Socio-Economic Differences in the Prevalence of Single Motherhood in North America and Europe

The study focuses on understanding the association between parental socio-economic status (SES) and the likelihood of women experiencing a first birth while single, and identifying societal factors that influence this association in 18 North American and European societies. Previous research has shown that single motherhood occurs disproportionately among those from with lower a lower parental SES. The study assesses whether this is caused by parental SES differences in the risk of single women experiencing a first conception leading to a live birth or by parental SES differences in how likely women are to enter a union during pregnancy. Additionally, an assessment is made of whether cross-national differences in these associations can be explained by a country’s access to family planning, norms regarding family formation, and economic inequality. Across countries, a negative gradient of parental SES was found on the likelihood of single women to experience a first pregnancy. The negative gradient was stronger in countries with better access to family planning. In some countries, the negative gradient of parental SES was aggravated during pregnancy because women from lower parental SES were less likely to enter a union. This was mostly found in societies with less conservative norms regarding marriage. The results suggest that certain developments in Western societies may increase socio-economic differentials in family demography.

East of Andrzej Stasiuk (2014)

International audience In his book East Andrzej Stasiuk claims that he was still traveling east. Just like traveling, Stasiuk’s writings are a form of documentation and exploration of nuances, colors and differences that can be recognized in the world. In the presented text I focus on the geography of texts by Stasiuk, on the representation of Eastern Europe considered as the margin of the Old Continent. The purpose of my article is to explain what the East according to Andrzej Stasiuk is from a cultural, mental and even political point of view. Literary and travel experience encourages reflection on the new European geography after 1989 and reflection on its identity. Dans son livre Wschód [Orient], Andrzej Stasiuk soutient qu’il a toujours voyagé à l’Est. Comme ses voyages, les écrits de Stasiuk sont une forme de documentation du monde et d’exploration de ses nuances, de ses couleurs et de ses différences. Dans cet article notre attention se portera sur la géographie des textes de Stasiuk, sur la représentation de l’Est de l’Europe, considéré comme marge du Vieux Continent. Mon but est d’expliquer ce que l’Est représente pour Stasiuk du point de vue culturel, mental, voire politique. L’expérience littéraire et celle du voyageur invitent à réfléchir sur la nouvelle géographie de l’Europe après 1989 et sur son identité. W swojej książce Wschód Andrzej Stasiuk twierdzi, że wciąż podróżował na wschód. Podobnie jak podróże, pisma Stasiuka są formą dokumentacji oraz eksploracji niuansów, kolorów i różnic, które można rozpoznać w świecie. W prezentowanym tekście skupiam się się na geografii tekstów Stasiuka, na reprezentacji Europy Wschodniej uważanej za margines Starego Kontynentu. Celem mojego artykułu jest wyjaśnienie, czym jest Wschód według Andrzeja Stasiuka z kulturowego, mentalnego, a nawet politycznego punktu widzenia. Doświadczenie literackie i podróżnicze zachęca do refleksji nad nową geografią Europy po 1989 r. oraz namysłu nad jej tożsamością.

Income-related differences in out-of-hours primary care telephone triage: using national registration data

BackgroundTelephone triage is used to facilitate efficient and adequate acute care allocation, for instance in out-of-hours primary care services (OPCSs). Remote assessment of health problems is challenging and could be impeded by a patient’s ambiguous formulation of his or her healthcare need. Socioeconomically vulnerable patients may experience more difficulty in expressing their healthcare need. We aimed to assess whether income differences exist in the patient’s presented symptoms, assessed urgency and allocation of follow-up care in OPCS.MethodData were derived from Nivel Primary Care Database encompassing electronic health record data of 1.3 million patients from 28 OPCSs in 2017 in the Netherlands. These were linked to sociodemographic population registry data. Multilevel logistic regression analyses (contacts clustered in patients), adjusted for patient characteristics (eg, age, sex), were conducted to study associations of symptoms, urgency assessment and follow-up care with patients’ income (standardised for household size as socioeconomic status (SES) indicator).ResultsThe most frequently presented symptoms deduced during triage slightly differed across SES groups, with a larger relative share of trauma in the high-income groups. No SES differences were observed in urgency assessment. After triage, low income was associated with a higher probability of receiving telephone advice and home visits, and fewer consultations at the OPCS.ConclusionsSES differences in the patient’s presented symptom and in follow-up in OPCS suggest that the underlying health status and the ability to express care needs affect the telephone triage process . Further research should focus on opportunities to better tailor the telephone triage process to socioeconomically vulnerable patients.

Association Between Cortical Thickness and Childhood Body Mass Index: Role of Race and Income

Background: There is mixed literature on the association between cerebral cortex morphometry and body mass index (BMI), with only some but not all studies documenting an inverse association between cortical thickness (CT) and BMI. As the association between CT and BMI is inconsistent in the literature, we propose that racial and socioeconomic status (SES) differences may exist in this regard. Objectives: We borrowed the adolescent brain cognitive development (ABCD) data to investigate racial and SES differences in CT and childhood BMI associations. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 10,185 children between ages 9 and 10. Mixed-effects regression was used to analyze the data. The independent variable was CT measured using structural MRI. The dependent variable was BMI treated as a continuous variable. Covariates included ethnicity, sex, age, family structure, parental education, and intracranial volume. Race (White, Black, Asian, and Other/mixed) and household income levels (< 50 k, 50 - 100 k, and 100 + k) were the effect modifiers. Results: High CT was predictive of lower BMI (b for main effect of CT on BMI = -3.134; P < 0.001). However, the inverse association between CT and BMI was stronger in Black than White (b for interaction between race and CT = -2.39; P = 0.01255), and low-income than high-income children (b for interaction between income 50 - 100 k = 1.86; P = 0.02906; for interaction between income 100 + k b = 3.77; P < 0.001). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that although high CT is associated with lower BMI in children, this association varies across racial and SES groups. More research is needed on obesogenic environments’ role in altering the salience of cerebral cortex morphometry as a risk factor for high BMI.

