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This study investigates the role of multidimensional contextual factors on the perceived effectiveness of community coalitions engaged in the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) for addressing substance misuse. We introduced and validated an instrument for assessing a broad range of contextual factors for coalition development and program implementation. This research also scrutinizes how contextual factors impact coalition effectiveness, considering internal capacity indicators as mediators. Data were sourced from 295 and 297 coalition members across 2015 and 2016, respectively, involved in SPF initiatives within a northeastern state in the United States. Our analysis identifies three critical dimensions of contextual factors – collaboration and resources, politics, and demographics and norms – that significantly affect the perceived management and program effectiveness through different mechanisms. The findings underline the importance of prevention coalitions to comprehensively assess community contexts and strategically address contextual challenges to enhance their impact on substance misuse prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Canadian Family-Friendly Community Resources for Better Balance, Health, and Well-Being study (FFCR) is the first study in North America to comprehensively examine the impact of regional community context on work-family conflict, health, and wellbeing. The study was designed to collate data from disparate sources on a variety of community characteristics across Canada over time, including education services, food stores, recreational facilities, religious organizations, police, and fire protection services, for example. These data were then linked to individual-level data from the Canadian Work, Stress and Health study – a longitudinal national sample of Canadians across a myriad of work and family circumstances. These data are more comprehensive than any other dataset attempting to link work, family, and community data. We situate our contribution of the FFCR in literature on 'work-family conflict', which is defined as the incompatibility between role obligations. Context-level data were compiled at years corresponding to the individual-level data (2011–2019). Using multilevel analyses based on both cross-sectional and longitudinal data, we find that that resources, like the prevalence of food stores, education resources, recreation facilities, and public safety outlets are negatively associated with residents' work-family conflict levels. However, these findings are more pronounced across a combination of FFCR overtime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research Summary: Juvenile justice agencies are increasing their emphasis on early intervention and prevention services as a growing body of research evinces their effectiveness and cost efficiency. The present study analyzed the relationship between individual risk factors, contextual risk factors, and future juvenile justice involvement for 30,328 Florida youth residing in 3309 census tracts served by prevention programs. A series of two‐level logistic regressions indicated that several distinct criminological domains (e.g., aggression, relationships, family, substance use, and attitudes/behaviors) predict future juvenile justice system involvement. However, education‐related risk factors are among the most consequential for all youth, especially older youth. Concerning community context, neighborhood disadvantage directly affects system involvement, but only for youth under 12. Policy Implications: These findings indicate the importance of addressing highly consequential risk factors—especially educational deficits—of youth in early intervention and prevention programs while also recognizing the impact of their social environments. Agencies attempting to work upstream with prevention services may benefit from prioritizing educational services and allocating resources to highly disadvantaged communities for early intervention programming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence of geographic variation in child maltreatment report rates among Latine families is growing. This study investigates whether structural community characteristics, namely rurality and Latine ethnic density, associate with variation in Latine child maltreatment rates across 925 US counties. Using ten years of cross-sectional data from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS), ACS and USDA, OLS regression models examined rurality and Latine density's association with child maltreatment report and substantiation rates. Rurality associated with increased maltreatment rates; however, Latine ethnic density buffered this across most maltreatment subtypes. Results highlight a complex interaction between ethnicity, rurality, and maltreatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To measure the independent consequences of community‐level armed conflict beatings on alcohol use disorders (AUD) among males in Nepal during and after the 2000–2006 conflict. Design: A population‐representative panel study from Nepal, with precise measures of community‐level violent events and subsequent individual‐level AUD in males. Females were not included because of low AUD prevalence. Setting: Chitwan, Nepal. Participants: Four thousand eight hundred seventy‐six males from 151 neighborhoods, systematically selected and representative of Western Chitwan. All residents aged 15–59 were eligible (response rate 93%). Measurements Measures of beatings in the community during the conflict (2000–2006), including the date and distance away, were gathered through neighborhood reports, geo‐location and official resources, then linked to respondents' life histories of AUD (collected in 2016–2018) using the Nepal‐specific Composite International Diagnostic Interview with life history calendar. Beatings nearby predict the subsequent onset of AUD during and after the armed conflict. Data were analyzed in 2021–2022. Findings Cohort‐specific, discrete‐time models revealed that within the youngest cohort (born 1992–2001), those living in neighborhoods where armed conflict beatings occurred were more likely to develop AUD compared with those in other neighborhoods (odds ratio = 1.66; 95% confidence interval = 1.02–2.71). In this cohort, a multilevel matching analysis designed to simulate a randomized trial showed the post‐conflict incidence of AUD for those living in neighborhoods with any armed conflict beatings was 9.5% compared with 5.3% in the matched sample with no beatings. Conclusions: Among male children living in Chitwan, Nepal during the 2000–2006 armed conflict, living in a neighborhood where armed conflict beatings occurred is associated with increased odds of developing subsequent alcohol use disorder. This association was independent of personal exposure to beatings and other mental disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In the wake of school board protests nationwide, it is essential for educational leaders, policymakers, and researchers to understand locally controlled educational governance. The stability of educational districts depends on superintendents navigating relationships with their school boards, yet little research exists that addresses board–superintendent relationships in locally controlled districts. Using theories of local will and capacity, and community power relationships, I examine what factors shape the extent of local control enacted by school boards, and how these factors affect superintendent–school board relations. Research Methods: The qualitative case study design is bounded as one multi-district union superintendent and three rural school boards. Data collection included semistructured interviews, ethnographic observations, and document collection to understand the relational dynamics of local control. Data analysis included in vivo and a priori coding, and the development of analytic matrices. Findings: All boards demonstrated local will and some local capacity, which explained the dimensions of enactment of local control. Rural board capacity—tenure, expertise, and residency of board members—influenced the extent of local control. Cross-case analysis revealed a relationship between board capacity, community capacity, and board–superintendent relationships. These patterns are theorized as local control school board–superintendent relationships typology, based on board capacity and local community capacity. The relationships include role contestation, confusion, collaboration, and dependence. Implications for Research and Practice: The study expands the theory of local capacity to include community and board dimensions and describes the complexities of superintendent–board relationships. The study concludes with recommendations for practice, policy, and research on locally controlled school boards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is complex. In a low middle income country, like South Africa, early recognition of ASD rarely occurs on the primary health care (PHC) platform. To mitigate late diagnosis of ASD, which has a poorer prognosis, the purpose of this study was to identify the knowledge and clinical competencies required by inexperienced occupational therapists to improve early detection of and service delivery for children with ASD at the PHC level. Methods: A descriptive qualitative design explored the perceptions of occupational therapy experts as to the required knowledge and clinical competencies necessary for inexperienced occupational therapists to deliver services to children with ASD on the PHC platform. Thematic inductive analysis was used to analyse the data. Findings: Two themes emerged: Theme one: the perceived critical knowledge for early identification, assessment and treatment of children with ASD. Theme two: the clinical competencies required for assessment and effective treatment of children with ASD on the PHC level. Conclusion: This study identified the perceived knowledge and clinical competencies needed to improve early identification and service communitybased delivery for children with ASD on the PHC platform by early career occupational therapists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children of Mexican origin are under-enrolled in early childhood education programs relative to Black and White children, which is problematic given the potential benefits of early childhood education. o better understand this under-enrollment in ways that can inform efforts to change it in the future, this study examined how utilization of early care and education programs varied among Mexican-origin families according to the community contexts where they lived. Integrating data on Mexican-origin children in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study- Birth Cohort (n = 1,100) with community data from the U.S. Census Bureau, logistic regressions revealed that the odds of enrollment in early care and education programs among Mexican-origin children increased as the supply of childcare centers in their counties increased. Holding childcare center supply constant, their enrollment also increased as the percent of co-ethnic Latinos/as in the county increased, especially for children from the least acculturated Mexican-origin families. Overall, these results suggest that ethnic enclaves might link Mexican-origin families to early childhood care and education programs for their children and that this role might be most important for families least likely to be connected to U.S. institutions.

