Middle Socioeconomic Level Research Articles

Wishes of Young Middle-Class Mexican-American and Anglo-American Children: Perceptions of Personal Preferences

Since Goodenough's study ( 4 ) the contents of children's wishes have been considered as meaningful data, ecologically, psychologically and developmentally (6, 7 ) . Further, several workers (1 , 5 , 6 ) posit that even the material-oriented wishes of young children, as predicted (4 , 8) , reflect personal perceptions of high value. Ecological settings between cultures as described by Bronfenbrenner (2) may illustration of different phenomena. The studies of Boynton ( 1 ) and Gray ( I ) , with middee tz : AngloAmerican children and lower-class black children, respectively, sug est wish-related differences associated with ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Of ecologicaf interest is, then, any inquiry about whether possible cultural differences appear in the wish-related preferences of young Mexican-American and Anglo-American children from middle socioeconomic level families. The slightly modified (3 ) wish categories of Karnes and Wherry (7 ) were used to collect the categorical wish references. The wishes were obtained during an interview by asking each child individuJy. If I gave you three wishes, any three wishes in the whole world, what would you wish for? The nominal categories of wishes were materialistic, altruistic, personal, and $11-oriented. Demographically, t e 90 chlldren were 44 Mexican-Americans (21 boys, 23 irls M age =6.0 yr., SD= 0.4) and 46 An loAmericans (23 boys, 23 girls; M age = 6.1, 3 8 = 6.4). Socioeconomic status was estimatef by Texas State guidelines used to qualify children for school breakfast or lunch programs. The distribution of wishes across categories of the Mexican-American children was significant ( x 2 = 10.55, p .05). Comparison of the two ethnic grou s gave a difference (x2 = 15.24, p<.01) as Mexican-American children wished for to s and h n & ~ m e r i c a n children wished for pets. Between the ethnic groups there was a difzrence between the boys (x' = 17.55, p< .01) but not the girls. Although seemingly trivial, material wishes suggcsr values consistent with Piaget's theorizing (8 ) , and the wishes of the boys reflected culrural differences; for example, the effects of the extended family in MexicanAmerican culture may reduce the companionship function of pets. A logical step in research is to include a family census.

Sexual Experience and Contraceptive Use Among Young Adults in Mexico City

The Mexico City Household Survey of Young Adult Reproductive Health was designed to provide representative information about teenagers in Mexico City. It was conducted in the Venustiano Carranza and Iztapalapa districts of the city over the period March-July 1985 districts with a combined population of two million. 70% of the households in the area are of lower socioeconomic status while the remainder are of middle socioeconomic level. Completed personal interviews were received for 91% each of the 1539 eligible 15-24 year old male respondents and the 1735 eligible same-aged female respondents. 13% of females and 44% of males aged 15-19 had experienced premarital sexual intercourse compared to 39% and 86% of females and males respectively aged 20-24 year olds. Among those who were sexually experienced 13% of females and 27% of males had first had coitus before age 15. 22% and 31% of sexually experienced females and males respectively practiced contraception at first premarital intercourse. Both sexes reported rhythm and condoms as the two principal methods used at first intercourse although females were more likely than males to have relied upon rhythm. 57% of males and 43% of females who had not used a method at first premarital intercourse explained that they had not expected to have intercourse at that time. Beyond first intercourse approximately 30% of unmarried sexually experienced females and males had had intercourse within the month preceding the interview; 75% and 82% respectively practiced contraception during that most recent month. 42% of the females had relied upon rhythm 19% had used oral contraceptives and 11% each used the IUD or injectables. Sexually active males most commonly used rhythm as their method of choice. Almost 33% of 15-24 year old females had been pregnant at least once; 66% of 20-24 year olds. Approximately 33% of women who were ever in an union conceived their first birth premaritally with 11% resulting in a premarital birth and 21% in a delivery within seven months of entry into the union. Finally 13% of currently married women reported their most recent pregnancy to have been unintended.

Hepatitis A antibodies in two socioeconomically distinct populations of São Paulo, Brazil.

To evaluate the prevalence of antibody against hepatitis A in two socioeconomically distinct populations of a developing country, 540 serum specimens from children and adults living in São Paulo, Brazil, were tested for IgG anti HAV by a commercial radioimunoassay (Havab, Abbott Laboratories). The prevalence of anti-HAV in low socioeconomic level subjects was 75.0% in children 2-11 years old and 100.0% in adults, whereas in middle socioeconomic level significantly lower prevalences were observed (40.3% in chidren 2-11 years old and 91.9% in adults). Voluntary blood donors of middle socioeconomic level showed a prevalence of 90.4%. These data suggest that hepatitis A infection remains a highly endemic disease in São Paulo, Brazil.

