On reconstructing school segregation: The efficacy and equity of single-sex schooling

A change to Title IX has spurred new single-sex public schooling in the US. Until recently, nearly all gender-segregated schools were private, and comprehensive data for public school comparisons are not yet available. To investigate the effects of single-sex education, I focus on within private sector comparisons, and additionally address selection bias using an index comparing expectations to outcomes and quantile regressions. Compared to graduates from private coed schools, girls’ school alumnae are no more likely to pursue college degrees, and both genders are less likely to meet their own educational expectations. However, single-sex schooling may support gender equity, as single-sex schools yield the least segregated college major choices. On the other hand, higher mean starting salaries among single-sex school graduates do not persistent in regression results. Much of the benefit from single-sex schooling accrues to students already likely to succeed, but selection bias does not explain all gains. There are some benefits for African-American men and low income students.     

Fathers' and Mothers' Parenting Predicting and Responding to Adolescent Sexual Risk Behaviors

Transactional models of problem behavior argue that less effective parenting and adolescent problem behaviors coevolve, exerting bidirectional influences. This article extends such models by analyzing growth trajectories of sexual risk behaviors and parenting processes among 3,206 adolescents (aged 13–18) and their residential parents. Within individuals, increases in regular family activities prospectively predicted declines in adolescents' risky sexual activities. In contrast, increases in risky sexual activities predicted heightened father knowledge. Between-individual comparisons revealed bidirectional links between more involved parenting, particularly family activities and father knowledge, and lower adolescent risky sexual activity. Results highlight the importance of family activities as a protective force for adolescents and suggest that fathers may react differently than mothers in the face of youth problem behaviors.     

Predictors of College Attendance Patterns of Rural Youth

This study investigated patterns of college attendance using data from a nationwide and contemporary sample of 2112 rural youth. We found that more than half of rural youth attended two-year institutions at some point during their college career and about a fourth initially enrolled in a two-year college before enrolling in a four-year college. Results also revealed that parental education, college preparatory track and preparation experiences, and teacher expectations predicted students’ college attendance patterns. Our findings point to the importance of two-year colleges and highlight the influence of family characteristics and students’ schooling experiences in the postsecondary trajectories of rural youth.     

Gender Norms and Discourses Informing College Men’s Perceptions of Heteronormative Sexual Health Responsibilities and HPV Prevention

Focus group data revealed that despite reporting expectations for high levels of sexual activity, college men primarily identifying as heterosexual were ambivalent about sexual health responsibility and their role in preventing human papillomavirus (HPV). Participants identified shared sexual health responsibility as an ideal but invoked heteronormative gender discourses to rationalize inequality in partnered sexual health. Self-categorization processes based on gender may prevent college males from engaging self- and partnered protective behaviors. Yet, self-categorization processes also enabled college men to envision a future relational identity as husband and father in which they engaged protective sexual health behaviors. Although discourses may signify latent benevolent sexism, they may also make room for behavior change through dissonance or messages encouraging superordinate categorization that urges engaging in preventive sexual health behaviors regardless of gender. Implications for self-categorization processes in HPV prevention are discussed.     

Childhood adversity increases the risk of onward transmission from perinatal HIV-infected adolescents and youth in South Africa

Repeated exposure to childhood adversity (abuse, neglect and other traumas experienced before age 18) can have lifelong impacts on health. For HIV-infected adolescents and youth, such impacts may include onward transmission of HIV. To evaluate this possibility, the current study measured the burden of childhood adversity and its influence on risky health behaviors among perinatally-infected adolescents and youth. We surveyed 250 perinatally-infected adolescents and youth (13–24 years) receiving care in Soweto, South Africa. Both male and female participants reported on childhood adversity (using the ACE-IQ), sexual behavior, and psychosocial state. Viral load was also abstracted from their charts. We used logistic regressions to test the association between cumulative adversity and behavioral outcomes. Half the sample reported eight or more adversities. Overall, 72% experienced emotional abuse, 59% experienced physical abuse, 34% experienced sexual abuse, 82% witnessed domestic violence, and 91% saw someone being attacked in their community. A clear gradient emerged between cumulative adversities and behavioral risk. Having experienced one additional childhood adversity raised the odds of risky sexual behavior by almost 30% (OR 1.27, 95% CI 1.09–1.48). Viral suppression was poor overall (31% had viral loads >400 copies/ml), but was not related to adversity. Adversity showed a robust relationship to depression and substance abuse. Childhood adversity is common, influences the current health of HIV-positive adolescents and youth, and puts their sexual partners at risk for HIV infection. Greater primary prevention of childhood adversity and increased access to support services (e.g., mental health) could reduce risk taking among HIV-positive adolescents and youth.     

