Marital Partners Research Articles

Social Determinants of Health Care Seeking Delay Among Newly-diagnosed Symptomatic Pulmonary Tuberculosis Patients in Cebu City, Philippines: A Cross-sectional Study

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major public health dilemma in the Philippines. While free and effective TB diagnosis and treatment are available since 1996, a number of patients still delay accessing them. This study was aimed at measuring the TB patient’s average health care seeking delay (HCSD) from symptom onset to presentation at the directly observed treatment short-course (DOTS) facility and identifying its significant determinants. A descriptive, analytical, correlational, cross-sectional survey was done to 127 newly-diagnosed TB patients from 10 government-owned TB DOTS facilities in Cebu City from May–July 2017. Respondents were categorically grouped into “prompt health seekers” and “delayed health seekers” using a 49-d norm-referenced median dichotomy. A mean HCSD of 59 d was recorded. Seventy-five percent (75%) of the respondents experienced cough. At the onset of symptoms, more than a third of them reported not having any knowledge about TB-related symptoms nor were aware of the available public TB services. Most respondents have made 2–3 prior health recourses, mostly through self-medication (51%), before finally contacting a DOTS facility. Thirty-one percent (31%) of them first contacted a private medical clinic before any other health care provider or institution. On univariate analysis, seven independent variables – namely, marital status (p = 0.044), number of symptoms experienced (p = 0.000), type of symptom first experienced (p = 0.016), perceived dangerousness of all the symptoms experienced (p = 0.009), perceived dangerousness of the first symptom experienced (p = 0.001), perceived social stigma (p = 0.035), and perceived social support (p = 0.002) – were found to significantly determine health-seeking delays. On multivariate analysis, the presence of marital partners (p-value 0.014) and a low level of perceived social support (p-value 0.038) are significant determinants of longer delays. With these extended delays, expanding TB interventions to include family engagement, social mobilization, and the creation of social support groups is recommended to increase the country’s TB notification rate.

Sexual intimacies in displaced environment

This qualitative study examined the sexual intimacies of marital partners in displaced environment. Empirical material was obtained through semi-structured, face-to-face interviews with 12 Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) husbands. Due to conflict, they were forced to leave their communities of origin in Marawi City, in the Philippines, consequently displacing them into crowded evacuation sites and home-based accommodations. The participants were selected through purposive homogenous sampling. Transcripts were reviewed and subjected to thematic analysis. Results revealed less opportunities for sexual activities owing to unconducive environment—tight physical set-up, and presence of a number of people in the immediate surroundings. In addition, fear of pregnancy and prioritizing family’s basic needs (e.g. food) significantly discouraged couples to indulge in sexual intimacies. Despite the situation, participants were able to employ strategies to fulfill their sexual needs such as “visiting”, “timing”, and “paying” strategies. Unfulfilled sexual needs were reported to cause minor tensions between couples. However, mutual understanding and marital communication appeared to effectively mitigate the impacts. The practical implications and future research are discussed.

Sexual dysfunction in female subjects with beta-thalassemia minor.

Beta thalassemia minor (BTM) is a hereditary disease caused by defective globin synthesis and it is frequently asymptomatic or only mildly anemic. Female sexual dysfunction affects 21-41% of women worldwide. In this study we aimed to investigate female sexual dysfunction in subjects with BTM. A total of 183 subjects who had regular sexual intercourse with marital partners were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. The study group was comprised of 87 subjects with BTM and the control group included 96 healthy subjects. Hemoglobin electrophoresis were performed in all subjects, and all participants were assessed by the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) questionnaire and the Arizona Sexual Experience Scale (ASEX). The FSFI scores of the study group were significantly lower than in the control group (19.1 ± 9.6 vs. 25.2 ± 6.6, p < 0.001). Conversely, the ASEX scores of the study group were higher than in the control group (15.2 ± 41 vs. 13.5 ± 6.1, p = 0.0085). Sexual functions were poor in subjects with BTM in this study and we conclude that certain metabolic diseases associated with BTM, such as insulin resistance, hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia, may be the main causes of sexual dysfunctions in these subjects.