This study investigated the extent and the nature of the behavioural and psychological control experienced by adolescents within four contexts (parental, peer, school, and community) of their everyday lives. The adolescents (n = 463; female = 52.5%, black African = 69.3%; mean age = 15.69 years, SD = 2.86 years) were from six public high schools in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. The participants completed adapted versions of the Parents' Psychological Control Scale and the Peer Control Scale. Multivariate analyses of variance revealed that in the school and community contexts, early adolescents and female participants experienced significantly higher levels of control than older adolescents and male participants. Female early adolescents experienced significantly higher levels of control (school behavioural control, community behavioural control, and community psychological control) specific to the school contexts which was in the form of psychological control. Findings of this study can inform community mentors and school counsellors of the important psychological and behavioural impact that community norms and school values have on how adolescents experience their social worlds and negotiate the boundaries of various social systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescents who experience community violence are exposed to toxic stressors at a critical period of growth and development. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between community violence exposure and stress reactivity in African American and non-Latino white adolescents with overweight/obesity. Fifty-one adolescents (47% female, 55% African American; aged 14–19) participated in this study. Community violence was assessed using the Survey of Children's Exposure to Community Violence. Stress reactivity was assessed via salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase area under the curve (AUC) during a Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). Race was a significant predictor of alpha-amylase reactivity (β = 10740±3665, p = 0.0006), with a higher alpha-amylase AUC observed in African American compared to non-Latino white adolescents. There was also a significant difference in the relationship between community violence exposure and alpha-amylase AUC by race (β = −3561±1226, p = 0.007). At similar increases in violence exposure, African Americans demonstrated a significant decline in alpha-amylase AUC while non-Latino whites demonstrated a significant increase in alpha-amylase AUC. Neither race nor violence exposure were significant predictors of cortisol AUC and there were no significant differences in the relationship between community violence exposure and cortisol AUC by race (all p 's >.05). These preliminary findings suggest exposure to community violence may act to exacerbate autonomic dysregulation in African American adolescents with overweight/obesity. Longitudinal studies are needed to confirm the mechanisms by which community violence exposure differentially impacts stress responses by race. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public perceptions of police legitimacy and effectiveness have been challenged by recent high-profile use of fatal force incidents by the police. Prior scholarship suggests that that controversial incidents involving police use of force can engender distrust of the police. Further, the neighborhood effects literature has demonstrated the importance of community context for police-community relationships and differential responses to controversial incidents by neighborhoods. The current study assesses how communities of varying racial compositions and levels of economic disadvantage respond to police fatal force incidents by assessing neighborhood crime reporting behaviors. Using monthly 911 call data from Los Angeles, CA neighborhoods, this study explores this relationship with a series of fixed effects negative binomial regression models that model police homicides and crime reporting over a seven-year time period. Comparisons between neighborhoods of varying racial/ethnic composition and structural conditions permit the comparison of differential responses across neighborhood context. The results indicate that neighborhood crime reporting decreases following fatal police use of force incidents. Further, these responses varied across neighborhood contexts. Predominately Hispanic neighborhoods experienced greater declines in crime reporting compared to predominately White neighborhoods. Neighborhoods characterized by high levels of concentrated disadvantaged also experienced greater reductions in crime reporting compared to their more advantaged counterparts. Utilization of the formal legal system can be challenged by controversial police incidents; however, these effects are dependent on neighborhood context. Future research should explore how spatial proximity and media portrayal of incidents influence community responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Police use of deadly force represents a pressing public policy issue with implications for police-community relationships and equitable access to justice. A growing body of literature considering the structural factors influencing officers' exposure to potential violence suggests that context plays a pivotal role in officer use of deadly force. This study explores how local gun ownership rates impact fatal police shootings for a national sample of large law enforcement agencies. Two-level negative binomial regression models examine the organizational and contextual correlates of fatal police shootings from 2014 to 2018, nesting 758 law enforcement agencies within 408 counties. Results indicate that agencies operating within areas characterized by high rates of violent crime and gun ownership