Disadvantaged Backgrounds Research Articles

Social housing: attitudes and experiences of young people

In Lithuania, social housing is still unresolved topic both in science and policy. Currently, the unfavorable socioeconomic situation in the country prevents young adults from owning or renting housing. While the number of families in need, multi-child families and other risk groups has been increasing, the demand for social housing also grew. Furthermore, residing in a social housing is still associated with some challenges and difficulties because it is often located in the areas inhabited bya number of socially disadvantaged families. The article focusesonboth the experiences, hopes and expectations of young adults who live in social housing and the Lithuanian state’s role in social housing provision. Ten semi-structured interviews with 18–29 year old young adults residing in social housing demonstrate that the respondents experienced a difficult transition to an independent stage of life because oftheir parents’ disadvantaged socio-economic background. On the one hand, their parents could not financially support these young people, therefore, they had to apply for social housing. On the other hand, the Lithuanian state was also not able to provide them with a better access to housing. It should also be emphasized that these young people from the disadvantaged family backgrounds adjusted to the culture of poverty: they accepted deprivation as a natural state difficult to overcome. The study also demonstrates the dysfunctional housing policy in Lithuania characterized by the limited access to social housing and the inefficient system of loans for buying housing.

Adolescent mental health and behavioural problems, and intergenerational social mobility: A decomposition of health selection effects

According to the health selection hypothesis, poor mental health and behavioural problems in adolescence limit socioeconomic attainment. But to what extent is health selection driven by prior social causation? This paper quantifies the extent to which health selection – here, restricted or downward intergenerational social class mobility due to poor mental health or behavioural problems – can be attributed to the influence of modifiable childhood risk factors. The UK National Child Development Study provides measures of socioeconomic deprivation and childhood adversities, as well as multiple-informant ratings of adolescents' mental health and behavioural problems, for which confirmatory factor analysis supports a three-factor model. Decomposition analysis is used to robustly assess the extent of attenuation of selection effects when conditioning on the childhood environment. Conduct problems, hyperactivity, and to a lesser extent emotional symptoms at age 16 are associated with individuals' chances of achieving (un)desirable mobility outcomes. When prior childhood risk factors are taken into account, the association of conduct problems with mobility is attenuated by around 50%, indicating a substantial role for confounding and earlier processes of social causation in the generation of this health selection effect. Further analyses indicate that this attenuation is greater for those from the most disadvantaged backgrounds and is mostly driven by the inclusion of indicators of generalised disadvantage such as crowded housing and low income. On the other hand, the effects of emotional symptoms and hyperactivity on mobility outcomes are not significantly accounted for by childhood risk factors. This study adds to the health inequalities literature by interrogating the empirical validity of the usual interpretation of health selection effects as indicating the causal priority of the onset of poor mental health.

Boosting nationalism with non‐nationalist ideology: A comparative biographical analysis of the Chinese communist revolutionaries

AbstractThis article conducts a comparative biographical analysis to explain why the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) revolutionaries used non‐nationalist Marxism to boost a nationalist movement. It argues that these people, based on their own observations of the precommunist Chinese nationalism, thought that China lacked structural conditions for making a solid nationalist movement such as cultural homogeneity, mass literacy, and a shared pride in modern history. They thus turned to seek a non‐national ideology that could still fulfil the functions of integrating leading elites, mobilizing the masses, and motivating the patriots themselves. Then, to explain why the CCP leaders particularly adopted Marxism, this article draws comparison with the Kuomintang (non‐communist nationalists) elites who advocated for more patience and insistence to develop regular nationalism. The comparison shows that the CCP's impatient jump stemmed from their disadvantaged backgrounds that had limited their ideological horizon: lower‐class origins, narrow overseas experiences, poor education, and weak attachment to traditional culture. To pre‐existing literature, this article makes three contributions: (1) provides a more detailed interpretation of the CCP's diagnosis of Chinese nationalism; (2) explains why the same structural dilemmas produced nationalist and non‐nationalist responses alike; and (3) draws a biographical database of the CCP and the Kuomintang.

