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This research explores the linkages between HR practices and business sales performance in a retail bank branch network. Whilst previous research in the last two decades has generally supported the notion that when appropriately designed HR practices can help enhance organizational outcomes, there is still ongoing debate regarding how such practices can actually influence business results. In particular, academics have highlighted the importance of the quality of HR implementation, because this can affect employee day-to-day experiences of and reactions to the HR practices which can impact on variance in the business results. In effect, it is crucial for research to take up the employee lens of the implemented practices and their reactions to these, if the HR-performance relationship is to be clearly understood. This thesis contributes to this research agenda by adopting the social exchange lens to shed light on the nature of the aforementioned relationship. A multidisciplinary and multilevel HR-performance model was employed for conducting empirical tests. Specifically, the empirical model was constructed from the literature in three different fields: strategic human resources management, social exchange theory and psychological contract, with the aim of eliciting the nature of employer-employee exchange relationships in the HR process. Subsequently, the model was tested using the data obtained from 1,286 employees in 149 bank branches and analysed so as to assess the multilevel process through which HR practices can influence business sales performance. The empirical results indicate that an organization can improve branch sales performance by paying careful attention to several processes pertaining to the implementation of HR practices. That is, through the psychological contract process, employees, based on their perceptions of the quality of the received practices (i.e. HR level and breach), reciprocate the organization with their discretionary performance, i.e. commitment attitudes and organizational citizenship behaviours and these outcomes have an impact on business results. Moreover, the findings also point to a boundary condition, whereby the HR-performance relationship can be enhanced by stressing the role of the key constituencies responsible for delivering these practices, namely: senior management and the line manager. That is, respectively, through the affective and relational processes, these agents can have an impact on employee perceptions of HR level and whether there has been a breach of the psychological contract, which in turn influence employee reactions in the causal chain. In summary, having applied the social exchange perspective to elicit the employee interaction with the different quality of HR implementation across bank branches, this study has contributed to the literature by identifying the key processes including psychological contract, relational and affective processes through which HR practices can impact on business sales performance, thereby illustrating how an organization’s human resources can serve as the source of sustained business competitive advantage.

The purpose of the study was to examine gender imbalance at the leadership level of sport administration at National Olympic Committees (NOC), National Paralympic Committees (NPC), and National Sport Organizations (NSF) of countries members of the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO). Specifically, this study examined how social and human capital, socio-cultural aspects of each country, and power-based discourses affect the advancement of women’s careers at the micro, meso, and macro levels of analysis. A total of 12 participants were selected to participate in this study. Participants were all female sport administrators holding the position of president, vice-president, or secretary-general of a NOC, NPC, or NSF representing sport organizations in seven countries. The majority were married, were former athletes, self-described as white, of European descent, and being of middle and upper-class. All 12 participants have undergraduate level degrees and most of them hold master’s degrees. Semi-structured interviews were used to examine how similar experiences defined the careers of women in the sport industry, with thematic analysis and a Feminist Critical approach being used as the primary method for data analysis. Findings of this investigation show that participation barriers that prevent women’s access to sport leadership roles are more prevalent at the meso-level, being influenced by both endemic sexist discourses of the sport culture as a male-dominated industry and by the socio-cultural factors that prevail in the region. Results also revealed that social class and status provide not only women with better education opportunities but also access to advance a career in sport. Thus, lack of training in sport administration and command of the English language are perceived as barriers that primarily affect women minorities. Participants prefer the merits of the female leader instead of filling quotas. Finally, participants perceived that despite the effects of the machista culture in most Latin American sport organizations, a generational change is occurring in the leadership of these organizations. The new generation of sport leaders seems to be more empathetic and show more positive attitudes toward women leading sport organizations.

