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Article Reference Troff document (with manpage macros)A Longitudinal Assessment of Parental Caregiving and Blood Pressure Trajectories: Findings from the China Health and Nutrition Survey for Women 2000–2011
Background Few studies have investigated the consequences of caregiving on the objectively measured physiological health outcomes in China. This study used population-based longitudinal data to examine the association between parental caregiving and blood pressure among Chinese women. Method This is a retrospective analysis of 2586 women using five waves of data from the Ever-Married Women Survey component of the China Health and Nutrition Survey (2000, 2004, 2006, 2009, and 2011). We applied growth curve models to examine trajectories of systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) associated with parental caregiving among women in China. Results In multivariable analyses of blood pressure trajectories adjusting for potential confounders, parental caregivers had higher systolic (β-coefficient (β) = 1.16; p ≤ 0.01) and diastolic blood pressure (β = 0.75; p ≤ 0.01) compared with non-caregivers across multiple waves. Caregivers and non-caregivers had similar levels of systolic blood pressure at baseline, but caregivers exhibited relatively higher growth rate over time. Diastolic blood pressure was much higher among caregivers at the baseline measure, and across time relative to non-caregivers. Moreover, low-intensity but not high-intensity caregivers showed higher growth rate compared with non-caregivers for both SBP and DBP. Discussion Our results demonstrate the negative cardiovascular consequences of parental caregiving among Chinese women. Findings from the study can be used to develop future stress management interventions to decrease hypertension risk within women who provide care to their parents.
Located in Retired Persons / Sunmin Lee, Sc.D. / Sunmin Lee Publications
Article Reference Troff document (with manpage macros)Are Children Barriers to the Gender Revolution? International Comparisons
Children seem to present a barrier to the gender revolution in that parents are more likely to divide paid and domestic work along traditional gender lines than childless couples are. However, the extent to which this is so varies between countries and over time. We used data on 35 countries from the 2012 International Social Survey Programme to identify the contexts in which parents and non-parents differ the most in their division of labour. In Central/South America, Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, Asia, and South Africa, labour sharing configurations did not vary as much with the presence of children as in Australia, Western Europe, North America, and Northern Europe. Our multilevel models helped explain this pattern by showing that children seem to present a greater barrier to the gender revolution in richer and, surprisingly, more gender equal countries. However, the relationship between children and couples’ division of labour can be thought of as curvilinear, first increasing as societies progress, but then weakening if societies respond with policies that promote men’s involvement at home. In particular, having a portion of parental leave reserved for fathers reduces the extent to which children are associated with traditional labour sharing in the domestic sphere.
Located in MPRC People / Frances Goldscheider, Ph.D. / Frances Goldscheider Publications
Article Reference Troff document (with manpage macros)Challenging Stereotypes: A Counter-Narrative of the Contraceptive Experiences of Low-Income Latinas
Purpose: Reproductive autonomy is associated with educational attainment, advanced employment, and wellbeing. While U.S. Latinas use contraception to control their own childbearing and have reported a desire to do so, they often use it inconsistently and have the lowest rates of contraceptive use of any group. Reasons previously cited for why Latinas do not use contraception compared with non-Latino white women include lack of access, lack of knowledge, language barriers, emphasis on large families, machismo, and religiosity. These reasons are often overly simplistic and can lead to widespread generalizations about Latinas. Methods: Using focus groups and semistructured interviews from November 2014 through June 2015, this study describes the family planning perspectives and experiences of 16 Latinas living in Baltimore and recruited from two federally qualified health centers. A social determinant of health framework was used to guide identification of important concepts and explain findings. Results: Results demonstrated that respondents reported contraceptive agency and claimed autonomy over their bodies; described a sense of responsibility and often expressed caution about having families too large to care for; expressed educational and career aspirations; and perceived contraception as critical for the postponement of childbearing to achieve their goals. Conclusion: The patient/provider encounter should include communication that recognizes all patient preferences and lived experiences to support vulnerable and/or marginalized Latinas in their desires to control their own childbearing and life choices.
