Abstract The sixth annual convention of the International Association for Comparative Fascist Studies (COMFAS) took place from 6 to 8 October 2023 and this year was hosted by Central European University in Vienna. The event, organised by Antonio Costa Pinto alongside COMFAS Presidents Aristotle Kallis and Constantin Iordachi, fostered an important, constructive space to discuss research, both in formal panels and keynote sessions, as well as informally across the three days. The theme year was 'Paramilitarism in Fascism and the Radical Right', a field that allowed for a wide range of time periods and approaches to the topic to be explored.
Purpose: We investigate whether exposure to violence (ETV) during adolescence and emerging adulthood predicts engagement in chronic disease-related health risk behaviors years later among African Americans. Design: A longitudinal study following youth from mid-adolescence (mean age = 14.8 years) to young adulthood (mean age = 32.0 years). Setting: Flint, Michigan. Sample: Four hundred forty-two African American (96.2%) and mixed African American and White (3.8%) participants. Measures: Outcomes were diet, smoking, drinking, and physical inactivity. Covariates were ETV, sex, mother's educational attainment, and substance use by siblings, peers, and parents. Analysis: Latent profile analysis was conducted to identify distinct patterns of adult health risk behaviors and assess the association of youth ETV and identified patterns. Results: Four latent profiles were identified: high substance use (n = 46; 10.41%) , high overall risk (n = 71; 16.06%) , low overall risk ( n = 140; 31.67%) and inactive (n = 185, 41.86%). Relative to the low overall risk profile, ETV was associated with being in the high overall risk profile (b = 0.37, p = 0.04), but not other profiles. Female gender and higher maternal education were associated with being in the inactive profile compared to the low overall risk profile. Peer alcohol and tobacco use were associated with being in the high substance use profile. Conclusion: ETV during adolescence and emerging adulthood increased the risk of engagement in multiple health risk behaviors later in life.
Early adulthood is a critical period during which real-world adjustment sets the stage for lifelong well-being. However, little is known about how the emotional quality of parental relationships may help or hinder adjustment. This longitudinal study investigated (a) changes in mother and father emotional support and psychological control during early adulthood, (b) whether such changes predicted young adults' educational and occupational adjustment, and (c) whether these associations occurred indirectly through young adults' depressive and anxiety symptoms. Participants were 240 youth assessed at four time points over a 6-year period. Multilevel modeling showed that on average, parental emotional support increased and psychological control decreased over time. Latent growth curve mediation analyses revealed significant direct associations between parental emotional support and psychological control and adjustment outcomes as well as indirect effects through mental health symptoms. Findings particularly highlight the negative effects of parental psychological control on young adults' academic and occupational adjustment.
Abstract Background Nutrition deficiencies are common among pregnant and lactating women in middle- and low-income countries. At the same time, maternal mental disorders, mainly depression is highly prevalent during this period suggesting some connection between the two. The objective of this review is to determine the associations between nutritional deficiencies and maternal depression and identify the role of diet in depression to facilitate further research.
Methods A literature search included PubMed databases and Google Scholar search engine published from June 2008 to June 2019 and published in English. Medical subject heading terms was used to identify all relevant studies. All titles and abstracts identified by the search were screened then reviewed the full-text articles which were potentially eligible for inclusion.
Results The original search identified 1250 articles but with cascaded elimination, based on quality. Twenty five met the inclusion criteria, of which 13 were cross-sectional, eight were prospective cohort study, and four were intervention studies. Most (95%) of these studies reported positive associations between nutrition deficiencies, poor diet, and maternal depression; thus, only 5% did not show associations between nutrition and depression.
Conclusion Our review findings suggest that nutritional interventions are some of the most promising intercessions for mental health illnesses. Not all studies consistently associate poor diet quality with poor maternal and offspring mental health outcomes, and the majority of those that show are cross-sectional. Considering that most of these associations are cross-sectional, studies devoid of exposing causal relationship; thus, longitudinal studies are needed to confirm the associations towards sufficing as a window of opportunity for reducing the risk of mental disorders in mothers and offspring alike.