An after-school intervention targeting executive function and visuospatial skills also improves classroom behavior

Executive function (EF) describes a complex set of skills, including flexible attention, inhibitory control, and working memory, that coordinate to achieve behavioral regulation. Visuospatial skills (VS) describe the capacity to visually perceive and understand spatial relationships among objects. Emerging research suggests VS skills are associated with classroom functioning, including behavioral adjustment. Children from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to enter school with EF and VS deficits, with consequences for classroom adjustment. In response, we developed and experimentally tested an after-school intervention that incorporates fine and gross motor activities targeting EF and VS skills in a sample of 87 kindergarten and first-grade students from low-income communities. The aim of the present study was to preliminarily explore whether EF and VS skills were bolstered by the intervention and subsequently whether EF and VS skills mediate or moderate intervention impacts on learning-related and problem behaviors in the classroom. Intent-to-treat analyses confirm intervention effects for EF and VS skills. Using full information maximum likelihood and bias-corrected bootstrapping, results indicate that improvements in EF mediated the impact of assignment to the treatment condition on improvements in learning-related behaviors and reductions in problem behavior. Taken together, findings suggest out-of-school contexts are a reasonable point of intervention for improving daytime classroom behavior.

Intersecting disadvantage: Unpacking poor outcomes within early intervention in psychosis services.

In order to strengthen specialized early intervention in psychosis (EIP) services, a contextually nuanced understanding of psychosocial forces driving suboptimal treatment response is critical. This study sought to examine factors driving poor outcomes through a systematic emic coding of psychosocial assessments for discharged EIP clients categorized as leaving with all treatment goals met (AG) or no treatment goals met (NG). Psychosocial assessments at baseline, 1 year, 2 years and discharge were extracted from an EIP research registry and systematically coded. One hundred and thirty clients met the study's inclusion criteria (72 NG, 58 AG) from a larger pool of 278. Assessments were coded, quantized and analysed using a combination of basic inferential statistics and thematic analysis. Structural adversity, individual trauma, history of aggression/violence, limited insight and long treatment histories prior to EIP, were strong and significant predictors of poor client outcomes (NG), while motivation for treatment, college goals or preparedness at baseline, baseline engagement in constructive activities, social strengths, individual strengths, talents and family support strongly predicted better outcomes (AG). Race/ethnicity also significantly predicted outcome group. Analyses underscore the powerful impact of multiple converging forms of structural disadvantage, on the one hand, and individual, family and social strengths and supports on the other, in shaping clients' response to EIP treatment. Findings emphasize the importance of greater empirical attention to background structural and socio-economic conditions among early psychosis clients and their multifaceted impacts and underscore the potential value of programmatic components explicitly designed to support clients from multiply disadvantaged backgrounds.

Right to Education: Scholarship to Ensure Accessibility

Right to education has a broad scope in human rights instruments including UDHR, 1948 and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), 1966. Rights to education is a prime concern regarding the accessibility of education and its' compulsorily enjoyment especially in primary level, and generally technical, vocational and up to higher education. Scholarship and incentives have been considered as means to improve the access, participation, enrolment and achievement of the children from the poor and disadvantaged background. Scholarship is generally distributed in different forms of incentives as subsidies, food, dress, hostel facility, allowances, uniform, accommodation and so on. Scholarship impacts positively in accessibility features of students to enjoy rights to education because accessibility has these three overlapping dimensions: Non-discrimination, physical accessibility and economic accessibility.The Saptagandaki Journal Vol.8 2017: 23-30

From Poverty to Prosperity: College Education, Noncognitive Abilities, and First-Job Earnings

Previous studies have attributed the impact of the weaker family background among college graduates either to the selective admission process or to the signaling effect of a college diploma in the labor market. In this paper, I aim to provide an alternative explanation by focusing on the human capital accumulation during college. Based on data from the Beijing College Students Panel Survey, I employ growth curve models to reveal that students from poor households gradually caught up with their nonpoor counterparts in terms of noncognitive abilities during their four years of college education, which eventually compensated for their potential disadvantage in terms of first-job earnings. The empirical evidence suggests, in addition to sorting and certifying, higher education can weaken the impact of a disadvantaged family background by offering an open and fair stage for students of different social origins, helping them develop their noncognitive skills in their future careers.

Prevalence and determinants of disability among adults in Malaysia: results from the National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) 2015

BackgroundReliable national data on disability which is internationally comparable is needed in Malaysia. This study aims to examine the prevalence of disability among adults in Malaysia and its determinants, particularly the socioeconomic factors and comorbidities.MethodsThis study was based on the disability module, which is part of the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2015. This survey was implemented using a multi-stage stratified sampling design. A locally validated Washington Group questionnaire was used to collect data on disability.ResultsBased on the definition of having at least one domain scored "a lot of difficulty or unable to do at all" or at least “some difficulty” scored in two domains, the prevalence of disability among adults in Malaysia was 11.8% (95% CI: 11.15, 12.53). Logistic regression analysis performed showed that population at risk of having disability in Malaysia were those of older people, ethnic minority, low level of education, single, obese, physically inactive and having mental health problems. Among older people, disability was significantly higher among those with no formal education, having mental health problems and physically inactive.ConclusionsThe prevalence of disability among adults in Malaysia is comparable to WHO estimates and most developing countries. Planning for healthcare services should consider at-risk population, particularly older people and those from disadvantaged background to ensure equity healthcare.