were involved in more fatal police shootings. The findings underscore the importance of contextual cues of danger that police officers respond to during fatal police shootings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on relevance of race and community context for police shooting mortality is underdeveloped. We collected data on 623 police-involved shootings in the state of Texas to examine which incident- and county-level factors are associated with shooting outcomes. In doing so, we incorporate a novel incident-level variable: distance from incident to trauma hospitals. Results from hierarchical linear models suggest that the lethality of police-involved shootings is positively correlated with the number of officers and citizen possession a deadly weapon. Additional models indicate that community violent crime rates are the only contextual factor associated with both fatal and non-fatal shootings. [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

Introduction: This study aimed to explore the experience of family carer groups caring for individuals with intellectual disabilities (IDs) in the community contexts of Northeastern Thailand. Materials and Methods: We applied a focused ethnography method with a purposive sampling technique to conduct 35 in-depth interviews (of 14 individuals with IDs, 12 caregiving parents and nine disability group leaders, respectively), which were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim, then translated from Thai to English. We used content analysis to code the interviews and develop themes. To evaluate the reliability of the coding attempt, we employed data triangulation techniques. Results: Family carer groups seemed to provide benefit to people with IDs and their families by offering support related to information records, the recovery of health and occupational skills development. Conclusion: Family carer groups are an integral part of efforts to support people with IDs. Notably, these groups may facilitate the early formation of long-term parent carer plans, which can better optimise the care and health outcomes of people with IDs in Thailand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Income disparities in children's academic and behavioral skills have grown larger over the past 50 years. At the same time, economic segregation across communities has increased, raising questions regarding the role of community factors in explaining income gaps in children's functioning. Combining geospatial data with longitudinal survey data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort of 2010–2011, an ethnically diverse, nationally representative sample of kindergarteners (N ≈ 17,600), this project explored how differences in community- and family-level resources and stressors help to explain family income gaps in achievement, executive functioning, and externalizing behaviors in third grade (age 9). Family income had small to medium associations with more community resources and fewer community stressors, which in turn exhibited small associations with parenting practices. These relations helped explain income gaps in children's functioning. Results have implications for researchers and practitioners focused on narrowing economic skills gaps as well as housing and community planning efforts designed to foster children's positive development. Educational Impact and Implications Statement: Communities are becoming increasingly segregated by household income, raising questions regarding the role of community factors in explaining income gaps in children's functioning. This project used geospatial data to explore how differences in community- and family-level resources and stressors help to explain income gaps in achievement, executive functioning, and externalizing behaviors in third grade (age 9). Family income was associated with more community resources and fewer community stressors. These community factors, both directly and through their links to parenting, partially explained income gaps in children's functioning. These findings are useful for researchers and educators aiming to narrow skills gaps related to family income as well as housing and community planners working with low-income families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The loss of biodiversity is altering the structure of ecological networks; however, we are currently in a poor position to predict how these altered communities will affect the evolution of remaining populations. Theory on fitness landscapes provides a framework for predicting how selection alters the evolutionary trajectory and adaptive potential of populations, but often treats the network of interacting populations as a "black box." Here, we integrate ecological networks and fitness landscapes to examine how changes in food‐web structure shape phenotypic evolution. We conducted a field experiment that removed a guild of larval parasitoids that imposed direct and indirect selection pressures on an insect herbivore. We then measured herbivore survival as a function of three key phenotypic traits to estimate directional, quadratic, and correlational selection gradients in each treatment. We used these selection gradients to characterize the slope and curvature of the fitness landscape to understand the direct and indirect effects of consumer loss on phenotypic evolution. We found that the number of traits under directional selection increased with the removal of larval parasitoids, indicating evolution was more constrained toward a specific combination of traits. Similarly, we found that the removal of larval parasitoids altered the curvature of the fitness landscape in such a way that tended to decrease the evolvability of the traits we measured in the next generation. Our results suggest that the loss of trophic