College prospects and risky behavior among Mexican immigrant youth: The effects of in-state tuition policies on schooling and childbearing

This paper examines how a reduction in the cost of college for undocumented students affects college enrollment and adolescent risky behaviors. Prior to 2001, undocumented students in the United States faced high out-of-state tuition costs at public colleges and universities. From 2001 to 2014, twenty-one states passed in-state tuition policies, reducing the average cost of college by more than half for these students. To the extent that teens are forward-looking and aware that lower tuition increases the likelihood of attending college, this price reduction should decrease the incidence of risky behavior during adolescence among the undocumented. Exploiting the variation in timing of in-state tuition policies across states and using Mexican foreign-born non-citizenship as a proxy for undocumented status, I find that these policies increase college enrollment by about 1.2 percentage points (12% of the sample mean), decrease high school dropout incidence by about 5 percentage points for female youth (27% of the sample mean), and decrease the likelihood of first birth before age 20 by 2 percentage points (9% of the sample mean).     

Childhood sexual abuse,risky sexual behaviors and adverse reproductive health outcomes among Chinese college students

BackgroundChildhood sexual abuse (CSA) is a serious public health problem worldwide.ObjectivesWe reported the prevalence of CSA and examined its association with risky sexual behaviors and adverse reproductive health outcomes among college students in China.Participants and settingParticipants were 17,966 college students from 130 colleges in Eastern, Central, and Western China, who completed the online questionnaire in January–August 2015.MethodsData were obtained from a cluster-random Internet-based survey. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were employed: risky sexual behaviors and adverse reproductive health outcomes were outcome variables, and various types of CSA were predictor variables, while adjusting for socio-demographic and lifestyle characteristics.ResultsThe overall prevalence of any type of CSA was 27.5%. Most perpetrators were friends/acquaintances (34.6%) or intimate partners (24.7%) of the victims. Respondents who reported penetrative CSA were strongly associated with regular unprotected sex (odds ratio (OR): 3.0, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.2–4.0), early sexual debut (OR: 5.5, 95% CI: 3.3–9.1), having genital tract symptoms in the last 12 months (OR: 5.0, 95% CI: 4.1–6.0), unintended pregnancy (OR: 6.2, 95% CI: 4.2–9.0), and induced abortion (OR: 5.5, 95% CI: 3.7–8.2) (for boys, the survey asked about history of unintended pregnancy and induced abortion of their sexual partners). A dose-response relationship was found across non-contact, contact, and penetrative CSA.ConclusionsCSA experience may increase the likelihood of risky sexual behaviors and adverse reproductive health outcomes in victims’ early adulthood.     

The effects of early sexual abuse on adult risky sexual behaviors among persons with severe mental illness

