To BYOD or not: Are device latencies important for bring-your-own-device (BYOD) smartphone cognitive testing?

Studies using remote cognitive testing must make a critical decision: whether to allow participants to use their own devices or to provide participants with a study-specific device. Bring-your-own-device (BYOD) studies have several advantages including increased accessibility, potential for larger sample sizes, and reduced participant burden. However, BYOD studies offer little control over device performance characteristics that could potentially influence results. In particular, response times measured by each device not only include the participant's true response time, but also latencies of the device itself. The present study investigated two prominent sources of device latencies that pose significant risks to data quality: device display output latency and touchscreen input latency. We comprehensively tested 26 popular smartphones ranging in price from < $100 to $1000+ running either Android or iOS to determine if hardware and operating system differences led to appreciable device latency variability. To accomplish this, a custom-built device called the Latency and Timing Assessment Robot (LaTARbot) measured device display output and capacitive touchscreen input latencies. We found considerable variability across smartphones in display and touch latencies which, if unaccounted for, could be misattributed as individual or group differences in response times. Specifically, total device (sum of display and touch) latencies ranged from 35 to 140 ms. We offer recommendations to researchers to increase the precision of data collection and analysis in the context of remote BYOD studies.

Egalitarian Attitudes and Activity Spaces in Chitwan, Nepal

Connections between individuals' sociodemographic characteristics and their social attitudes have been widely studied, but there has been less research on how individuals' spatial patterns are related to attitudes. Studies that do incorporate space have focused on residential locations, neglecting spatial experience outside residential neighborhoods. To fill this gap, we test hypotheses relating multiple measures of activity space (AS) to social attitudes, using innovative spatial data from Nepal. First, we hypothesize that the gender and caste attitudes of a focal individual will be positively associated with the gender and caste attitudes of others in the focal individual's AS, including spaces beyond the residential neighborhood. Second, we hypothesize that privileged individuals (i.e., males and those of the Chhetri/Brahmin caste) with greater potential exposure to females and those of lower castes in their AS will have more egalitarian attitudes about gender and caste than those with less exposure in their AS. Linear regression models provide support for both hypotheses.

Pregnancy scares, pregnancy uncertainty, and abortion attitude change

Women's attitudes towards abortion are often assessed infrequently in their lives. This measurement may not capture how lifetime events, such as reproductive experiences, potentially influence attitudes towards abortion. Although reproductive attitudes can fluctuate with life's circumstances, there is little research on how abortion attitudes may change when a woman suspects she might be pregnant. Using an intensive longitudinal dataset collected in Michigan, the Relationship Dynamics and Social Life (RDSL) study (2008-2012), we test the relationship between the timing of pregnancy scares and uncertainty and abortion attitudes using hybrid effects models. We find that women become less supportive of abortion while experiencing a pregnancy scare or uncertainty; however, this association exists only during a scare or uncertainty. These findings highlight that abortion attitudes may change when a woman suspects she might be pregnant. However, attitudinal change may not last past this period.

The intergenerational transmission of sexual frequency

Intergenerational relationships are one of the most frequently studied topics in the social sciences. Within the area of family, researchers find intergenerational similarity in family behaviors such as marriage, divorce, and fertility. Yet less research has examined the intergenerational aspects of a key proximate determinant of fertility: sexual frequency. We use the National Survey of Families and Households to examine the relationship between sexual frequency of parents and the sexual frequency of children when adults. We link parental sexual frequency in 1987/1988, when children were ages 5-18, to the sexual frequency of the children in 2001-2003 when these grown children were ages 18-34. We find a modest, yet significant association, between parental and adult children sexual frequency. A mechanism behind this association appears to be the higher likelihood of being in a union among children of parents with high sexual frequency.