interactions can impose greater constraints on phenotypic evolution. This indicates that the simplification of ecological communities may constrain the adaptive potential of remaining populations to future environmental change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Premise of research. Staggered flowering phenologies among co-occurring species have often been interpreted as the product of competition for pollination, but interspecific flowering time differences could result from facilitative, neutral, or competitive interactions. The consequences of interspecific differences in flowering time may vary with the density and species composition of a community. Methodology. To determine whether staggered flowering times are adaptive in communities of Clarkia (Onagraceae) in the Kern River Canyon (Kern County, CA), we used potted plants to manipulate the flowering time of two species of Clarkia (C. speciosa and C. xantiana) that flower later than two other species of Clarkia. To determine whether the consequences of flowering time differences change with community context, we conducted this experiment at three types of communities that contained either zero Clarkia species (blank communities), the early-flowering species, or the early-flowering species and one late-flowering focal species (mixed communities). Pivotal results. Clarkia speciosa set an equivalent amount of seeds across all community types and both flowering periods. In contrast, seed set of C. xantiana was higher during the early-flowering period in all community types. Pollinator visitation to C. speciosa was highest in early-flowering Clarkia communities, while visitation to C. xantiana did not vary across flowering periods or community types. Across communities and flowering periods, seed set of C. xantiana was positively correlated with site floral density. Conclusions. Flowering later is not adaptive for C. xantiana , while flowering time may have no effect on the reproductive success of C. speciosa. These patterns indicate that later flowering in both species is likely not a result of interspecific competition for pollinators and may result from non-pollinator-mediated selection. In addition, our results indicate that the density of a community can affect the ecological consequences of a flowering strategy and, by extension, the evolution of flowering phenology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine how the densities of adult and juvenile drug offenders within neighborhoods might be linked to the odds of juvenile recidivism due to drug sales and drug possession. To do so, we analyze a dataset of 5,528 juvenile offenders adjudicated in Philadelphia's Family Court between 1996 and 2004 using multilevel models to estimate the effects of both individual- and neighborhood-level indicators on the odds of recidivism. The results indicate that community context is significantly related to the odds of juvenile recidivism due to drug sales, but not due to drug possession. Neighborhood levels of adult and juvenile drug offender densities are also shown to moderate the links between individual-level characteristics and the odds of juvenile drug sales recidivism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite a strong empirical base linking community context and proximity to resources to individual health care access, studies examining predictors of sexual assault survivor time until presentation for medical care have not yet examined these relationships. This study addresses this gap. The data included retrospective records on a sample of 1,630 female survivors who reported their sexual assault to law enforcement and were subsequently seen by a sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE) in one of eight Alaskan communities between the years 1996 and 2006. Logistic regression models were used to determine whether delays in presentation (presentation 12 hr or more after assault) differed for women presenting in unique communities (rural location), and between those whose assault and exam occurred in different communities versus occurring in the same community (relative location). Although rural location did not seem to have a unique impact on time until presentation, differing locations (i.e., relative location) of assaults and exams increased the likelihood of delays in presentation. Non-American Indian/Alaska Native race/ethnicity and knowing one's assailant(s) also increased the likelihood of delays. These results indicate that in addition to a need for further research, there is a need for more appropriate and reliable sexual assault medical services across communities, and that survivors assaulted by known assailants should be targeted in efforts to reduce time until presentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the importance of examining how adolescents and young adults contribute solutions to society's pressing problems, gaps in the literature leave unanswered the question of how young people become politically engaged. Research suggests that youth learn to be political by forming attachments to their communities and accessing opportunities in the settings of their everyday lives. Settings operate as mini‐polities through which youth develop a sense of what it means to be a member of a collective. Meaningful opportunities to practice political skills and behaviors can be fostered in schools and communities, via social media, and through policy change. Historic events, particularly elections, can also influence political attitudes and behaviors in lasting ways. Cultural and contextual variability in experiences, access to opportunities, and reactions to historic events shape youth's political developmental pathways. Research that is developmentally and culturally informed and that uses rigorous study designs can