Consumo de alcohol en estudiantes de educación superior: análisis de redes sociales de amigos universitarios (Alcohol consumption in higher education students: analysis of social networks of university Friends)

Objetivo: identificar asociaciones entre las redes de amigos (densidad de la red de amigos, comportamiento de los amigos, popularidad y conglomerados de amigos), y los comportamientos relacionados con el consumo de alcohol en estudiantes universitarios. Métodos: estudio transversal de asociación. Se aplicaron mediciones sociodemográficas (sexo, edad, nivel socioeconómico, estructura familiar), consumo excesivo y riesgoso de alcohol, consumo de cigarrillo y variables de la red social. Mediante regresión logística se estiman OR e intervalos de confianza. Resultados: de las variables de la red social en mujeres, la densidad de la red se asoció al consumo riesgoso de alcohol, pertenecer al programa de Biología, al nivel socioeconómico alto y tener estructura familiar monoparental son factores que aumentan el consumo riesgoso de alcohol. En hombres aumentar la cantidad de amigos con consumo riesgoso de alcohol, tener estructura familiar monoparental y ser fumador, se asociaron al consumo riesgoso de alcohol. Respecto al consumo excesivo de alcohol en mujeres se encontró asociación con la cantidad de amigos con consumo excesivo de alcohol y pertenecer al programa de Biología. Conclusiones: el consumo riesgoso y excesivo de alcohol se asocia con la red social de amigos y es diferente por sexo. La red social de amigos universitarios es un medio en el que se comparten comportamientos no saludables, lo cual sugiere la importancia de indagar sobre el tema como un elemento que puede ayudar a combatir las enfermedades crónicas no transmisibles, esto ayudaría a definir perspectivas renovadas de promoción de la salud en universitarios. Abstract. Objective: identify associations between networks of friends (density of the network of friends, behavior of friends, popularity and friend clusters), and alcohol-related behaviors in college students. Methods: cross-sectional association study. Sociodemographic measurements (sex, age, socioeconomic level, family structure), excessive and risky alcohol consumption, cigarette consumption and variables of the social network were applied. Using logistic regression, OR and confidence intervals are estimated. Results: of the variables of the social network in women, the density of the network was associated with risky alcohol consumption, belonging to the Biology program, high socioeconomic status and having a single-parent family structure are factors that use risky alcohol consumption. In men, the number of friends with risky alcohol consumption increases, having a single-parent family structure and being a smoker, were associated with risky alcohol consumption. Regarding excessive alcohol consumption in women, an association was found with the number of friends with excessive alcohol consumption and belonging to the Biology program. Conclusions: the risky and excessive consumption of alcohol is associated with the social network of friends and is different by sex. The social network of university friends is a means in which unhealthy behaviors are shared, which suggests the importance of investigating the subject as an element that can help combat chronic non-communicable diseases, this would help define renewed perspectives of promotion of health in university students.

The Quality of Life of Children with Myelomeningocele: A Cross-Sectional Preliminary Study

Objectives: To investigate the relationship between the defects and symptoms caused by myelomeningocele (MMC) and quality of life. Design: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey. Methods: The subjects were 52 parents of children with MMC. Structured questionnaires were used: the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory 4.0 Generic Core Scales (PedsQLTM 4.0) and a Study-Specific Questionnaire (SSQ). Results: The overall PedsQLTM 4.0 score was 56.4 (SD ± 14.7). A strong, significant negative correlation was found between the children’s age and emotional functioning. Functioning in this area deteriorated with age by a mean of 1.5 points per year of age. Children with no hydrocephalus functioned significantly better than those with this defect in the physical, social, and school areas (p < 0.05). Foot deformities significantly (p = 0.033) adversely affected the children’s physical functioning. Living in a single-parent family had no statistically significant impact on functioning in any of the areas analyzed (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Understanding the QoL of children with MMC and identifying its determinants may help in planning interventions to minimize the adverse impact of the illness.

SOCIO-CULTURAL PICTURE OF SOCIAL WORK WITH A PATERNAL SINGLE-PARENT FAMILY

In the context of social work with lone fathers, the article demonstrates the need for knowledge of the socio-cultural condition of living and socialization of the client in order to effectively solve his problems. It is proved that paternal mono parenthood becomes a real life test for those men (fathers), whose socialization happened within the framework of the so-called traditional culture, with patriarchal gender stereotypes, with absolutization and rigid differentiation of paternal and maternal roles.

Relationship between Family and Myopia: Based on the Jiangsu School Student Myopia Study

Purpose. This study aims to increase our understanding of the relationship between family and myopia in Chinese children. Methods. Students had a physical examination and were required to provide the necessary demographic information. Children and their guardians from different family types were required to fill in a questionnaire concerning myopia factors. Results. In this study, the prevalence of myopia in enrolled students aged 6–17 is 55.5%. The proportion of the nuclear family, extended family, single-parent family, and left-behind family is 40.6%, 43.7%, 11.1%, and 4.6%, respectively. Myopia rates from different family types by the order (nuclear family, extended family, single-parent family, and left-behind family) are 60.0%, 52.0%, 54.7%, and 50.9% taking on a decreasing trend, which shows an opposite trend comparing with elevated blood pressure, dental caries, and obesity. The interaction effect of the family type and region, physical examination, lifestyle (including diet habits, near work, outdoor activities, and sleep), and types of lamps and whether scolded by parents can have a significant impact on myopia. For primary school students (grade: 1–5), the prevalence of myopia in the nuclear family was a bit higher than that of myopia in the left-behind family, but for children in junior and senior high schools, both prevalences stayed similar. Conclusions. In this study, education pressure and time outdoors are still at play, and this kind of effect shows different phenomena in different families. Therefore, previous interventions would still work, and then the most critical challenge would be to ensure that left-behind children completed more schooling.