In public health, certain population groups (termed as vulnerable populations) are at an elevated rate of morbidity and mortality for particular diseases. Vulnerable groups usually experience poorer health outcomes and healthcare attention compared to the general population1. For this dissertation, the groups (mobile individuals, women, and African Americans) and diseases (HIV, COVID-19 and Anemia) of interest present particular geographical distributions that are worthy of study because of the need to understand uneven spatial pattern distributions, locate populations at risk, and to devise geographically-targeted interventions. Also, the reasons behind their distribution might differ not only because of a disease’s biological features but also due to several drivers including, sociodemographic characteristics, economic activities, or built-environmental conditions associated with a specific area, region or country.Previous studies have evaluated the geographical variation and the contribution of risk factors in HIV, COVID-19 and Anemia. Although these studies showed evidence of the spatial variation of these diseases, they were geographically and epidemiologically limited, with scarce information available for vulnerable populations such as mobile individuals, women, and African Americans. Therefore, this dissertation aims to investigate the contribution of geographic-based risk factors to elevated rates of morbidity and mortality in both well-established (HIV and Anemia) and novel diseases (COVID-19) in the aforementioned groups using geography. I hypothesize that medical geography is the right choice to understand the contribution of geographic-based risk factors to disease variations in vulnerable groups from a geographical standpoint. Moreover, to support my hypothesis about the ability of geography to study spatial variation of diseases, chapters 2, 3, and 4 corresponded to three peer-reviewed medical geography articles with emphasis in vulnerable populations. The first article -“Associated Health and Social Determinants of Mobile Populations Across HIV Epidemic Gradients in Southern Africa”- has been published in the Journal of Migration and Health. The second article -“Identification of Vulnerable Populations and Areas at Higher Risk of COVID-19-Related Mortality during the Early Stage of the Epidemic in the United States” -has been published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. The third article -“The Epidemiological Landscape of Anemia in Women of Reproductive Age in Sub-Saharan Africa” has been published in Scientific Reports. In summary, this research contributes to the medical geographic and epidemiological literature in several aspects. First, it enriches empirical evidence to support the hypothesis of using medical geography as an analytical framework in health studies of vulnerable groups. Second, this research sheds new light on the application of geographical concepts following William Pattison’s geographic traditions. The spatial, areal, man-land and earth observation are represented in different forms throughout each chapter, and generally, they are present in conjunction with each other. Finally, this dissertation illustrates the multilevel nature of health diseases with intrinsic links to places and geographic-risk exposure related. The empirical results in well-established and novel diseases demonstrate the applicability of medical geography in the study of human health, and how medical geographers can greatly enhance future studies employing spatial analyses with further examination of both points of origin, human and place

BACKGROUND: Relationships between maternal preconception health and preterm birth have been demonstrated in the literature, as have relationships between neighborhood factors and maternal preconception health. Determining how maternal preconception health and neighborhood factors simultaneously contribute to preterm birth will help researchers and clinicians better understand the complex risk factors of preterm birth. METHODS: Data were collected during 2012-2014 in the Georgia Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System. Data were geocoded to American Community Survey 2011-2015 5-year estimates (n=3085). Descriptive statistics were calculated. Effects of maternal preconception health and neighborhood factors on preterm birth were analyzed using hierarchical generalized linear modeling (SAS PROC GLIMMIX). RESULTS: From 2012-2014, about 9.38% of Georgia moms gave birth to a preterm infant. Considering cross-level interactions, for women who reported recently dieting and who lived in census tracts with 1.00% more crowded households than average, the estimated odds of preterm birth were 0.83 times the estimated odds for the average interaction (95% CI 0.81-0.85). For women with a pre-pregnancy chronic disease who lived in rural counties, the estimated odds of preterm birth were 1.35 times the estimated odds for the average interaction (95% CI 1.17-1.57). CONCLUSIONS: Maternal preconception health and neighborhood factors were simultaneously significantly associated with preterm birth, demonstrating the complexity of risk factors associated with preterm birth. Programs to promote healthy weight management and exercise before pregnancy and to encourage physicians to work in rural counties could improve maternal preconception health and decrease preterm births.

This study examined the relationships between math engagement, teacher quality, school factors, and math achievement in middle school students. This study used the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) data from the 2007 wave. The data were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and hierarchical linear modeling (HLM). The results EFA and CFA showed that students’ engagement in math classrooms consists of three dimensions: behavior, cognition, and emotion. The results provided evidence in supporting the multidimensional theory of student engagement, and provided a well-developed instrument that could measure students’ math engagement. The findings of HLM analysis indicated that students’ emotional engagement had a positive association with math achievement. In addition, teacher content knowledge displayed a positive effect on achievement, and teacher subject knowledge preparation and students’ emotional engagement showed an interactional effect on achievement. What’s more, school SES was a significant factor that influences math achievement. The findings suggested that students’ math achievement was not only related to students’ engagement, but also varied across class and school level factors. The study had both theoretical and practical significance, providing valuable insights for math education and math learning.

