Pressurizing or encouraging: Health behaviors among long-distance couples

Couples in long-distance relationships face unique challenges that affect their health outcomes and relationship dynamics in ways that are different from couples in close proximal relationships (PR). The results of previous literature analyzing health outcomes for long-distance relationship (LDR) couples have been mixed, and factors such as couple satisfaction and gender of the individuals contribute to the variance. This study examined the good health practices of couples in LDRs, the ways in which partners influence each other's health, and the health outcomes of these couples as compared to couples in PRs. Multilevel multivariate analysis showed that couples in LDRs had better health practices than those in PRs, and men overall had poorer health practices than women. There was no main effect seen for LDRs when we examined strategies used for influencing health. There was a main effect for gender, though, and we found that women tend to use more collaborative and pressurizing strategies for influencing their partner's health. On health indices, we found that LDR couples tended to have lower levels of fatigue and sleep disturbance as compared to PR couples. In the adjusted model with covariates, which included age, income, couple satisfaction, and married or unmarried couples, we found that lower couple satisfaction and lower income significantly predicted poorer health on all health indices. These results are discussed in light of unequal gender roles, social control, and positive aspects of LDRs on health in an attempt to understand LDRs better and destigmatize the narrative of these relationships as 'less than' PRs. Implications for health and mental health practitioners are also discussed.

A neuroanatomical and cognitive model of impaired social behaviour in frontotemporal dementia

Impaired social cognition is a core deficit in frontotemporal dementia (FTD). It is most commonly associated with the behavioural-variant of FTD, with atrophy of the orbitofrontal and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Social cognitive changes are also common in semantic dementia, with atrophy centred on the anterior temporal lobes. The impairment of social behaviour in FTD has typically been attributed to damage to the orbitofrontal cortex and/or temporal poles and/or the uncinate fasciculus that connects them. However, the relative contributions of each region are unresolved. In this Review, we present a unified neurocognitive model of controlled social behaviour that not only explains the observed impairment of social behaviours in FTD, but also assimilates both consistent and potentially contradictory findings from other patient groups, comparative neurology and normative cognitive neuroscience. We propose that impaired social behaviour results from damage to two cognitively- and anatomically-distinct components. The first component is social-semantic knowledge, a part of the general semantic-conceptual system supported by the anterior temporal lobes bilaterally. The second component is social control, supported by the orbitofrontal cortex, medial frontal cortex and ventrolateral frontal cortex, which interacts with social-semantic knowledge to guide and shape social behaviour.

Social regulation of reproduction: control or signal?

Traditionally, dominant breeders have been considered to be able to control the reproduction of other individuals in multimember groups that have high variance in reproductive success/reproductive skew (e.g., forced sterility/coercion of conspecifics in eusocial animals; sex-change suppression in sequential hermaphrodites). These actions are typically presented as active impositions by reproductively dominant individuals. However, how can individuals regulate the reproductive physiology of others? Alternatively, all contestants make reproductive decisions, and less successful individuals self-downregulate reproduction in the presence of dominant breeders. Shifting perspective from a top-down manipulation to a broader view, which includes all contenders, and using a multitaxon approach, we propose a unifying framework for the resolution of reproductive skew conflicts based on signalling rather than control, along a continuum of levels of strategic regulation of reproduction.

Social control and self-control: factors linking exposure to domestic violence and adolescents' Internet gaming addiction

Although many studies have investigated the influencing factors of adolescents' Internet gaming addiction, few have investigated the influence factor of exposure to domestic violence, and even fewer have used the General Strain Theory to explain the influence path of exposure to domestic violence on adolescents' Internet gaming addiction. Based on the GST, this study sought to uncover further insights into the effect of exposure to family violence on adolescents' Internet gaming addiction, and the mediating role of social control-specifically, parental attachment-and self-control in the association between exposure to family violence and adolescents' Internet gaming addiction. Adopting a multi-stage cluster random sampling method, we conducted this study with 2,110 adolescents from Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province, China. The results suggest that adolescents' exposure to domestic violence directly affects their addiction to Internet games and indirectly affects it by decreasing social control and self-control. The study not only supplements and improves the explanatory framework of General Strain Theory, but makes a significant contribution to research on the causes of Internet gaming addiction.

Defending Others Online: The Influence of Observing Formal and Informal Social Control on One's Willingness to Defend Cyberhate Victims

This paper examines factors correlated with online self-help-an informal form of social control vis-à-vis intervention-upon witnessing a cyberhate attack. Using online surveys from 18- to 26-year-old respondents in the United States, we explore the roles of various types of online and offline formal and informal social control mechanisms on the enactment of self-help through the use of descriptive statistics and ordinal logistic regression. The results of the multivariate analyses indicate that online collective efficacy is positively related to self-help, as is having close ties to individuals and groups offline and online. Formal online social control, however, is not significantly related to engaging in self-help. Other findings demonstrate that personal encounters with cyberhate affect the likelihood that an individual will intervene when witnessing an attack, and that individuals with high levels of empathy are more likely to intervene to assist others. This work indicates that pro-social online behavior is contagious and can potentially foster online spaces in which harmful behaviors, such as propagating cyberhate, are not condoned.

One Pandemic, Two Solutions: Comparing the U.S.-China Response and Health Priorities to COVID-19 from the Perspective of "Two Types of Control"

After three years of global rampage, the COVID-19 epidemic, the most serious infectious disease to occur worldwide since the 1918 influenza pandemic, is nearing its end. From the global experience, medical control and social control are the two main dimensions in the prevention and control of COVID-19. From the perspective of "two types of control", namely medical control and social control, this paper finds that the political system, economic structure, and cultural values of the United States greatly limit the government's ability to impose social control, forcing it to adopt medical control to fight the virus in a single dimension. In contrast, China's political system, economic structure, and cultural values allow its government to adopt stringent, extensive, and frequent social control, as well as medical control to fight the virus. This approach departs from the traditional pathway of fighting the epidemic, i.e., "infection-treatment-immunization", thereby outpacing the evolution of the virus and controlling its spread more rapidly. This finding helps explain why the Chinese government adopted a strict "zeroing" and "dynamic zeroing" policy during the first three years, at the cost of enormous economic, social, and even political legitimacy. It was not until late 2022, when the Omicron variant with the waning virulence became prevalent, that China chose to "coexist" with the virus, thus avoiding a massive epidemic-related death. While the United States adopted a pulsed-style strategy at the beginning of the epidemic, i.e., "relaxation-suppression-relaxation-suppression", and began to "coexist" with the virus in just one year, resulting in a large number of excess deaths associated with the epidemic. The study contributes to explaining the difference in the interplay between public health priorities and COVID-19 response strategies in China and the United States, based on the specific public health context and the perspective of "medical control" and "social control".