The Purdue Elementary Problem-Solving Inventory (PEPSI), Grade Level, and Socioeconomic Status: A Preliminary Study

The effects of grade level and socioeconomic status upon Purdue Elementary Problem-solving Inventory (PEPSI) scores were investigated. Group administrations were conducted in two schools differing in the probable socioeconomic status (SES) of their pupils. Scores increased with grade level and were greater in the higher SES school, though the latter difference accounted for a much smaller proportion of the variance. It was concluded that the PEPSI is usable with most Grade 2 to Grade 6 pupils at both lower and middle socioeconomic levels, and has potential utility in teaching problem-solving skills to gifted children.

Congenital cytomegalovirus infection. Occurrence in two socioeconomically distinct populations of a developing country.

In São Paulo, Brazil, between November 1980 and July 1982, 1614 newborns of middle socioeconomic background and 1156 newborns of low socioeconomic background were examined for the occurrence of congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection by isolation of virus from urine samples or detection of specific anti-CMV IgM in umbilical cord serum tested by immunofluorescence. In the low socioeconomic population prevalence of CMV complement-fixing antibodies in mothers was 84.4%(151/179) and the incidence of congenital infection assessed by virus isolation 0.98% (5/508), as compared with 0.46% (3/648) in the group of newborns tested by detection of specific anti-CMV IgM in umbilical cord-serum. In middle socioeconomic level population prevalence of CMV complement-fixing antibodies in mothers was 66.5% (284/427) and the incidence of CMV congenital infection was 0.39% (2/518) in the group of newborns screened by virus isolation and 0.18% (2/1096) in the group tested by detection of specific anti-CMV IgM. In the present study none of the 12 congenitally infected newborns presented clinical apparent disease at birth.

Relationship between childhood abuse and assaultive behavior in adolescent male psychiatric patients.

To test in part Berkowitz's hypothesis that parents who attempt to influence their children's behavior by frequent punishment appear to foster aggressiveness in their offspring . (1973, p. 114) 15 male adolescents (Group I ) were randomly selected from a state psychiatric institution. They had been admitted with a presenting problem of assaultive behavior and for these persons there was recorded evidence of at least two instances of assault while institutionalized. Group I1 comprised another randomly drawn group of 15 male adolescents from the same facility, but these showed no presenting problem of assaultive behavior and no reported incidence of assault while institutionalized. There were no apparent mean differences between the groups on length of institutionalization, presenting problems, age, and family background. The sample ranged in age from 13 to 18 yr. with approximately 65% males. Only the lower and lower middle socioeconomic levels were represented in the sample and population. Mean length of institutionalization was approximately 8 to 12 mo. with a range from 4 mo. to 245 yr. Medical records at the hospital included reports from all previous placements, treacments, and agencies; these were consulted to determine if the two groups differed on documented abuse by a caretaker, i.e., reported and verified by two sources. Abuse included physical, sexual, or severe deprivation. Evidence of abuse was found in medical records of 8 of the 15 children in Group I. There were six cases of physical abuse, one of sexual abuse, and one of physical abuse plus severe deprivation (physical injury and excessive deprivation of food). By contrast, in Group I1 evidence of abuse was found in the medical records of three of the 15 children. Two of these cases involved physical abuse and one sexual abuse. Considering the stringent criterion of verifying abuse through two sources, it is surprising that chi squared of 3.57 ( p < l o ) even approached significance. No doubt a less stringent criterion of documented abuse might have suggested a significant difference. (Unfortunately it was not possible to verify this.) Further invest~gatjon in other similar facilities is needed to determine if this trend is idiosyncratic to r h ~ s facility.

Parental personality factors in child abuse.