Drivers of prohibited natural resource collection in Chitwan National Park, Nepal

Protected areas (PAs) are critical for achieving conservation, economic and development goals, but the factors that lead households to engage in prohibited resource collection in PAs are not well understood. We examine collection behaviours in community forests and the protected Chitwan National Park in Chitwan, Nepal. Our approach incorporates household and ecological data, including structured interviews, spatially explicit data on collection behaviours measured with computer tablets and a systematic field survey of invasive species. We pair our data with a framework that considers factors related to a household's demand for resources, barriers to prohibited resource collection, barriers to legal resource collection and alternatives to resource collection. The analysis identifies key drivers of prohibited collection, including sociodemographic variables and perceptions of an invasive plant (Mikania micrantha). The social-ecological systems approach reveals that household perceptions of the presence of M. micrantha were more strongly associated with resource collection decisions than the actual ecologically measured presence of the plant. We explore the policy implications of our findings for PAs and propose that employing a social-ecological systems approach leads to conservation policy and scientific insights that are not possible to achieve with social or ecological approaches alone.

Migration Intentions and Alcohol Use Among Adolescents in West-Central Mexico

This study explores the association between migration intentions and alcohol use among west-central Mexico adolescents living in high migration communities. This study used the baseline data from the Family Migration and Early Life Outcomes (FAMELO) project (N = 1286), collected in 2018. We used multiple imputations to address missingness and propensity score matching to reduce the selection bias. We also conducted subgroup analyses to compare gender difference (i.e., boys vs. girls) on the relationship between migration intention and alcohol use. The findings show that for the whole sample, youth with migration intentions had significant higher odds (OR = 1.78; p = .010) of having a lifetime drinking experience when compared to youth who reported no interest in living abroad, but this association remained significant only for boys (OR = 2.14; p = .010). This study makes an important contribution to our understanding of the etiology of migration intentions and alcohol use for adolescents living in sending migration communities. The findings have specific alcohol prevention, policy, and future research implications in Mexico and the U.S.

Adults' Conceptualisations of Children's Social Competence in Nepal and Malawi

Adults in Nepal (N = 14) and Malawi (N = 12) were interviewed about their views regarding social competence of 5- to 17-year-old children in their societies. Both Nepali and Malawian adults discussed themes consistent with those expected in collectivistic societies with economic challenges (e.g., respect and obedience, family responsibilities, social relationships). There were also unique themes emphasized in each country, which may correspond with country-specific religious beliefs or social problems (e.g., rules and self-control, sexual restraint). Nepali adults described a wider variety of socialization strategies compared with Malawian adults. Results provide novel information regarding adults' perceptions of children's social competence in Nepal and Malawi and may help guide the development of measures of social competence.

Adults’ Conceptualisations of Children’s Social Competence in Nepal and Malawi

Adults in Nepal ( N = 14) and Malawi ( N = 12) were interviewed about their views regarding social competence of 5- to 17-year-old children in their societies. Both Nepali and Malawian adults discussed themes consistent with those expected in collectivistic societies with economic challenges (e.g., respect and obedience, family responsibilities, and social relationships). There were also unique themes emphasised in each country, which may correspond with country-specific religious beliefs or social problems (e.g., rules and self-control, and sexual restraint). Results provide novel information regarding adults’ perceptions of children’s social competence in Nepal and Malawi, and may help guide the development of measures of social competence.

Father's Labour Migration and Children's School Discontinuation in Rural Mozambique

We examine how the discontinuation of schooling among left-behind children is related to multiple dimensions of male labor migration: the accumulation of migration experience, the timing of these migration experiences in the child's life course, and the economic success of the migration. Our setting is rural southern Mozambique, an impoverished area with massive male labor out-migration. Results show that fathers' economically successful labor migration is more beneficial for children's schooling than unsuccessful migration or non-migration. There are large differences, however, by gender: compared to sons of non-migrants, sons of migrant fathers (regardless of migration success) have lower rates of school discontinuation, while daughters of migrant fathers have rates of school discontinuation no different than daughters of non-migrants. Furthermore, accumulated labor migration across the child's life course is beneficial for boys' schooling, but not girls'. Remittances sent in the past year reduce the rate of discontinuation for sons, but not daughters.