identify more effectively what determines the formation and growth of youth political engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines variations in Jewish denominational identification (Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and Just Jewish) among fifty-five U.S. Jewish communities completing local Jewish community studies from 1993 through 2011. We relate these variations to levels of religious and ethnic participation, contributing to the literature on how and whether religious pluralism relates to religious and ethnic participation. First, five denominational clusters are created via k-means cluster analysis (high Orthodox; equal, except Orthodox; high Reform; high Reform/low Just Jewish; and high Just Jewish). We then examine differences in geographic and demographic factors and in levels of religious participation among these denominational clusters. Second, various indexes of Jewish denominational diversity (index of dissimilarity, Shannon Index, Simpson Index, and largest group) are developed. The relationship of the level of Jewish denominational diversity to religious and ethnic participation is explored. The basic finding is that more Jewish denominational diversity does result in higher levels of religious participation but not ethnic participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Members of Sexual Assault Response Teams (SARTs) coordinate and improve the community response to sexual assault. A SART's effectiveness is likely influenced by its sociocultural context, or the norms, values, and beliefs of the local community. However, this has yet to be empirically examined. We conducted a qualitative study to explore how sociocultural context may influence effectiveness within a sample of 169 leaders of 169 U.S. SARTs. SART leaders believed that specific norms and beliefs held by the general public in their community (rape myths and victim blame, denial of sexual assault happening locally, taboos against discussing sexual assault, and a male-dominated environment) delegitimized sexual assault as a problem that deserved public intervention. Leaders believed these led community members to resist the team's efforts, by decreasing the community's support and buy-in to the SART, interfering with efforts to make services accessible to survivors, and obstructing the SART's ability to effectively respond to cases. And some leaders believed highly interconnected communities compromised the accessibility and objectivity of systems that respond to sexual assault. SARTs need to carefully tailor their efforts to improve accessibility of systems, and the response to sexual assault cases, to their unique local sociocultural context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Climate change can alter species interactions essential for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem function, such as pollination. Understanding the interactive effects of multiple abiotic conditions on floral traits and pollinator visitation are important to anticipate the implications of climate change on pollinator services.Floral visual and olfactory traits were measured from individuals of four forb species subjected to drought or normal water availability, and elevated or ambient concentrations of CO2 in a factorial design. Pollinator visitation rates and community composition were observed in single‐species and multi‐species forb assemblages.Drought decreased floral visual traits and pollinator visitation rates but increased volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions, whereas elevated CO2 positively affected floral visual traits, VOC emissions and pollinator visitation rates. There was little evidence of interactive effects of drought and CO2 on floral traits and pollinator visitation. Interestingly, the effects of climate treatments on pollinator visitation depended on whether plants were in single‐ or multi‐species assemblages.Components of climate change altered floral traits and pollinator visitation, but effects were modulated by plant community context. Investigating the response of floral traits, including VOCs, and context‐dependency of pollinator attraction provides additional insights and may aid in understanding the overall effects of climate change on plant–pollinator interactions. See also the Editorial by Kessler, 220: 655–658. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract A culturally informed community health assessment was conducted to explore the community context of care for older adults in African American urban neighborhoods. The purpose of this study is to explore the challenges to aging in place for African American older adults living with dementia and their family members. Data collection and analysis were conducted as concurrent iterative procedures between photographs, media clippings, semi-structured interviews (N = 24), observation notes, and journaling. Content analysis revealed shame, improper housing, financial constraints, resource inadequacy, transportation concerns, and knowledge deficit as common challenges faced by the older adults and their families to receiving health services to support aging in place within urban neighborhoods. Data from this report are to inform clinicians, community partners, families, and service organizations, to promote uptake of future research and programing to improve outcomes for African American older adults living with dementia and their family members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research studies the individual, households and community determinants affecting Egyptian woman’s decision to enter the labor force and affecting her employment status. Using the Egypt Labor Market Panel Survey ELMPS, 2012, five probit models were estimated for ever-married women. The first model is about