Changing contexts: A quasi-experiment examining adolescent delinquency and the transition to high school

In a quasi-experiment, we examine whether changing schools during the transition from 8th to 9th grade influences adolescent delinquency, using a sample of more than 14,000 students in 26 public school districts (PROSPER study). The dataset follows students for eight waves from 6th through 12th grade and facilitates a unique, direct comparison of students who change schools with those who remain in the same school during this period. Results show that students who transition between schools report significantly less delinquency after the shift than those who do not, and that this difference persists through 10th grade. This decline is most pronounced when adolescents from multiple middle schools move to a single high school (i.e., multifeeder transitions). Students who transition between schools have fewer delinquent friends and participate in less unstructured socializing following the change in school environment, which partially mediates their reduced delinquency. Results provide some support for theories of differential association and routine activities. Our findings highlight the role of a crucial, yet understudied, life transition in shaping adolescent delinquency. The results from this quasi-experiment underscore the potential of alterations in social context to significantly dampen juvenile delinquency throughout high school.

Research on paths of opportunistic behavior avoidance and performance improvement in food supply chain from the perspective of social control

It is essential to avoid opportunistic behaviors of food supply chain members to guarantee food safety and sustainable supply. This research adopted the perspective of supply chain membership governance to discuss the critical mechanisms of opportunistic behavior avoidance and performance improvement in the food supply chain. Two information-sharing mechanisms (information sharing with customers and information sharing with suppliers) were used as mediating variables to explore the mechanisms of how social control, information sharing, and opportunistic behavior worked on supply chain performance. Furthermore, an online questionnaire survey was conducted to collect 210 data samples from the food manufacturing industry in China, and the structural equation model method was applied to test the research hypotheses. According to the empirical research findings, social control can directly reduce opportunistic behaviors of supply chain members and reduce such behaviors indirectly via the mediating factor of information sharing; social control affects the supply chain performance via the mediating factors of information sharing and opportunistic behavior, instead of directly improving supply chain performance. Two information sharing mechanisms vary in their mechanism of influence. Information sharing with customers reduces opportunistic behaviors, but does not directly improve supply chain performance. Information sharing with suppliers enhances supply chain performance and reduces opportunistic behaviors. This research offers theoretical and practical suggestions for performance improvement and opportunistic behavior avoidance to promote food supply chain management.

How does housing tenure mix affect residents' mental health through a social environment lens? An empirical examination from Guangzhou (China)

This study demonstrates the mechanisms of housing tenure mix affecting residents' mental health via intervening community social environment within public housing practices in urban China. Using a purposive sampling data of six representative public housing estates, we used structural equation models to examine total, direct, and indirect effects of housing mix status on mental health, highlighting the intermediatory roles of social environment variables. On the whole, we find no significant impact of housing tenure mix on mental health; however, housing tenure mix thwarted mental health in a direct way but contributed to it through the mediation of social participation. Regarding the neighborhood effects, we unfold the behavioral, psychological, and socially interactional mechanisms for affecting mental health, by highlighting the direct health implications of social capital, and the mediation of sense of community and social control between social capital and mental health. Finally, we suggest to consider social effects on health grounds into mixed housing strategies in future.

Swedish journalists' perceptions of legal protection against unlawful online harassment

This study examined journalists' perceptions regarding the legal system's ability to protect them against online harassment. By utilizing open-ended survey responses from respondents with varying levels of trust in the legal system, the findings suggested a need for increased technical proficiency, resources, and priority within the legal system to adequately address the issue. Additionally, a reciprocal relationship between the normalization of online harassment within the journalistic profession and the legal system's commitment to providing protection was identified. However, the study also found that when the legal system's mediated approach to online harassment is positive, it affects attitudes and norms relating to legal protection. Consequently, it reveals a unique insight into how journalists respond to the message conveyed by fair treatment and respect from the legal system. Notably, this result implies that when such messages are internalized, journalists feel more empowered to take measures against online harassment. As a result of this analysis, I propose that current laws should be implemented more effectively and that policy strategies should be developed to positively influence social norms and social control to bolster journalistic autonomy and freedom of speech in the digital age.

The Role of Social and Cultural Values in Pandemic Control in a Chinese Community: An Ethnographic Study on the Construction and Stigmatization of "Others" in Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and COVID-19 in Hong Kong

BACKGROUND

Studies have widely reported that social and cultural values serve as constraints in controlling the spread of an epidemic. However, I argue that a social and cultural value system is a double-edged sword and can motivate people's preventive health behaviors. Few studies have examined the positive role of social and cultural values in promoting epidemic control.

METHODS

Using the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak in 2003 and the COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2020 in Hong Kong as examples, the present study performed participant observation in Hong Kong from January to June 2003 and from January 2020 to May 2022; in-depth individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with 70 participants between February 2021 and March 2022.

RESULTS

Social and cultural values serve as informal social control mechanisms in manipulating people's adoption of preventive health behaviors that can assist in epidemic control. Specifically, the construction and stigmatization of the "others" groups and the traditional cultural values based on the capitalist ideology were noted to facilitate control measures against the two outbreaks in Hong Kong.

CONCLUSION

These two outbreaks reinforced the embedded social and cultural values of the capitalist ideology of Hong Kong, which increased the vulnerability of disadvantaged social groups to stigmatization.

Momentary Partner Involvement in Diabetes Self-Care and Continuously Measured Glucose: A Dynamic Analysis

OBJECTIVE

This study examined the dynamic, real-time associations between partner involvement in diabetes self-care and continuous glucose monitor (CGM) metrics in adults with type 2 diabetes.

METHODS

For 1 week, 63 participants wore Dexcom G4 CGMs and provided momentary reports of partner involvement in diabetes self-care five times per day. Dynamic structural equation models were used to estimate the reciprocal lagged effects of partner involvement on next-hour CGM metrics (and vice versa).

RESULTS

Partner involvement predicted improved next-hour glucose control for five of six CGM metrics in analyses adjusted for time-varying covariates. The hour after partner involvement, the model predicted a 26.34 mg/dl decrease in glucose level (standardized β = -0.19), 30% greater odds of meeting target time in target range ( β = 0.07), 48% higher odds of target time below target range (TBR; β = 0.04; the only nonsignificant effect), 47% greater odds of target time above target range (β = 0.11), a 4.20 unit decrease in glucose standard deviation ( β = -0.19), and a 0.01 unit decrease in glucose coefficient of variation ( β = -0.08; all p values < .05). There was less consistent support for the reverse pathway, with only two metrics significantly related to next-hour partner involvement: glucose level ( β = 0.15) and TBR ( β = 0.21), such that having higher levels and meeting target TBR were significantly predictive of next-hour partner involvement.