Comparing Paper and Tablet Modes of Retrospective Activity Space Data Collection

Individual actions are both constrained and facilitated by the social context in which individuals are embedded. But research to test specific hypotheses about the role of space on human behaviors and well-being is limited by the difficulty of collecting accurate and personally relevant social context data. We report on a project in Chitwan, Nepal, that directly addresses challenges to collect accurate activity space data. We test if a computer assisted interviewing (CAI) tablet-based approach to collecting activity space data was more accurate than a paper map-based approach; we also examine which subgroups of respondents provided more accurate data with the tablet mode compared to paper. Results show that the tablet approach yielded more accurate data when comparing respondent-indicated locations to the known locations as verified by on-the-ground staff. In addition, the accuracy of the data provided by older and less healthy respondents benefited more from the tablet mode.

Migrant children and migrants' children: Nativity differences in school enrollment in Mexico and the United States

BACKGROUND

The growing prevalence of migrant children in diverse contexts requires a reconsideration of the intergenerational consequences of migration. To understand how migration and duration of residence are associated with children's schooling, we need more comparative work that can point to the similarities and differences in outcomes for children across contexts.

OBJECTIVE

This paper addresses the importance of nativity and duration of residence for children's school enrollment on both sides of a binational migration system: The United States and Mexico. The analyses are designed to determine whether duration of residence has a similar association with school enrollment across these different settings.

METHODS

The analyses are based on nationally representative household data from the 2010 Mexican Census and the 2006-2010 American Community Survey. Logistic regression models compare school enrollment patterns of Mexican and U.S.-born children of Mexican origin in the United States and those of Mexican and U.S.-born children in Mexico. Interactions for nativity/duration of residence and age are also included.

RESULTS

The results demonstrate that, adjusting for household resources and household-level migration experience, Mexican-born children in the United States and U.S.-born children in Mexico, particularly those who arrived recently, lag behind in school enrollment. These differences are most pronounced at older ages.

CONCLUSIONS

The comparisons across migration contexts point to greater school attrition and non-enrollment among older, recent migrant youth, regardless of the context. The interactions suggest that recent migration is associated with lower schooling for youth who engage in migration at older ages in both the United States and Mexico.

Religious Belonging, Religious Agency, and Women's Autonomy in Mozambique

Women's autonomy has frequently been linked with women's opportunities and investments, such as education, employment, and reproductive control. The association between women's autonomy and religion in the developing world, however, has received less attention, and the few existing studies make comparisons across major religious traditions. In this study, we focus on variations in levels of female decision-making autonomy within a single religious tradition-Christianity. Using unique survey data from a predominantly Christian area in Mozambique, we devise an autonomy scale and apply it to compare women affiliated to different Christian denominations as well as unaffiliated women. In addition to affiliation, we examine the relationship between autonomy and women's religious agency both within and outside their churches. Multivariate analyses show that women belonging to more liberal religious traditions (such as Catholicism and mainline Protestantism) and tend to have higher autonomy levels, regardless of other factors. These results are situated within the cross-national scholarship on religion and women's empowerment and are interpreted in the context of gendered religious dynamics in Mozambique and similar developing settings.

Development and Validation of a Racial Discrimination Measure for Cambodian American Adolescents

To date, the majority of studies examining experiences of racial discrimination among youth use measures initially developed for African American and Latino adults or college students. Few studies have attended to the ways in which discrimination experiences may be unique for Asian American youth, particularly subgroups such as Southeast Asians. The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to describe the development of a racial discrimination measure using community-based participatory research with Cambodian American adolescents and (b) to psychometrically test the measure with respect to validity and reliability. This research used mixed-methods and comprised 3 phases. Phase 1 consisted of qualitative focus group research to assess community-identified needs. Phase 2 included quantitative survey development with community members and resulted in an 18-item measure assessing the frequency of ethnicity-based discrimination. Phase 3 involved psychometric testing of the measure's validity and reliability (n = 423). Exploratory factor analysis procedures yielded a 3-factor structure describing peer, school, and police discrimination from all items, capturing 96% of the combined variance. Using confirmatory factor analysis, the data demonstrated good fit with the 3-factor structure (CFI = .98; RMSEA = .054), with factor loadings ranging from .59 to .96 and all estimates statistically significant at the p < .05 level. Correlational analyses of racial discrimination subfactors and depression supported concurrent validity. In sum, this measure can be used to examine the degree and sources of racial discrimination reported by Cambodian American adolescents and potentially other adolescents of Southeast Asian descent living in diverse urban communities.

