Family, Life Course, and Society Commons^™

Nativity And Country Of Origin Variations In Life Expectancy With Functional Limitations Among Older Hispanics In The United States, Marc A. Garcia, Adriana M. Reyes, Catherine García, Chi-Tsun Chiu, Grecia Macias

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

This study examined racial/ethnic, nativity, and country of origin differences in life expectancy with and without functional limitations among older adults in the United States. We used data from the National Health Interview Survey (1999–2015) to estimate Sullivan-based life tables of life expectancies with functional limitations and without functional limitations by sex for U.S.-born Mexicans, foreign-born Mexicans, U.S.-born Puerto Ricans, island-born Puerto Ricans, foreign-born Cubans, and U.S.-born Whites. We find that Latinos exhibit heterogeneous life expectancies with functional limitations. Among females, U.S.-born Mexicans, foreign-born Mexicans, and foreign-born Cubans spend significantly fewer years without functional limitations, whereas island-born Puerto Ricans spend …

Introduction To Special Issue “Geographies Of Sexualities” [Journal Of Lesbian Studies], Emily Kazyak

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

In this foreword to the special issue “Geographies of Sexualities,” I provide a review of the scholarly discussions about place and sexuality that have occurred in the past 20 years. I highlight five major themes in my synthesis of this scholarship: (1) how narratives about geography and sexuality are co-constitutive; (2) a critical interrogation of these narratives to demonstrate how more nuances exist than these narratives suggest; (3) assessments of the spatial distribution of women in same-sex relationships, comparisons to the spatial distribution of men in same-sex relationships, and analyses of the experiences of women in areas with high concentrations …

Connections: Social Media And Parents Raising Children With Profound Multiple Disabilities, Amy Ann Terra

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Parenting plays an important role in many adult lives. Parenting a child with profound multiple disabilities results in a distinct parenting experience. This qualitative phenomenological study examined the role of social media in the lives of parents raising children with profound multiple disabilities. Five parents raising children with profound multiple disabilities were interviewed, and resulting themes were identified.

Consistent with previous research, parents described the initial adaptation to their child’s disability-related needs as the most challenging period of their parenting to date. Adaptation was followed by an acclimation to a new normal of their parenting experience. Parents described moving from …

Attachment Dynamics As A Precursor For Sexual Risk-Taking Behaviors In Emerging Adulthood (18-25 Years Old), Eimileanne Delaney

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This study explored the relationship between attachment and sexual risk-taking behaviors in emerging adulthood. Understanding and identifying the variables that influence sexual risk behaviors are important to the design and implementation of therapeutic interventions and psychoeducation. It was hypothesized that there is a statistically significant relationship between attachment and increased levels of sexual risk-taking behaviors in emerging adults. To investigate the research hypothesis, this study used a quantitative correlational design to examine the relationship(s) between the variables. The participants completed three online questionnaires: a demographic questionnaire, the Sexual Risk Survey (SRS), and the Relationship Questionnaire (RQ). Results suggested that there …

Shadow Women: Wives Betrayed By Sex Buyers, Ingeborg Kraus

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Shadow women are women whose husbands betray them by using prostituted women. Until now, there has been almost no attention paid to the harm to the wives or partners of men who use prostituted women. In this interview, Dr. Ingeborg Kraus talks to the former wife of a sex buyer. She describes the impact of her husband’s betrayal on her and her family. This type of harm needs to be taken seriously and more research done on it.

Care In Crisis: Covid-19 As A Catalyst For Universal Child Care In The United States, Nicole Elias, Maria J. D’Agostino

Publications and Research

School closings during COVID-19 exposed an under-addressed gender equity issue in the United States: child care in crisis. To better understand the child care crisis in the current U.S. context, we detail how New York City is addressing child care during COVID-19. We then connect the current approaches to the Lanham Act that was instituted during WWII as a historical parallel. Ultimately, we argue for the adoption of a universal system that is affordable, high-quality, federally-funded with local involvement and discretion, and flexible for primary caregivers seeking care support. This potential system builds on current congressional proposals and should take …

Examining Public Opinion About Abortion: A Mixed-Methods Systematic Review Of Research Over The Last 15 Years, Amy Adamczyk, Chunrye Kim, Leevia Dillon

Publications and Research

Although abortion became legal four decades ago, Americans remain staunchly divided over its acceptability. While researchers have been interested in the factors shaping abortion attitudes, there are almost no reviews of this work. We examine the factors shaping Americans’ abortion attitudes and assess the state of published peer-reviewed articles in this area over the last 15 years. Using a mixed-methods systematic review, we analyze and critique the findings from 116 journal articles that have examined attitudes about abortion between 2001 and 2016. Amongst the many predictors and outcomes examined, we show that religion is by far the most utilized statistically …