CONCLUSIONS

This is the first study showing that partner involvement in daily diabetes management predicts short-term glucose control. More research is needed to understand how partners influence glycemic control and evaluate interventions that promote their involvement in diabetes care.

Examining Sexual Crime Severity in China: A General-specific Model on Sex Offending Against Adults

Sexual violence severity has long been viewed as a critical factor of sex offending. However, the criminological viewpoints on sexual violence severity have not received much attention, especially in the Chinese context. By integrating general-criminogenic (inhibitory mechanisms) and specific sex offending (learning mechanisms and contextual factors) perspectives, the current study links the propositions of social control (bonds) theory, self-control theory, differential association theory, and the integrated theory of sex offending, proposing a general-specific model for sexual violence severity. Survey data was collected from 250 Chinese offenders who committed sexual offenses against adults. The mediation analysis found that deviant peer association fully mediates the effects of social control and low self-control on sexual violence severity. The moderation analysis showed that substance abuse exaggerates the impact of deviant peer association on sexual violence severity, while sex purchasing mitigates this relationship. This general-specific model may expand our current understanding of sexual violence severity from both criminological and psychological perspectives.

Strategic growth in social vertebrates

Individual differences in growth and size of vertebrates often represent adaptive, plastic responses to contrasts in ecological conditions. Recent studies show that vertebrates can also modify their growth and size in an adaptive fashion in response to fine-grain changes in social conditions (which we refer to as strategic growth). Here, we review experimental evidence for strategic growth in social vertebrates. We describe a set of conditions under which strategic growth commonly occurs, and highlight potential examples of convergent evolution of strategic growth across the tree of life. This synthesis has implications for the way we think about organismal growth and size, because it underscores that the size of individuals can often be fine-tuned to their social environment.

Social Control and Self-Control: A Serial Mediation Model From Economic Hardship to Juvenile Aggression

Economic hardship is a well-established risk factor for aggressive behaviors in adolescents, yet understanding of the individual and social mediators is limited. The present study aims to investigate whether the association between economic hardship and juvenile aggression is mediated by social control and self-control. Respondents included 1,280 adolescents (47.4% male) with an average age of 15.68 years (SD = 1.23). Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypothesized model. The findings revealed that economic hardship was related to a low level of social bonds, which in turn led to a low level of self-control, thereby increasing physical, verbal, and relational aggression in adolescents. Our study combined social control and self-control into an integrated model, highlighting the role of social and individual processes in juvenile aggression. Several implications for interventions and policies are suggested for reducing aggression in adolescents.

The Dyadic Health Influence Model

Relationship partners affect one another's health outcomes through their health behaviors, yet how this occurs is not well understood. To fill this gap, we present the Dyadic Health Influence Model (DHIM). The DHIM identifies three routes through which a person (the agent) can impact the health beliefs and behavior of their partner (the target). An agent may (a) model health behaviors and shape the shared environment, (b) enact behaviors that promote their relationship, and/or (c) employ strategies to intentionally influence the target's health behavior. A central premise of the DHIM is that agents act based on their beliefs about their partner's health and their relationship. In turn, their actions have consequences not only for targets' health behavior but also for their relationship. We review theoretical and empirical research that provides initial support for the routes and offer testable predictions at the intersection of health behavior change research and relationship science.

Perceptions of partner social control: accuracy, bias, and daily experience

OBJECTIVE

We examined accuracy and bias in people's perceptions of their romantic partner's daily social control attempts of daily health behaviours and how misperceptions of partner daily social control are related to both partners' daily experiences.

DESIGN

106 cohabiting couples from the community reported on their own and their partner's daily social control attempts (i.e., persuasion, pressure) and their daily experiences (i.e., positive and negative affect, autonomy, relationship satisfaction) across 14 consecutive days (N = 2377 reports). Multilevel path models examined tracking accuracy, projection, and mean-level bias in perceptions of partner health social control attempts, and associations between mean-level bias and daily experiences.

RESULTS

Perceptions of provider influence contained significant tracking accuracy, projection, and mean-level accuracy in provider use of social control. Underperceptions of persuasion were associated with negative outcomes for the perceiver and no outcomes for the provider. Overperceptions of persuasion were associated with negative outcomes for providers and marginally higher positive affect for perceivers. Misperceptions of pressure were associated with negative outcomes for both perceivers and providers.

CONCLUSION

Results suggest that social control may have the most benefit and least harm to both partners when people accurately perceive the mean-levels of such influence attempts on their health behaviours.

[MODERN UNIVERSITY: INTRACORPORATE SOCIAL CONTROL OF THE ORGANIZATION OF THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS IN A PANDEMIC]

The article is devoted to the analysis of the capabilities of a modern university in the field of creating a system of social control and prompt response in a pandemic. The social responsibility of a progressive university for employees and students does not allow crisis situations to be left without proper and timely regulation, despite the stochastic nature of external risks. External challenges should reveal the adaptive potential of a successful educational corporation, create new tools for managing efficiency and internal environment. In this regard, an important element of management is the establishment of continuous feedback, control of important indicators of public assessment for making timely management decisions and optimizing the situation. The article proposes a system of such social control through the organization of monitoring, qualitative research, monographic and express measurements, offers as an example a number of important indicators of perception and assessment of the pandemic situation on the part of the student and teaching community, identifies management accents that are subject to analysis and dynamic control, as well as some solutions, adopted by a modern university to stabilize the situation.