Egyptian women’s decision to participate in the labor force. Once she is in the labor force, the second model studies the determinants of being employed. Among employed women, three employment types are tackled in the remaining three models; being employed in the public sector (model 3), being a private wage worker (model 4) and being self-employed (model 5). As found in the literature, the results show that there is a strong dependence between woman’s education and employment type. Moreover, the results confirm the role played by the mother’s employment status in her daughter’s labor force participation. Finally, the community characteristics play a significant role in affecting women’s decision in entering the labor force. Once society accepts the integration of women in the labor market and not only being responsible for care and house work, individual characteristics and households characteristics influenced her decision of which employment type to choose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars have long theorized that religious contexts provide health-promoting social integration and regulation. A growing body of literature has documented associations between individual religiosity and health as well as macro-micro linkages between religious contexts, religious participation, and individual health. Using unique data on individuals and county contexts in the United States, this study offers new insight by using multilevel analysis to examine meso-micro relationships between religion and health. We assess whether and how the relationship between individual religiosity and health depends on communal religious contexts. In highly religious contexts, religious individuals are less likely to have poor health, while nonreligious individuals are markedly more likely to have poor health. In less religious contexts, religious and nonreligious individuals report similar levels of health. Consequently, the health gap between religious and nonreligious individuals is largest in religiously devout contexts, primarily due to the negative effects on nonreligious individuals' health in religious contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose of the Study: This article evaluates the influence of local district conditions on subjective quality of life of older South African adults. Policymakers increasingly recognize that "successful" aging policies must not only address physical health needs but also factors that influence subjective well-being. Design and Methods: To investigate the influence of area-level distribution of "public goods" on well-being in a low- and middle-income setting, nationally representative WHO-Study of Global AGEing and Adult Health (WHO-SAGE) survey data is combined with district-level data that captures built resources and health system distribution. Multilevel regression modeling is utilized to explore how community context, including built resources and health infrastructure quality, influence older persons' quality of life and how chronic health conditions may moderate this relationship while controlling for important individual characteristics. Results: While controlling for individual and district level factors, it is found community level provision of built resources of basic services (i.e., water, sanitation, electricity, housing) has a modest but significant impact on older persons' subjective well-being. Further, this effect on older persons' perceptions of quality of life is moderated by individual chronic health status; individuals with a chronic health condition do not receive an equivalent benefit from district built condition like those without an illness do. Implications: This work adds to the literature concerning the effect of environments in low- and middle-income countries on older adults' subjective well-being. It also adds to the growing literature on the complex relationship between subjective well-being and health in diverse contexts. [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]

SUMMARY The evolution of increased competitive ability ( EICA) hypothesis predicts that release from specialist herbivores enables invasive plants to evolve increased growth. The most powerful tests of EICA hypothesis are provided by approaches that simultaneously assess the effects of specialist herbivory and competitive interactions. However, such approaches are extremely rare, and hence how simultaneous release from root and shoot herbivory influence competitive ability of invasive plants remains little understood., Here, we tested whether invasive-range Brassica nigra plants have evolved increased competitive ability, and whether expression of competitive ability depends on separate and simultaneous effects of specialist root and shoot herbivory. To do this, we grew B. nigra plants from eight invasive-range and eight native-range populations in the presence vs. absence of competition with a community of native plant species, and in the absence vs. presence of separate and simultaneous damage by a specialist root herbivore ( Delia radicum) and a specialist shoot herbivore ( Plutella xylostella). Brassica nigra performance was assessed by measuring biomass production and flowering of individual B. nigra plants., In partial support of the EICA hypothesis, invasive-range B. nigra had greater flowering than native-range conspecifics in the absence of competition. However, contrary to a prediction of the EICA hypothesis, invasive-range B. nigra produced less above-ground biomass than native-range B. nigra in the absence of shoot herbivory and competition. Moreover, with simultaneous root and shoot herbivory, invasive-range B. nigra suppressed a competing community more strongly than native-range B. nigra did., Synthesis. Our results suggest that invasiveness may be driven by mechanisms