Considerando el nivel de coherencia percibida por los estudiantes españoles de Magisterio que participaron en el estudio TEDS-M entre los contenidos aprendidos en la Universidad y los aplicados durante sus prácticas, este artículo analiza desde una perspectiva multinivel posibles diferencias en esta percepción en función de aspectos relativos a la planifi cación, desarrollo y evaluación del Prácticum. Los resultados muestran que son las variables relativas al desarrollo del Prácticum las que contribuyen en mayor grado a explicar dichas diferencias. Destaca especialmente el papel desempeñado por el tutor, por lo que resulta necesario avanzar en la investigación en torno a esta figura.

This study consisted of two parts; a) Japanese eighth graders and Japanese middle school socioeconomic status (SES) simultaneous influence on student math achievement and b) parental educational influence on Japanese eighth graders’ likelihood of participation in extra math lessons by utilizing the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) Japan data sets. Four-thousand-eight-hundred-fifty-six randomly selected Japanese eighth graders (male = 2,455, female = 2,401) from 146 public (national and other public) and private middle schools participated in their study. The theoretical framework was Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological theory. There were four challenges in this study to improve the extant literature: a) statistical issues, b) the combined influence of SES and non-SES, c) incongruent results on school SES impact, and d) insufficient number of quantity and quality studies. Two-level multilevel analysis and multilevel ordinal models were applied respectively to analyze the data sets. The results indicated that at the student level, different aspects of student SES (i.e. number of books, the possession of computers, paternal, and maternal educational achievements were positively related to Japanese student math achievement. At the school level, two aspects of school SES (i.e. less populated schools and economically disadvantaged schools) were negatively related to Japanese student math achievement. Especially, Japanese students who attended schools in less populated areas were more disadvantaged relative to those who attended schools in more populated areas. None of the cross-level interactions were significant, but the random effect for computer slope was significant. The results of the proportional reduction of prediction error explained by both student and school SES were small, meaning the residual variances at student and school SES were small. Small school SES residual variance may indicate a stratification of public middle schools. The findings also showed that maternal educational background was related to their children’s odds of participation in extra math lessons after schools. When mothers were more educated, Japanese students were more likely to participate in extra math lessons. From the results of the two study findings, the maternal level of education influenced Japanese students’ academic areas. The theoretical applications in the contexts of Japanese culture were also discussed.

