Search

Drawing upon the developmental idealism framework (Thornton et al. Sociol Dev 1(2):69–112, 2015), this study examines the relationship between mother's marital status (formal versus informal) and the health and schooling of children in 27 developing nations. More specifically, we consider the role of couple characteristics and the spread of modern cultural values on the relationship between marital status and child well-being. Using the Demographic and Health Surveys of 27 less developed countries, we focus on five child outcomes: delivery by a skilled birth attendant, vaccinations, child nutritional status, child mortality, and school enrollment. We find that child health and educational outcomes are positive when mothers are in informal unions, but that this benefit is largely explained by individual characteristics, as well as the community context. We conclude that both couple characteristics and trends toward greater choice and equality in family life account for the positive association between informal unions and child well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the association of subjective and objective community contextual factors with stigma of mental illness in a sample of users of community mental health services centers in South Korea. Five hundred thirty-two persons with MI were surveyed on perceived stigma and experienced stigma, and on two subjective measures of community characteristics-perceived disorder and perceived collective efficacy of their neighborhood. Objective community indicators at the neighborhood level were collected from a government administrative data base. Multilevel statistical analysis was conducted to identify the effects of individual-level characteristics and community-level objective indicators on stigma. Perceived neighborhood disorder was associated with both perceived stigma and experienced stigma. Perceived collective efficacy was associated with perceived stigma but not experienced stigma. The proportion of persons with disabilities in the neighborhood, an objective community indicator, was associated with experienced stigma. Mental health practitioners and policy planners need to examine the relevance of neighborhood characteristics in the design of policy and practice interventions in order to enhance the social inclusion of persons with MI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this research was to examine associations among sociodemographic factors, HIV risk, and community context (e.g., economic insecurity, job training, housing instability, crime victimization, and perceived community norms) in adolescents and young adults who ever exchanged sex for drugs or money. Anonymous survey data were collected using ACASIs at community venues where adolescents and young adults congregate in resource-challenged, STI prevalent, urban, US neighborhoods. Conventional descriptive statistics, Fisher's exact tests, and generalized estimating equations approaches were used to examine associations. Participants (1818, 95.5 % of those screened eligible) were, on average, aged 21.0 years; 42.2 % were males, and 4.6 % were transgender. Almost one-third (32.1 %) identified as gay or lesbian, 18.1 % identified as bisexual; 66.2 % were Black and 21.0 % were Hispanic; 1.3 % was 'living on the street'. A sizeable proportion reported HIV-related risk: 16.3 % exchanged sex, 12.6 % had sex with someone they knew to be HIV-infected, 7.8 % had sex with someone who injected drugs, and 1.3 % injected drugs. Multivariate comparisons identified a number of variables (e.g., being male or transgender, homelessness, sex with a partner who has HIV, STI history, unemployment, job training access, housing instability, crime victimization, perceived community norms) that were significantly associated with exchange of sex ( p < 0.05). This research contributes to the knowledge-base regarding exchange of sex among adolescents and young adults, particularly as it relates to community context. Longitudinal studies to describe the trajectory of social, health, and physical risks and consequences are needed for development of effective evidence-based prevention strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, social networks have become the most prevalent IT paradigm, as the vast majority of Internet users maintain one or multiple social networking accounts. These accounts, irrespectively of the underlying service, contain rich information and data for the owner's preferences, social skills, everyday activities, beliefs and interests. Along with these services, the computation, sensing and networking capabilities of the state of the art mobile and portable devices, with their always-on mode, assist users in their everyday lives. Thus, the integration of social networking services with current pervasive computing systems could provide the users with the potential to interact with other users that have similar interests, preferences and expectations; and in general, the same or similar context, for limited or not time periods, in order to ameliorate their overall experience, communicate, socialise and improve their everyday activities with minimal effort. This paper introduces a cross-community context management framework that is suitable for Cooperating Smart Spaces, which couple the advantages of pervasive computing and social networking. This framework goes beyond the state of the art, among others, in that cross-community context from a multitude of sources is collected and processed to enhance the end user experience and increase the perceived value of the services provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Florivores are present in many pollination systems and can have direct and indirect effects on both plants and pollinators. Although the impact of florivores are commonly examined in facultative pollination mutualisms, their effects on obligate mutualism remain relatively unstudied. Here, we used experimental manipulations and surveys of naturally occurring plants to assess the effect of florivory on the obligate pollination mutualism between yuccas and yucca moths. Yucca filamentosa (Agavaceae) is pollinated by the moth Tegeticula cassandra (Lepidoptera: Prodoxidae), and the mutualism also attracts two florivores: a generalist, the leaf-footed bug Leptoglossus