other than increased individual size. Simultaneous root and shoot herbivory in the invasive range may enhance suppressive effects of introduced plant species that have not completely escaped herbivore damage in the introduced range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human capital theory suggests that education benefits individuals' and their children's health through the educational skills people acquire in school. This perspective may also be relevant at the community level: the greater presence of adults with educational skills in a community may be a reason why living in a more highly educated setting benefits health. I use Demographic and Health Survey data for 30 sub-Saharan African countries to investigate whether the percentage of literate adults-specifically women-in a community is associated with children's likelihood of survival. I characterize 13,785 African communities according to the prevalence of women who are literate. Multilevel discrete-time hazard models ( N = 536,781 children) confirm that living in a community where more women are literate is positively associated with child survival. The study supports the conceptualization of literacy, and potentially other educational skills, as forms of human capital that can spill over to benefit others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contents57I.57II.59III.59IV.63V.64VI.64VII.6666References66 Summary: Whole‐genome duplication (WGD), or polyploidy, has important effects on the genotype and phenotype of plants, potentially altering ecological interactions with other organisms. Even though the connections between polyploidy and species interactions have been recognized for some time, we are only just beginning to test whether WGD affects community context. Here I review the sparse information on polyploidy and community context and then present a set of hypotheses for future work. Thus far, community‐level studies of polyploids suggest an array of outcomes, from no changes in community context to shifts in the abundance and composition of interacting species. I propose a number of mechanisms for how WGD could alter community context and how the emergence of polyploids in populations could also alter the community context of parental diploids and other plant species. Resolving how and when these changes are expected to occur will require a deeper understanding of the connections among WGD, phenotypic changes, and the direct and indirect effects of species interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aggregate of many individuals driving alone in private vehicles, common practice in most U.S. communities, is a major source of carbon emissions in the United States. Finding ways to couple sustainable transportation with individual self-interest and fulfillment of human needs may be critical to shifting transportation behavior to other modes. Taking a community perspective, this study considers how individuals discuss their needs in relation to community conditions impacting personal transportation choices. We collected data through 14 community listening sessions, or modified focus groups, conducted in diverse communities across the greater San Francisco Bay Area (USA). The community context for the groups indicated three types of transportation orientation: (1) car-dominant in which driving alone was the primary mode of travel, (2) mixed-mode in which driving alone as well as a variety of other transportation modes were used for travel, and (3) sustainable transportation-oriented in which alternatives to driving alone were primarily used. In all three types of communities, personal transportation choices related to physical and sociocultural conditions that allowed residents to meet different needs. Our findings suggest that considering how community-level conditions meet practical and psychological needs may offer ways to more effectively support individual-level sustainable transportation choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the implementation of risk assessment has expanded, the extent to which there are different trajectories of risk/protective factors among adjudicated youth during supervision in the community remains unanswered. The goal of the current study is to identify the distinct trajectories in dynamic risk and protective factors among youth on probation and assess whether different patterns in risk over time are associated with continued offending. Group-based trajectory modeling is used to identify distinct trajectories across multiple domains of risk/need. The individual- and neighborhood-level factors associated with these trajectories are then explored, prior to examining their relationship to continued delinquency. Results suggest that a sizable combination of risk/needs trajectories exist among youth on probation. These distinct trajectories are differentially associated with individual and neighborhood characteristics. A select number of trajectories also appear to be indicative of continued offending post-completion of community supervision. Information regarding the evolving nature of juvenile risk/needs during supervision is critically important to reduce incarceration, flatten the age-crime curve, and ensure public safety. Findings have implications for the use of dynamic risk assessment among youth on probation as well as juvenile recidivism research more generally. • Group-based trajectory models are used to explore dynamic risk. • Several distinct trajectories exist among youth on community supervision. • A great deal of stability is observed with only small groups evidencing change. • Trajectory group membership is associated with the likelihood of recidivism. • Implications for risk assessment and juvenile justice policy are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]