The No Child Left Behind Act recognizes the importance of quality teachers in improving student achievement in that it mandates that all students have to be taught by “a highly qualified teacher”. The increasing demand for highly qualified teachers has led to a shortage of qualified teachers. In the United States, however, an uneven distribution of high quality teachers exists. A closer look at urban areas reveals that the problem is more severe in those localities than the national average. In order to address the teacher shortage problem in urban areas, more than 40 states initiated an alternative certification route for candidates who hold a bachelor’s degree (Darling-Hammond, 2000; Heilig, Cole, & Springel, 2011), although teachers’ certification or licensing status play an important role in differentiating teacher quality. The purpose of this study was to examine how high quality teachers are distributed across a large, urban district in Texas according to student’s characteristics, school characteristics and student achievement. In addition, more importantly, this study explored how teacher’s quality influences student achievement and, more specifically, on achievement of students with limited English proficiency (LEP). Due to the differences of characteristics in student characteristics and a school system, elementary schools and middle schools were separated in the analyses. In order to examine which students were allocated to high quality teachers and to determine the effect of teacher quality on students’ achievement in an urban district, Southeast Independent School District (SISD), which is a major urban district in Texas with more than 200,000 students, was chosen. As the largest public school system in Texas, SISD has large shares of minority and low-income students. Student data utilized in this analysis came from the Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS), which is data collection and reporting system produced by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) for the public schools of Texas. SISD provided individual level teacher’s data, students’ data, and a matching file so that teacher’s and their students’ data could be linked. All data that SISD provided are protected by using masked identification. To address the research questions, the study involved three statistical approaches – descriptive analysis, Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and three-level hierarchical linear models (HLM). Results from ANOVA indicated unequal distribution of high quality teachers across an urban school district. Economically disadvantaged students, minority students, and students with limited English proficiency were more likely to be allocated to alternatively certified teachers. It implies that students with economically and socially disadvantaged backgrounds lose a chance to have fully-certified or highly qualified teachers. The test scores of students who had fully-certified teachers were higher than the test scores of under-certified teachers’ or alternatively-certified teachers’ students. Campus accountability ratings were also significantly lower for schools that had more Teach for America (TFA) teachers than schools that had more fully-certified teachers. There were also clear distinctions among teacher’s qualifications, student characteristics, and school conditions between elementary schools and middle schools. There were more alternative certified teachers and less fully-certified teachers in middle schools. Middle schools served a higher percentage of students that are economically disadvantaged, at-risk of dropping out, were LEP, and Hispanic. The average campus accountability rating was also lower in middle schools than elementary schools. Overall, school conditions in middle schools were more inferior than in elementary schools among urban schools in Texas. In order to explain the effect of teacher quality and school condition besides student’s characteristics on student performance, a multilevel analysis was necessary to explain each variance of students, teachers, and schools. Through multilevel analyses (or three-level hierarchical linear modeling (HLM)), I confirmed that student background or ability was the strongest predictor of student achievement as many previous studies have found. The results showed that student achievement significantly differed by students’ background or ability even when they have the same reading teachers. However, HLM results also showed that teacher’s and school’s effects on student achievement were not negligible based on their proportions of variances. It implied that student achievement could be differentiated by teacher’s quality or school’s conditions. Among variables regarding teacher qualifications, the fully-certified teacher variable was a solely significant and positive factor of student achievement in middle schools. That is, students who had fully-certified teachers were more likely to achieve higher test scores than those who had under-certified and alternatively certified teachers after controlling all variables. However, in elementary schools that had 95 percent of fully-certified teachers did not show the significant differences of student achievement by teacher’s qualifications. The years of teaching experience and teacher educational attainment was not significant factors to explain student performance. Among school-level predictors, campus accountability ranking was a positively significant factor to predict student achievement in both elementary schools and middle schools. The percentage of economically disadvantaged students in campus was negatively associated with student achievement in middle schools. Since the study focused on reading achievement, the effect of teacher’s quality on the achievement of LEP students was particularly concerning. To address research questions, an interaction effect between teacher certification status and the achievement of LEP students was added on the three-level model. Results from the analysis showed that after accounting all variables LEP students who had fully-certified teachers achieved 0.1 scores higher on the TAKS reading test in the middle schools. Considering that LEP students typically achieved lower than their peers, the results implied that fully-certified teachers mitigate the effect of LEP on TAKS reading. The finding showed a positive effect of fully-certified teachers for students in need and corresponded with previous studies that high quality teachers played a more important role for socially and economically disadvantaged students. To sum up, this study found that teacher quality is a significant factor to predict student achievement, yet highly qualified teachers are unequally distributed across an urban school district. Socially and economically disadvantaged students were less likely to be taught by fully-certified teachers and were more likely to be taught by alternatively certified teachers. Furthermore, their achievement was significantly lower than their peers who were taught by highly qualified teachers. These aspects were more noticeable in middle schools.

The No Child Left Behind Act mandated every student be taught by a highly qualified teacher (HQT). Criteria to determine if teachers meet the HQT mandate fail to account for differences in grade levels, subject areas, and student demographics. This study posited that the relationship between measures of teacher quality and student achievement vary according to contextual factors. Fifth grade is unique in that it marks students’ transition from upper elementary to middle school grade levels; thus, fifth grade may be classified as either an upper elementary grade or middle grade. This classification determines HQT requirements; specifically, classification affects the level of content knowledge teachers must demonstrate to satisfy the HQT mandate. Middle level teachers are specialists and required to demonstrate content knowledge (CK) in the subjects they teach. However, the relationship between teachers’ level of content knowledge and fifth grade student science achievement is poorly understood.This study examined measures of teachers’ qualifications as predictors of average student achievement. In addition, examination of gender and socioeconomic status (SES) explored how teacher qualifications differentially impact various student subgroups and impact achievement gaps. A multilevel analysis examined student gender and SES as level-1 predictors of science achievement; aggregated teacher characteristics at level-2 predicted changes in gender and SES achievement gaps. Findings revealed teacher qualifications that predicted fifth grade science achievement differed from qualifications that predict student achievement in other subject areas. Teachers’ time spent at professional development and level of job enjoyment significantly predicted changes in student science achievement. The relationship between professional develop and achievement implicated the need for fifth grade teachers to possess content knowledge. The unanticipated finding of a strong correlation between teachers’ job enjoyment and student achievement evidenced a teacher characteristic that warrants future research.