The Promise of AI in Detection, Diagnosis, and Epidemiology for Combating COVID-19: Beyond the Hype

COVID-19 has created enormous suffering, affecting lives, and causing deaths. The ease with which this type of coronavirus can spread has exposed weaknesses of many healthcare systems around the world. Since its emergence, many governments, research communities, commercial enterprises, and other institutions and stakeholders around the world have been fighting in various ways to curb the spread of the disease. Science and technology have helped in the implementation of policies of many governments that are directed toward mitigating the impacts of the pandemic and in diagnosing and providing care for the disease. Recent technological tools, artificial intelligence (AI) tools in particular, have also been explored to track the spread of the coronavirus, identify patients with high mortality risk and diagnose patients for the disease. In this paper, areas where AI techniques are being used in the detection, diagnosis and epidemiological predictions, forecasting and social control for combating COVID-19 are discussed, highlighting areas of successful applications and underscoring issues that need to be addressed to achieve significant progress in battling COVID-19 and future pandemics. Several AI systems have been developed for diagnosing COVID-19 using medical imaging modalities such as chest CT and X-ray images. These AI systems mainly differ in their choices of the algorithms for image segmentation, classification and disease diagnosis. Other AI-based systems have focused on predicting mortality rate, long-term patient hospitalization and patient outcomes for COVID-19. AI has huge potential in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic but successful practical deployments of these AI-based tools have so far been limited due to challenges such as limited data accessibility, the need for external evaluation of AI models, the lack of awareness of AI experts of the regulatory landscape governing the deployment of AI tools in healthcare, the need for clinicians and other experts to work with AI experts in a multidisciplinary context and the need to address public concerns over data collection, privacy, and protection. Having a dedicated team with expertise in medical data collection, privacy, access and sharing, using federated learning whereby AI scientists hand over training algorithms to the healthcare institutions to train models locally, and taking full advantage of biomedical data stored in biobanks can alleviate some of problems posed by these challenges. Addressing these challenges will ultimately accelerate the translation of AI research into practical and useful solutions for combating pandemics.

How Do People Experience and Respond to Social Control From Their Partner? Three Daily Diary Studies

Positive and negative forms of social control are commonly used to regulate another person’s health-related behaviors, especially in couples. Social control efforts have been shown to result in desirable, but also undesirable effects on different outcomes. Little is known for which outcomes, when, and under which contextual conditions these different effects unfold in people’s everyday lives. Using the dual-effects model of health-related social control, we predicted that same-day and previous-day positive social control would result in desirable effects on target behavior, and same-day positive control on affect. Same-day and previous-day negative control was assumed to result in undesirable effects on reactant responses (i.e., doing the opposite of what the partner wanted and hiding the unhealthy behavior), and same-day negative control on affect. Further, we explored whether it makes a difference if one or both partners intend to change their health behavior. Three daily diary studies addressed these questions for smoking (Studies 1 and 2), and physical activity (Study 3). Receiving more positive control related to more desirable target behavior, and feeling better; more negative control was associated with more reactant responses and feeling worse. Social control unfolded its effects within 1 day, but hardly across days, indicating that control and its reactions to it are fast-acting processes in daily life. The pattern of results were the same for couples with one and both partners intending to change their behavior. Further, results replicated when using partner-reported provided control. Based on these results, social control cannot be unanimously recommended as a behavior change strategy in couples. Future studies should follow up on dyadic and temporal dynamics of social control in couples’ everyday lives in different contexts.

Older adults' physical activity-related social control and social support in the context of personal norms

This study investigated whether perceived physical activity norms moderated the effects of physical activity-related social interactions on intentions to engage in physical activity among community-residing older adults (N = 217). Structural equation modeling tested whether two types of social support and social control interacted with personal norms in predicting intentions to be active. Emotional and informational support were associated with higher intentions, and negative social control was associated with lower intentions to engage in activity. Each of these effects was more prominent in the context of weak personal norms, suggesting future research and interventions should consider joint effects of support and norms.

Correlates of Repeat Victimization and Sex Differences in South Korean Youth

Interest in the correlates of victimization has significantly increased in criminology, while focusing on a few criminological theories, risky lifestyles/routine activities, and self-control. This study is to explore the applicability of five criminological theories, including social control theory, collective efficacy, and strain theories as well as risky lifestyles/routine activities and self-control to explain the correlates of repeat victimization. The current study also explores sex differences/similarities of Korean youth in the correlates of repeat victimization. Current study analyzes data from two waves of Korean Youth Panel Survey by using logistic regression. Results show that risky lifestyle/routine activities, social control, and general strain variables better explained the chance of repeat victimization than other theories (i.e., self-control and collective efficacy). In addition, this study suggests future study to focus on peer-related issues for girls' repeat victimization and by addressing family-related issues for boys' repeat victimization.

"If you don't behave, you're in real shit, you don't get outside the doors"-a phenomenological hermeneutic study of adolescents' lived experiences of the socio-spatial environment of involuntary institutional care

In Sweden, according to law, adolescents with extensive psychosocial problems, substance abuse or criminal behaviour can be cared for in institutions. The two-fold aim of these institutions (to rehabilitate and incarcerate) puts special demands to their socio-spatial context.

Purpose: To elucidate adolescents’ lived experiences of the socio-spatial environment at special youth homes run by the Swedish National Board of Institutional Care (SiS) in Sweden.

Methods: Data collected through Photovoice and analysed employing a phenomenological hermeneutical method. Fourteen adolescents (age 15–19) were asked to photograph their environment, and this was followed up by in-depth interviews.

Results: Two themes emerged from the material: the dense walls of institutional life and create and capture the caring space. The socio-spatial environment can be seen as an additional “other” that distances the adolescents and the staff from one another. Negotiating with their behaviour, the adolescents strive to present themselves as worthy of increased degrees of freedom and ultimately access to the desired outside life.

Conclusions: In an institutional setting dominated by a security and criminal justice logic, words appear to have less impact than the environment. The adolescents appear to understand themselves through the socio-spatial other, causing reinforced feelings of social exclusion.

Depression, perceived social control, and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis function in African-American adults

OBJECTIVE

Social determinants may negatively affect health via Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis dysfunction. The potential contribution of social determinants and related factors to HPA-axis functioning is important to study among African American adults, who are more likely to experience societal inequities and health disparities relative to other racial/ethnic groups. This study examined the relationship between depressive symptoms and perceived social control on HPA-axis functioning among African American adults.

METHOD

Participants (N = 107; Mage = 50, 79% female) were administered measures including the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression and Informal (neighborhood) Social Control. Study procedures included the provision of 6 saliva samples for cortisol analysis (at wakeup, 30- and 90-min post-wakeup, 2:00 PM, 5:00 PM, and prebedtime). The relationship between depression and social control on the functioning of the HPA-axis were simultaneously examined within a 2-level hierarchical linear model.

RESULTS

Variability in the Cortisol Awakening Response (CAR) was accounted for by depressive symptomatology (p = .023) and perceived social control (p = .016), whereby greater depression was associated with a blunted CAR (less awakening cortisol production) and greater perceptions of neighborhood social control with a higher CAR.

CONCLUSIONS

Elevated depressive symptoms and low perceptions of neighborhood social control may serve as mechanisms that help to explain within-group variability in the functioning of stress physiology among African American adults. Findings enhance understanding of how social determinants may affect African Americans' health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Permanent education as an inalienable responsibility of health councils: the current scenario in the Unified Health System

OBJECTIVE

To verify whether health councils in Brazil carry out permanent education activities for municipal, state and federal district councilors.