A moving paradox: a binational view of obesity and residential mobility

This paper takes a unique approach to the study of immigrant and native health differentials by addressing the role of internal as well as international mobility and considering the binational context in which such moves occur. The analyses take advantage of a unique dataset of urban residents in Mexico and the United States to compare Mexican origin immigrants and US-born Spanish-speaking residents in one urban setting in the United States and residents in a similar urban setting in Mexico. The binational approach allows for the test of standard indicators used to proxy acculturation (duration of residence in the United States, household language use) and measures of residential mobility among Mexican-Americans, Mexican immigrants and residents in Mexico. The results confirm a lower prevalence of obesity among Mexicans in Mexico and recent immigrants to the United States when compared to longer residents in the United States. However, for Mexican urban residents, more residential moves are associated with less obesity, while more residential mobility is associated with higher obesity in the urban sample in the United States.

Religious Affiliation and Fertility in a Sub-Saharan Context: Dynamic and Lifetime Perspectives

We use uniquely detailed data from a predominantly Christian high-fertility area in Mozambique to examine denominational differentials in fertility from two complementary perspectives-dynamic and cumulative. First, we use event-history analysis to predict yearly risks of birth from denominational affiliation. Then, we employ Poisson regression to model the association between the number of children ever born and share of reproductive life spent in particular denominations or outside organized religion. Both approaches detect a significant increase in fertility associated with membership in a particular type of African-initiated churches which is characterized by strong organizational identity, rigid hierarchy, and insular corporate culture. Membership in the Catholic Church is also associated with elevated completed fertility. We relate these results to extant theoretical perspectives on the relationship between religion and fertility by stressing the interplay between ideological, social, and organizational characteristics of different types of churches and situate our findings within the context of fertility transition and religious demographics in Mozambique and elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa.

Migration timing and parenting practices: contributions to social development in preschoolers with foreign-born and native-born mothers

Little is known about how key aspects of parental migration or childrearing history affect social development across children from immigrant families. Relying on data on approximately 6,400 children from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort, analyses assessed the role of mother's age at migration on children's social development in the United States (sociability and problem behaviors). Consistent with models of divergent adaptation and assimilation, the relation between age at arrival and children's social development is not linear. Parenting practices, observed when children were approximately 24months of age, partially mediated the relation between mother's age at arrival and children's social development reported at approximate age 48months, particularly in the case of mothers who arrived as adults.

Labor migration and child mortality in Mozambique

Male labor migration is widespread in many parts of the world, yet its consequences for child outcomes and especially childhood mortality remain unclear. Male labor migration could bring benefits, in the form of remittances, to the families that remain behind and thus help child survival. Alternatively, the absence of a male adult could imperil the household's well-being and its ability to care for its members, increasing child mortality risks. In this analysis, we use longitudinal survey data from Mozambique collected in 2006 and 2009 to examine the association between male labor migration and under-five mortality in families that remain behind. Using a simple migrant/non-migrant dichotomy, we find no difference in mortality rates across migrant and non-migrant men's children. When we separated successful from unsuccessful migration based on the wife's perception, however, stark contrasts emerge: children of successful migrants have the lowest mortality, followed by children of non-migrant men, followed by the children of unsuccessful migrants. Our results illustrate the need to account for the diversity of men's labor migration experience in examining the effects of migration on left-behind households.

The Influence of Linguistic Acculturation and Gender on the Initiation of Substance Use Among Mexican Heritage Preadolescents in the Borderlands

This article examined the impact of linguistic acculturation and gender on the substance use initiation of a sample of 1,473 Mexican heritage preadolescents attending 30 public schools in Phoenix, Arizona. It was hypothesized that linguistic acculturation operates differently as a risk or protective factor for young children than for older youth. The study used discrete-time event history methods to model the rate at which nonusing children initiate substance use. Alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, and inhalants were studied separately while inhalant use was examined more closely. Results suggested that while linguistic acculturation is a risk factor for Mexican heritage preadolescents, this association depended on gender, the linguistic acculturation context (family, friends, or media), and the type of substance. For inhalants, higher linguistic acculturation with friends was inversely associated with drug initiation both for boys and girls. Implications for preventive science and future intervention research are discussed.

