized the association between health risks in women who read and did not read Fifty Shades; while our cross-sectional study design precluded causal determinations, an empirical representation of the health risks in women consuming the problematic messages in Fifty Shades is made. METHODS: Females ages 18 to 24 (n=715), who were enrolled in a large Midwestern university, completed a cross-sectional online survey about their health behaviors and Fifty Shades' readership. The analysis included 655 females (219 who read at least the first Fifty Shades novel and 436 who did not read any part of Fifty Shades). Age- and race-adjusted multivariable models characterized Fifty Shades' readers and nonreaders on intimate partner violence victimization (experiencing physical, sexual and psychological abuse, including cyber-abuse, at some point during their lifetime); binge drinking (consuming five or more alcoholic beverages on six or more days in the last month); sexual practices (having five or more intercourse partners and/or one or more anal sex partner during their lifetime); and using diet aids or fasting for 24 or more hours at some point during their lifetime. RESULTS: One-third of subjects read Fifty Shades (18.6%, or 122/655, read all three novels, and 14.8%, or 97/655, read at least the first novel but not all three). In age- and race-adjusted models, compared with nonreaders, females who read at least the first novel (but not all three) were more likely than nonreaders to have had, during their lifetime, a partner who shouted, yelled, or swore at them (relative risk [RR]=1.25) and who delivered unwanted calls/text messages (RR=1.34); they were also more likely to report fasting (RR=1.80) and using diet aids (RR=1.77) at some point during their lifetime. Compared with nonreaders, females who read all three novels were more likely to report binge drinking in the last month (RR=1.65) and to report using diet aids (RR=1.65) and having five or more intercourse partners during their lifetime (RR=1.63). CONCLUSIONS: Problematic depictions of violence against women in popular culture-such as in film, novels, music, or pornography-create a broader social narrative that normalizes these risks and behaviors in women's lives. Our study showed strong correlations between health risks in women's lives-including violence victimization-and consumption of Fifty Shades, a fiction series that portrays violence against women. While our cross-sectional study cannot determine temporality, the order of the relationship may be inconsequential; for example, if women experienced adverse health behaviors first (e.g., disordered eating), reading Fifty Shades might reaffirm those experiences and potentially aggravate related trauma. Likewise, if women read Fifty Shades before experiencing the health behaviors assessed in our study, it is possible that the book influenced the onset of these behaviors by creating an underlying context for the behaviors.

Rethinking substance abuse treatment with sex workers: how does the capability approach inform practice?

Substance abuse treatment providers commonly provide services for men and women involved in sex work. Sex workers often present to treatment with a complicated array of challenges (M. L. Burnette et al., 2008a; D. C. Ling, W. C. W. Wong, E. A. Holroyd, & S. A. Grayson, 2007; M. Young, C. Boyd, & A. Hubbell, 2000), and, while many scholars have posited the need for adapted interventions for sex workers (L. Nuttbrock, A. Rosenblum, S. Magura, C. Villano, & J. Wallace, 2004; A. Weiner, 1996), there is still a lull in the development of comprehensive, tailored services for sex workers seeking substance abuse treatment (L. Nuttbrock et al., 2004). Augmenting this gap is the lack of a clear framework through which to understand the challenges that sex workers endure and how their challenges may differ from treatment-seeking non-sex workers. In order to address this gap, the current study explored the utility of a social justice framework, namely the Capability Approach, in predicting sex work involvement among a substance-abusing sample. We hypothesize that increased challenges to achieving capability will predict sex work involvement among a substance-abusing sample. Results suggest that the Capability Approach is a useful framework that can be used to differentiate between sex workers and their substance-abusing counterparts and that sex workers experience greater challenges to achieving capability. As such, the current findings support recent calls in the literature for the development of tailored services to meet the needs of this population.