<p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Lower levels of perceived parental monitoring knowledge have been associated with various risk behaviours among children and youth. Data from the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth were used to: 1) identify longitudinal patterns of parental monitoring knowledge through early adolescence; 2) explore associations between these patterns and socio-demographic factors; and 3) examine the association between patterns of parental monitoring knowledge and behavioural and academic outcomes. Results revealed that a 3-group model best represented patterns of parental monitoring knowledge. Socio-demographic factors were found to differentiate membership in these patterns. Findings also suggested that lower levels of perceived parental monitoring knowledge were associated with higher levels of behaviour problems, poorer academic outcomes, and a greater likelihood of substance use.</span></p>
With increased pressure on programs to evaluate outcomes, the issue of evaluation in social work has never been so topical. In response to these pressures, there has been a growing interest in evidence-based practice and strategies for the evaluation of social work programs. The American Evaluation Association (AEA) is an international professional association devoted to the application and exploration of evaluation in all its forms. With members around the globe and across all professions, the AEA is a source of vibrant discussion, information, resources, and policy analysis. The Social Work Topical Interest Group of the AEA is focused on the particular experiences, needs, and pressures of evaluation in our profession, and is dedicated to helping develop solid practices, and promoting the overall contribution of social work to program evaluation, providing a forum for scholarship, networking, and methodological support that is specific to our profession.
This study investigates the association between regime type, political trust, and subjective well-being (SWB) in 78 countries. Differently from previous works, democracy was conceptualized in terms of a multidimensional model (i.e., regime type), rather than a bipolar continuum ranging from authoritarian regimes to full democracies. The first question was raised as to whether regime characteristics would be nonlinearly related to SWB. A second question was examined as to whether political trust could moderate the relationship between regime type and well-being, such that under conditions of high or low trust in the government the differences in well-being across the type of regimes would be reduced. Data from the European Values Study as well as from the World Value Survey were used. Moreover, regime types were defined according to the Varieties of Democracy as well as the Economist Intelligence Unit. Multilevel analyses revealed that life satisfaction scores were lower for electoral autocracy compared to closed autocracy and liberal democracy. Moreover, happiness scores were significantly higher for full democracies compared to authoritarian regimes and flawed democracies. Finally, political trust moderated the association between regime type and SWB. Specifically, at higher or lower levels of political trust, the relationship between regime type and well-being tended to decrease. Overall, the findings support the conclusion that the relationship between democracy and subjective well‐being is nonlinear, and that the role of political trust is as important as the role of democracy.
In: Ecotoxicology and environmental safety: EES ; official journal of the International Society of Ecotoxicology and Environmental safety, Band 208, S. 111615
In: International review for the sociology of sport: irss ; a quarterly edited on behalf of the International Sociology of Sport Association (ISSA), Band 49, Heft 2, S. 211-226
This paper contributes to existing literature on gender equity within sporting organisations, focusing on the merger between the Women's Cricket Association (WCA) and the England and Wales Cricket Board in 1998. At the time of the merger those involved in the WCA debated whether the merger would be positive for the future of the women's game. In this paper we discuss the impact of the merger on the women's role in the governance of their sport through the views of 10 women who were involved in playing, administrating, managing or coaching cricket during the time of the merger. The interviewees' experiences are located within wider debates about power, gender and sport. We specifically draw on the concept of exclusionary power to highlight how gender inequities continue to impact upon the management and organisation of women's cricket in England. Our participants' testimonies suggest that since the merger, the game has unquestionably benefited from increased financial support. This has significantly boosted the elite development of the game. However, since the merger the role of women has changed. They now have limited power over the organisation and development of both elite and grassroots levels of play. This paper therefore contributes to existing research on gender relations and sporting organisations, such as the work of Stronach and Adair ((2009) 'Brave new world' or 'sticky wicket'? Women, management and organizational power in Cricket Australia. Sport in Society 12(7): 910–932) and Sibson ((2010) "I Was Banging My Head against a Brick Wall": Exclusionary power and the gendering of sport organisations. Journal of Sport Management 24: 379–399), by further applying the concept of exclusionary power to understanding gender relations within a UK sports context.