METHOD

This was a cross-sectional study with secondary data collection in the Health Council Monitoring System (Sistema de Acompanhamento dos Conselhos de Saúde - Siacs) from May to August 2017. The Siacs is publicly accessible and available on the internet. It provides data from thousands of health councils throughout Brazil. Analysis and interpretation of the data were based on the literature and the enacted legislation, particularly Resolution 453/2012 and the National Policy of Permanent Education for Social Control in the Unified Health System (Política Nacional de Educação Permanente para o Controle Social no Sistema Único de Saúde).

RESULTS

Despite the fact that Resolution 453/2012 establishes the deliberation, elaboration, support and promotion of permanent education for social control as functions of the councils (in accordance with the guidelines of the National Policy of Permanent Education), approximately 40% of councils do not carry out permanent education.

CONCLUSIONS

It is necessary to strengthen the role of health councils in the elaboration of educational initiatives across the national territory. This includes the allocation of financial resources to increase access to and participation in these initiatives, which would strengthen social control in the Unified Health System. This study emphasizes that the discussion of permanent education is not given sufficient attention in the agendas and routines of health councils. This compromises the effectiveness of councils' monitoring and deliberation of public health policy.

Online Interpersonal Victimization as a Mechanism of Social Control of Women: An Empirical Examination

Cyber space is an ever-expanding mode of perpetrating sexualized violence toward women. This article empirically examines the applicability of Susan Brownmiller's adaptation of the theory of social control to online interpersonal victimization (OIV) against women. Multiple regression analysis identified predictors of behaviors indicative of social control among a Canadian sample. Findings suggest that the theory of social control, which has been applied to violence against women in physical space, is applicable to OIV. This study also provides insights into the separate and compound effects of physical space and cyber space victimizations on women and identifies implications for improving methods and building theories for addressing violence against women in cyber space.

Family Matters: Moving Beyond "If" Family Support Matters to "Why" Family Support Matters during Reentry from Prison

OBJECTIVES

Informed by social control and differential coercion and social support theories, we examine how multiple theoretically and methodologically distinct factors of family support relate to reincarceration, substance use, and criminal offending during prison reentry.

METHOD

Using four waves of data from the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative, we identified three separate factors of family support-interactional (e.g., providing guidance and support), instrumental (e.g., providing housing and transportation), and emotional (e.g., providing love and belongingness). A series of mixed-effects models examined how each form of family support related to reincarceration, substance use, and criminal offending.

RESULTS

Findings demonstrated that instrumental, but not interactional or emotional, support related to significantly lower odds of reincarceration and lower levels of substance use and criminal offending. Interaction terms revealed that the effect of instrumental family support is almost entirely independent, and not interactive, on each outcome.

CONCLUSIONS

Family support appears to relate to prosocial reentry outcomes not because of emotional or interactional bonds, but because families provide for the basic needs of returning individuals. Instrumental familial support mechanisms such as providing housing and financial support appear more salient in promoting prosocial reentry outcomes than mechanisms of emotional or interactional support.

"Don't Drink Too Much!" Reactance Among Young Men Following Health-Related Social Control

This study investigated conditions under which young men responded with reactance to the suggestion to reduce their alcohol consumption. In an experimental study, 84 young men (university students, mean age: 24 years) listened to a recorded telephone call and were asked to imagine that they themselves were the recipients of this call. In this call, either a girlfriend or a male friend suggested that the recipient of the call should reduce his alcohol intake that evening. In one condition, the suggestion was highly restrictive; in the other condition, the suggestion was framed in a nonrestrictive way. Perceived threat, negative thoughts, and feelings of anger after listening to the call were assessed. Further outcome variables were intention and perceived probability of complying with the suggestion. Participants felt more anger after hearing the highly restrictive suggestion and more threatened by the suggestion made by the girlfriend. Interaction effects emerged. Participants reported more negative thoughts and lower intention and perceived probability to comply when a highly restrictive suggestion was made by the girlfriend. The male friend’s highly restrictive suggestion resulted in a perceived probability of complying (54%) that was similar to the probability of the girlfriend’s nonrestrictive suggestion (55%). Women’s efforts to reduce their male partners’ alcohol consumption can result in boomerang effects. Male peers might be more effective in motivating other men to behave in a healthier way. These results support recent findings with regard to the potential of peer positive social control.

Sticking it out in trauma-focused treatment for PTSD: It takes a village

OBJECTIVE

One in 3 veterans will dropout from trauma-focused treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Social environments may be particularly important to influencing treatment retention. We examined the role of 2 support system factors in predicting treatment dropout: social control (direct efforts by loved ones to encourage veterans to participate in treatment and face distress) and symptom accommodation (changes in loved ones' behavior to reduce veterans' PTSD-related distress).

METHOD

Veterans and a loved one were surveyed across 4 VA hospitals. All veterans were initiating prolonged exposure therapy or cognitive processing therapy (n = 272 dyads). Dropout was coded through review of VA hospital records.

RESULTS

Regression analyses controlled for traditional, individual-focused factors likely to influence treatment dropout. We found that, even after accounting for these factors, veterans who reported their loved ones encouraged them to face distress were twice as likely to remain in PTSD treatment than veterans who denied such encouragement.

CONCLUSIONS

Clinicians initiating trauma-focused treatments with veterans should routinely assess how open veterans' support systems are to encouraging veterans to face their distress. Outreach to support networks is warranted to ensure loved ones back the underlying philosophy of trauma-focused treatments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Marriage, Social Control, and Health Behavior: A Dyadic Analysis of Same-sex and Different-sex Couples

Prior research based on studies of heterosexual populations suggests that men's health benefits more from marriage than women's, in part because women do more than men to influence the health habits of their spouse. We extend this work by using dyadic survey data from 838 spouses in 419 gay, lesbian, and heterosexual marriages to consider differences in social control tactics across same-sex and different-sex couples-that is, how spouses monitor and regulate each other's health habits. Results suggest that although gender differences in social control are common, gendered patterns sometimes differ depending on whether one is in a same-sex or different-sex marriage. Results also point to the importance of health habits as strong drivers of relationship dynamics across gay and lesbian as well as heterosexual marriages.