Modulation of the atmospheric quasi-biweekly oscillation on the diurnal variation of the occurrence frequency of the Tibetan Plateau vortices

In this study, modulation of the atmospheric quasi-biweekly oscillation (QBWO) on diurnal variation of the occurrence frequency of Tibetan Plateau vortices (TPVs) during May–August of 2000–2009 was investigated. The diurnal variations of the occurrence frequency of the TPVs (OFTPVs) and the related dynamic and thermodynamic features in the positive and negative phases of QBWO were compared. In both the positive and negative phases, the OFTPVs reaches the maximum from evening to midnight (18–00 LT, LT indicates the local time), and minimum from early morning to noon (06–12 LT). At 18 LT, there is strongest convergence at 500 hPa and ascending motion, as well as the most abundant net water vapor budget over the Tibetan Plateau, which is in favor of the precipitation and the related condensation latent heat release, corresponding to the maximum of OFTPVs in 18–00 LT. On the contrary, in the early morning at 06 LT, the conditions are most unfavorable for genesis of TPVs in 06–12 LT. QBWO leads to stronger convergence at 500 hPa, ascending motion as well as more massive water vapor in the positive phases than those in the negative phases, resulting in larger numbers of TPVs occur in all of the four periods of a day (00–06 LT, 06–12 LT, 12–18 LT, and 18–00 LT) in the former. The TPVs generating from the early morning to noon (06–12 LT) are weaker and more sensitive and fragile to the disadvantageous background, while the TPVs occurring from evening to midnight (18–00 LT) are stronger and seem to be well tolerated, leading to more remarkable contrast between the OFTPVs in the negative and positive phases in 06–12 LT than in 18–00 LT.

Intercultural development through intercultural awareness and cultural briefing

One of the important features of the Erasmus+ Programme is “Equity and Inclusion” . Equity and inclusion can be promoted by facilitating the access to transnational projects to learners with disadvantaged backgrounds (and, therefore, fewer opportunities compared to their peers). One of the personal difficulties or obstacles that limit or prevent these learners from taking part in transnational projects is cultural differences . Tertiary level students usually fall into this category because they face linguistic adaptation and cultural inclusion difficulties. If linguistic adaptation is an ongoing process due to the language courses undergraduates may or are compelled to attend, cultural inclusion remains an issue. Moreover, one of the aims of all Key Actions types (1, 2, and 3) is to improve the teaching and learning of languages and promote the EU’s broad linguistic diversity and intercultural awareness .

Primary Care Residents in Teaching Health Centers: Their Intentions to Practice in Underserved Settings After Residency Training.

To describe the residents who chose to train in teaching health centers (THCs), which are community-based ambulatory patient care sites that sponsor primary care residencies, and their intentions to practice in underserved settings. The authors surveyed all THC residents training in academic years 2013-2014, 2014-2015, and 2015-2016, comparing their demographic characteristics with data for residents nationally, and examined THC residents' intentions to practice in underserved settings using logistic regression analysis. The overall survey response rate was 89% (1,031/1,153). THC resident respondents were similar to residents nationally in family medicine, geriatrics, internal medicine, obstetrics-gynecology, pediatrics, and psychiatry in terms of gender, age, race, and ethnicity. Twenty-nine percent (283) of respondents came from a rural background, and 46% (454) had an educationally and/or economically disadvantaged background. More than half (524; 55%) intended to practice in an underserved setting on completion of their training. Respondents were more likely to intend to practice in an underserved area if they came from a rural background (odds ratio 1.58; 95% confidence interval 1.08, 2.32) or disadvantaged background (odds ratio 2.81; 95% confidence interval 1.91, 4.13). THCs attract residents from rural and/or disadvantaged backgrounds who seem to be more inclined to practice in underserved areas than those from urban and economically advantaged roots. THC residents' intentions to practice in underserved areas indicate that primary care training programs sponsored by community-based ambulatory patient care sites represent a promising strategy to improve the U.S. health care workforce distribution.