Husbands' labour migration and wives' autonomy, Mozambique 2000-2006

The separation of migrants from the family unit, as a result of labour migration, can have profound effects on family organization and the lives of family members. Using data from a 2006 survey of 1,680 married women from 56 villages in southern Mozambique, we examined the relationship between men's labour migration and the decision-making autonomy of women who stayed behind. The results show that both men's cumulative migration history and current migration status are positively associated with women's autonomy, and that the effects on autonomy may persist even after the man's return. Three intervening factors-women's employment outside the home, lower fertility, and residential independence from extended family members-did not fully mediate the effects of men's labour migration. This is consistent with the assumption that the migrant's absence has a 'direct' effect on his wife's autonomy.

Parental monitoring and changes in substance use among Latino/a and non-Latino/a preadolescents in the Southwest

Prior research shows parental monitoring is associated with less substance use, but these studies have some limitations. Many examine older adolescents from White, Euro-American heritage, and cross-sectional studies are unable to test if parental monitoring decreases substance use over time. We address these limitations with longitudinal data of 2,034 primarily Latino preadolescents in Phoenix, Arizona, USA in 2004-2005. We use multilevel regression with multiple imputation of missing data. We find parental monitoring has beneficial, longitudinal effects on youth's substance use and related intentions, norms, and attitudes. Effects are invariant to gender or Latino ethnicity, except in the case of marijuana.

Influences of School Latino Composition and Linguistic Acculturation on a Prevention Program for Youth

This study examined how ethnic composition and linguistic acculturation within schools affected the efficacy of a youth substance use prevention model program. Data come from a randomized trial of the keepin' it REAL program, using a predominantly Mexican American sample of middle school students in Phoenix, Arizona. Schools were randomly assigned to a control group or to one of three culturally tailored intervention versions. We hypothesized that school ethnic and linguistic acculturation composition (percent Latino, percent non-English speaking at home) and individual level of linguistic acculturation jointly would moderate the efficacy of the prevention program, as indicated by students' alcohol, marijuana, and cigarette use. Using multilevel linear modeling and multiple imputation techniques to manage clustered data and attrition, results showed that desired program effects varied by the linguistic acculturation level of the school, the program version, and individual acculturation level. The Latino intervention version was more efficacious in schools with larger percentages of non-English speaking families, but only among less linguistically acculturated Latino students. There were no significant school level program effects connected to the percentage of Latino students at school, the other versions of the program, or among more linguistically acculturated students.

Residents' yard choices and rationales in a desert city: social priorities, ecological impacts, and decision tradeoffs

As a dominant land use in urban ecosystems, residential yards impact water and other environmental resources. Converting thirsty lawns into alternative landscapes is one approach to water conservation, yet barriers such as cultural norms reinforce the traditional lawn. Meanwhile, the complex social and ecological implications of yard choices complicate programs aimed at changing grass and other yard features for particular purposes. In order to better understand individual landscape decisions, we qualitatively examined residents' rationales for their preferred yard types in the desert metropolis of Phoenix, Arizona. After briefly presenting landscape choices across two survey samples, the dominant reasons for preferences are discussed: appearance, maintenance, environment, recreation, microclimate, familiarity, and health/safety. Three broader analytical themes emerged from these descriptive codes: (1) residents' desires for attractive, comfortable landscapes of leisure encompassing pluralistic tastes, lifestyles, and perceptions; (2) the association of environmental benefits and impacts with different landscape types involving complex social and ecological tradeoffs; and (3) the cultural legacies evident in modern landscape choices, especially in terms of a dichotomous human-nature worldview among long-time residents of the Phoenix oasis. Given these findings, programs aimed at landscape change must recognize diverse preferences and rationalization processes, along with the perceived versus actual impacts and tradeoffs of varying yard alternatives.