phyllopus (Hemiptera: Coreidae), and a specialist, the beetle Hymenorus densus (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae). Experimental manipulations of leaf-footed bug densities on side branches of Y. filamentosa inflorescences demonstrated that feeding causes floral abscission but does not reduce pollen or seed production in the remaining flowers. Similar to the leaf-footed bugs, experimental manipulations of beetle densities within individual flowers demonstrated that beetle feeding also causes floral abscission, but, in addition, the beetles also cause a significant reduction in pollen availability. Path analyses of phenotypic selection based on surveys of naturally occurring plants revealed temporal variation in the plant traits important to plant fitness and the effects of the florivores on fitness. Leaf-footed bugs negatively impacted fitness when fewer plants were flowering and leaf-footed bug density was high, whereas beetles had a positive effect on fitness when there were many plants flowering and their densities were low. This positive effect was likely due to adult beetles consuming yucca moth eggs while having a negligible effect on floral abscission. Together, the actions of both florivores either augmented the relationship of plant traits and fitness or slightly weakened the relationship. Overall, the results suggest that, although florivores are always present during flowering, the impact of florivores on phenotypic selection in yuccas is strongly mitigated by changes in their densities on plants from year to year. In contrast, both florivores consistently influenced pollinator larval mortality through floral abscission, and H. densus beetles additionally via the consumption of pollinator eggs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the declining rate of teen pregnancies in the United States, academic and public health experts have expressed concern over the still relatively high rate of rapid repeat pregnancies among adolescents, particularly among minority youth. Using a sample of over 300 African American female adolescents, the current study used insights from the prototype/willingness model of adolescent risk behavior to explore this risk. More specifically, it assessed the relationship between entry into unwed motherhood during mid-to-late adolescence and changes in prototypes of unmarried pregnant teens. Further, it explored the extent to which these changing prototypes accounted for young mothers’ later contraceptive expectations. We tested the possibility that social images were affected not only by personal experience (the birth of a child) but also by the family and community context in which this experience took place. The findings show that the early entrance into teen motherhood was associated with a shift toward more favorable prototypes of unwed pregnant teens, but that this was only the case for young mothers in disadvantaged contexts. Given this, prototype changes helped to explain the link between teen motherhood and contraceptive expectations only for those in disadvantaged contexts. We discuss these findings in terms of their practical and theoretical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines Hispanic formal volunteering and the cultural, social, and community context factors that affect their decision to volunteer. Using data from three surveys in the United States, the study finds that religious attendance, cultural background, and education are the most consistent and significant predictors of Hispanic formal volunteering. Religious attendance has a stronger positive impact on Hispanic volunteering than on non-Hispanics. The impacts of income, social resources, and community characteristics on Hispanics' volunteering vary by surveys. Secular organizations serving children and youth and religious organizations are the favorite organizations for Hispanic volunteers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the manner in which Jewish community contexts relate to Jewish identity. We employ the Decade 2000 Data Set that contains almost 20,000 randomly selected Jewish households from 22 American Jewish communities interviewed from 2000 to 2010. Because of the large sample size, and its incorporation of community infrastructure data, this research also is able to examine various influences on Jewish identity that have not been definitively addressed in previous research, including the manner in which characteristics of Jewish community infrastructure are related to individuals' Jewish identity. The Decade 2000 Data Set used for the analysis is described and some of the methodological considerations involved in its use are presented. Jewish identity is conceptualized as multidimensional, and a factor analysis results in four Jewish identity factors: a communal religious factor, a private religious factor, a broader ethnic factor, and a local ethnic factor. Multiple regressions for each of the Jewish identity factors are related to Jewish community characteristics; more commonly researched individual-level variables (Jewish background and connections, family status, socioeconomic status, demographic/geographic characteristics); and survey-level variables (such as size of sample and year of study) are also controlled. Surprisingly, except for the local ethnic factor, Jewish community characteristics have little relationship to individual Jewish identity. The contributions to a 'sociology of Jewish place' and suggestions for further research are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Competition is a ubiquitous factor in natural populations and has been reported to alter the ecological impact of xenobiotics. We investigated conditions that mirror the natural variation of environmental factors. For this, different treatments were applied to 96 outdoor pond microcosms by shading the ponds and harvesting the communities. Then, the effect of esfenvalerate (0.03, 0.3, and 3 μg/L) on populations of Daphnia spp. was investigated. The pesticide effect and the sensitivity of Daphnia spp. in the context of a zooplankton community was increased by intraspecific competition 11 days after contamination. This relationship was most pronounced at 0.03 and 0.3 μg/L esfenvalerate, which were the concentrations that led to partial mortality. In contrast, interspecific