In an attempt to demonstrate that abusing parents differ from nonabusing parents in personality variables, the Michigan Screening Profile of Parenting was administered to six groups of mothers: (a) adjudicated abusers, (b) spouses of adjudicated abusers, (c) mothers convicted of child neglect, (d) nonabusing mothers from a college student population, (e) nonabusing mothers from a middle socioeconomic level, and (f) nonabusing mothers from a lower socioeconomic level. Major differences occurred when comparison was made of one or more of the first three groups with one of the latter three groups. The groups differed significantly on six factor-analyzed cluster categories: (a) relationship to one's own parents, (b) tendency to becoming upset and angry, (c) tendency toward isolation and loneliness, (d) expectations of one's own children, (e) inability to separate parental and child feelings, and (f) fear of external threat and control. In all of the cases, the first three groups scored at levels of higher risk than did the latter three groups, whereas the abusers scored at the highest risk levels throughout. It is suggested that a therapist who helps a parent develop the ability to maintain equanimity under stress, by helping reduce deviations from the norm in characteristi cs related to abuse potential, is ultimately helping to reduce actual abusive behavior. With the growing emphasis in the literature on the fact that the causes of child abuse are multiple and interactive, many therapists who deal with parental personality and attitudinal variables are made to feel as if they are engaging in a futile effort (D'Agostino, 1975; Smith, 197S). Although many new and exciting identification and treatment programs for child abuse abound throughout the country (National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, 1975, 1976), very little encouragement has been given to the therapist who does not have easy access to the new interdisciplinary treatment programs and who, in many instances, remains the

Situational management, standard setting, and self-reward in a behavior modification weight loss program.

In a comprehensive weight loss program, overweight women exposed to instruction in self-standard setting as well as to situational management techniques lost more weight than those instructed only in situational management techniques. Addition of instruction in self-reinforc ement to standard setting and situational management failed to produce additional weight loss. Findings illustrate the facilitative effect of teaching individuals to set specific, objective, and realistic goals for eating behaviors and weight and the difficulties of incorporating self-reward procedures in a comprehensive program. Short-term behavioral programs have yielded promising results, but there has been insufficient research on the variables involved (Abramson, 1977). Although several investigators have found greater weight losses in individuals taught to reward themselves for changing eating habits or weight than in controls instructed to selfmonitor eating and weight (e.g., Bellack, 1976; Mahoney, 1974), the role of standard setting as a component of self-reinforc ement has not been adequately studied. In the present study, 57 women, who ranged from 17.0% to 84.8% above ideal body weight (M = 45.4) on insurance tables were recruited from the community through newspaper ads. They ranged in age from 17 to 65 years (M = 37.8), and most came from a middle or uppermiddle socioeconomic level, They deposited $40, which was returned contingent on attendance at group meetings, and were divided into triplets of approximately equal body weights and percentages of overweight. Members of each triplet were assigned randomly to the three treatment groups, each of which met for 90 minutes for 8 consecutive weeks and for a follow-up meeting 8 weeks after treatment. Group meetings consisted of a private weigh-in and presentation and discussion of specific behavioral techniques to be used during the following week. Three therapists, all of whom were familiar with behavior modification but who were in

The Sexually Exploited Child

Sexual exploitation of children (under 14 years of age) is a common occurrence, although actual numbers are unknown. There are three major forms of sexual abuse: (1) incest, ie, sexual activity between consanguineous family members; (2) sexual assault, such as rape or molestation by adults not related to the child; and (3) habitual sexual exploitation for purposes of financial reward or perverse sexual satisfaction. Brother-sister incest has the highest incidence in the middle and upper socioeconomic levels and is probably the least damaging, psychologically, to sexual adjustment later in life. Father-daughter incest is more common in the lower socioeconomic levels and is thought to produce major disorders in the psychosexual area. Sexual assault of children, if handled supportively and with understanding by the surrounding adults, including parents, physicians, teachers, law enforcement officers, and others, can result in minimal sequelae; however, often the situation is handled with emotional reactions ranging from disgust to hysteria which result in the child's being victimized and traumatized unnecessarily. These latter situations lead to sexual acting-out in adolescence, promiscuity, perversions, or frigidity in adult sexual life. Teachers, physicians, and child welfare workers need to be attuned to the possibility to sexual abuse in the children they serve.

Changing risks in tuberculosis.

Past and present experience with tuberculosis in New York State exclusive of New York City is presented. TB has been on the decline since the turn of the century and reached an all-time low in 1974 with only 844 new active cases and 137 deaths reported. Although incidence rates are highest among the poor, the bulk of cases come from middle and upper socioeconomic levels. Cohort analysis shows an individual's risk of developing pulmonary or miliary TB is greatest at age 20-24, whereas the greatest risk of dying from TB is before age 5. Projections based on past experience indicate a male born in 1970-74 will have a lifetime risk of developing pulmonary or miliary TB of 80/100,000 and of dying from TB of 4/100,000. For females the respective risks are 40/100,000 and 6/100,000.