We analyzed the role of parental overprotection and extroversion in forming relationships with peers among 158 adolescents with visual impairments and 158 adolescents who were sighted. Negative associations of overprotection with the number of friends and membership in a peer group and of low extroversion with having a close friend were stronger in the adolescents with visual impairment.
BACKGROUND: The Chinese government has been strengthening the primary care system since the launch of the New Healthcare System Reform in 2009. Among all endeavors, the most obvious and significant improvement lays in maternal and child health. This study was designed to explore the association of primary care physician supply with maternal and child health outcomes in China, and provide policy suggestions to the law makers. METHODS: Six-year panel dataset of 31 provinces in China from 2012 to 2017 was used to conduct the longitudinal ecological study. Linear fixed effects regression model was applied to explore the association of primary care physician supply with the metrics of maternal and child health outcomes while controlling for specialty care physician supply and socio-economic covariates. Stratified analysis was used to test whether this association varies across different regions in China. RESULTS: The number of primary care physicians per 10,000 population increased from 15.56 (95% CI: 13.66 to 17.47) to 16.08 (95% CI: 13.86 to 18.29) from 2012 to 2017. The increase of one primary care physician per 10,000 population was associated with 5.26 reduction in maternal mortality per 100,000 live births (95% CI: − 6.745 to − 3.774), 0.106% (95% CI: − 0.189 to − 0.023) decrease in low birth weight, and 0.419 decline (95% CI: − 0.564 to − 0.273) in perinatal mortality per 1000 live births while other variables were held constant. The association was particularly prominent in the less-developed western China compared to the developed eastern and central China. CONCLUSION: The sufficient supply of primary care physician was associated with improved maternal and child health outcomes in China, especially in the less-developed western region. Policies on effective and proportional allocation of resources should be made and conducted to strengthen primary care system and eliminate geographical disparities.
AbstractIntroductionPrevalence of HIV among young women in South Africa remains extremely high. Adolescent peer groups have been found to be an important influence on a range of health behaviours. The characteristics of young women's friendships might influence their sexual health and HIV risk via connections to sexual partners, norms around sexual initiation and condom use, or provision of social support. We investigated associations between young women's friendships and their Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 (HSV‐2) and HIV infection status in rural South Africa.MethodsOur study is a cross‐sectional, egocentric network analysis. In 2011 to 2012, we tested 13‐ to 20‐year‐old young women for HIV and HSV‐2, and collected descriptions of five friendships for each. We generated summary measures describing friend socio‐demographic characteristics and the number of friends perceived to have had sex. We used logistic regression to analyse associations between friend characteristics and participant HIV and HSV‐2 infection, excluding likely perinatal HIV infections.ResultsThere were 2326 participants included in the study sample, among whom HIV and HSV‐2 prevalence were 3.3% and 4.6% respectively. Adjusted for participant and friend socio‐demographic characteristics, each additional friend at least one year older than the participant was associated with raised odds of HIV (odds ratio (OR) = 1.37, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.82) and HSV‐2 (adjusted OR=1.41, 95% CI 1.18 to 1.69). Each additional friend perceived to have ever had sex also raised the odds of HIV (OR = 1.29, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.63) and HSV‐2 (OR=1.18, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.35).DiscussionWe found good evidence that a greater number of older friends and friends perceived to have had sex were associated with increased risk for HSV‐2 and HIV infection among young women.ConclusionsThe characteristics of young women's friendships could contribute to their risk of HIV infection. The extent to which policies or programmes influence age‐mixing and young women's normative environments should be considered.