Methodological Appendix A For: Mcquillan, J., A. L. Greil, A. Rybinsk, S. Tiemeyer, K. M. Shreffler, And C. Warner Colaner. 2020. Is A Dyadic Stressor Experienced As Equally Distressing By Both Partners? The Case Of Perceived Fertility Problems. Journal Of Social And Personal Relationships. Doi: 10.1177/0265407520953903, Julia Mcquillan, Arthur L. Greil, A. Rybinsk, Stacy Tiemeyer, Karina M. Shreffler, Colleen Warner Colaner

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Barnett, Marshall, Raudenbush, and Brennan (1993) provide an approach to crosssectional couple data that increases the power and precision of the estimates and allows the simultaneous analysis of both partners. Following Barnett et al (1993), we constructed two parallel versions of the distress scale for each partner by matching standard deviations of individual items. We randomly assigned each of the 10 items to an A or B group (each group had five items). This procedure resulted in two parallel subscales of distress for each partner. Overall, the subscales had equal amounts of error variance. The level 1 data were “stacked” …

Law And Same-Sex Couples’ Experiences Of Childbirth, Emily Kazyak, Emma Finken

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

In 2017, the Supreme Court ruled in Pavan v. Smith that states must allow married same-sex couples to both be listed as parents on their child’s birth certificate. Although the ruling garnered less media attention than the Court’s 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision on marriage, it nonetheless illustrates a significant issue pertinent to the families who are the focus of this chapter: lesbian same-sex couples who had children via donor insemination before 2015. Indeed, prior to this ruling, these couples faced an unequal legal climate insofar as only the biological mother could be listed on the birth certificate and thus …

Mutual Influence? Gender, Partner Pregnancy Desires, Fertility Intentions, And Birth Outcomes In U.S. Heterosexual Couples, Colleen M. Ray, Sela R. Harcey, Julia Mcquillan, Arthur L. Greil

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Competing hypotheses exist with regard to how men’s and women’s pregnancy desires and intentions are associated with births among contemporary heterosexual couples. There are compelling cultural and structural reasons to support either the hypothesis that men’s desires and intentions (patriarchal) or that women’s desires and intentions (matriarchal) will have more influence, or that both partner’s desires and intentions will be associated with births (mutual influence). In addition, patterns of change are likely to differ for couples that have children at wave 1 compared to those who do not. Path analyses of the of heterosexual couples (n = 615) who completed …

Bioskills Guide: Development And National Validation Of A Tool For Interpreting The Vision And Change Core Competencies, Alexa W. Clemmons, Jerry Timbrook, Jon C. Herron, Alison J. Crowe

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

To excel in modern science, technology, engineering, and mathematics careers, biology majors need a range of transferable skills, yet competency development is often a relatively underdeveloped facet of the undergraduate curriculum. We have elaborated the Vision and Change core competency framework into a resource called the BioSkills Guide, a set of measurable learning outcomes that can be more readily implemented by faculty. Following an iterative review process including more than 200 educators, we gathered evidence of the BioSkills Guide’s content validity using a national survey of more than 400 educators. Rates of respondent support were high (74.3–99.6%) across the 77 …

Unpacking The Black Box Of Survey Costs, Kristen M. Olson

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Survey costs are a critically important input to and constraint on the quality of data collected from surveys. Much about survey costs is unknown, leading to lack of understanding of the drivers of survey costs, the relationship between survey costs and survey errors, and difficulty in justifying the importance of survey data versus other available administrative or organic data. This commentary outlines a recently developed typology for survey costs, illustrates this typology using methodological articles that report on costs in pharmacy surveys, and provides recommendations for research on the relationship between fixed and variable costs as a major area for …

Survey Costs: Where Are We And What Is The Way Forward?, Kristen M. Olson, James Wagner, Raeda Anderson

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Survey costs are a major driver of survey design decisions and thought to be related to survey errors. Despite their importance, no common language exists for discussing survey costs, nor are there established criteria for identifying which cost metrics are useful for which purposes. Past efforts to study survey costs may have been hampered by the notion that more reporting is better reporting. This article starts by introducing a typology for survey cost metrics defined by the type of cost (estimated, observed in records, and actually incurred), currency versus non-currency measures, and level of aggregation (total, by components, per unit, …

A Comparison Of Frequency Of Alcohol And Marijuana Use Using Short Message Service Surveying And Survey Questionnaires Among Homeless Youth, Kimberly A. Tyler, Kristen M. Olson