interaction did not significantly alter the effect of the toxicant on Daphnia spp. Modelled concentration-response curves showed that the negative effects of the pesticide differed by a factor of up to 100 depending on the strength of intraspecific competition. In addition, a wider range of concentrations led to negative effects at high levels of intraspecific competition than at low levels. We argue that increased intraspecific competition reduces the availability of resources at the individual level and thereby increases the effect of contaminants. This knowledge about the interaction between competition and the response to toxicants is important in assessing the effects of these factors under field conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unintended pregnancy impacts both maternal and child health. International studies continue to emphasize the importance of reproductive health in the context of community. Only a few researchers have explored the impact of community factors on pregnancy intention using population-based surveys. This issue is of particular importance for women of low socioeconomic status in developing countries, where unintended fertility rates remain relatively high. Using the 1998 ( n = 6,849) and 2003 ( n = 6,773) Demographic and Health Surveys in the Philippines, we employed multilevel logistic models to explore whether community factors are associated with pregnancy intention among these women. The results showed community social capital, comprised of community-related variables, significantly predicted women's pregnancy intention, even after controlling for women's socioeconomic status, individual background factors, and spousal characteristics. The relationship between pregnancy intention and selected variables associated with community social capital, however, was not consistent across the two surveys. Community context, in general, has a significant influence on women's pregnancy intention. Specific components of the community context vary in their associations with pregnancy intention over time. In addition, differences in pregnancy intention may explain individual-level social disparities between communities. These findings suggest population health policies designed to promote maternal and child health must be context-specific. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Xenobiotics alter the balance of competition between species and induce shifts in community composition. However, little is known about how these alterations affect the recovery of sensitive taxa. We exposed zooplankton communities to esfenvalerate (0.03, 0.3, and 3 μg/L) in outdoor microcosms and investigated the long-term effects on populations of Daphnia spp. To cover a broad and realistic range of environmental conditions, we established 96 microcosms with different treatments of shading and periodic harvesting. Populations of Daphnia spp. decreased in abundance for more than 8 weeks after contamination at 0.3 and 3 μg/L esfenvalerate. The period required for recovery at 0.3 and 3 μg/L was more than eight and three times longer, respectively, than the recovery period that was predicted on the basis of the life cycle of Daphnia spp. without considering the environmental context. We found that the recovery of sensitive Daphnia spp. populations depended on the initial pesticide survival and the related increase of less sensitive, competing taxa. We assert that this increase in the abundance of competing species, as well as sub-lethal effects of esfenvalerate, caused the unexpectedly prolonged effects of esfenvalerate on populations of Daphnia spp. We conclude that assessing biotic interactions is essential to understand and hence predict the effects and recovery from toxicant stress in communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the effects of neighborhood context on juvenile recidivism to determine if neighborhoods influence the likelihood of reoffending. Although a large body of literature exists regarding the impact of environmental factors on delinquency, very little is known about the effects of these factors on juvenile recidivism. The sample analyzed includes 7,061 delinquent male juveniles committed to community-based programs in Philadelphia, of which 74% are Black, 13% Hispanic, and 11% White. Since sample youths were nested in neighborhoods, a hierarchical generalized linear model was employed to predict recidivism across three general categories of recidivism offenses: drug, violent, and property. Results indicate that predictors vary across the types of offenses and that drug offending differs from property and violent offending. Neighborhood-level factors were found to influence drug offense recidivism, but were not significant predictors of violent offenses, property offenses, or an aggregated recidivism measure, despite contrary expectations. Implications stemming from the finding that neighborhood context influences only juvenile drug recidivism are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The socioeconomic and environmental features of local places (community context) influence the relationship between humans and their physical environment. In times of environmental disturbance, this community context is expected to influence human perceptual and behavioral responses. Residents from nine Colorado communities experiencing a large outbreak of mountain pine beetles ( Dendroctonus ponderosae) were surveyed in 2007. Multiple analytic methods including ordinary least squares regression and multilevel modeling techniques were used to evaluate a community-context conceptual model of factors influencing individual actions in response to forest disturbance by beetles. Results indicated that community biophysical and socioeconomic characteristics had important impacts on participation in beetle-related actions and influenced the relationships of individual-level variables in the conceptual model with beetle-related activities. Our findings have implications for natural resource management and policy related to forest disturbances, and for developing a methodology appropriate to measure the general community context of human-environment interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study examines new socio-ecological variables reflecting community context as predictors