Social selection in higher education. Enrolment, dropout and timely degree attainment in Italy

In this paper, we provide a comprehensive picture of social selectivity in higher education in Italy by focusing on enrolment and two alternative indicators of success: retention and timely completion. The existing literature has shown that young individuals of disadvantaged backgrounds have lower enrolment probabilities and higher chances of withdrawal. This paper analyses the size and features of this cumulative disadvantage, shaping the chances of high-school leavers of eventually attaining the university degree. We analyse whether social background inequalities are stronger at enrolment or at later outcomes, and how these inequalities vary with previous schooling experience. We confirm previous evidence that disadvantaged groups with respect to enrolment are also disadvantaged on persistence, add new findings on timely completion and show that cumulative inequalities are very strong. Inequalities are strongest among students holding technical and vocational high-school qualifications and weakest among well-performing students from lyceums. In addition, we examine the role of labour market conditions and whether they explain geographical differences. Enrolment, retention and timely completion probabilities appear negatively related to local youth unemployment rates, suggesting that with poor labour market prospects, individuals lose motivation and reduce their engagement in education.

Discrimination and assimilation at school

I present a theory of assimilation among students of two different backgrounds with unequal status. Students with a disadvantaged background face an incentive to assimilate into the more advantaged group. The advantaged group chooses the cost of assimilation strategically to screen those who seek to assimilate. In equilibrium, only the most skilled disadvantaged students assimilate. This theory provides a novel explanation of the “acting white” problem. “Acting white” refers to a social phenomenon in which students from disadvantaged ethnicities suffer social sanctions if they obtain good grades. These sanctions raise the cost of acquiring the skills that make it easier to assimilate. Disadvantaged students with low ability impose these sanctions in order to induce their more able co-ethnics to stay in the disadvantaged group.

The Changing Face of Teenage Parenthood in the United States: Evidence from NLSY79 and NLSY97

Previous studies identify consistent patterns of economically disadvantaged backgrounds, educational deficits, and relatively weak labor market outcomes of teen parents. In this study, we provide an updated report on differences in adult cohabitation rates during past decades, examine the risk factors associated with becoming a teen parent, and track teen parents’ educational and labor market outcomes until the age of 29 to examine whether the outcomes associated with become teen parents have changed in recent decades. We select two nationally representative birth cohorts in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) 1979 and 1997 (N = 9821). We use the difference-in-difference approach to examine whether the positions of teen parents have progressed or worsened across the two cohorts. The birth rates to teenage girls remained unchanged across the two cohorts, but the reported rates of teenage fatherhood increased. The proportions of both unmarried teenage fathers and mothers increased between the two cohorts. Teen fathers and mothers came increasingly from single-mother families with disadvantaged backgrounds. The proportion of teen mothers or fathers living with partners has not changed, but there has been a major shift from marriage to non-marital cohabitation. The education and earnings of the 1997 cohort of teen parents showed some progress relative to the earlier teen parent cohort, but no progress relative to peers who were not teen parents.

Oral health and cardiovascular care: Perceptions of people with cardiovascular disease.

Main objectiveThe aim of this study was to explore the perception of patients with cardiovascular disease towards oral health and the potential for cardiac care clinicians to promote oral health.MethodA needs assessment was undertaken with twelve patients with cardiovascular disease attending cardiac rehabilitation between 2015 and 2016, in three metropolitan hospitals in Sydney, Australia. These patients participated in face-to-face semi-structured interviews. Data was analysed using thematic analysis.ResultsResults suggested that while oral health was considered relevant there was high prevalence of poor oral health among participants, especially those from socioeconomic disadvantaged background. Awareness regarding the importance of oral health care its impact on cardiovascular outcomes was poor among participants. Oral health issues were rarely discussed in the cardiac setting. Main barriers deterring participants from seeking oral health care included lack of awareness, high cost of dental care and difficulties in accessing the public dental service. Findings also revealed that participants were interested in receiving further information about oral health and suggested various mediums for information delivery. The concept of cardiac care clinicians, especially nurses providing education, assessment and referrals to ongoing dental care was well received by participants who felt the post-acute period was the most appropriate time to receive oral health care advice. The issues of oral health training for non-dental clinicians and how to address existing barriers were highlighted by participants.Relevance to clinical practiceThe lack of oral health education being provided to patients with cardiovascular disease offers an opportunity to improve care and potentially, outcomes. In view of the evidence linking poor oral health with cardiovascular disease, cardiac care clinicians, especially nurses, should be appropriately trained to promote oral health in their practice. Affordable and accessible dental care services for people with cardiovascular disease should be considered and offered by health services in Australia.

