Life History Calendar Research Articles

Development and validation of the Transgender Adolescent Stress Survey-Dysphoria.

Transgender and nonbinary adolescents (TNBA) may experience gender dysphoria arising from incongruities between their body and their gender. Prior dysphoria measures have largely focused on clinical diagnosis with little regard to comparability of forms for people assigned male or female at birth, overall psychometric performance, or applicability to nonbinary populations. This study develops and validates the Transgender Adolescent Stress Survey-Dysphoria (TASS-D), intended to address these gaps. The current study recruited a U.S. national sample of TNBA (N = 444, aged 12-17; 65.5% White, 9.5% Black, 9.5% Latine, 15.5% other ethnicity; 34.7% transmasculine, 17.3% transfeminine, 38.3% nonbinary, 9.5% agender). The item pool was developed from life history calendars, a modified Delphi process, and cognitive interviews with TNBA. Scale development included factor analysis, item response theory modeling, measurement invariance testing, and reliability analyses. Associations were examined between the TASS-D and existing measures of gender dysphoria (convergent validity), gender minority stress (divergent validity), and behavioral health outcomes (criterion validity). TASS-D and its subscales (body distress and gender expression burden) were significantly and strongly associated with gender dysphoria; significantly but weakly associated with gender minority stress; and significantly associated with most indicators of psychological distress including depressive, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress symptoms, suicidal behaviors and nonsuicidal self-injury. The TASS-D is a reliable and valid measure of gender dysphoria for TNBA, offering notable benefits over existing measures: It is psychometrically sound, inclusive of all gender identities, and does not assume that respondents identify binarily or desire medical transition as a terminal goal.

Exploring women’s pathways to homelessness using the life history calendar1

ABSTRACT Introduction: Trauma history is a major risk factor for homelessness because of debilitating mental health and trauma symptoms that reduce a survivor’s ability to maintain healthy psychological functioning. Method: The objective of this study was to explore trauma exposure among a group of homeless mothers (N-30) using a novel data-gathering tool, the Life History Calendar (LHC). Participants completed a questionnaire consisting of several standardized scales and participated in a 90-minute LHC interview. Results: All participants (100%) reported at least one type of trauma experience in their lifetime; the majority (76.6%) reported an unstable and chaotic home environment and bullying and teasing as significant traumatic stressors. Other reported stressors included witnessing violence, intimate partner violence, grief and loss, childhood sexual abuse, physical/emotional/verbal abuse, and sexual assault. Participants completed a questionnaire that assessed psychological symptoms; 77% met the criteria for major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder, and 42.3% endorsed severe PTSD symptoms. Conclusion: This study increases our understanding of the traumatic experiences of a group of homeless mothers by identifying critical periods in their lives when their traumas occurred. Supporting at-risk groups during these periods can play a significant role in averting their trajectory toward homelessness.

Weak coupling between energetic status and the timing of reproduction in an Arctic ungulate

Bioenergetic constraints are the ultimate determinant of the timing of reproduction, and seasonal breeding is consequently a widely observed trait. Consistent with this, attention has focused on plasticity in reproductive phenology conceptualized as a response to concomitant advances in the phenology of the environmental energy supply caused by climate change. Few studies, however, have directly compared timing of reproduction with energetic status in free-living wild animals. Here we demonstrate that neither body mass nor adiposity are strong proximate predictors of date of conception in wild reindeer (Rangifer tarandus). Weak coupling between energetic status and the phenology of reproduction accounts for the increasing discrepancy between the phenology of forage (energy supply) and the phenology of reproduction (energy demand) observed across the last 2–4 decades in two populations of this species. The results emphasise that phenological plasticity is not a passive response to changes in energy supply but derives from the way in which environmental factors interact with the core control mechanisms that govern timing. Central in this respect is integration, within the rheostatic centres of the hypothalamus, of information on nutritional status with the circannual life-history calendar.