OBJECTIVE: There were two aims: first, to examine the relationship between prior sexual abuse and three types of adult risky sexual behaviors [(1) ever traded sex for drugs or money, (2) had unprotected sex in the past 6 months, and (3) frequency of unprotected sex in the past 6 months] among persons with severe mental illness (SMI), and second, to examine the potential mediating effects of adult rape, substance use, and PTSD. METHOD: Using a pooled sample of individuals with SMI (N=609), logistic and negative binomial regression analyses were used to investigate the impact of prior sexual abuse on these adult risky sexual behaviors. RESULTS: Childhood sexual abuse was associated with having ever traded sex for money and having engaged in unprotected sex in the past 6 months. However, childhood sexual abuse was inversely associated with the number of times males had unprotected sex in the past 6 months. Results differed between males and females and the impact of potential mediators also varied by gender and type of outcome studied. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest a complex link between childhood sexual abuse and adult risky sexual behaviors in persons with SMI. Clinical assessments of child abuse sequelae should include a variety of indicators and parameters of adult risky sexual behavior, as persons with SMI are at an increased risk of engaging in high-risk sexual behaviors and tend to have a higher exposure to childhood sexual abuse than does the general population.     

Association between early sexual abuse and adult HIV-risky sexual behaviors among community-recruited women.

OBJECTIVE: The first purpose was to determine whether sexual abuse involving penetration that occurred in childhood only, adolescence only, or both childhood and adolescence differently impacted whether community-recruited women had ever traded sex for money or drugs, their number of recent sex partners, and the number of times they had engaged in recent unprotected sex. The second purpose was to assess the mediating effects of adulthood rape, recent drug use, and recent sex with an injection drug user on these three HIV-risky sexual behaviors. METHOD: Women (n = 1,490) recruited from three US sites were questioned about their childhood and/or adolescent sexual abuse histories, adulthood rape experiences, recent drug use, and adult HIV-risky sexual behaviors via structured interviews. RESULTS: One-third of the women reported having experienced sexual abuse involving penetration in childhood and/or adolescence. Overall, regression analyses indicated a significant relationship between early sexual abuse and adult risky behaviors; rape in adulthood mediated this relationship for all three HIV-risky behaviors. Abuse that occurred in childhood only and abuse that occurred in both childhood and adolescence had a stronger impact on later risky behaviors than did abuse that occurred in adolescence only. CONCLUSIONS: Because childhood constitutes a critical period in individuals' sexual, social, and personal development, sexual abuse precipitated during this time may distort women's constructions of sex and sexuality. Women abused in childhood may therefore engage in HIV-risky sexual behaviors to a greater extent than women abused in adolescence as a result of these disruptions to their development. Rape in adulthood appears to intensify the effects of early sexual abuse,     

A pilot study examining risk behavior in facebook posts for maltreated versus comparison youth using content analysis

BackgroundSocial Media use is highly prevalent among contemporary adolescents yet, no studies have examined the similarity in risk content (e.g., substance use, sexual behaviors) between the online posts of maltreated youth and their friends.ObjectiveThe current study examined the risk content of Facebook posts among a sample maltreated and comparison youth and compared the rates of risk content produced by the participants versus their Facebook friends.Participants and SettingData were from a sample of maltreated (n = 56) and comparison (n = 62) youth. At the time of data collection participants were in young adulthood (M = 21.78 years; SD = 1.45), but the timeframe of their Facebook profiles captured mid adolescence to young adulthood.MethodsData were downloaded from the Facebook profiles of all participants and the posts and comments were coded for references to alcohol, marijuana, hard drugs, partying, and sexual content.ResultsThe results showed that maltreated and comparison youth were similar in the amount of risky content they posted on Facebook as well as in the amount posted by their Facebook friends. Correlations between participant’s and friends’ posts showed stronger associations for posts about alcohol use for the maltreated group but stronger associations in the comparison group for posts about marijuana, hard drug, and sexual references. Gender differences were also examined, with males producing more online risky content than females.ConclusionsNext steps should incorporate a more nuanced analysis to determine which online friends are the sources of risky content.     

Determinants of schooling for boys and girls in Nigeria under a policy of free primary education

This paper adds a measure of school costs to the model of determinants of schooling. Costs are estimated with controls for selection into school and the possibility of receiving free primary education (FPE). Controlling for costs, household wealth has a large, positive effect on primary school attendance with greater income elasticity for girls than boys. Girls’ attendance also depends on opportunity costs generated by providing child care for younger siblings and living on a family farm. Policies that increase household resources and reduce opportunity costs are recommended to complement free primary education.     