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Background: There are several benefits to using short message service surveying (SMS) to gather data on substance use from homeless youth, including capturing data “in the moment” and verifying the timing of one behavior relative to another. Though SMS is a valuable data collection tool with highly mobile populations that otherwise are difficult to longitudinally sample, the reliability of SMS compared with surveys is largely unknown with homeless youth. Examining the reliability of SMS is important because these data can provide a more nuanced understanding of the relationships between various risk behaviors, which may lead to better intervention strategies …

How Do Interviewers And Respondents Navigate Sexual Identity Questions In A Cati Survey?, Jerry Timbrook, Jolene Smyth, Kristen M. Olson

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Survey-based research has demonstrated that sexual minority individuals experience unique outcomes in areas such as physical and mental health (Boehmer et al. 2007; Hatzenbuehler 2014, 2017), crime (Herek 2009), public education (Kosciw et al. 2015), same-sex romantic relationships and family (Powell and Downey 1997; Umberson et al. 2015), and economics (Black et al. 2007). Having a reliable and valid measure of sexual identity (i.e., the way in which an individual self-describes their sexual orientation) (Gagnon and Simon 1973) is essential for conducting research on sexual minorities. Indeed, many national surveys such as the General Social Survey, the National Health Interview …

Male/Female Is Not Enough: Adding Measures Of Masculinity And Femininity To General Population Surveys, Jolene Smyth, Kristen Olson

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Survey research and sociological theory each provide insights into how and why people and groups act, think, and feel. Sociological theories identify what concepts are important for understanding and representing the social world. That is, sociological theories inform what to measure in surveys, and, to a certain extent, how to measure it. Survey research permits sociologists to carefully specify what is to be measured vis a vis sociological theory, setting surveys apart as a social research tool. It is this level of specification of concepts and measures that allow surveys to provide continued value at a time when “big data” …

Diverse Sources Of Social Support And Cognitive Functioning By Race, Ethnicity, And Nativity, G. Robin Gauthier, Marc A. Garcia, Catherine García

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

This study examines the relationship between social support profiles and cognitive functioning by race, ethnicity and nativity in older adults using cross-sectional data drawn from the Health and Retirement Study (2010 and 2012). We employed a hierarchical clustering routine to generate nine support profiles that differentiated three sources of support: children, wider family relationships and friendships. Cognitive functioning was measured as the score on the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS-m), a 27 point scale of cognitive function. Our approach explicitly acknowledges the ambivalence and multidimensionality of close relationships and the resources embedded within them. Descriptive analyses revealed significant differences …

Competing Forces Of Withdrawal And Disease Avoidance In The Risk Networks Of People Who Inject Drugs, Elspeth Ready, Patrick Habecker, Roberto Abadie, Bilal Khan, Kirk Dombrowski

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

We analyze a network of needle-sharing ties among 117 people who inject drugs (PWID) in rural Puerto Rico, using exponential random graph modeling to examine whether network members engage in partner restriction to lower their risk of contracting HIV or hepatitis C (HCV), or in informed altruism to prevent others from contracting these infections. Although sharing of used syringes is a significant risk factor for transmission of these diseases among PWID, we find limited evidence for partner restriction or informed altruism in the network of reported needle-sharing ties. We find however that sharing of needles is strongly reciprocal, and individuals …

Contextualizing The Covid-19 Era In Puerto Rico: Compounding Disasters And Parallel Pandemics, Catherine Garcia, Fernando I. Rivera, Marc A. Garcia, Giovani Burgos, María P. Aranda

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Objectives: The COVID-19 outbreak has worsened the ongoing economic crisis in Puerto Rico by creating "parallel pandemics" that exacerbate socioeconomic and health inequalities experienced by its most vulnerable residents. Unfortunately, conditions on the island have been largely overlooked by national media outlets and the mainland U.S. population. Thus, this research report aims to draw attention to the disparate burden multiple and compounding disasters have on older island-dwelling Puerto Rican adults’ health and well-being.

Methods: We characterize the lived experiences of the older population in Puerto Rico by incorporating data from numerous sources and contextualizing the effects of compounding disasters, the …

“Caballo”: Risk Environments, Drug Sharing And The Emergence Of A Hepatitis C Virus Epidemic Among People Who Inject Drugs In Puerto Rico, Roberto Abadie, K. Dombrowski

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Background: Sharing drug injection equipment has been associated with the transmission of HCV among PWID through blood contained in the cooker and cotton used to prepare and divide up the drug solution. While epidemiologists often subsume this practice under the sharing of “ancillary equipment,” more attention should be paid to the fact that indirect sharing takes place within the process of joint drug acquisition and preparation.

Methods: We employed an ethnographic approach observing active PWID (N = 33) in four rural towns in Puerto Rico in order to document drug sharing arrangements involved in “caballo”, as this practice is locally …