RELATIONSHIP DISSOLUTION AND BIOLOGICAL AGING IN MID LIFE

Abstract Several decades of empirical research has shown that people who experience relationship dissolution—such as romantic breakups, divorce, and bereavement—have increased risk for poor health across a range of disease outcomes. However, it remains less clear which physiological pathways might best explain links between relationship dissolution and later health. One candidate mechanism that might help explain this wide range of observed health outcomes is accelerated biological aging, which is theorized to represent a common cause of age-related chronic diseases, disability, and early mortality. The current study examined whether relationship dissolution, measured across a 20-year period of adulthood, was associated with biological age in midlife using participants (n = 910) from the Dunedin Study, a birth cohort assessed over four decades of life. Relationship dissolution was assessed using a count of romantic breakups from age 26 until age 44 from life history calendars. Biological aging was assessed using a midlife aging factor derived from four validated measures of aging—the Pace of Aging, gait speed, BrainAGE, and facial age—assessed at age 45. We found that people with more breakups in adulthood had more advanced biological age in midlife, β = 0.10, 95% CI [0.04, 0.16], p = .003. This association remained when controlling for adversity and poor health in childhood, as well as disadvantaged socioeconomic origins and time spent in romantic relationships, β = 0.09, 95% CI [0.03, 0.15], p = .007. The results suggest accelerated aging may be one physiological mechanism linking relationship dissolution to poor health.

Identifying longitudinal patterns of HIV treatment (dis)engagement and re-engagement from oral histories of virologically unsuppressed persons in Uganda: A thematic trajectory analysis

BackgroundThere is limited study of persons deemed “harder to reach” by HIV treatment services, including those discontinuing or never initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART). We conducted narrative research in southern Uganda with virologically unsuppressed persons identified through population-based sampling to discern longitudinal patterns in HIV service engagement and identify factors shaping treatment persistence. MethodsIn mid-2022, we sampled adult participants with high-level HIV viremia (≥1000 RNA copies/mL) from the prospective, population-based Rakai Community Cohort Study. Using life history calendars, we conducted initial and follow-up in-depth interviews to elicit oral histories of participants’ journeys in HIV care, from diagnosis to the present. We then used thematic trajectory analysis to identify discrete archetypes of HIV treatment engagement by “re-storying” participant narratives and visualizing HIV treatment timelines derived from interviews and abstracted clinical data. ResultsThirty-eight participants (median age: 34 years, 68% men) completed 75 interviews. We identified six HIV care engagement archetypes from narrative timelines: (1) delayed ART initiation, (2) early treatment discontinuation, (3) treatment cycling, (4) prolonged treatment interruption, (5) transfer-related care disruption, and (6) episodic viremia. Patterns of service (dis)engagement were highly gendered, occurred in the presence and absence of optimal ART adherence, and were shaped by various factors emerging at different time points, including: denial of HIV serostatus and disclosure concerns; worsening HIV-related symptoms; psychological distress and depression; social support; intimate partner violence; ART side effects; accessibility constraints during periods of mobility; incarceration; and inflexible ART dispensing regulations. ConclusionsIdentified trajectories uncovered heterogeneities in both the timing and drivers of ART (re-)initiation and (dis)continuity, demonstrating the distinct characteristics and needs of people with different patterns of HIV treatment engagement throughout the life course. Enhanced mental health service provision, expanded eligibility for differentiated service delivery models, and streamlined facility switching processes may facilitate timely (re-)engagement in HIV services.

Parental Divorce and Trajectories of Alcohol Consumption in Men: A Genetically Informative Perspective.