Youths of Mexican Descent of the Southwest: Exploring Differences in Ethnic Labels

Knowledge of the factors that influence youths' choice of racial or ethnic labels will help us understand intragroup diversity, suggest ways in which school social workers can support youth's ethnic identity development, and learn if youth who choose different combinations of labels may be grouped together for research purposes. This study of 2,857 Mexican-origin youth in the U.S. Southwest found that linguistic acculturation, socioeconomic status, and educational aspirations are related to choice of ethnic labels. Implications for social work interventions in schools and for future research are offered.

The efficacy of a multicultural prevention intervention among urban American Indian youth in the southwest U.S

This study explored how a non-targeted group of ethnic minority youth might or might not benefit from a prevention intervention focused on other cultural groups. The study specifically evaluated the effects of an evidence-based drug prevention curriculum with a sample of urban American Indian youth in the southwest U.S., most of whom self-reported multi-ethnic heritages. Using growth curve modeling, this research examined the developmental trajectory of drug use for these youth, and compared it with the trajectory of youth from other racial/ethnic groups at pre-intervention, post-intervention, and two follow up time periods. Results indicate that alcohol and marijuana use increased from pre-intervention across subsequent time periods for all youth. The drug use of the American Indian youth in the treatment group increased on some measures. Specifically, they reported a steeper trajectory in the amount and frequency of alcohol and marijuana use compared to the youths in the treatment groups with other racial/ethnic identifications. The implications of these findings for the development of culturally grounded prevention programs for multi-ethnic, urban American Indian youth are discussed. EDITORS' STRATEGIC IMPLICATIONS: This research provides a specific example, but also makes a strong global argument, for the need to develop and evaluate prevention programs that are culturally grounded in the worldview of the target group.

triADD: the risk for alcohol abuse, depression, and diabetes multimorbidity in the American Indian and Alaska Native populations

This study examined the risk for alcoholism, diabetes, and depression (triADD) in American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations in the U.S. Using the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a series of descriptive statistics and regression models were used to examine the interrelationships among these disorders in AI/AN populations. Despite a small sample size, results indicate that AI/ANs are at elevated risk for the individual and combined presence of triADD (OR=12.5) when compared to the White population. These findings indicate the need for further investigation and prevention focused on effective, culturally appropriate interventions with these populations.

Differences by gender, ethnicity, and acculturation in the efficacy of the keepin' it REAL model prevention program

This study examined whether the efficacy of keepin' it REAL, a model program for substance use prevention in schools, was moderated by gender, ethnicity, and acculturation. Gender differences in program efficacy may arise through boys' higher risk of drug use, inadequate attention to girls' developmental issues, or cultural factors like polarized gender expectations. Data came from a randomized trial in 35 Phoenix, Arizona, middle schools involving 4,622 mostly Latino 7th graders. Using multi-level mixed models and multiple imputation missing techniques, results for the total sample showed no gender differences in program effects on recent substance use, but the program was more effective in fostering boys' than girls' anti-drug norms. Subgroup analyses demonstrated several more beneficial program effects for boys than girls (less alcohol and cigarette use and stronger anti-drug norms), but only among less acculturated Latinos. There were no gender differences in program effects among more acculturated Latinos, nor among non-Latino whites.

The effect of non-family experiences on age of marriage in a setting of rapid social change

This study examines the changing effects of non-family activities on the age of transition to first marriage in four cohorts of individuals across 45 years in the Chitwan Valley, Nepal. The results indicate that school enrolment had a negative effect on both men's and women's marriage rates, while total years of schooling had a positive effect on men's marriage rates. Non-family employment experiences increased marriage rates for men only. Analysing the effects of schooling and employment over time suggests that school enrolment became a growing deterrent to marriage for both sexes, and that non-family employment became an increasingly desirable attribute in men. The results are consistent with changing views about sex roles and schooling over time in the region, as the roles of student and spouse became more distinct. The results also suggest an increasing integration of husbands in the non-family labour market.