The Jihadis and the Family

Chapter 4 examines the ways in which the circumstances and dynamics of a family can affect the decisions and behavior of its members, including decisions leading to jihadism. Regarding Europeans jihadis, in many cases the analysis of their family background sheds light on their radicalization. Some configurations, such as the single-parent family or stepfamily, play a role in young people’s radicalization, particularly broken families, especially among Muslims living in ghettoized neighborhoods. Some people used family as the setting for their violent action: brothers, sisters, cousins, and, more exceptionally, fathers or mothers. For others, coming from broken families, jihadi violence was a continuation of family violence. In some cases, members of crisis-stricken families (brothers, cousins) were reconciled through their joint participation in jihadi action. Three types of families in crisis can be mentioned: the headless patriarchal family, the neo-traditional family, and the stepfamily. All of them are marked by the crisis of authority in the home, which can lead to feelings of guilt (self-blame) or injustice. These feelings, in some cases, can contribute to a person’s involvement in jihadism. One can also distinguish jihadi “fratriarchy” (brotherhood), and “jihadophile” families.

Parental separation and offspring morbidity in adulthood: a descriptive study of the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966

Aims: Rates of parental separation have increased dramatically in recent decades. We evaluated the association of individuals’ childhood family structure with their somatic health over 46 years of follow-up. Methods: Data were drawn from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort, an ongoing project in which 12,058 participants born in 1966 have been followed from their 24th gestational week. Based on information supplied at age 14 years, family structure was categorised as ‘single-parent family’ and ‘two-parent family’. The anthropometric information, data from blood samples and medical history were collected from postal questionnaires and clinical examinations routinely performed at the ages of 31 and 46 years. Results: The study population comprised a total of 10,895 individuals; 85% ( n=9253) were offspring of two-parent families and 15% ( n=1642) of single-parent families. Type 2 diabetes ( P=0.032) or prediabetes ( P=0.007), psychoactive drug problems ( P<0.001) and sexually transmitted diseases ( P<0.001) were more common in the single-parent family group than in the participants from two-parent families. In addition, among men back diseases ( P=0.002), and among women hypertension ( P=0.003) and ovary infection ( P=0.024) were more frequent in individuals affected by parental death than in those from two-parent families. Conclusions: Our results indicate the association of childhood family structure with offspring morbidity during 46 years’ follow-up. The lifetime morbidity was observed to be higher among offspring from a single-parent family compared to two-parent family offspring. Public and scientific concern about the consequences of parental separation on the offspring’ health exist, therefore support from healthcare professionals and society is warranted.

Poverty and family resilience in Belém-Pará

Family resilience is a complex, multi-determined behavior caused by the inseparable action of risk and protection factors. The purpose of this paper is to associate aspects of family resilience with multiple dimensions of poverty through a quantitative, descriptive, correlative, exploratory study with a sample of 448 low-income families in thirteen Social Assistance Reference Centers in Belém, Pará. The instruments used in the study were the Family Resilience Profile Questionnaire, the Social and Demographic Inventory, and the Family Poverty Rate. The results state that the families are not living in extreme poverty; however, they still face adversities due to the poverty. A significant presence of women, where 90.6% of the participants were mothers living in a single-parent family, attests that women are still the part of the population most affected by poverty. Furthermore, the results showed that the higher the poverty level, the lower the family resilience, and aspects such as work, knowledge and human development, especially child development, are aspects that enhance family resources to face adversities.

An Intercategorical Ecology of Lead Exposure: Complex Environmental Health Vulnerabilities in the Flint Water Crisis

In 2014, city and state officials channeled toxic water into Flint, Michigan and its unevenly distributed and corroding lead service lines (LSLs). The resulting Flint water crisis is a tragic example of environmental racism against a majority Black city and enduring racial and spatial disparities in environmental lead exposures in the United States. Important questions remain about how race intersected with other established environmental health vulnerabilities of gender and single-parent family structure to create unequal toxic exposures within Flint. We address this question with (1) an “intercategorical ecology” framework that extends the “racial ecology” lens into the complex spatial and demographic dimensions of environmental health vulnerabilities and (2) a multivariate analysis using block-level data from the 2010 U.S. decennial census and a key dataset estimating the LSL connections for 56,038 land parcels in Flint. We found that blocks exposed to LSLs had, on average, higher concentrations of single-parent white, Black, and Latinx families. However, logistic regression results indicate that the likelihood of block exposure to LSLs was most consistently and positively associated with the percentage of single-father Black and single-mother Latina families, net of other racialized and gendered single-parent family structures, socioeconomic status, and the spatial concentration of LSL exposure.