Antenatal depression and its potential causal mechanisms among pregnant mothers in Gondar town: application of structural equation model

BackgroundVarious forms of life stressors have been implicated as causes of antenatal depression. However, there is a lack of understanding of which forms of stress lead to antenatal depression and through what mechanisms. Modeling stress processes within a theoretical model framework can enhance an understanding of the mechanisms underlying relationships between stressors and stress outcomes. This study used the stress process model framework to explore the causal mechanisms underlying antenatal depression in Gondar, Ethiopia.MethodsQuestionnaires, using an Online Data collection Kit (ODK) tool were administered face-to-face in 916 pregnant women in their second and third trimesters. Pregnant women were included from six randomly selected urban districts in Gondar, Ethiopia during June and August 2018. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) was used to screen for antenatal depression. A Structural Equation Model (SEM) was employed to explore the direct, indirect, and total effect of stressors and mediators of antenatal depression.ResultSixty-three participants (6.9%) reported symptoms of depression. Of these, 16 (4.7%) and 47 (8.1%) were in their second and third trimesters, respectively. The SEM demonstrated several direct effects on antenatal depression scores including unplanned pregnancy (standardized β = 0.15), having a history of common mental health disorder (standardized β = 0.18) and fear of giving birth to the current pregnancy (standardized β = 0.29), all of which were associated with a higher depression score. Adequate food access for the last 3 months (standardized β = − 0.11) was associated with decreased depression score. Social support (β = − 0.21), marital agreement (β = − 0.28), and partner support (β = −.18) appeared to partially mediate the link between the identified stressors and the risk of antenatal depression.ConclusionBoth direct and indirect effects contributed to higher antenatal depression score in Ethiopian women. The three psychosocial resources namely marital agreement, social and partner support, mediated reduced antenatal depression scores. Early screening of antenatal depression and enhancing the three psychosocial resources would help to improve maternal resilience.

Medication adherence in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients: a cross-sectional study

Objectives: To evaluate the adherence to medication in patients with type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and to assess its impact on the disease-oriented outcomes. Type of Study: Cross-sectional. Location: Porto, Portugal. Population: Patients with type 2 Diabetes Mellitus from a Primary Care Setting. Methods: A convenience sample of patients regularly attending a Primary Care Setting, from July to October 2017, answered anonymously a survey delivered by their family physician. Adherence was assessed by Treatment Adherence Measure questionnaire. Other evaluated variables were demographic and psychosocial factors and disease-oriented outcomes (weight, height, glycated hemoglobin and blood pressure). Results: Eighty-five patients completed the study (54.1% of females) with a mean age of 61.3 years (± 13.8 years). The proportion of patients presenting good adherence to medication was 62.3% (95% CI: 51.8 - 72.9%). The lowest adherence is more common in patients with depressive symptoms ( p = 0.004), history of smoking habits ( p = 0.019), living alone ( p = 0.009) or living without a marital partner ( p = 0.039), and it is associated with higher glycated hemoglobin levels ( p = 0.004). Conclusions: Poor adherence to medication is a significant problem in the diabetic population, leading to lower glycemic control rates. The identification of its determinants allow us to design a specific intervention in primary care, both in patients’ education and in therapeutic approach, able to improve their health outcomes.

Condom use in penile-vaginal intercourse among Canadian adults: Results from the sex in Canada survey.

PurposeThis paper examines condom use in penile-vaginal sexual intercourse among adults in Canada.Data and methodThe Sex in Canada survey is a national survey of Canadian adults, ages 18+ (N = 2,303). The online survey used quota-based population sample matching of 2016 census targets for gender, age, region, language, visible minority status, and education level. We report general patterns of self-reported condom use, as well as results from zero-inflated negative binomial regression models on the relationship between condom use and social location, relationship status, and sexual health.ResultsCondom use varies by gender, age, education, visible minority status, and relationship status. Use of condoms is related to the perception of risk of being diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection in the next six months and to the experience of receiving lessons in condom use. No significant associations were found between condom use and region, rural/urban residence, income, or religion. Among men, but not women, condom use is associated with language preference, past diagnosis with a sexually transmitted infection, and self-reported sexual health.ConclusionCanadian adults report using a condom in approximately 30% of their sexual encounters involving penile-vaginal sex. Condom use is highest among young adults. Single people use condoms more often than people with marital or common-law partners. Condom use is higher among those with higher levels of education, among people belonging to visible minorities relative to white people, and for men relative to women. People who think they are likely to be diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection in the next six months are more likely to use condoms than those who do not.