Much of what is known about parental divorce and adult alcohol outcomes comes from cross-sectional comparisons of those who did and did not experience parental divorce. In contrast, far less is known about whether and how parental divorce is associated with alcohol consumption trajectories. We used a longitudinal perspective to investigate the associations between parental divorce and men's alcohol consumption trajectories as well as a genetically informative approach to evaluate whether the pattern of genetic and environmental influences on these trajectories differed for men who did and did not experience parental divorce. The sample included 1,614 adult men from a population-based twin registry in Virginia. Measures of parental divorce (before age 16) and alcohol consumption (between ages 10 and 40) came from interviews and life history calendars. Data were analyzed with growth curve and longitudinal biometric variance component models. In total, 11% of the sample experienced parental divorce. Parental divorce was associated with higher alcohol consumption intercepts that were sustained over time but was not associated with the linear slope or quadratic curvature of men's alcohol consumption trajectories. Longitudinal biometric variance components modeling indicated that genetic influences on alcohol consumption were higher in adolescence and young adulthood among those who experienced parental divorce compared with those who did not. Parental divorce is associated with the shape and relative influence of genetic and environmental factors on men's alcohol consumption trajectories from adolescence through adulthood.

Community exposure to armed conflict and subsequent onset of alcohol use disorder.

To measure the independent consequences of community-level armed conflict beatings on alcohol use disorders (AUD) among males in Nepal during and after the 2000-2006 conflict. A population-representative panel study from Nepal, with precise measures of community-level violent events and subsequent individual-level AUD in males. Females were not included because of low AUD prevalence. Chitwan, Nepal. Four thousand eight hundred seventy-six males from 151 neighborhoods, systematically selected and representative of Western Chitwan. All residents aged 15-59 were eligible (response rate 93%). Measures of beatings in the community during the conflict (2000-2006), including the date and distance away, were gathered through neighborhood reports, geo-location and official resources, then linked to respondents' life histories of AUD (collected in 2016-2018) using the Nepal-specific Composite International Diagnostic Interview with life history calendar. Beatings nearby predict the subsequent onset of AUD during and after the armed conflict. Data were analyzed in 2021-2022. Cohort-specific, discrete-time models revealed that within the youngest cohort (born 1992-2001), those living in neighborhoods where armed conflict beatings occurred were more likely to develop AUD compared with those in other neighborhoods (odds ratio = 1.66; 95% confidence interval = 1.02-2.71). In this cohort, a multilevel matching analysis designed to simulate a randomized trial showed the post-conflict incidence of AUD for those living in neighborhoods with any armed conflict beatings was 9.5% compared with 5.3% in the matched sample with no beatings. Among male children living in Chitwan, Nepal during the 2000-2006 armed conflict, living in a neighborhood where armed conflict beatings occurred is associated with increased odds of developing subsequent alcohol use disorder. This association was independent of personal exposure to beatings and other mental disorders.

“You Have to Take Care of Your Own Mental Status”: Incarcerated Women Seeking Care Within and Beyond Mental Health Treatment

Incarcerated women in the United States commonly experience prison-based mental health treatment. Feminist scholars stress the need to explore how incarcerated women exercise agency while navigating controlling treatment dynamics and how they experience these dynamics in relation to aspects of their selves (e.g., their thoughts and feelings). To explore these dynamics, we conducted semi-structured individual interviews with 42 incarcerated women in a Midwestern state prison and with life history calendars, elucidated women's treatment encounters over time. Through analysis of these interviews, we contend that women experienced dehumanizing dynamics within treatment, particularly curtailed communication from the staff that silenced women, created unfamiliar selves, and contributed to physical harm and psychological harm. Based on these findings, we conceptualize prison-based mental health treatment as health harm rather than health care. We also found that women responded to controlling dynamics with forms of self-preservation including strategies of treatment decision-making that affirmed their selves, active treatment refusal as self-protection, and forming meaningful connections with others that validated aspects of their selves. Based on women's care-based strategies, further feminist theorizing and practice directions are needed that align with, build upon, and are guided by incarcerated women's varied definitions of care to improve their mental health and well-being.