Alcohol Use Among Concerned Partners of Heavy Drinking Service Members and Veterans

Heavy drinking in relationships is complex and we focus on an understudied sample of concerned partners (CPs) worried about their U.S. service member/veteran partner's drinking. We evaluated the link between CP drinking and their own mental health, and how CP drinking moderated the efficacy of a web-based intervention designed to address CPs' mental health and communication. CPs (N = 234) were randomly assigned to intervention or control and completed assessments at baseline and 5 months later. CP drinking was associated with greater CP depression, anxiety, and anger independent of partner drinking. Moreover, the intervention was more efficacious in reducing depression for heavy drinking CPs. CPs are often an overlooked population and resources to help support them are needed.

Inter-relations among negative social control, self-efficacy, and physical activity in healthy couples

OBJECTIVES

In romantic relationships, partners can influence each other's health-relevant behaviour by exerting negative social control (e.g., pressuring), however, with mixed success. To elucidate this phenomenon, we examined couples motivated to increase their physical activity and investigated the degree to which both partners exerted negative control on each other, their self-efficacy, reciprocal associations among the two behaviour-specific constructs, and their relationship with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA).

DESIGN

This was a longitudinal study with three assessment periods (T0, T2, T3) spanning 7 weeks.

METHODS

We performed secondary analyses with data from the control condition (N = 113 heterosexual couples) of a published randomized controlled trial. Dyadic mediator models specified either both partners' self-efficacy as predictors and provided negative partner control to each other as mediators or vice versa. The outcomes comprised both partners' accelerometer-assessed MVPA. Mediators and outcomes were controlled for their T0 values.

RESULTS

The first model showed that women's and men's provided negative partner control (T0) was positively related to the other partners' self-efficacy (T2). Testing the alternative predictive direction, the second model showed that only women's self-efficacy (T0) was associated with more provided negative partner control (T2) by men. Women and men showed less MVPA (T3) when their partners had provided them with more negative control at T2.

CONCLUSIONS

As negative control provided to partners may be detrimental to their behaviour change, interventionists should advise couples to avoid it. However, active ingredients of negative control that may benefit recipients' self-efficacy beliefs should be investigated in future work. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Couples often try to change each other's health behaviour not just using supportive tactics, but also controlling ones. Negative partner control (e.g., rebuking and nagging) was found to have adverse or no effects on control recipients' health behaviour change. To understand underlying mechanisms of this relationship, reactance and negative affect of recipients have been investigated, but only rarely their self-efficacy, a consistent individual predictor of behaviour change that is likely to share reciprocal relations with social exchange processes, including negative social control. What does this study add? Although harmful for behaviour change, negative partner control may increase control recipients' self-efficacy. Higher self-efficacy of one partner may also increase provided negative partner control by the other.

Social norm enforcement in ethnically diverse communities

How does ethnic diversity influence the maintenance of social norms in complex, Western societies? We provide evidence from a natural field experiment examining reactions to norm violations in multiethnic German neighborhoods. We uncover asymmetric patterns of norm enforcement in interethnic encounters: “Native” Germans are more active in sanctioning norm violations, while ethnic minorities are more likely to be targeted for sanctions. We link these dynamics to prevailing status inequalities between minorities and natives in German society. We further show that, as a consequence of such asymmetries, social control tends to rise with ethnic diversity.

Recent waves of immigration to Western nations have fueled a debate over the consequences of ethnic diversity for social cohesion. One prominent argument in this debate holds that diversity is detrimental to trust and cooperation because individuals in heterogeneous communities face difficulties in enforcing social norms across ethnic lines. We examine this proposition in a field experiment involving real-life interactions among residents of multiethnic German neighborhoods. We find significant ethnic asymmetries in the pattern of norm enforcement: Members of the majority “native” German population are more active in sanctioning norm violations, while ethnic minorities are more likely to find themselves the target of sanctions. We interpret these results in light of prevailing status inequalities between ethnic minorities and the native majority. We further calculate that, as a result of ethnic discrimination, social control is likely to rise in communities with moderate minority population shares.

Individual differences in social control: Who 'speaks up' when witnessing uncivil, discriminatory, and immoral behaviours?

This research examined the personality characteristics of individuals who 'speak up' and confront perpetrators of norm transgressions. We tested whether those who intervene tend to be 'bitter complainers' or 'well-adjusted leaders'. In four studies (total N = 1,003), we measured several individual differences that are directly implicated by at least one of the two concepts. We also presented participants with uncivil, discriminatory, and immoral behaviours and asked them how likely they would be to intervene if they were to witness each of these behaviours as a bystander. The results confirmed the well-adjusted leader hypothesis: Participants' self-reported tendency to confront perpetrators correlated positively with altruism, extraversion, social responsibility, acceptance by peers, independent self-construal, emotion regulation, persistence, self-directedness, age, occupation, and monthly salary, but not with aggressiveness or low self-esteem. Individuals who confront prejudice also speak up against other immoral and uncivil behaviours. We discuss the implications of these findings for the perpetuation and change of social norms.

Compulsory Psychiatric Admissions in an Italian Urban Setting: Are They Actually Compliant to the Need for Treatment Criteria or Arranged for Dangerous Not Clinical Condition?

Background: Italy was one of the first European countries adopting the need for treatment criteria for compulsory admission (CA). The aim of the present study was to confirm whether CA in an urban setting in Italy was compliant with the requested clinical criteria. Methods: In this retrospective observational study, we retrieved all collected information regarding CA in Turin (Italy) from January 2006 to December 2013. All content and data reported in the CA forms, including diagnosis and clinical details, were gathered and analyzed. Comparisons between CA with and without a diagnosis of DSM-IV psychiatric disorders and between different diagnoses were performed using either parametric or non-parametric tests, depending on variable distribution. Results: Three hundred and two (10.5%) of 2,870 consecutive CAs made in Turin during a lag time of 8 years were due to unknown psychiatric diagnoses (113; 3.9%) or to psychomotor agitation (189; 6.6%). The most prevalent psychiatric disorders leading to CA were schizophrenia (729; 25.4%), brief psychotic disorder (627; 21.8%), bipolar disorder episode (396; 13.8%), delusional disorder (292; 10.2%), and personality disorder (237; 8.3%). The CAs due to psychiatric disorder were longer (U = 328,875.0; p < 0.001) and involved patients who were more likely to be compulsorily admitted during the study period (U = 357,012.5; p = 0.003), to have had prior contact with a psychiatrist [ χ ( 2 ) 2 = 28.34; p < 0.001], to have had previous admissions to a psychiatric ward [ χ ( 2 ) 2 = 33.06; p < 0.001], to be under the care of psychiatric services [ χ ( 3 ) 2 = 87.01; p < 0.001], and not to have concurrent alcohol [ χ ( 1 ) 2 = 23.06; p < 0.001] and/or drug use [ χ ( 1 ) 2 = 12.97; p < 0.001] than those due to psychomotor agitation/unspecified diagnoses. Conclusion: Despite a history of 35 years of CA made according to a strict need for treatment criteria, the evaluation of CA records shows that a certain proportion of CAs appears to have been due to brief, not psychiatric, alcohol/drug related behavioral conditions. Further studies should confirm the need for law reform leading to the integration between the need for treatment and the danger criteria for CAs.