Cognitive limitations in older adults receiving care reduces well-being among spouse caregivers.

A large number of older adults have physical and/or cognitive challenges and require help to manage everyday activities. Many older adults receive care from a spouse. Over the long term, this has adverse consequences for caregiver health and well-being. Less is known about the outcomes associated with the early transition to becoming a spousal caregiver. Nor is it clear how mild-cognitive decline worsens caregiver outcomes. The present study uses dyadic data from 588 couples in the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project to compare mental and social well-being in marital partners who became a spousal caregiver versus those who remained noncaregivers or became caregivers for someone other than a spouse between 2010 and 2015. Cognitive ability was assessed using a validated version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment. Moderated Actor-Partner Independence Models revealed that becoming a caregiver was associated with an increase in perceived stress in both men and women, and an increase in anxiety among men. Partners' cognitive limitations moderated, in a dose-dependent fashion, the association between becoming a caregiver and changes in well-being. Specifically, becoming a caregiver was associated with increased support from friends for wives at lower levels of husband's cognitive ability, and with increased anxiety for husbands at lower levels of wife's cognitive ability. Associations were independent of demographic characteristics and physical limitations. We discuss the value of using population-based samples to study the transition to caregiving and implications for interventions during the early transition to a caregiving role for even modestly cognitively impaired partners. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Does the separation from marital partners of Syrian refugees with a residence permit in Germany have an impact on their quality of life?

ObjectiveAround 700,000 Syrian refugees live in Germany, most of them having come alone since 2015 as asylum seekers and waiting in Germany for family reunification. This study focused on separation from marital partner and its impact on quality of life among Syrian refugees with a residence permit. MethodsFor the present investigation, we included only married participants of a larger registry-based study. Therefore, we analyzed 119 participants; 93 of them were married, and their partner accompanied them in Germany at the time of the investigation (partner+), while a further 26 were married but separated from their partner (partner-). The respondents were investigated for mental stress, quality of life and protective factors. ResultsThe partner- group reported significantly lower quality of life in the domains of psychological and social health in comparison to the partner+ group. Higher general quality of life was associated with higher social support, higher sense of coherence and fewer symptoms of depression. Predictors for a higher quality of life were male gender, fewer symptoms of depression, a higher sense of coherence, higher perceived social support and living together with the marital partner. ConclusionFamily separation of Syrian refugees with a residence permit in Germany can have an impact on their quality of life. Longitudinal studies are needed to confirm our results and determine the long-term effects of family separation.

Analysis of notifications of intimate partner violence against women, Brazil, 2011-2017.

To analyze notifications of intimate partner violence (IPV) against women. Cross-sectional study on IPV against women (≥ 15 years old) registered in Brazilian Notification Disease Information System (Sinan) from 2011 to 2017, analyzed using the chi-square test (χ2) and Poisson regression with robust variance to estimate proportion ratios (PR) and their respective 95% confidence intervals (95%CI). A total 454,984 cases of violence perpetrated by men against women were reported, of which 62.4% were IPV. The most reported types of violence were physical (86.6%), psychological (53.1%) and sexual (4.8%) abuse. IPV was positively associated with women aged 20-39 years (PR = 1.70; 95%CI 1.68; 1.71), pregnant women (PR = 1.07; 95%CI 1.06; 1.08), marital partnership (PR = 1.55; 95%CI 1.54; 1.56), occurrence at home (PR = 1.80; 95%CI 1.79; 1.81), recurrence of violence (PR = 1.77; 95%CI 1.76; 1.78) and alcohol intake by the aggressor (PR = 1.12; 95%CI 1.12; 1.13). Physical violence was associated with the 20-39 age group (PR = 1.03; 95%CI 1.02; 1.03). Psychological violence predominated among women ≥ 40 years old (PR = 1.33; 95%CI 1.31; 1.35). Sexual violence was reported in greater proportion among pregnant women (PR = 2.71; 95%CI 2.59; 2.83) and women with disabilities or disorder (PR = 2.30; 95%CI 2.17; 2.44). Most reports of violence against women recorded in health services were perpetrated by an intimate partner, especially physical, psychological and sexual violence. It was possible to identify factors associated with IPV such as age, education, pregnancy, occurrence at home, recurrence and alcohol consumption by the aggressor.

