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While previous studies have focused on the supply side of employment transitions for older workers, there is a lack of understanding of the demand side of the labor market. Given that almost half of older workers experience multiple employment transitions prior to retirement, this study aims to investigate job availability in a local market for older workers and identify the required skills for available jobs. This study used online job posting data in a southern community in the U.S. which was collected from three job posting sources during the fourth quarter of 2021. Qualitative data, with a total of 5,160 job postings, were merged with the O*NET database. Descriptive analyses were performed to account for job availabilities and required skills. Additionally, 2021 American Community Survey data derived from IPUMS USA were used to investigate the local community’s older workforce. Job opportunities emerged in a wide range of occupations, with higher concentrations in three occupational groups. Occupations with high proportions of older workers aged 65 or older required relatively fewer work requirements such as education, work experience, and skills. The study also identified generally applicable job requirements, except for technology skills, across occupational groups divided into two tracks by the level of job requirements. This study identified a poor fit between the local job market and older workers, which highlights the need for pre- and post-response to the aftermath of economic downturns and continuous technology skill development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Examine how student demographics and perception of on-campus counseling service availability, accessibility, acceptability, and quality is related to utilization. Participants: A total of 262 students from 49 Georgia (U.S.) higher education institutions. Methods: A logistic regression examined student perception of on-campus counseling services and associations with service utilization, controlling for covariates. Results: (1) Non-heterosexual students were more likely to use on-campus counseling services than heterosexual students, (2) students in rural areas were more likely to utilize services than students in urban areas, (3) insured students had higher odds of utilizing services than uninsured students, and (4) higher ratings of perceived accessibility were associated with likelier service use. Conclusions: The perception of accessibility was significantly associated with higher odds of on-campus service use. Thus, a better understanding of student perception of on-campus counseling center accessibility is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the impact of social technology use on health outcomes through loneliness and relationship quality among older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Analyzing data from the 2020 Health and Retirement Study COVID-19 Project, we conducted a structural equation model analysis to assess the effects of social technology use on loneliness, relationship quality, and physical and cognitive health outcomes, with a validated index construct of social technology use. Our findings revealed that more frequent social technology use was significantly associated with younger age, being male, being of White race/ethnicity, and living with a spouse/partner. Higher levels of social technology use and positive relationship quality were related to lower feelings of loneliness, respectively. Loneliness mediated the impact of social technology use on physical and cognitive health outcomes. These results underscore the importance of adopting social technology to enhance the psychological well-being of vulnerable older adults, especially during health crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractObjectivesMethodResultsConclusionThis study examined how resilience and coping strategies were associated with depressive symptoms among Korean American older adults during COVID-19. The prevalent depressive symptoms and low use of mental health services in this population have raised significant concerns among healthcare professionals. Therefore, this study aims to understand the relationships between resilience and coping types on depressive symptoms and provide valuable insights into addressing these issues within this ethnic group.A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 132 Korean American older adults. Hierarchical linear regression analyses were performed to assess the effect of sociodemographic factors (age, gender, marital status, years of living in the U.S., self-rated health, financial security), resilience, and coping strategies (problem-focused coping, emotion-focused coping, avoidant coping) on depressive symptoms. Next, the interactions between resilience and three coping strategies for depressive symptoms were tested.The findings show that depressive symptoms were associated with financial security and avoidant coping. Also, resilience interacted with avoidant coping and emotion-focused coping. Among the participants with low resilience, depressive symptoms increased rapidly when avoidant and emotion-focused coping strategies increased, respectively.This study emphasizes the importance of culturally tailored interventions to promote resilience and decrease avoidant and emotion-focused coping among Korean American older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite model minority stereotypes, low-income U.S. Asians experience difficulties derived from poverty and their racial positionality. We conducted scoping review to systematically understand and synthesize the current literature on young low-income U.S. Asians. From 22 studies, five categories of challenges emerged including perceived discrimination. Factors associated with current challenges and strengths of young low-income U.S. Asians, and implications for social work are also examined. This work disputes model minority stereotypes and highlights the heterogeneity of the group. Fragmented scholarly understanding on U.S. Asians is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examined the effect of community environments, such as community cohesion, community safety, and community poverty, in childhood on the likelihood of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) perpetration and victimization in young adulthood. The study used the cross-sectional survey data of 2,082 college students collected in 2016–2017 from six universities in the U.S. and the data for the childhood community environment from the 2007–2011 American Community Survey. Hierarchical regressions were performed separately by gender to 1) assess the effects of community factors in addition to individual factors for IPV perpetration and victimization, and to 2) identify the interaction effect of community cohesion with community poverty on IPV perpetration and victimization. Community factors of community cohesion and community poverty were significantly correlated to different types of IPV. For IPV perpetration, only community cohesion was significant for, the interaction effect between community cohesion and poverty showed that higher community cohesion lowered the risk of community poverty on later IPV perpetration in both genders. For IPV victimization, only female students were affected by community poverty, whereas none of the community factors had an impact on male students. The findings imply the significance of early interventions and policies strengthening the community environment, especially community cohesion, for preventing IPV. The findings also suggest that assessing risk and protective factors on IPV in multiple contexts during childhood is important to develop effective programs preventing IPV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored the implementation of the 2010 Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act and relevant statutes in 50 states and the District of Columbia and the associated impact on foster care entry for infants by substance exposure. Despite the overall increase of infants entering foster care with substance exposure, the variation in trajectory across states suggests that legislation may play a part but is not a sole causal factor in the entry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]