“How in God’s Name Are We Going to Navigate This?”: Parent Support for Transgender Adolescents

The extant literature has clearly demonstrated that transgender and nonbinary adolescents (TNBA) face extreme stress related to navigating gender identity and expression across various social environments. Additionally, parents are perhaps the most critical aspect of support for TNBA, and research has repeatedly identified the benefits of parent support for adolescent mental health. However, few studies underscore how TNBA and parents within the same family perceive parent support after adolescents disclose that they are transgender or nonbinary. The present qualitative study uses a life history calendar (LHC) interview approach with 20 TNBA-parent dyads (40 individual interviews) to explore TNBA-parent perceptions of parent support and adjustment related to TNBA gender identity and affirmation. Findings yielded three main points regarding parental support for TNBA. First, the time between disclosure to a parent and puberty mattered for parental support and adjustment processes. Second, parents who stepped into their child’s gender journey during their child’s adolescence grappled with feelings of grief and loss as they were making decisions to support their child’s gender affirmation. For many of these families, stigma-related fears and adolescent distress impacted parent support for their child’s gender journey. Third, parents lacked a familiar and affirming roadmap in their own families and communities, and although parents connected with other parents of trans kids for support, for some, these supportive resources presented challenges. Continued research can further study the complex drivers of support and the potential impact of these support processes on adolescent and parental well-being.

Reexamining Modified Labeling Theory: A Sample of Incarcerated Women With Mental Illness

The current study reexamines modified labeling theory with a sample of 15 women incarcerated in two medium-security prisons and who have a diagnosable mental illness. Life history calendars (LHC) were employed to document traumatic histories and a host of risks and needs. Qualitative findings indicate that these women negotiated labels of mental illness and incarceration. The labeling process, particularly self-concept, self-esteem, and stigma, emerged as driving forces for criminal behavior, dysfunctional interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Participants negotiated the label of mental illness, while making meaning of early and continued trauma. These findings are explained with reference to trauma-informed care (TIC), improved staff training, and the role of language. This study offers evidence that labeling concepts may serve as a language foundation for providing trauma-informed services.

Timing of transitions, their patterns, and antecedents from emerging to established adulthood in the context of a changing society

This study focuses on life transition patterns and their psychosocial antecedents in a cohort of established adults who grew up during major macrosocial changes in the Czech society. The Generation 2020 longitudinal study followed former university students since 2007. The first wave occurred when the students were 18-32 years old; the second wave occurred when they were 29-43 years old. In the first wave, they completed questionnaires on identity styles, emotional control, and self-efficacy (in terms of perceived control). In the second wave, they completed the Life History Calendar, focusing on the timing of major life transitions: moving from the parental home, entry into cohabitation, marriage, parenthood, and regular employment. Latent class analysis revealed four patterns of life transitions: work-oriented singles, normative timing, family-oriented, and work-oriented group with delayed partnership and family. Further analysis showed that emotional control and self-efficacy were not related to any pattern of life transitions, but several identity styles were significant predictors, particularly for patterns related to the early timing of marriage and family. The results indicate a certain change in the patterns of life transitions compared to older age cohorts and the importance of self-concept for later psychosocial functioning.

Alcohol use and internal migration in Nepal: a cross-sectional study

BackgroundAlcohol use is a leading cause of disease. Although low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have lower per capita alcohol consumption, the alcohol-attributable disease burden is high in these settings with...

Young People and Intimate Partner Violence: Experiences of Institutional Support and Services in England

PurposeYoung people (YP) are at greater risk of experiencing intimate partner violence and abuse (IPVA), with high prevalence rates at 18–25 years and potentially severe short and long-term health and social impacts. YP often view adult support services as not for them and more research is needed to understand effective responses to IPVA among different groups.MethodsSemi-structured interviews alongside Life History Calendars were undertaken to explore 18 young peoples’ (18–25 years) experiences of community and service level responses to their IPVA between 2019–2020. Thematic analysis and case studies were carried out.ResultsParticipant accounts commonly described what did or did not help within: education; primary care physicians and maternity services; third sector or non-government support organisations; and counselling and support workers. YP wanted clearer information on identifying abuse from a younger age in schools and better access and signposting to specialist services. They benefited the most from equal power dynamics in relationships with professionals where they were supported to make their own decisions.ConclusionsProfessionals in all sectors (including schools) need IPVA trauma-informed training that encourages equal power dynamics, with a clear understanding of and access to referral pathways, to be able to respond to the needs of YP experiencing IPVA.