Responsible Opioid Prescribing for Chronic Pain: Interpreting the CDC Guideline, Understanding New Rhode Island Regulations

New Rhode Island regulations require physicians and other licensed practitioners to make significant adjustments to comply with new requirements for prescribing narcotics for chronic pain. Responding to the opioid epidemic, the new rules are intended to improve patient safety by changing physicians' prescribing patterns. However, the new rules may overlook the importance of treatment-access problems and the importance of buprenorphine products for treating pain and opioid dependence. Empirical data have demonstrated the safety and efficacy of buprenorphine in treating opioid-dependent patients with chronic pain, including those with and without substance abuse histories, but access to buprenorphine treatment remains limited throughout the state. The new regulations call upon physicians to make use of consultation services, which are also of limited availability. Although well intentioned, the new rules may contribute to treatment-access problems, and patients with chronic pain may resort to higher-risk "street" drugs when they are unable to access safe but effective medical treatment. [Full article available at http://rimed.org/rimedicaljournal-2017-10.asp].

Associations between social control, motivation, and exercise: How romantic partners influence exercise during young adulthood

This study investigated whether positive and negative romantic partner social control attempts (persuasion and pressure, respectively) were related to approach-avoidance motives and exercise among young adults (N = 98), using daily reports. Daily persuasion was linked to higher daily approach motives. At the person level, persuasion was associated with higher approach and avoidance motives in addition to more frequent, longer exercise. Pressure was associated with higher daily relationship stress, which was associated with higher daily avoidance motives. At the person level, pressure was related to less frequent, shorter exercise. Thus, romantic partners' social control use correlates with exercise motives and behavior.

Men's weight loss stories: How personal confession, responsibility and transformation work as social control

Obesity is considered a public health concern. In Australia, there are a greater number of overweight or obese men compared with women. The media is an important source of information about body weight and weight management. We undertook a qualitative study to analyse men's weight loss stories in a popular men's magazine. Between January 2009 and December 2012, we collected 47 men's weight loss stories from the Australian edition of Men's Health magazine. We undertook thematic analysis to examine the stories. Confession, personal responsibility, appearance and transformation were key themes. The stories describe the men's self-discipline and their monitoring and tracking of their behaviours as activities which supported their weight loss. In this way, the stories promote the importance of such panoptic self-surveillance and self-discipline to the readers. We consider how such stories contribute to the wider synoptic system of media messages about body weight.

Managing Stigma: Women Drug Users and Recovery Services

Women who use drugs are stigmatized for their drug use behavior, which marginalizes them from mainstream society. Stigmatization can be viewed as an attempt by social services to exert control. Research shows that these strategies do not work well for discouraging drug use; whereas attempts to reduce the stigma related to drug use can encourage users to stop use. Using qualitative methods and grounded theory analysis, the goal of this study is to examine (1) the stigmatization of drug use through different stages; (2) how stigmatized women drug users perceive normality; and (3) barriers and challenges to recovery. Based on in-depth interviews from 20 women who used methamphetamine, the analysis focuses on stigmatization before the initiation of drug use, difficulties related to stigma as drug users, and challenges due to stigmatization as they recover from drug use. Findings show that women are stigmatized before they use drugs, face more stigma as they use, and even during recovery society still holds onto the label of former drug user, making it difficult to avoid stigma. The findings contribute to a better understanding of how stigmatization of women drug users impacts their recovery and provides suggestions for social service and treatment providers.

The Role of Burden and Deviation in Ostracizing Others

Ostracism (being excluded and ignored) is a painful experience, so why do individuals ostracize others? Previous research suggests individuals often ostracize those who are deviate, but not always. We posit that there may be two types of deviation, burdensome and non-burdensome, and the former is most likely to be ostracized. Study 1 manipulated burdensome deviation by programming a group member to perform more slowly (8 or 16 sec.) than others (4 sec.) in a virtual ball-toss game. Participants perceived slower players as more burdensome and deviate than normal speed players. Additionally, participants ostracized (gave fewer ball tosses to) the slowest player. Study 2 examined participant responses to both burdensome deviation (8- and 16-sec. players) and non-burdensome deviation (goth appearance). Participants again perceived the slower players to be burdensome and deviate, and ostracized them. They perceived the goth player to be deviate but not burdensome and did not ostracize this player.

A Dyadic Growth Approach to Partner Regulation Attempts on Changes in Drinking and Negative Alcohol-Related Consequences

BACKGROUND

Many individuals engage in regulation attempts to manage or reduce their partner's alcohol use. Research on partner social control behaviors has shown that regulation attempts generally factor into negative (i.e., punishing) and positive (i.e., rewarding) dimensions. In the alcohol domain, partner drinking has been associated with poorer relationship functioning through punishment.

OBJECTIVES

This research applied a dyadic growth model approach to investigate changes in alcohol consumption and negative alcohol-related consequences over 6 months, and evaluated whether partner regulation attempts (punishment and reward) were influential (i.e., successful) in these changes.

METHODS

Married couples (N = 123 dyads) completed web-based measures of partner regulation attempts, alcohol consumption, and alcohol-related consequences three times over a 6-month period.

RESULTS

Results from dyadic growth curve analyses showed that partner punishment was significantly associated with increases in alcohol-related consequences-and marginally associated with increases in alcohol consumption-over the 6-month period. Partner reward was associated with decreases in consumption over the study period. These effects were not different for husbands and wives. Conclusion/Importance: Results support previous research demonstrating deleterious impact of partner punishing control strategies and provide important implications for future interventions and treatment.

[Not Available]

L'objectif de cet article est de s'interroger sur l'histoire de la crèche en Pologne à partir d'un regard comparatif avec les influences venant de France. Bien que connaissant une évolution différente, dans un contexte de mortalité infantile alarmante, elles sont toutes deux gagnées par les préoccupations hygiénistes issues de la révolution pastorienne qui aboutissent à la sauvegarde médicalisée de la petite enfance. En analysant le développement de la crèche en Pologne, nous appréhendons comment, malgré les missions comparables, cette institution peine à se faire valoir en tant qu'institution pour la petite enfance. Elle rencontre non seulement des difficultés administratives dans sa mise en place, mais doit également faire face aux réticences des familles à y confier leurs enfants.

