Search

Objective: Women who have direct exposure to incarceration or indirect exposure through their partner are at high risk for poor health behaviors and outcomes, which may have lasting impacts on their children. The objectives of this study were to estimate the prevalence of recent incarceration exposure among women with a recent live birth and assess the relationship between incarceration exposure and maternal and child health. Methods: We used data from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (36 states and New York City, 2012-2015; N = 146 329) to estimate the prevalence of women reporting that they or their husband/partner spent time in jail during the 12 months before giving birth. We used multivariable logistic regression to assess associations between incarceration exposure and maternal and infant health conditions. Results: The prevalence of incarceration exposure shortly before or during pregnancy was 3.7% (95% CI, 3.6%-3.9%). Women with incarceration exposure had increased odds of prepregnancy hypertension (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.51; 95% CI, 1.26-1.81), prepregnancy and postpartum depressive symptoms (aOR = 1.95 [95% CI, 1.73-2.19] and 1.49 [95% CI, 1.32-1.67], respectively), and having an infant admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (aOR = 1.18; 95% CI, 1.04-1.33). Conclusion: Because a parent's incarceration exposure is an adverse childhood experience with the potential to disrupt important developmental periods and have negative impacts on the socioemotional and health outcomes of children, it is critical for researchers and health care providers to better understand its impact on maternal and infant health. Prenatal and postnatal care may provide opportunities to address incarceration-related health risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Selected social-psychological processes within the family were examined as potential mediators of the relationship between work-family conflict and marital adjustment among career men and women in the United States. Seventy-nine men and 198 women who were professionals in psychology participated in the study. A path-analytic model was used to test two specific family variables--perceptions of equity in spousal home division of labor and perceptions of spousal social support--as potential mediators of the proposed negative relationship between work-family conflict and marital adjustment. Spousal social support and equity in spousal home division of labor played an important, albeit small, mediating role in the negative relationship between work-family conflict and marital adjustment for men and women. Contrary to expectations, gender exhibited no overall indirect effect on marital adjustment., THE STEADY INCREASE in the number of married women in professional and managerial occupations, the pursuit of higher education by women, increases in equal employment opportunities, and the tendency of [...]

This study examined the relationships among gender, coping, and anticipated work-family conflict for career-bound men and women. 256 university students enrolled in a university in northern Louisiana participated. Multivariate and univariate analyses were used to examine (a) potential gender differences with respect to anticipated work-family conflict and work-family coping mechanisms and (b) the role coping processes may play in mediating the relationship between gender and anticipated work-family conflict. The results indicated significant differences between the sexes with respect to anticipated work-family conflict as well as to expected use of various coping strategies to manage anticipated work-family conflict. Contrary to expectations, coping strategies did not mediate the relationship between gender and work-family conflict. The issue of coping as a mediator variable as well as the study's primary implications for students and professional educators are addressed.

Previous research in work-family conflict focused on current conflict and yielded contradictory findings. The present study is among the first to examine the relationships among sex, measures of sex role and of anticipated work-family conflict. Anticipated conflict was measured using a modified version of the Interrole Conflict Scale. In a sample of 256 university students, men more than women anticipated greater career conflict. Pleck's 1977 hypothesis of 'asymmetrical permeability' was posited as a potential explanation for this finding. The expected relationship between sex-role orientation as measured on the Bem Sex-role Inventory and work-family conflict was not obtained.

Summary.-In this study the associations between perceptions and use of time and experiences of family-work spillover fOr 277 men and women involved in dual careers were analyzed. Implications for research on work and family are discussed.

The ways in which husbands and wives influenced decisions at home and in couple-owned businesses were investigated. Some 19 females involved in couple-owned businesses were surveyed during a two-year period. The results indicated that influence was significantly associated with the work setting, the work activity, and setting-activity combinations. Wives had greater influence at home and when making decisions regarding the division of labor. Wives also had greater influence when working in male-oriented businesses. Wives who worked fewer hours that their husbands had more influence in home-related decisions and less influence in business-related decisions.

As the prevalence of chronic conditions among women of reproductive age continues to rise, studies assessing the intersection of chronic disease and women's reproductive health status are increasingly needed. However, many data systems collect only limited information on women's reproductive health, thereby hampering the appraisal of risk and protective factors across the life span. One way to expand the study of women's health with minimal investment in time and resources is to integrate questions on reproductive health into existing surveillance systems. In 2013, previously validated questions on women's self-reported reproductive history, use of contraception, and infertility were added to the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) by seven states (Connecticut, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Ohio, Texas, and Utah); all female respondents aged 18-50 years were included in the pool of respondents for these state-added questions. Of 8691 women who completed the questions, 13.2% reported ever experiencing infertility and 59.8% of those at risk for unintended pregnancy reported using contraception at last intercourse. The information garnered from the state-added reproductive health questions can be augmented with the BRFSS core questions on health-related risk behaviors, chronic conditions, and use of preventive services. Expanding existing data collection systems with supplemental questions on women's reproductive health can provide important information on risk factors and outcomes that may not be available from other sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anticipated work-family conflict has received little theoretical or empirical attention. This study examines anticipated work-family conflict among college students in relation to gender, sex roles, and degree of career or marital commitment. Three lines of theorizing are used to generate predictions (sex-role/self concept, cognitive dissonance, and approach-avoidance). Results indicate lower levels of anticipated conflict where levels of anticipated conflict were related to being female, high levels of marital commitment and greater femininity. Less conflict is anticipated by those high in femininity and low in occupational commitment than those low in both. Findings lend partial support to both cognitive dissonance and approach-avoidance models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: There have been dramatic improvements in reducing infant sleep-related deaths since the 1990s, when recommendations were introduced to place infants on their backs for sleep. However, there are still approximately 3,500 sleep-related deaths among infants each year in the United States, including those from sudden infant death syndrome, accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed, and unknown causes. Unsafe sleep practices, including placing infants in a nonsupine (on side or on stomach) sleep position, bed sharing, and using soft bedding in the sleep environment (e.g., blankets, pillows, and soft objects) are modifiable risk factors for sleep-related infant deaths., Competing Interests: No conflicts of interest were reported.