An Examination of the Patterns of Substance Use in Activity Spaces and Their Relationship to Problematic Use.

During adolescence, adolescents are given more freedom to independently interact with a variety of social contexts. The eco-developmental model suggests that the activity spaces where adolescents spend their time affect substance-use behaviors beyond peer influences, and that the relationships may differ based on the adolescent's demographic characteristics. This study examines adolescent patterns of reported substance use across activity spaces to determine whether the patterns of use are related to problematic substance use, and whether the relationships differ based on the participants' race. Cross-sectional survey data from the study, Drug Use Among Young American Indians: Epidemiology and Prediction, 1993-2006 and 2009-2013, were used. Five patterns of adolescent alcohol use and six patterns of adolescent drug use in activity spaces were identified. There were significant differences in the relationship between class membership and problematic substance use by race, suggesting that contexts may be interacting with an adolescent's race to influence use.

Reproductive decisions as mediators between education and employment of women in Kyrgyzstan.

Researchers created a large body of evidence showing that education and fertility are strong determinants of women's employment. In postsocialist economies, women's reproductive decisions have become more critical to employment opportunities. Yet the issue is not well-understood. The researchers focus on the mediating roles of reproductive decisions on the relationship between education and employment among Kyrgyzstani women. The study data come from the 2012 Demographic and Health Survey (N = 2419). Consistent with other research, more education was associated with fewer number of children and being employed. An unexpected finding was that having more children was associated with increased employment.

The accumulation of multiple sources of psychosocial disadvantage and their correlation to reported overall health: establishing a threshold.

Psychosocial disadvantage and lower socioeconomic status are associated with increased risk of poor health. The purposes of this study are to identify a threshold at which cumulative psychosocial risk factors become significantly associated with a decrease in health status and to examine whether women are at higher risk than men. Using secondary cross-sectional data, a correlation of self-reported health rating and psychosocial risk factors was conducted. Participant characteristics by number of health-related psychosocial risks were constructed. The accumulation of risk factors had a negative effect on health status at the threshold of two; health status significantly decreased with the addition of each risk factor. Gender significantly moderated the relationship between number of risks and self-reported health status, with women's health decreasing as the number of risks increased. Risk factors in this study are typically part of client assessments and can be used in assisting social workers to identify those most at risk. Those with two or more risk factors are significantly more at risk for poorer health. Moreover, women and ethnic minorities were at more risk for poor health with the addition ofjust one risk factor.

Understanding the gendered patterns of substance use initiation among adolescents living in rural, central Mexico.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the age of initiation and gender differences in substance use among adolescents in rural, central Mexico. METHODS: The cross-sectional data were collected from students enrolled in the Videobachillerato (VIBA) (video high school) programme in Guanajuato, Mexico. Questionnaires asked students about the age at which they had used alcohol, cigarettes, or cannabis for the first time. Kaplan-Meier Survival Functions were used to estimate if males and females were significantly different in their cumulative probabilities of initiating substances over time. RESULTS: On average, alcohol is initiated at 14.7 years of age, cigarettes at 15.1 years of age, and cannabis at 16.5 years of age. Over time, males had a significantly higher probability of initiating alcohol (Kaplan-Meier Failure Curve: X(2)=26.35, p<0.001), cigarettes (Kaplan-Meier Failure Curve: X(2)=41.90, p<0.001), and cannabis (Kaplan-Meier Failure Curve: X(2)=38.01, p<0.001) compared to females. CONCLUSIONS: These results highlight the gendered patterns of substance use initiation among adolescents in rural, central Mexico and underscore the need for gendered substance use prevention interventions with these adolescents. By putting forth efforts to understand substance use initiation patterns of adolescents living in rural, central Mexico, culturally specific and efficacious prevention efforts can be tailor-made to create lasting differences.