Physical activity-related social control and social support in older adults: Cognitive and emotional pathways to physical activity

A survey of 217 older adults assessed physical activity-related positive and negative social control and emotional and informational support, using structural equation modeling to investigate mediational effects of emotional responses and behavioral intentions on physical activity. There were significant indirect effects of social control and social support on intentions as mediated by positive, but not negative, emotional responses, and significant indirect effects of emotional responses on physical activity as mediated by intentions. These findings help to identify the cognitive and emotional pathways by which social control and social support may promote or detract from physical activity in later life.

Jail Mental Health Resourcing: A Conceptual and Empirical Study of Social Determinants

U.S. county jails hold large populations of mentally ill inmates but have rarely been researched quantitatively to assess their collective capacity for providing mental health treatment. This research uses ordinal logit and a partial parallel slopes model and a large sample of U.S. counties to assess conceptualized links between local institutional and structural indicators and jail mental health resourcing. Strong church networks and high rates of adult education completion are associated with enhanced jail mental health resourcing. Urbanized areas and areas with deep economic ties to manufacturing appear supportive of a strong jail mental health system. Conversely, conservative political environments and areas with strong medical and mental health networks based in the community are correlated with reduced jail mental health resourcing. Evidence from this research adds to a growing understanding of the need for enhanced community mental health service and diagnostic capabilities in our nation's jails, noting the characteristics and correlates of model program jurisdictions and jurisdictions where program enhancements are most likely in order.

Social support and social control in the context of cancer patients' exercise: A pilot study

Social support is an important factor for exercise among cancer patients, but too much control might elicit reactance and lead to detrimental effects. In this pilot study, 56 dyads (cancer patient + relative) filled out a questionnaire assessing social support, social control, and reactance. After 4 weeks (T2), patients' exercise was assessed with a 7-day recall. About half of the patients did not engage in any self-reported exercise behavior. Relative-reported support was the only variable associated with exercise behavior at T2. Perceived control (r = .4) but not perceived support was significantly correlated with reactance. Male patients reported more support, but were also more prone to reactance.

Incorporating husband influences into a model of physical activity among older women

BACKGROUND

Health behaviour models focus primarily on intrapersonal constructs (e.g., self-efficacy) which are good predictors of intention but less so of actual behaviour. Influences from the social environment, namely from close others, may improve prediction of engagement in ongoing behaviour.

OBJECTIVES

This study sought to broadly assess husband influence on physical activity and to determine whether a multidimensional assessment of husband influence would improve prediction of wives' physical activity.

DESIGN

A two-wave (separated by 4 months) observational study of married women was employed.

METHOD

Women (n = 160, Mage  = 63 years) reported intention, planning, and self-efficacy for physical activity as well as previous month physical activity through Wave 1 mailed surveys. In Wave 2 telephone interviews conducted 4 months later, women reported on their perception of husband influences and their own physical activity in the previous month.

RESULTS

Psychometric analyses supported five components of social support along with social control, injunctive norms, and descriptive norms as a broad assessment of husband social influence on physical activity. Husband influences significantly improved prediction of wives' physical activity, over and above intrapersonal predictors (ΔR(2)  = .09). Social control related negatively to behaviour; moderation analyses revealed a strong negative association when women's intentions were low.

CONCLUSIONS

This work highlights the interpersonal social context and post-intentional influences on daily health behaviour and offers guidance on the expansion of models of health behaviour as well as potential targets for intervention. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Behavioural intentions are the best predictors of behaviour; however, much variability in actual behaviour remains to be explained. Romantic partners are frequent providers of health-related social support and social control. What does this study add? Provides multidimensional assessment of husband influence. Improves prediction of behaviour using husband influences. Demonstrates moderator of social control on behaviour.

Perceived racial discrimination, heavy episodic drinking, and alcohol abstinence among African American and White college students

Previous research has demonstrated that White college students are more likely to drink alcohol at a greater frequency and quantity compared to their African American counterparts. Examining race-related factors that structure alcohol use among college students remains an important area of research. In this study, we specifically examine perceived discrimination and its association with both heavy episodic drinking (HED) and alcohol abstinence among college students. Items that measured perceived racial discrimination in alcohol use contexts and demographic characteristics were used as independent and control variables. African American students were more likely to abstain from alcohol and less likely to engage in HED compared to their White counterparts. Results also suggest that students who believe their drinking will solicit race-based police bias have lower odds of engaging in HED and greater odds of alcohol abstention. We conclude that unsolicited policing, experienced by African Americans generally, and White Americans on campuses, explains effect sizes.

Associations between parental rules, style of communication and children's screen time

BACKGROUND

Research suggests an inverse association between parental rules and screen time in pre-adolescents, and that parents' style of communication with their children is related to the children's time spent watching TV. The aims of this study were to examine associations of parental rules and parental style of communication with children's screen time and perceived excessive screen time in five European countries.

METHODS

UP4FUN was a multi-centre, cluster randomised controlled trial with pre- and post-test measurements in each of five countries; Belgium, Germany, Greece, Hungary and Norway. Questionnaires were completed by the children at school and the parent questionnaire was brought home. Three structural equation models were tested based on measures of screen time and parental style of communication from the pre-test questionnaires.

DISCUSSION

Of the 152 schools invited, 62 (41 %) schools agreed to participate. In total 3325 children (average age 11.2 years and 51 % girls) and 3038 parents (81 % mothers) completed the pre-test questionnaire. The average TV/DVD times across the countries were between 1.5 and 1.8 h/day, while less time was used for computer/games console (0.9-1.4 h/day). The children's perceived parental style of communication was quite consistent for TV/DVD and computer/games console. The presence of rules was significantly associated with less time watching TV/DVD and use of computer/games console time. Moreover, the use of an autonomy-supportive style was negatively related to both time watching TV/DVD and use of computer/games console time. The use of a controlling style was related positively to perceived excessive time used on TV/DVD and excessive time used on computer/games console. With a few exceptions, results were similar across the five countries.

CONCLUSIONS

This study suggests that an autonomy-supportive style of communicating rules for TV/DVD or computer/ games console use is negatively related to children's time watching TV/DVD and use of computer/games console time. In contrast, a controlling style is associated with more screen time and with more perceived excessive screen time in particular. Longitudinal research is needed to further examine effects of parental style of communication on children's screen time as well as possible reciprocal effects.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Number Register, registration number: ISRCTN34562078 . Date applied29/07/2011, Date assigned11/10/2011.