of mammography use.Methods: The conceptual model is a hybrid of traditional health-behavioral and socio-ecological constructs with an emphasis on spatial interaction among women and their environments, differentiating between several levels of influence for community context. Multilevel probability models of mammography use are estimated. The study sample includes 70,129 women with traditional Medicare fee-for-service coverage for inpatient and outpatient services, drawn from the SEER-Medicare linked data. The study population lives in heterogeneous California, where mammography facilities are dense but utilization rates are low.Results: Several contextual effects have large significant impacts on the probability of mammography use. Women living in areas with higher proportions of elderly in poverty are 33% less likely to use mammography. However, dually eligible women living in these poor areas are 2% more likely to use mammography than those without extra assistance living in these areas. Living in areas with higher commuter intensity, higher violent crime rates, greater land use mix (urbanicity), or more segregated Hispanic communities exhibit -14%, -1%, -6%, and -3% (lower) probability of use, respectively. Women living in segregated American Indian communities or in communities where more elderly women live alone exhibit 16% and 12% (higher) probability of use, respectively. Minority women living in more segregated communities by their minority are more likely to use mammography, suggesting social support, but this is significant for Native Americans only. Women with disability as their original reason for entitlement are found 40% more likely to use mammography when they reside in communities with high commuter intensity, suggesting greater ease of transportation for them in these environments.Conclusions: Socio-ecological variables reflecting community context are important predictors of mammography use in insured elderly populations, often with larger magnitudes of effect than personal characteristics such as race or ethnicity (-3% to -7%), age (-2%), recent address change (-7%), disability (-5%) or dual eligibility status (-1%). Better understanding of community factors can enhance cancer control efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of community context on occupational aspirations are examined in a national sample of young women in high school in the USA in 1979 ( n = 2,210). Multilevel statistical models indicate that young women living in counties with a lower divorce rate, a lower percentage of women working, and more people employed in the wholesale and retail industrial sector tended to be less likely to aspire to paid work than young women living in areas with a higher divorce rate, a higher percentage of women working, and fewer people employed in the wholesale and retail industrial sector. Community context does not affect the level of young women’s occupational aspirations as predicted by prior scholarship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A number of models have been proposed to explain the relationship between family structure and adolescent problem behaviors, including several that consider parent-child relations, family income, stress, and residential mobility. However, studies have not explored whether the different types of communities within which families reside affect the association between family structure and problem behaviors. A community context model also suggests that the relationship between family structure and problem behaviors may be conditioned by community characteristics. The results of a multilevel regression model that used data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study (NELS; n = 10,286) indicated that adolescents from homes with a recently divorced mother, a mother and stepfather, a single mother, or a single father reported more problem behaviors regardless of the community context. Moreover, adolescents living in communities with a high proportion of impoverished residents, female headed households, or jobless males reported more problem behaviors irrespective of family structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yucca moths are most well known for their obligate pollination mutualism with yuccas, where pollinator moths provide yuccas with pollen and, in exchange, the moth larvae feed on a subset of the developing yucca seeds. The pollinators, however, comprise only two of the three genera of yucca moths. Members of the third genus, Prodoxus, are the “bogus yucca moths” and are sister to the pollinator moths. Adult Prodoxus lack the specialized mouthparts used for pollination and the larvae feed on plant tissues other than seeds. Prodoxus larvae feed within the same plants as pollinator larvae and have the potential to influence yucca reproductive success directly by drawing resources away from flowers and fruit, or indirectly by modifying the costs of the mutualism with pollinators. We examined the interaction between the scape-feeding bogus yucca moth, Prodoxus decipiens, and one of its yucca hosts, Yucca filamentosa, by comparing female reproductive success of plants with and without moth larvae. We determined reproductive success by measuring a set of common reproductive traits such as flowering characteristics, seed set, and seed germination. In addition, we also quantified the percent total nitrogen in the seeds to determine whether the presence of larvae could potentially reduce seed quality. Flowering characteristics, seed set, and seed germination were not significantly different between plants with and without bogus yucca moth larvae. In contrast, the percent total nitrogen content of seeds was significantly lower in plants with P. decipiens larvae, and nitrogen content was negatively correlated with the number of larvae feeding within the inflorescence scape. Surveys of percent total nitrogen at three time periods during the flowering and fruiting of Y. filamentosa also showed that larval feeding decreased the amount of nitrogen in fruit tissue. Taken together, the results suggest that although P. decipiens influences nitrogen distribution in Y. filamentosa, this physiological effect does not appear to impact the female components of reproductive success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]