JOurnal of Abnormal Child Development
q:
The relationship between severe early institutional deprivation and scholastic attainment at age 11 in 127 children (68 girls and 59 boys) adopted from institutions in Romania was compared to the attainment of 49 children (17 girls and 32 boys) adopted within the UK from a non-institutional background. Overall, children adopted from Romania had significantly lower attainment scores than those adopted within the UK; the children within the Romanian sample who had spent 6 months or more in an institution had significantly lower attainment scores than those who had spent less than 6 months in an institution, but there was no additional risk of low attainment associated with longer institutional care after 6 months. The lower scholastic attainment in the children adopted from Romanian institutions, as compared with domestic adoptees, was mediated by IQ, and to a lesser degree, inattention/overactivity. When these factors were taken into account, only small between-group differences in attainment remained.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Thursday, September 20, 2007
The Next Generation of Antipoverty Policies
The Future of Children
Reduce Nonmarital Births and Increase Marriage.
Poverty in female-headed families is four or five times greater than poverty in married-couple families, and studies have shown that children fare better in married-couple families. Paul Amato and Rebecca Maynard argue for investments in more effective teen pregnancy reduction programs and premarital education to increase the share of children reared by their married parents.
Improve Preschool Education.
Greg Duncan and his colleagues note that high-quality preschool can boost children’s development and decrease the achievement gap between poor children and their more advantaged peers. They propose to fund a high-quality preschool initiative that targets resources towards the most disadvantaged children.
Improve Public Education.
Children living in poverty tend to be concentrated in low-performing schools staffed by ill-equipped teachers. These children are especially likely to drop out and to leave school without the skills necessary to earn a decent living in a rapidly changing economy. Richard Murnane proposes to build on the No Child Left Behind Act in ways that would improve the accountability, incentives, and capacity for schools to address these shortcomings.
Help the Most Disadvantaged Mothers.
Some mothers face multiple barriers to work, including low education, health problems, or a history of domestic violence or substance abuse. Rebecca Blank argues that these mothers and their children need greater assistance and support than that provided by current welfare-to-work programs. She proposes a new program that would focus exclusively on serving the most disadvantaged mothers.
Reduce Nonmarital Births and Increase Marriage.
Poverty in female-headed families is four or five times greater than poverty in married-couple families, and studies have shown that children fare better in married-couple families. Paul Amato and Rebecca Maynard argue for investments in more effective teen pregnancy reduction programs and premarital education to increase the share of children reared by their married parents.
Improve Preschool Education.
Greg Duncan and his colleagues note that high-quality preschool can boost children’s development and decrease the achievement gap between poor children and their more advantaged peers. They propose to fund a high-quality preschool initiative that targets resources towards the most disadvantaged children.
Improve Public Education.
Children living in poverty tend to be concentrated in low-performing schools staffed by ill-equipped teachers. These children are especially likely to drop out and to leave school without the skills necessary to earn a decent living in a rapidly changing economy. Richard Murnane proposes to build on the No Child Left Behind Act in ways that would improve the accountability, incentives, and capacity for schools to address these shortcomings.
Help the Most Disadvantaged Mothers.
Some mothers face multiple barriers to work, including low education, health problems, or a history of domestic violence or substance abuse. Rebecca Blank argues that these mothers and their children need greater assistance and support than that provided by current welfare-to-work programs. She proposes a new program that would focus exclusively on serving the most disadvantaged mothers.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Food Insecurity and Adjustment Problems in a National Sample of Adolescents
Journal of Children and Poverty
q:
This study examined a structural equation model of the associations among food insecurity, parental emotional distress, quality of parenting, and adolescents' adjustment problems, controlling for socioeconomic status (SES), sex, and race/ethnicity. Additionally, we examined the relative effects of food insecurity, SES, parental emotional distress, and quality of parenting on adjustment problems. A sample of 11,139 12-17-year-olds selected from the 2002 National Survey of American Families data set were used. The results revealed the following: first, the model exhibited a reasonable fit to the data. Second, heightened food insecurity was associated with increased parental emotional distress, poor quality of parenting, and increased adjustment problems. Third, increased parental emotional distress was associated with poor quality of parenting and with higher levels of adjustment problems; and better quality of parenting was associated with lower levels of adjustment problems. Fourth, food insecurity had an indirect effect on adjustment problems through its effect on parental emotional distress and quality of parenting. Finally, parental emotional distress and quality of parenting had stronger total effects on adjustment problems than did food insecurity. The implications of these findings for policy are also discussed.
q:
This study examined a structural equation model of the associations among food insecurity, parental emotional distress, quality of parenting, and adolescents' adjustment problems, controlling for socioeconomic status (SES), sex, and race/ethnicity. Additionally, we examined the relative effects of food insecurity, SES, parental emotional distress, and quality of parenting on adjustment problems. A sample of 11,139 12-17-year-olds selected from the 2002 National Survey of American Families data set were used. The results revealed the following: first, the model exhibited a reasonable fit to the data. Second, heightened food insecurity was associated with increased parental emotional distress, poor quality of parenting, and increased adjustment problems. Third, increased parental emotional distress was associated with poor quality of parenting and with higher levels of adjustment problems; and better quality of parenting was associated with lower levels of adjustment problems. Fourth, food insecurity had an indirect effect on adjustment problems through its effect on parental emotional distress and quality of parenting. Finally, parental emotional distress and quality of parenting had stronger total effects on adjustment problems than did food insecurity. The implications of these findings for policy are also discussed.