Race and SES Differences in Psychosocial Resources: Implications for Social Stress Theory

Social stress theory predicts that psychosocial resources shape health inequalities but is less clear about the ways in which the availability of resources differs across racial and socioeconomic groups. Using data from the Nashville Stress and Health Study (N = 1,214), the present study assessed racial and socioeconomic status (SES) differences in mastery, self-esteem, and social support; evaluated the extent to which SES accounts for racial differences in resources; and considered the interactive roles of race and SES in shaping resources among Black and White adults. Results show Blacks have greater access to resources, but SES yields greater psychosocial benefits among Whites. Findings demonstrate that SES and race may jointly and independently shape access to resources. This study contributes to the broader literature on status distinctions in psychosocial resources, providing new insights into the ways in which race and SES shape access to these health-protective resources while also raising several questions for future research.

Language development in children from different SES backgrounds

The aim of the study is to analyze prelexical speech development in young children with a different socio-economic status (SES): children from low SES backgrounds (lowSES) are compared with mid-to-high SES (mhSES) children. Timing of the onset of babbling and the consonantal development in consonant-vowel (cv) syllables are investigated. Result show that lowSES children reach the babbling onset milestone significantly later than mhSES children. In addition, they use different consonant types in their cv-syllables: they use more glides, but fewer stops, nasals, fricatives, and liquids. These early differences between children of different backgrounds seem to be in line with the literature on SES differences later on in life.

Too hot to study? Gender and SES differences in the effect of temperature on school performance

Research highlighted a negative effect of extreme temperature on school performance, especially for ethnic minorities and low status students. This article inquires how SES and gender moderate the effect of temperature on test scores. The focus on gender differences is granted by recent experimental studies that exposed a positive effect of temperature on girl’s test scores. In this research, I use the Italian administrative dataset INVALSI combined with measures of temperature on the test day at the provincial level based on the ERA-5 Land database. The results highlight a negative effect of temperatures below 10°C and no effect of temperatures above 30°C on math test scores, although heterogeneity across gender. Females benefit from higher temperature but males do not. Temperature shocks and school year exposure confirm the pattern. Conversely, no SES differences are observed.

SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS (SES) DIFFERENCES IN PRESCHOOLERS’ SOCIAL SKILLS

Background and Purpose: Socioeconomic status (SES) exert different influences on child development. However, very few studies had examined the effects of SES on positive socio-emotional development including social skills. Thus, this study aims to examine the level of social skills and explores the differences across SES. Methodology: Parents of 339 preschoolers in Selangor, Malaysia were selected through stratified random sampling. The questionnaires were distributed to parents through pre-school children. In this study, the 34-items of social skills scale from Preschool and Kindergarten Behavioural Scale-Version 2 (PKBS-2) was used and descriptive and one-way Welch’s F-tests analysis were conducted. Findings: The study showed that the level of social skills was average. Analysis found that the preschoolers’ social skills were differed significantly across maternal education, Welch’s F (2, 78.95) = 19.88, p < .0001 and paternal education, Welch’s F (2, 78.95) = 19.88, p < .0001. Moreover, there was a significant difference in social skills across parental income, Welch’s F (2, 83.48) = 13.59, p < .0001. Contributions: Knowledge of the level of pre-school social skills and the differences across SES can provide basic information and recommendations to the parents, teachers and authorities to improve preschoolers’ social skills. Keywords: Family income, parental education, preschoolers, social skills, Socioeconomic status (SES). Cite as: Kassim, J., & Hutagalung, F. D. (2019). Socioeconomic status (SES) differences in preschoolers’ social skills. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 5(2), 303-328. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol5iss2pp303-328

Stronger Association between Nucleus Accumbens Density and Body Mass Index in Low-Income and African American Children

Background: The nucleus accumbens’ (NAc) size, function, and density influence individuals’ body mass index (BMI). However, little is known about racial and socioeconomic status (SES) differences in the role of NAc density as a predictor of childhood BMI. Objectives: We used the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) data to investigate racial and SES differences in the effect of NAc density on childhood BMI. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 9497 children between ages 9 and 10. Mixed-effects regression models were used to analyze the data. The predictor variable was NAc density measured using diffusion MRI (dMRI). The outcome variable was BMI, operationalized as a continuous variable. Covariates included sex, age, ethnicity, family structure, and parental education. Race (White, African American, Asian, and Other/mixed) and household income (< 50k, 50-100 k, and 100+ k) were the moderators. Results: High NAc diffusion tension (density) was predictive of higher BMI, net of covariates. However, the positive association between NAc density and BMI was stronger in African Americans than in White, and in low-income than in high-income children. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that although high NAc has implications for children’s BMI, this effect varies across racial and SES groups. More research should be performed on the role of obesogenic environments in altering the effect of NAc on childhood BMI.