THE IMPACT OF VOLUNTEERING AIMED AT HELPING THE COMBATANTS AND VICTIMS OF THE WAR, ON VOLUNTEERS’ FAMILY WELL-BEING

In the article, we have analyzed the information that concerns the potential impact of volunteer activity on the psycho-emotional state and the family well-being of volunteers, in particular those who carry out their activities in extreme conditions. We have analyzed the peculiarities of the activities of Ukrainian volunteers who assisted the combatants and victims of the war during the most fierce military confrontation in the East of Ukraine in 2014– 2016 and found that their activities could have a negative impact on the socio-psychological climate and the functioning of their families due to prolonged, tensional, emotionally intense and sometimes risky nature of activities. We have researched the peculiarities of matrimonial relationship and some indicators of family well-being (level of satisfaction with marriage and marriage partner, peculiarities of communication, readiness for interaction, level of mutual respect and emotional attraction) in the families of active participants of the volunteer movement, who directed their efforts to assist the military and civilian during a period of active military confrontation. We have analyzed the correlation between the family well-being of volunteers and the peculiarities of their activities. Particular attention was paid to the analysis of the specifics of activities and relationships with marital partners for volunteers whose families eventually have broken up (every fifth of studied participants have experienced a divorce during active engagement in volunteering). The indicators of the psycho-emotional status of volunteers (fixation and somatization of anxiety, depression) were also analyzed. We have identified a number of factors that can negatively affect the family well-being and the psycho-emotional state of volunteers who operate in conditions of military confrontation, in particular the intensity and duration of volunteering activity, significant personal responsibility, high emotional involvement, lack of support from family members.