Sunday, September 09, 2007
The Response of Abortion Demand to Changes in Abortion Costs
Social Indicators Research
q:
This study uses pooled cross-section time-series data, over the years 1982, 1992 and 2000, to estimate the impact of various restrictive abortion laws on the demand for abortion. This study complements and extends prior research by explicitly including the price of obtaining an abortion in the estimation. The empirical results show that the real price of an abortion has a statistically and numerically significant negative impact on abortion demand. Over the period 1982–2000 approximately 20% of the decline in the incidence of abortion was due solely to the increase in the real price of obtaining an abortion. A state Medicaid funding restriction of abortion and a parental involvement law reduce the abortion demand, but a state waiting period and a mandatory counseling law have no statistically significant impact on the abortion demand. The empirical results also provide support for the hypothesis that increases in abortion costs not only reduce the number of abortions, but also reduce the number of pregnancies by altering women’s sexual/contraceptive practices.
q:
This study uses pooled cross-section time-series data, over the years 1982, 1992 and 2000, to estimate the impact of various restrictive abortion laws on the demand for abortion. This study complements and extends prior research by explicitly including the price of obtaining an abortion in the estimation. The empirical results show that the real price of an abortion has a statistically and numerically significant negative impact on abortion demand. Over the period 1982–2000 approximately 20% of the decline in the incidence of abortion was due solely to the increase in the real price of obtaining an abortion. A state Medicaid funding restriction of abortion and a parental involvement law reduce the abortion demand, but a state waiting period and a mandatory counseling law have no statistically significant impact on the abortion demand. The empirical results also provide support for the hypothesis that increases in abortion costs not only reduce the number of abortions, but also reduce the number of pregnancies by altering women’s sexual/contraceptive practices.
Saturday, September 08, 2007
Maternal Predictors of Rejecting Parenting and Early Adolescent Antisocial Behavior
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology
q:
The present study examined relations among maternal psychological resources, rejecting parenting, and early adolescent antisocial behavior in a sample of 231 low-income mothers and their sons with longitudinal assessments from age 18 months to 12 years. The maternal resources examined were age at first birth, aggressive personality, and empathy. Each of the maternal resources predicted rejecting parenting during early childhood in structural equation models that controlled for toddler difficult temperament, and rejecting parenting in early childhood predicted antisocial behavior in early adolescence. Rejecting parenting accounted for the indirect effect of each of the maternal resources on antisocial behavior, but a direct effect was also supported between maternal aggressive personality and youth antisocial behavior. Results highlight the importance of these relatively understudied maternal resources and have implications for prevention and intervention programs that focus on parenting during early childhood.
q:
The present study examined relations among maternal psychological resources, rejecting parenting, and early adolescent antisocial behavior in a sample of 231 low-income mothers and their sons with longitudinal assessments from age 18 months to 12 years. The maternal resources examined were age at first birth, aggressive personality, and empathy. Each of the maternal resources predicted rejecting parenting during early childhood in structural equation models that controlled for toddler difficult temperament, and rejecting parenting in early childhood predicted antisocial behavior in early adolescence. Rejecting parenting accounted for the indirect effect of each of the maternal resources on antisocial behavior, but a direct effect was also supported between maternal aggressive personality and youth antisocial behavior. Results highlight the importance of these relatively understudied maternal resources and have implications for prevention and intervention programs that focus on parenting during early childhood.
Underreporting of Induced and Spontaneous Abortion in the United States
Studies in Family Planning
q:
Underreporting of induced abortions in surveys is widespread, both in countries where the procedure is illegal or highly restricted and in those where it is legal. In this study, we find that fewer than one half of induced abortions performed in the United States in 1997–2001 (47 percent) were reported by women during face-to-face interviews in the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG). Hispanic and black women and those with low income were among the least likely to report their experience of abortion. Women were also less likely to report abortions that occurred when they were in their 20s. Second-trimester abortions were more likely to be reported than first-trimester terminations. The levels of recent spontaneous abortion reported in the 2002 NSFG were consistent with the accumulated body of clinical research, although substantially more lifetime pregnancy losses were reported on self-administered surveys than in face-to-face interviews. Subsequent research should explore strategies to improve information collected on abortion, and, in the interim, research involving pregnancy outcomes should be adjusted for unreported induced abortions.
q:
Underreporting of induced abortions in surveys is widespread, both in countries where the procedure is illegal or highly restricted and in those where it is legal. In this study, we find that fewer than one half of induced abortions performed in the United States in 1997–2001 (47 percent) were reported by women during face-to-face interviews in the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG). Hispanic and black women and those with low income were among the least likely to report their experience of abortion. Women were also less likely to report abortions that occurred when they were in their 20s. Second-trimester abortions were more likely to be reported than first-trimester terminations. The levels of recent spontaneous abortion reported in the 2002 NSFG were consistent with the accumulated body of clinical research, although substantially more lifetime pregnancy losses were reported on self-administered surveys than in face-to-face interviews. Subsequent research should explore strategies to improve information collected on abortion, and, in the interim, research involving pregnancy outcomes should be adjusted for unreported induced abortions.
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