How do levels of confidence in the public service differ across countries? Are these attitudes about the public service determined by similar individual-level attributes across countries? Do country-level correlates explain variation between countries in citizen attitudes toward the public service? Data from the 2005-2009 World Values Survey for 21 North American and Eurasian countries, in addition to aggregate-level measures of national context, are analyzed using multilevel binary logistic regression. The study shows that there is a significant amount of variation in the confidence attitudes not only within each country but also across countries. Citizens of Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, and Finland are the most positive about the public service. On the other hand, citizens of Poland, Slovenia, and Moldova are the most critical. At the individual-level, it is reported that age, government employee status, interpersonal trust, and confidence towards other government institutions are positively correlated with confidence in the public service. At the aggregate-level, variation in the level of confidence in the public service across countries is correlated with the quality of governmental institutions and the extent of corruption.

In modern China, air pollution has become an essential environmental problem. Over the last 2 years, the air pollution problem, as measured by PM 2.5 (particulate matter) is getting worse. My report aims to carry out a longitudinal data analysis of the air quality index (AQI) in 3 main economic zones in China. Longitudinal data, or repeated measures data, can be viewed as multilevel data with repeated measurements nested within individuals. I arrive at some conclusions about why the 3 areas have different AQI, mainly attributed to factors like population, GDP, temperature, humidity, and other factors like whether the area is inland or by the sea. The residual variance is partitioned into a between-zone component (the variance of the zone-level residuals) and a within-zone component (the variance of the city-level residuals). The zone residuals represent unobserved zone characteristics that affect AQI. In this report, the model building is mainly according to the sequence described by West et al (2007) with respect to the bottom-up procedures and the reference by Singer, J. D., & Willett, J. B (2003) which includes the non-linear situations. This report also compares the quartic curve model with piecewise growth model with respect to this data. The final model I reached is a piece wise model with time-level and zone-level predictors and also with temperature by time interactions.

The introduction of Senate Bill (SB 375) in 2008 stimulated more research linking travel behavior to the built environment. Smart growth tools mandated by this bill aim to reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT), greenhouse gas (GhG) emissions and promote alternative modes to motorized travel. These tools encompass an array of land use improvements that are expected to influence active travel. Potential changes in the built environment may impact the frequency, amount and even the selection of routes for walking. Data used in this dissertation was obtained from Phase I of the Expo Study, a three-phase travel survey of residents living near the Expo Light Rail Line in Los Angeles, CA. Respondents carried GPS devices and accelerometers to track locations and activity levels; and completed seven-day trip logs. Phase I of the survey was administered in Fall 2011, prior to the introduction of the Expo Line in April 2012.This dissertation is comprised of three research topics. The first topic uses a "place-oriented" approach to examine where active travel occurs in neighborhoods adjacent to the Expo Light Rail Line. This chapter is based on the Behavioral Model of Environments, which emphasizes the influence of the physical environment on individuals' travel behavior and route choices. Results indicate that the routes selected by pedestrians have higher densities of commercial and retail centers and better access to more transit stations. The second research topic uses an ecological modeling approach. Multilevel analysis of the effects of the built environment on active transport was performed in three geographic levels of aggregation near respondents' homes. Examination of land uses at the half-mile extent yield the least number of significant results. In contrast, land uses examined at the segment-level and quarter-mile distance from homes emphasize the importance of street connectivity and green space on increasing transport-related physical activity (TPA). This suggests the importance of analyzing the data at finer geographic levels.The third research topic proposes a practical methodology of pedestrian route analysis in which observed GPS-tracked routes were examined and compared to GIS-simulated shortest paths. The two route types were compared over deviations in trip-level travel indices, respondents' socio-demographic traits, time of day variations and differences in objectively measured built environment features along both sets of routes. Results suggest that observed routes diverged more from shortest paths with increasing distance and were more circuitous beyond the 2.4-mile threshold. Most walks were completed after the AM Off Peak time. With the exception of the Evening time, observed routes were found to be much longer in all time periods especially in the AM Peak time. Moreover, higher densities of commercial centers, local businesses and green spaces were observed more for GPS-tracked routes than for shortest paths. These routes also had more street intersections and transit stops. Overall, results imply that pedestrians selected routes that were longer than the respective shortest paths and that may have been due to greater access to amenities and activity centers.