Love, Marriage, and Civil Rights in African American History

Love, Marriage, and Civil Rights in African American History Rebecca L. Davis (bio) Tera W. Hunter, Bound in Wedlock: Slave and Free Black Marriage in the Nineteenth Century. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2017. 404 pp. Illustrations, notes, and index. $29.95. Tera W. Hunter’s long-awaited history of marriage among nineteenth-century African Americans illuminates cases of enslavement and emancipation, of citizenship and civil rights, and of national reckoning over persistent racial discrimination. The resulting narrative provides a revelatory work of historical revisionism. Hunter’s book is a signal intervention in the historiography of marriage in the US. Twenty years ago, Nancy F. Cott challenged historians to put marriage’s history at the center of United States history. Her landmark book, Public Vows: A History of Marriage and the Nation (2000), asserted that marriage was never simply a private relationship but always reflected the interests of the state and structured the reach of state power into individuals’ personal lives. Since then, the field of marriage history has expanded to include histories of divorce attentive to gender dynamics, marital conflict and the making of gender roles and sexualities, interracial marriage and the creation of categories of racial difference, and the ongoing adaptation of ideas of gendered, racial, and sexual difference within debates over marital rights and pleasures. Within this outpouring of scholarship, only a few books have focused on the experiences of African Americans. In Righteous Propagation: African Americans and the Politics of Racial Destiny after Reconstruction (2003), Michele Mitchell highlights how marriage and ideals of sexual respectability shaped aspirations for racial uplift. Emily West’s Chains of Love: Slave Couples in Antebellum South Carolina (2004) argues for the centrality of male-female couples’ bonds to enslaved people’s lives, even as slavery denied them the legal recognition of marriage. Anastasia C. Curwood’s Stormy Weather: Middle-Class African American Marriages Between the Two World Wars (2010) focuses on shifting ideals of marital intimacy for African Americans adapting to evolving expectations of marital partnership amid the precarious economic and educational opportunities available to them, particularly in the urban North. [End Page 277] Hunter makes clear that the denial of marriage rights was fundamental to the operation of enslavement, with a legacy of discrimination and family dislocation that endured generations after slavery’s formal end. She argues further that the very denial of marriage rights under enslavement augmented the importance that marriage held for enslaved and formerly enslaved African Americans as a symbol of the dignity of full citizenship, and as a benchmark for measuring African Americans’ “progress” toward respectability and socioeconomic stability. Yet marriage could hardly carry that load; it proved to be an inadequate vehicle for civil rights, and it failed to capture the diversity of romantic, parental, and kinship relationships that African Americans nurtured and defended. Bound in Wedlock is the best book on the history of marriage to be published in a generation. In arguing for marriage’s centrality to histories of enslavement, Hunter moves seamlessly among court cases, personal testimonies, social histories of family life under the institution of slavery, and regional histories of slave economies. Central to the book’s success is Hunter’s monumental research to recover the lived experiences of intimacy, family bonds, and kinship among enslaved and free Black people. The voices of enslaved and free people animate nearly every page. Rather than a bird’s-eye view of laws or policies, of court cases or official statements, the book tells stories of individuals struggling with bonds of love, necessity, enslavement, and kinship. While earlier scholars have deftly demonstrated how marriage served as a political metaphor in debates over slavery and women’s rights, and while others have documented patterns in family life and kinship among the enslaved, Hunter weds those two narratives and thus illuminates the connections between them: the political meanings of marriage excluded enslaved people from enjoying its legal protections, enabled slavery’s defenders to justify the separations of families, and made the possibility of legal marriage into a poignant symbol of freedom’s promise. Such an approach proves particularly illuminating when Hunter delves into the complexity of the legal fictions that shaped both slavery and marriage: slavery...

Intramarital Status Differences across Africa's Educational Expansion.

This paper documents how intra-marital differences in educational status vary across Africa's heterogeneous educational expansion, which has encompassed an enormous breadth of educational opportunities over the past 50 years. Educational expansion influences intra-marital status differences both by altering the educational composition of men and women and by reconfiguring the social conventions associated with a given educational context. Status differentials between marital partners can influence spousal wellbeing and, in the aggregate, determine the extent to which marriage provides a pathway to upward social mobility. Using Demographic and Health Survey data representing 32 sub-Saharan African countries and 5 decades of birth cohorts, the paper examines the prevalence and propensity of educational pairings as a function of educational access (the percentage of a cohort who ever attended school) and wife's education level. Educational expansion created gendered changes in educational compositions of married individuals, which led to increased prevalence of hypergamy (wives who married "up") in most countries. Educational expansion has also led hypogamous marriages to become less of a social aberration: in lower-education contexts (but less so in higher-education contexts), conventions lead women to "marry down" at far lower rates than would be expected based on the sex-specific compositions of husbands and wives. Educational attainment remains a central determinant of social positioning in African society. However, as schooling expands across the continent, social conventions regarding educational status are playing a weakening role in determining who marries whom.

ATTITUDES TOWARDS AGING PERCEPTIONS OF AGING AND HEALTH OF OLDER ADULT SPOUSES

Evidence suggests that negative perceptions of aging are associated with worse health outcomes. Research also shows that marital partners can mutually influence each other’s health; however, limited research has explored perceptions of aging within couples. The purpose of the current study was to examine the association between self and partner perceptions of aging and health among married older adult couples. Both members of 452 couples (average age: wives = 80.6 years, husbands = 82.7 years) completed a survey that measured perceptions of aging and health (i.e., self-reported health, healthy diet, physical functioning, stress, and physical activity). Data were analyzed using actor-partner interdependence models, and analyses were conducted separately for positive and negative perceptions of aging, controlling for self and partner’s age, depression, and chronic health conditions as well as gender and income. Consistent with previous research, analyses revealed that one’s own positive perceptions of aging were related to better health across all measures, and the opposite pattern was found for negative perceptions of aging. An examination of partner effects revealed that people reported better physical functioning and greater physical activity when their spouses had more positive perceptions of aging. Similarly, husbands reported less stress when wives had more positive perceptions of aging, but there was not a partner effect for wives. In contrast, people reported lower subjective health and less healthy diets when their spouses had more negative perceptions of aging. These findings suggest that health-promotion efforts should consider partners’ perceptions of aging as a potential resource or risk factor.