Reexploring Female Pathways to Incarceration: Assessing the Role of Mental Illness.

The pathways framework represents an emerging body of work that emphasizes gendered-based influences on crime and incarceration. To date, studies on female pathways often minimize or exclude the role of mental illness. The current study employs Life Course Theory and the use of Life History Calendar to examine the pathways of a sample of 15 female prison inmates diagnosed with serious and persistent mental health conditions. Findings indicate that mental illness carried criminogenic risk throughout the life course, with crucial transitions of risk leading these women toward long term incarceration. Self-reported pathways included repeated victimization, substance use, psychological trauma, delinquency, and/or crime. This study suggests that the pathway framework would benefit from the increased recognition of the role of mental illness on female criminality. Trauma-informed policy implications are provided and discussed.

„Історія мігранта”: форми збору даних та способи їх представлення у наукових публікаціях

The article highlights the issue of a comprehensive consideration of three forms of data collection on the migration histories of displaced persons and four ways of presenting them in scientific publications. It is emphasized that today the most commonly used formats among scholars are conventional questionnaires, the life history calendars, and the migration history charts, which can be used methodically alternatively as independent tools or complement each other in data collection. The author also identifies analytical situations in which it is appropriate to test these forms, namely: 1) conventional questionnaires are effective when it is necessary to record a few facts about an individual’s migration history, and the information itself is quantitative in nature; 2) the life history calendars are optimal for forming a complete migration history, being a tool aimed at covering various spheres of a person’s life throughout his or her existence; and 3) the migration history charts are more valuable when the focus is on long-term interpersonal ties (usually family) in a spatial and chronological sense. Additionally, emphasis is placed on disclosing the differences that arise from each form of collection and have relevant implications for the analysis of the data. The paper considers four possible ways of implementing data from migration histories in scholarly works, including: 1) case studies; 2) a basis for identifying and classifying patterns; 3) aggregation of quantitative data; and 4) informational background that is not explicitly expressed in the text. The author highlights the idea that the place of migrants’ histories has acquired a new meaning, since in recent years they have been perceived not exclusively as primary material for the researcher’s analytical work, which without further secondary comprehension will not be of cognitive value, but as a key source on the basis of which significant conclusions are drawn. The author marks that, due to their conceptual proximity to the idea of „oral history”, migrants’ histories can potentially become a powerful evidence base in political discourse and international law regarding crimes against humanity. It raises the current „Ukrainian issue” around the world in a particularly scientific and pragmatic way, given the events of last year’s military aggression by Russia, which continues to be ongoing.

The imperatives of marriage, motherhood and employment: Evidence from a Life History Calendar

The imperatives of marriage, motherhood and employment: Evidence from a Life History Calendar

A Pilot Study of Polysubstance Use Sequences across the Lifespan among Assiniboine and Sioux People Who Use Injection Drugs.

Compared with other racial/ethnic groups in the United States, American Indians/Alaska Natives have the highest rates of acute Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infection, the highest HCV-related mortality, and one of the fastest climbing rates of drug overdose deaths involving stimulants. In this pilot study, a life history calendar was administered to Indigenous people who use injection drugs (IPWIDs) to understand sequences of polysubstance use across the lifespan. 40 IPWIDs completed a questionnaire and life history calendar. Social sequence analysis was used to examine patterns in sequential phenomena among substances reported over years of the lifespan. Most participants (55%) began injecting substances before the age of 21, 62.5% shared syringes with others, and 45% had ever been diagnosed with HCV. An appreciably large increase in the use of stimulants occurred between the year prior to and following injection initiation (33% to 82%). A three-cluster solution distinguished younger IPWIDs transitioning into polysubstance use involving stimulants and/or narcotic analgesics from adults using narcotic analgesics with stimulants over longer periods of time, and adults most focused on stimulant use over time. Findings from this pilot study contribute to an understanding of how methamphetamine injection plays a role in the HCV epidemic among IPWIDs.

