No abstract

We utilize data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth young adult sample (N = 1,488) to investigate whether gender role attitudes and the occupation of and transition to three adult roles (i.e., employment, marriage, and parenthood) contribute to the maintenance of the gender gap in the frequency and quantity of alcohol use. Our results indicate that traditional gender role attitudes are related to less frequent drinking for both men and women, but role attitudes are not associated with the number of drinks consumed. We also find that employment and transitions to employment increase the frequency and quantity of drinking, but less so for women compared to men. Furthermore, marriage, parenthood, and transitions to parenthood are related to less frequent drinking for women only. In terms of the number of drinks consumed, only employment and transitions to employment distinguish men and women. Employment is related to increased quantity of drinking for men, but decreased drinking for women, while transitions to employment have no effect on men, but do decrease the amount of drinking for women. Marriage decreases the number of drinks consumed equally for both men and women.

The objective of this research is to explore how the relationship between interparental discord and child's self-concept shapes participation in bullying behavior by elementary and middle-school children. The main finding is that child's self-concept mediates the effects of interparental discord on bullying behavior. Further, the results of the study support a symbolic interactionist view of child self-development, in which children internalize the environment provided by parents. This internalization gives way to self-concept, which guides behavior. This study adds to the growing body of literature that seeks to understand whether and how characteristics of children mediate the effects of parental attributes on behavioral outcomes. The proposed implications for the prevention of bullying include building children's self-concept, intervening in parental conflict, and involving the entire family system in the intervention process.

Using longitudinal data from a nationally representative sample of mothers, we specify the conditions under which the neighborhood context shapes the experience of mastery. In so doing, we extend the work of others who have shown that neighborhood perceptions influence one's sense of personal control over and above the effects of sociodemographic and objective neighborhood characteristics. Specifically, we demonstrate that the benefits to mastery generally afforded to mothers through marital status, household income, physical health, and living in a higher-income neighborhood are diluted by perceptions of neighborhood disorder. These findings suggest the importance of including measures of proximal experiences when attempting to link objective components of social structure with individual and family-level outcomes. Providing further support for the emphasis placed on these proximate mechanisms by the social structure and personality framework, our analyses indicate that failing to consider negative community perceptions suppresses the significant impact that central city residence and race have on mothers' sense of personal control. 340

No abstract