Association of child maltreatment and depressive symptoms among Puerto Rican youth

This article compares multiple types of child maltreatment among Puerto Rican youth. We seek to expand the limited knowledge of the effects of multiple types of maltreatment on depressive symptoms in a specific Latino population as emerging studies indicate that children who are exposed to one type of maltreatment are often exposed to other types. This study examines the predictive strength of different and multiple types of lifetime child maltreatment (i.e., physical, sexual, and emotional abuse; and neglect), and the effect of youth support from parents, youth coping, youth self-esteem, and place of residence on depressive symptoms among Puerto Rican youth. Secondary data analyses were performed using three annual waves (2000–2004) of data from the Boricua Youth Study. The analytic sample consists of 1041 10–13 year old Puerto Rican youth living in New York and Puerto Rico. Results indicate that: (1) youth who experienced ‘sexual abuse only’, ‘multiple maltreatment’ (2 or more types of maltreatment), ‘physical abuse only’ have a significant increase in depressive symptoms (75.1%, 61.6%, and 40.5% respectively) compared to those without maltreatment; and (2) place of residence, exposure to violence, and mental disorders were significant risk factors. When developing psychosocial interventions, professionals should particularly focus on youth who report past lifetime experience with child maltreatment. Particular attention should be given to children living in the Bronx, New York and similar urban low-income areas who report past lifetime experience with multiple types of child maltreatment and who present symptoms or a diagnosis of co-occurring mental health problems.     

Expanding schooling opportunities for 4-year-olds

We use a novel quasi-experimental strategy to estimate the effect of expanding early schooling enrollment possibilities on early achievement. It exploits two features of the school system in The Netherlands. The first is rolling admissions; children are allowed to start school immediately after their 4th birthday instead of at the beginning of the school year. The second is that children having their birthday before, during and after the summer holiday are placed in the same class. These features generate sufficient exogenous variation in children’s enrollment opportunities to identify its effects on test scores. Making available one additional month of time in school increases language scores of disadvantaged pupils by 6 percent of a standard deviation and their math scores by 5 percent of a standard deviation. For non-disadvantaged pupils we find no effect.     

‘I'm not a real risk-taker’: moral identity construction and sexual-risk perceptions among a group of young rural Tasmanians

Some young people are labelled more ‘at-risk’ of harming themselves through various behaviours, such as having sex, than others. However, such distinctions between young people are ambiguous, as youth itself is imagined as inherently risky. At-risk discourse has fuelled the existing links between youth and risk, and morality and risk. It has also impeded explanations of young people's sexual risk-taking. This article examines the stories that young rural Tasmanians (a group considered to be at sexual risk) tell about their experiences of safe and risky sex. A narrative analysis highlights the way that they perceive risk through the prism of self-identity. The participants' desire not to understand the self as a ‘real’ risk-taker inhibits them from imbuing their sex practices with significant risk. The findings suggest that sexual health research and safety promotion strategies may benefit from a shift away from at-risk rhetoric and a greater emphasis on the self-identity and risk perception nexus.     

Sexual behaviour and interest in using a sexual health mobile app to help improve and manage college students' sexual health

Many US college students are reported to engage in risky sexual behaviour. Smartphone applications are a popular way to provide users with information in real time. We explored the potential for mobile technology to be used in promoting the sexual health of college students. Using findings from an online survey among a random sample of 5000 college students (15% response), we examined sexual behaviours and interest in a sexual health application in January 2012. The majority of students were female (73%) and owned a smartphone (74%). Twenty-nine per cent currently used health-related applications on their phone and 67% reported interest in using a free application that could improve/manage their sexual health. Interest in use varied based on gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, having an unintended pregnancy, sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing, smartphone ownership and past application use. The top most useful features for women included a period tracker (46%), birth control reminder (43%) and STI and pregnancy symptom checker (30%). Women were more likely to be interested in using the application compared with men and those engaging in more sexual activity were more likely to be interested as compared with those engaging in less sexual activity. The evaluation of mobile technology to promote healthy sexuality among college students is warranted.     