Los resultados del estudio TIMSS 2011, en el que se evalúan las competencias de los alumnos de Educación Primaria a escala internacional, ponen de manifiesto la distancia que separa a España de los promedios de la OCDE, especialmente en matemáticas. El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar los principa- les factores que explican el rendimiento de nuestros estudiantes en esta competencia. Para ello, se emplean técnicas de regresión multinivel, puesto que los datos disponibles están anidados en diferentes niveles (alumnos, clases y escuelas). Los resultados obtenidos confirman algunas evidencias ya conocidas para la Enseñanza Secundaria y añaden otros aspectos específicos para el caso de Primaria.

Using a representative survey of Chilean journalists (n= 570) and data collected from each news media organization (n= 114), this paper examines individual and organizational effects on professional role conceptions via hierarchical linear modeling. The findings demonstrate the existence of significant contextual effects on the importance that journalists give to their different functions in society, although not all professional roles are equally affected in form and magnitude by the news media context. This study shows that the journalism’s more political roles are modeled for an interrelation between individual and organizational factors, where journalists’ background and beliefs tend to be more predictive than news media characteristics. In turn, professional functions linked to the need of the public and to the commercialization of news, appeared to be more tied to the structural characteristics of the news organizations where the journalists belong. The results also reveal that individual and organizational political factors predict the majority of the professional roles, while ownership and media type do not have any direct influence on the journalists’ attitudes.

Urban sprawl often has a negative connotation, used as a derogatory label for certain forms and consequences of land development that are seen as environmentally and socially unpleasant. Although sprawl may be seen as offensive, there may be other, far greater and more harmful consequences of sprawl. The literature indicates that rates of negative health outcomes, such as obesity, tend to be higher in more developed areas. However, aside from a few studies, little empirical research looks specifically at the influence of sprawl when it comes to individual health. This research project focuses on sprawl and examines the relationships it has with health behaviors and health outcomes. By analyzing data from the CDC’s 2003 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), an annual telephone survey of adults that include more than two-hundred self- reported and calculated variables, I investigate the associations between sprawl, physical activity, body weight, and health outcomes using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). By employing SEM, my research differs from previous research in this field by adding not only additional layers to the evaluation of sprawl and health outcomes, but also allows for the evaluation of associations through various “paths” instead of looking at variables within simpler hierarchical regression models. In addition to direct effects, it also allows for the determination of indirect, or mediated, effects between variables within a path model. Even though no direct relationship between sprawl and health outcomes was revealed, sprawl did show to have a statistically significant indirect effect on health outcomes mediated by physical activity and body weight. Physical activity is also shown to mediate the relationship between sprawl and body weight. Additionally, physical activity reveals both a direct and indirect effect on health outcomes, with its indirect effect being mediated by body weight. Finally, physical activity and body weight are both shown to have statistically significant direct effects on health outcomes. In the concluding chapter I propose a new path model in light of the results of the analyses of data in order to represent the associations between sprawl, physical activity, body weight, and health outcomes more accurately.

Much of the literature on economic stress focuses on outcomes. This study assessed the antecedents that precede employee perceptions of economic strain. A multilevel framework of economic antecedents was proposed. The framework included objective indicators of the macroeconomic context as well as individual-level objective and subjective economic antecedents. It was hypothesized that antecedents within each of these categories of economic stress can fall into one of two dimensions: employment- or finance-related. Indicators of the macroeconomic context were gathered from the American Community Survey (ACS). Over 2,000 union employees of a large U.S. Midwestern retail chain provided individual employee-level economic information and economic stress perceptions. A confirmatory factor analysis examined the fit of the hypothesized framework of economic antecedents. Distinct employment- and finance-related factors were found at both the macroeconomic and individual level. The individual-level economic antecedent factors were found to be predictive of individual economic stress perceptions. Individual employment-related factor, finance-related factor, and subjective ratings of job insecurity were related to all three dimensions of economic stress: financial strain, income inadequacy for wants, and income inadequacy for needs. No relationship between the macroeconomic factors and economic stress perceptions was found. Implications of the findings and future directions for research are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of different channels of information on individual consumer confidence. Individual consumer confidence is a person’s expectations of future economic conditions. Consumer confidence has economic and political consequences for society. Scholars do not agree on the role of different sources of information in consumer confidence, particularly the role of mass media. Many scholars consider the economy and unemployment, which is known to influence consumer confidence, to be obtrusive, meanings that individuals can acquire issue information from direct experience or observation. Evidence supports both news and direct experience or observation as significant sources of information.This study examined the effects of attention to news about the economy, interpersonal discussion of the economy, and local unemployment rates on individual consumer confidence. Data were from six months of the Buckeye State Poll during a period of worsening economic conditions in 2001 and 2002. The survey included a unique set of attention to news about the economy measures that focused on different geographic domains and types of media. Local unemployment rates were matched to individuals based on county of residence.Both personal economic experience and attention to news about the economy were significant predictors of individual consumer confidence. Personal economic experience was measured by household unemployment. The majority of households do not experience unemployment, meaning the attention to news about the economy should provide their information. However, attention to news about the economy had a small effect. Of the different forms of attention to news about the economy, attention to news about the local economy on television had the strongest effect. Interpersonal discussion of the economy had no effect. Observation of the economy via local unemployment rates had an unexpected relationship with confidence. Increasing unemployment over a twelve-month period was often associated with higher levels of confidence, not lower levels. This may have been due to the historic circumstances following the September 11 terrorist attacks or because of seasonal factors in some of the unemployment data. The study concludes with a discussion of its limitations and suggestions for future research.