Located in Retired Persons / Ruth Zambrana, Ph.D. / Ruth Zambrana Publications
Article Reference Troff document (with manpage macros)Cumulative Psychosocial Stress and Ideal Cardiovascular Health in Older Women: Data by Race/Ethnicity
  BACKGROUND: Research implicates acute and chronic stressors in racial/ethnic health disparities, but the joint impact of multiple stressors on racial/ethnic disparities in cardiovascular health is unknown. METHODS: In 25 062 women (24 053 white; 256 Hispanic; 440 black; 313 Asian) articipating in the Women's Health Study follow-up cohort, we examined the relationship between cumulative psychosocial stress (CPS) and ideal cardiovascular health (ICH), as defined by the American Heart Association's 2020 strategic Impact Goals. This health metric includes smoking, body mass index, physical activity, diet, blood pressure, total cholesterol, and glucose, with higher levels indicating more ICH and less cardiovascular risk (score range, 0-7). We created a CPS score that summarized acute stressors (eg, negative life events) and chronic stressors (eg, work, work-family spillover, financial, discrimination, relationship, and neighborhood) and traumatic life event stress reported on a stress questionnaire administered in 2012 to 2013 (score range, 16-385, with higher scores indicating higher levels of stress). RESULTS: White women had the lowest mean CPS scores (white: 161.7±50.4; Hispanic: 171.2±51.7; black: 172.5±54.9; Asian: 170.8±50.6; P overall <0.01). Mean CPS scores remained higher in Hispanic, black, and Asian women than in white women after adjustment for age, socioeconomic status (income and education), and psychological status (depression and anxiety) ( P<0.01 for each). Mean ICH scores varied by race/ethnicity ( P<0.01) and were significantly lower in black women and higher in Asian women compared with white women (β-coefficient [95% CI]: Hispanics, -0.02 [-0.13 to -0.09]; blacks, -0.34 [-0.43 to -0.25]; Asians, 0.34 [0.24 to 0.45]); control for socioeconomic status and CPS did not change these results. Interactions between CPS and race/ethnicity in ICH models were not significant. CONCLUSIONS: Both CPS and ICH varied by race/ethnicity. ICH remained worse in blacks and better in Asians compared with whites, despite taking into account socioeconomic factors and CPS.
Located in Retired Persons / Natalie Slopen, Sc.D. / Natalie Slopen Publications
Article Reference Troff document (with manpage macros)Decision rightness and relief predominate over the years following an abortion
A recent analysis from the Turnaway study focused on women who were just under the gestational limit of a clinic and received an abortion and those who had first trimester abortions to examine trends in decisional rightness and negative and positive emotions over 5 years after the abortion. Specifically, Rocca et al. (in press) analyzed these data and found that women were overwhemingly sure of their decision: 95% felt their decision was the right one at each assessment after their abortion, and the predicted probability of abortion being the right decision was 99% at 5 years afterwards. Relief was the most common emotion felt by women, and negative emotions or decision regret did not emerge over time. These results and others from studies conducted globally counter assertions by abortion opponents that women are not certain of their decisions, or that women regret or have mainly negative emotions about their abortions if not in the short run then after a long period of time. This commentary addresses not only these findings but also relevant U.S. abortion policies based on these unsubstantiated claims. Policies should not be based on the notions that women are unsure of their decision, come to regret, it or have negative emotions because there is no evidence to support these claims.
Located in MPRC People / Julia Steinberg, Ph.D. / Julia Steinberg Publications
Derek Kreager, Penn State University
The Society of Female Captives: A Network Approach
Located in Coming Up
Desai editorial details decline in Indian women's employment
Flags a squandered 'gender dividend'
Located in News
Engaging Women in the Market for Mobile Money
Faculty Associate Jessica Goldberg awarded National Science Foundation three-year grant to examine questions of participation and impact for women
Located in Research / Selected Research
Article Reference Troff document (with manpage macros)Everyday and major experiences of racial/ethnic discrimination and sleep health in a multiethnic population of U.S. women: Findings from the Sister Study
Background Perceived racial/ethnic discrimination and poor sleep occur across all races/ethnicities in the U.S., though both are most common among racial/ethnic minorities. Few studies have investigated associations between perceived racial/ethnic discrimination and various sleep dimensions in a multiethnic population. Methods We analyzed cross-sectional associations among 40,038 eligible Sister Study participants (enrollment: 2003-2009) who reported ever/never experiencing specific types of everyday (e.g., treated unfairly at a store or restaurant) or major (e.g., unfairly stopped, threatened, or searched by police) discrimination attributed to their race/ethnicity during a follow-up survey in 2008-2012. Participants also reported short sleep duration (<7 hours), sleep debt (≥2-hour difference between longest and shortest sleep duration), frequent napping (≥3 times/week), and insomnia. Poisson regression with robust variance estimation, adjusted for sociodemographic and health characteristics, estimated prevalence ratios (PRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between each type of racial/ethnic discrimination and each sleep dimension, overall and by race/ethnicity. Results Mean age was 55 ± 8.9 years, 89% were NH-white, 8% NH-black, and 3% Hispanic/Latina. NH-black participants were the most likely to report everyday (76% vs. 4% [NH-whites] and 36% [Hispanics/Latinas]) and major racial/ethnic discrimination (52% vs. 2% [NH-whites] and 18% [Hispanics/Latinas]). Participants who experienced both types versus neither were more likely to report short sleep duration (PR=1.17 [95% CI: 1.09-1.25]) and insomnia symptoms (PR=1.10 [1.01-1.20]) but not other poor sleep dimensions. Conclusions Racial/ethnic minority women were most likely to experience racial/ethnic discrimination, which was associated with certain poor sleep dimensions among women of all races/ethnicities.
Located in Retired Persons / Natalie Slopen, Sc.D. / Natalie Slopen Publications
Exploring perceived coercive aspects of transactional sex in Central Uganda
Kirsten Stoebenau examines the Central Uganda Adolescent Girls and Young Women (AGYW)'s participation in transactional sex
Located in Research / Selected Research