Examining Sexuality Education Preferences Among Youth at Risk for Poor Sexual Health Outcomes Based on Social Determinants of Health Factors

ABSTRACT

At-risk adolescents may experience Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) that lead to higher rates of risky sexual behavior, including increased risk of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. These SDoH may include components such as unstable family structures, incomplete education, and poverty. Targeting at-risk youth for sexuality education is one way to work toward decreasing sexual health disparities. However, preferences for sexuality education approaches may differ among at-risk youth by additional factors including sex and sexual orientation. The purpose of this study was to describe sexuality education preferences among at-risk youth and how sexuality education preferences differ based on sex and sexual orientation in an at-risk sample of high school-aged youth in Texas. Results indicate sexuality education preferences differ based on sex and sexual orientation when examined by sexual health topics and methods of delivery. Implications of this study indicate including at-risk youth in sexual health programs may be a way to target those at-risk of adverse SDoH, but these groups also have specific preferences for sexuality education.     

College selectivity and young adult health behaviors

Large literatures have shown important links between the quantity of completed education and health outcomes on one hand and the quality or selectivity of schooling on a host of adult outcomes, such as wages, on the other hand. However, little research attempts to produce evidence of the link between school quality and health. The paper presents the first evidence in the literature on the potential short and intermediate term effects of attending a selective college on health behaviors during and following college attendance. Using a variety of empirical methods, this paper shows strong evidence that college selectivity reduces tobacco and marijuana use but has small and possibly positive effects on binge drinking. The effects on weight behaviors are suggestive of reduced weight, potentially through diet, but not exercise change.     

Educational expansion in Ghana: Economic assumptions and expectations

The neo-classical ‘human capital theory’ continues to be invoked as part of the rationale for educational expansion in the developing world. While the theory provides a route from educational inputs to economic outputs in terms of increased incomes and standards of living, the route is contingent and relies upon a number of key assumptions. This study examines these assumptions alongside student expectations of their educations in the context of Ghana using data collected from a survey conducted at higher education institution and from the Ghana Statistical Service's ongoing living standards surveys. Data indicate that students have high economic expectations but that trends in wages and employment are leading to ‘wage compression’ which may ultimately make expectations difficult to fulfill. The relatively low private costs of education, particularly higher education, may mean, however, that educational investment remains very much a ‘rational’ choice in economic terms. However, the study finds that key assumptions of successful human capital investment went largely unsatisfied in Ghana.     

Screening homeless youth for histories of abuse: prevalence, enduring effects, and interest in treatment

Objectives

To identify the incidence of self-reported physical and sexual child abuse among homeless youth, the self-perceived effects of past abuse, and current interest in treatment for past abuse among homeless youth with histories of abuse.

Methods

Homeless and street-involved persons aged 18-23 filled out a questionnaire and participated in a structured assessment of histories of abuse, tobacco use and substance abuse.

Results

Sixty-four homeless youth in Salt Lake City, Utah completed the study, 43 males and 21 females. Eighty-four percent screened positive for childhood physical and/or sexual abuse occurring before the age of 18; 42% screened positive for both physical and sexual abuse; 72% reported still being affected by their abuse. Among all abuse victims, 44% were interested in treatment for their abuse history and 62% of homeless youth who reported still being affected by their abuse were interested in treatment. Individuals were more likely to be interested in treatment if they were female, had not completed high school or had been previously asked about family dysfunction. Many victims who declined treatment offered spontaneous insight into their decision. Interest in treatment was similar to interest in treatment for other behaviors such as smoking and substance abuse.

Conclusions

Histories of abuse are common among homeless youth. A majority of those reporting a history of abuse are still affected by their abuse. Interest in treatment for a history of abuse was comparable to interest in treatment for other morbidities in the homeless youth population such as tobacco use and substance abuse. Our finding that homeless youth continue to be impacted by their abuse and are interested in treatment should prompt more screening for histories of abuse.