Neighborhood residential stability is widely considered to be beneficial to the health of neighborhoods and the people who live in them, but may influence health differently depending on neighborhood income composition. To examine these effects in an older, predominantly low income industrial city, multilevel analysis is performed on data from the Healthy Environments Partnership, a community based participatory research project in Detroit, Michigan. Individual data from a stratified proportional sample survey of 919 persons living in 69 block group neighborhoods were linked with 2000 U.S. Census data. Major depression was measured by the CIDI, with an unadjusted prevalence of 18% in this sample. Findings from hierarchical logistic regression indicate that the effect of neighborhood stability on depression varies by neighborhood percent middle income ($40,000 and above). Residential stability is beneficial to mental health in neighborhoods with high proportion of middle income residents, but is detrimental to mental health in neighborhoods with few middle income residents. In stable neighborhoods, the probability of major depression is three times higher when there are 20% compared to 50% middle income households in the neighborhood. However, in very unstable neighborhoods, depression is substantially higher in middle income compared to low income neighborhoods. Rates of depression are comparable in unstable middle income and stable low income neighborhoods. Further, residential stability predicted higher depression in neighborhoods that experienced decline in proportion middle income residents 1990-2000. The racial composition of neighborhoods did not modify the relationship between neighborhood factors and health. Neither individual financial vulnerability nor social support mediated the path between neighborhoods and depression, although both exhibited strong individual effects on depression. Findings indicate a need for further cross disciplinary research into how structural features of neighborhoods interact to affect mental health. Policies and interventions to regenerate disinvested cities should target neighborhoods based on evidence regarding neighborhood structure and mental health. Strategies to attract additional middle income residents should include efforts to prevent involuntary displacement of current residents, as well as opportunities for economic mobility. Collaboration across sectors and that equitably engages community members may contribute to reducing the burden of mental disorders in disinvested cities.

The main goal of this study was to identify some determinants of collective efficacy in small groups. A multilevel approach was used to posit hypotheses and research questions relating individual and shared beliefs of collective efficacy to collective cognition activities, task interdependence, self-efficacy for group work, and collective orientation. A two-phase longitudinal design was employed. The sample comprised 270 university students, enrolled in seven courses and involved in 86 work groups in both phases of the study. All groups were required to perform interdependent academic tasks. The results of multiple regression analysis of aggregated variables provided some evidence that the more group members perceived themselves to be interdependent in the early stages of group work and assigned their tasks interdependently during group processes, the more likely they developed high collective efficacy in the final stages of group work. Collective efficacy was also related to the group average of self-efficacy for group work when task interdependence was high. Multilevel analysis was also used. These results showed that variation at the individual level was considerable, and there was significant but relatively little variation at the group level, with small effect sizes, for a few variables including collective efficacy. Structural equation modelling was used to confirm the theoretical framework at the individual level after accounting for group level variation. The results suggested that integration and constructive evaluation of ideas during group processes and self-efficacy for group work may have been determinants of collective efficacy at the individual level. Moreover, collective efficacy at the individual level was related to an interdependent perception of self in relation to other group members. The results suggest that helping group members learn how to evaluate and integrate each other’s ideas during group activities, and perceive themselves to be interdependent may enhance group capabilities for performing tasks. In addition, improving students’ self-efficacy for group work was identified as a key factor, as it may enhance a sense of interdependence among group members, improve the extent to which group members participate in integrating and evaluating ideas, and increase the whole group’s capabilities for performing tasks.