Maladaptive coping among military-connected adolescents: Examining combined risk using QCA.

Military-connected students in public schools face a unique set of stressors that may impact their wellbeing and academic functioning. Twenty-four youth in the 7th to 12th grades who had an active-duty parent (mother or father) serving in the U.S. Armed Forces were interviewed. Participants completed a qualitative interview while actively completing a Life History Calendar (LHC) to mark deployment and family military service milestones and discuss how they impacted the youth respondent. This study used Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) to explore the interplay and combination of specific stressors related to relocation and deployment experiences among adolescents, and to determine key factors associated with maladaptive outcomes. The results of the QCA analysis identified bullying experiences and negative experiences with other military-connected youth as conditions that are associated with maladaptive coping. Chronic and acute stressors in adolescence are established risk factors for mental, emotional, and behavioral problems in the short and long-term including suicidality, substance use and abuse, and substance use disorders. Through qualitative inquiry we were able to identify specific contextual details related to maladaptive coping that can be used to further refine areas of focus for research, prevention, and interventions for military-connected adolescents.

Childhood Socioeconomic Position and Cardiovascular Disease Among Older Women and Men: The Moderating Role of Parenthood Onset.

Objectives: Based on a life-course approach, the purpose of this study is to analyze how the age at the birth of a first child moderates the relationship between childhood socioeconomic position (SEP) and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) incidence in old age, separately for women and men. Methods: We used a rich and representative life history survey of people aged from 65 to 75 living in Santiago, Chile (n = 802), and weighted multivariate statistical models. Data collection process involved the use of face-to-face life history calendars, administered by well-trained interviewers. Results: Early motherhood increases the risk of suffering CVD among older women with a disadvantaged childhood SEP, while late motherhood decreases it. By contrast, early fatherhood decreases CVD risk among older men with an adverse childhood SEP, while late fatherhood increases it. Conclusion: Our findings about the moderating role of parenthood onset on CVD risk among older women and men with a disadvantaged childhood SEP contributes to public health reflections on unexplored cardiovascular risk factors, which lead to substantial changes in women's and men's life courses, and might optimize cardiovascular prevention strategies.

The transition to parenthood, opportunity to drink, drinking, and alcohol use disorder

BackgroundThis study used life histories from a setting of near universal marriage and childbearing (Nepal) to identify associations between both marital transitions and the transition into parenthood and alcohol use and disorder (AUD). MethodsA retrospective, cross-sectional survey using life history calendars documented lifetime marital and childbearing histories of 4876 men and 5742 women aged 15–59 in 2016–18. The clinically validated, Nepal-specific Composite International Diagnostic Interview assessed first alcohol use opportunity, use, and disorder. ResultsBeing never married increased the odds of having the opportunity to drink for men (OR=1.30, 95% CI=1.14 – 1.48, p < 0.001) and women (OR=1.24, 95% CI=1.08 – 1.43, p = 0.003) compared to being married. While men were never married, widowed, or divorced they were at a greater risk of developing AUD. The transition to parenthood significantly increased the odds of AUD onset for men (OR=1.71, 95% CI=1.12 – 2.61, p = 0.013), independent of marital transitions. For women in this setting, becoming divorced increased the odds of having their first drink (OR=1.77, 95% CI=1.14 – 2.75, p = 0.011). Giving birth to a first child also increased the odds of first opportunity to drink for women (OR=1.30, 95% CI=1.07 – 1.57, p = 0.008). ConclusionsWe found associations between marital transitions and AUD that are consistent with findings worldwide. In this setting of near universal childbearing, the transition into fatherhood increased the odds of postpartum AUD among men.