The Impact of Expanding Access to Early Childhood Education Services in Rural Indonesia

This paper examines the effects of an intervention that expanded access to low-cost, government-sponsored, community-based playgroups in rural Indonesia. Instrumental variables and difference-in-differences models indicate that while the intervention raised enrollment rates and durations of enrollment for everyone, on average, there was little impact on child development. The two models correspond to different durations of project exposure. The difference-in-differences model captures greater exposure and shows that there are modest and sustained impacts on child development—especially for children from more disadvantaged backgrounds. There is also evidence that the intervention encouraged substitution away from other services, such as kindergartens.

Role of Positive Parenting in the Association Between Neighborhood Social Disadvantage and Brain Development Across Adolescence

The negative effects of socioeconomic disadvantage on lifelong functioning are pronounced, with some evidence suggesting that these effects are mediated by changes in brain development. To our knowledge, no research has investigated whether parenting might buffer these negative effects. To establish whether positive parenting behaviors moderate the effects of socioeconomic disadvantage on brain development and adaptive functioning in adolescents. In this longitudinal study of adolescents from schools in Melbourne, Australia, data were collected at 3 assessments between 2004 and 2012. Data were analyzed between August 2016 and April 2017. Both family (parental income-to-needs, occupation, and education level) and neighborhood measures of socioeconomic disadvantage were assessed. Positive maternal parenting behaviors were observed during interactions in early adolescence. Structural magnetic resonance imaging scans at 3 times (early, middle, and late adolescence) from ages 11 to 20 years. Global and academic functioning was assessed during late adolescence. We used linear mixed models to examine the effect of family and neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage as well as the moderating effect of positive parenting on adolescent brain development. We used mediation models to examine whether brain developmental trajectories predicted functional outcomes during late adolescence. Of the included 166 adolescents, 86 (51.8%) were male. We found that neighborhood, but not family, socioeconomic disadvantage was associated with altered brain development from early (mean [SD] age, 12.79 [0.425] years) to late (mean [SD] age, 19.08 [0.460] years) adolescence, predominantly in the temporal lobes (temporal cortex: random field theory corrected; left amygdala: B, -0.237; P < .001; right amygdala: B, -0.209; P = .008). Additionally, positive parenting moderated the effects of neighborhood disadvantage on the development of dorsal frontal and lateral orbitofrontal cortices as well as the effects of family disadvantage on the development of the amygdala (occupation: B, 0.382; P = .004; income-to-needs: B, 27.741; P = .004), with some male-specific findings. The pattern of dorsal frontal cortical development in males from disadvantaged neighborhoods exposed to low maternal positivity predicted increased rates of school noncompletion (indirect effect, -0.018; SE, 0.01; 95% CI, -0.053 to -0.001). Our findings highlight the importance of neighborhood disadvantage in influencing brain developmental trajectories. Further, to our knowledge, we present the first evidence that positive maternal parenting might ameliorate the negative effects of socioeconomic disadvantage on frontal lobe development (with implications for functioning) during adolescence. Results have relevance for designing interventions for children from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds.

Education and Women's Resiliency: Exploring the Experiences of Successful Women from Disadvantaged Backgrounds

While some research has explored the needs of minority women, very little research has focused onwomen who have faced other disadvantages beyond those associated with minority status.

Childhood economic disadvantage and antisocial behavior: Intervening factors and pathways

Concerns over the number of children living in poverty arise from our knowledge of the problems children face due to poverty. Many researchers have pointed out the psycho-social outcomes of growing up poor, including antisocial behavior. Literature concerning the development of crime has documented a wide range of factors that may intervene between exposure to disadvantage and the development of delinquency, and that could mediate the linkages between poverty and crime.The relationship between childhood economic disadvantage and antisocial behavior represents a relevant issue for child welfare policies and practices as well as for criminological theory. The aim of this paper is to offer a contribution to the theoretical understanding of the issue by way of an overview of the classical theoretical models concerning the various pathways and processes that may lead young people from socially disadvantaged backgrounds to be at a higher risk of delinquency. It presents the findings on the factors influencing resilience or susceptibility to adverse ecological conditions, with particular reference with the mediating role of family functioning and child-rearing, neighborhood poverty and timing of poverty. Theory implications and the relevance of these findings for policy and practice are discussed.

Education and Women's Resiliency: Exploring the Experiences of Successful Women from Disadvantaged Backgrounds

While some research has explored the needs of minority women, very little research has focused on women who have faced other disadvantages beyond those associated with minority status.