Psychological and medical aspects of pregnancy and birth in single women

The article presents data on the results of clinical and statistical analysis, estimation of the pregnancy course and labor in single and married women. Studies have shown that single women are at high risk of developing obstetric and perinatal complications. The age of single women exceeded 6 years; among them housewives were 5 times more often; the gynecological anamnesis of single women is three times more complicated and somatic anamnesis is twice as complicated. Marital status and partner support during pregnancy, labor and postpartum can improve obstetric and perinatal birth outcomes, as well as the clinical course of the postpartum period. Inadequate family structure, psychological and social factors in single women have a negative impact on the course of pregnancy and childbirth. Key words: pregnancy and delivery, single women, perinatal complications.

The significance of mixed family backgrounds for mainstream integration in Canada

ABSTRACT Recent research has shown that, in the U.S., individuals from mixed majority-minority families generally occupy positions in between whites and minorities but ‘lean’ white in the sense that they behave in ways more similar in key respects to white Americans than to minority ones; those who are partly black are an exception. Using the data from the 2002 Ethnic Diversity Survey, we examine here whether the same pattern appears in Canada. We employ multiple indicators of integration – including self-classification as white rather than a visible minority, the perception of encountering discrimination, the choice of a marital partner, and household income – and find that, overall, Canadians from mixed majority-minority backgrounds are also in-between but lean white in some respects. The degree of this lean depends on the minority origin involved and tends to be strongest when the minority parent has an Arab background and weakest when that parent is black; individuals of white and Asian ancestry are intermediate. However, the distance of white–black Canadians from the others is not as extreme as is the case for white–black individuals in the U.S.

\u201cHe can send her to her parents\u201d: The interaction between marriageability, gender and serious mental illness in rural Ethiopia

BackgroundFor women in most low- and middle-income countries, the diagnosis with serious mental illness (SMI) leads to stigma and challenges related to starting or maintaining marriages. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore perspectives on marriage, divorce and family roles of women with SMI in rural Ethiopia.MethodsA qualitative study was conducted in a rural setting of Butajira, South Central Ethiopia. A total of 39 in-depth interviews were carried out with service users (n = 11), caregivers (n = 12), religious leaders (n = 6), health extension workers (n = 4), police officers (n = 2), teachers (n = 2) and government officials (n = 2). Data were analyzed using a thematic approach.ResultsThree themes emerged. (1) Marriage and SMI: Chances of getting married for individuals with SMI in general was perceived to be lower: Individuals with SMI experienced various challenges including difficulty finding romantic partner, starting family and getting into a long-term relationship due to perceived dangerousness and the widespread stigma of mental illness. (2) Gendered experiences of marriageability: Compared to men, women with SMI experienced disproportionate levels of stigma which often continued after recovery. SMI affects marriageability for men with SMI, but mens' chances of finding a marital partner increases following treatment. For women in particular, impaired functioning negatively affects marriageability as ability to cook, care and clean was taken as the measure of suitability. (3) Acceptability of divorce and separation from a partner with SMI: Divorce or separation from a partner with SMI was considered mostly acceptable for men while women were mostly expected to stay married and care for a partner with SMI. For men, the transition from provider to dependent was often acceptable. However, women who fail to execute their domestic roles successfully were considered inept and would be sent back to their family of origin.ConclusionWomen with SMI or those married to partners with SMI are at greater disadvantage. Reducing vulnerabilities through stigma reduction efforts such as community outreach and mental health awareness raising programs might contribute for better social outcomes for women with SMI.

Coverture and the Marital Partnership in Late Medieval Nottingham: Women's Litigation at the Borough Court, ca. 1300–ca.1500

AbstractWomen engaged in litigation in Nottingham's borough court as both plaintiffs and defendants for a variety of reasons relating to trade, household provisioning, misbehavior and interpersonal disputes. This article examines how women's litigation was determined by the doctrine of coverture and the way that women's marital status shaped and defined their experience of the law. In doing so, it explores how these pleas reveal the workings of the marital partnership within a late medieval English town. In order to contextualize the experiences of women “under coverture,” the article first traces the ways in which all manner of female marital and household identities were documented in the court records, analyzing the descriptors that court scribes attached to individual women's names. The article highlights inconsistency in the way that women's identities were recorded and in the way that the marital partnership was represented through the litigation of spouses in the borough court. The dual focus of this article not only adds new evidence to ongoing discussions of the nature of medieval coverture but also interrogates how we identify coverture and women's marital statuses based on the evidence of court records.

Gender Ideology on Marriage in Contemporary Vietnam

This paper examines how conservative gender ideology affects Vietnamese men’s and women’s belief in marriage with a focus on the importance of marriage to their personhoodand aspirations for ideal marital partners. Since marriage is a both legal and social recognition for the foundation and maintenance of families in a society, studying gender ideology on marriage helps to identify differences in men’s and women’s perspectives over marriage and how those views can reflect gender equality in the domestic sphere. The data on which this paper is based are part of a larger research project, namely “Understanding Gender and Marriage Ideology in Contemporary Vietnam” which was conducted in 2015. The results of the study indicate that marriage is still highly important to both Vietnamese men and women. Marriage is not only a social recognition regarding people’s individual achievements and gender identities but also a type of economic investment (in children) for their old age. In relation to marriage aspirations, Vietnamese people still base on genderrole ideology, which highlights men’s and women’s distinctive roles in familial life, to select their marital partners. The persistence of Confucianism in Vietnamese society is the main source for Vietnamese people to set up criteria for their ideal partners.

Teaching with relevant (and irrelevant) storytelling in the college classroom

ABSTRACT Instructors tell stories for pedagogical reasons, but not all classroom stories are necessarily relevant to students and their learning. This study examined how instructors tell stories in ways that students find relevant or irrelevant to their lives. Participants were 388 undergraduate students who responded to an open-ended survey asking them to identify either a relevant or an irrelevant instructor narrative and then report on why the narrative was relevant or irrelevant to their classroom needs, personal interests, and/or future goals. We examined their responses using qualitative content analysis. Results revealed that most students found an instructor narrative to be relevant when it discussed perseverance through personal struggles and decision-making in college because it related to the students’ own current difficulties. Many students perceived a narrative to be irrelevant when it mentioned a marital partner and/or children because students felt these stories had little to do with the course content. These results provide preliminary evidence for the types of stories instructors might share (or avoid) to ensure that students find classroom narratives pertinent to their lives.

Mismatches in the Marriage Market

ObjectiveThis article provides an assessment of whether unmarried women currently face demographic shortages of marital partners in the U.S. marriage market.BackgroundOne explanation for the declines in marriage is the putative shortage of economically attractive partners for unmarried women to marry. Previous studies provide mixed results but are usually focused narrowly on sex ratio imbalances rather than identifying shortages on the multiple socioeconomic characteristics that typically sort women and men into marriages.MethodsThis study identifies recent marriages from the 2008 to 2012 and 2013 to 2017 cumulative 5‐year files of the American Community Survey. Data imputation methods provide estimates of the sociodemographic characteristics of unmarried women's potential (or synthetic) spouses who resemble the husbands of otherwise comparable married women. These estimates are compared with the actual distribution of unmarried men at the national, state, and local area levels to identify marriage market imbalances.ResultsThese synthetic husbands have an average income that is about 58% higher than the actual unmarried men that are currently available to unmarried women. They also are 30% more likely to be employed (90% vs. 70%) and 19% more likely to have a college degree (30% vs. 25%). Racial and ethnic minorities, especially Black women, face serious shortages of potential marital partners, as do low socioeconomic status and high socioeconomic status unmarried women, both at the national and subnational levels.ConclusionsThis study reveals large deficits in the supply of potential male spouses. One implication is that the unmarried may remain unmarried or marry less well‐suited partners.