Consumer Types Based on Evaluative Cri teria Underlying Clothing Decisions1

The focus of the study was on evaluative criteria underlying clothing decisions of lower and middle socioeconomic level consumers. The objectives were to (1) classify consumers into segments based on evaluative criteria used in making clothing choices and (2) de scribe the resulting segments in terms of product‐ and person‐related life‐style variables. Data were obtained from questionnaires completed by 224 consumers who were mothers of children enrolled in private, government, and church‐supported preschool facilities during the spring, 1973, in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Data were analyzed using factor analysis, multiple discriminant analysis, and multiple classification analysis.Segmentation was effected on the basis of two dimensions underlying evaluative criteria—appearance and practicality‐derived by factor analysis. Resulting segments were labeled as Fashion Advocates, Quality Seekers, Frugal Aesthetes, and Concerned Pragmat ics. Descriptive profiles of the four segments were developed using factor scores for six eval uative criteria, five general‐value, four information‐related, five activity‐interest, and two personality factors plus selected demographic variables.

Continuous-discontinuous concept attainment as a function of individual differences in cognitive style.

Continuities and discontinuities in concept learning were studied in 30 white, male, middle socio-economic level, kindergarten children differentiated with respect to field independent-field dependent cognitive style. The children, homogeneous as to age and Verbal IQ, were presented with a two-choice simultaneous discrimination problem. Backward learning curves from the last error before criterion were constructed. As predicted, the learning curve for the field-independent group was characterized by discontinuity over precriterion trials, with no statistical dependence from one trial to the next. The curve for field-dependent Ss exhibited marked continuity, with significant departures from stationarity, and significant dependence in learning from one trial to the next. The results were interpreted in light of the incremental and mediational models of concept learning, and highlights the use of perceptual orientations in the formation of mediators as a developmental function.

MATERNAL AGE AND INTELLECTUAL FUNCTIONING OF OFFSPRING

The Johns Hopkins Collaborative Perinatal Study (Baltimore Maryland) provided an opportunity to investigate possible relationships between maternal age at delivery and subsequent intellectual functioning of the child. In this study extensive information is available for each mother-child pair from the time of registration for prenatal care through 8 years of postnatal life. The subjects were the children of women who registered in the Johns Hopkins Collaborative Perinatal Study. Of the 4558 registrants in the study after exclusion of prenatal cancellations there were 3263 cases with recorded maternal age birth weight and results of Stanford-Binet Intelligence test scores obtained between 3 years 9 months and 4 years 3 months. The remaining 1293 cases were eliminated from this analysis for a variety of reasons. The 3263 children for whom Binet intelligence quotient (IQ) scores were available included 1333 black males 1354 black females 299 white males and 277 white females. This population included a range in socioeconomic (SE) level from welfare recipients to professional workers but the mean SE Index for blacks was 4.1 and for whistes 4.4. The difference was not statistically significant. The mothers and children lived for the most part in East Baltimore and came from the lower middle and lower socioeconomic levels of society. Each of the 3263 subjects was individually tested on the revised form of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test in addition to other measurements which comprised the routine 4-year psychological battery according to the protocol devised for the National Collaborative Perinatal Study. The null hypothesis that maternal age at the time of delivery has no relationship to the later intellectual functioning of the mothers offspring was tested and found to be incorrect. For both blacks and whites both intellectual functioning and birth weight increased with maternal age. The youngest black mother produced children with mean IQ scores in the mid 80s; older black mothers produces children with mean scores in the mid 90s. Young white mothers on the average slightly older than blacks produced children with scores in the lower 90s. The observed increase in IQ scores with increasing maternal age was clearly seen even when the effect of birth weight was minimized by exclusion of babies weighing less than 2500 grams at birth. When birth weight and IQ scores were compared babies weighing less than 2000 grams were observed to have the lowest mean IQ scores. This effect was most marked in the black male population. The black-white differences in measured intelligence in this sample were much smaller than are reported in other studies. The similarity in the mean IQ scores in this population may reflect the fact that both groups of children came from the lower middle and lower socioeconomic levels of Baltimore City.

Family Planning in Santiago, Chile: The Male Viewpoint

To obtain the male viewpoint toward family planning in the Chilean population, 561 men (aged 18-54) in Santiago from upper, middle, and lower socioeconomic levels were interviewed on their birth control attitudes and practices and compared with a random probability sample of 240 men from a nearby rural village. Tabulation of the interviews showed that a majority of both unmarried and married men identified themselves as active participants in birth control discussions. Younger husbands tended to have had more experience with contraception than older husbands, and respondents in higher socioeconomic levels showed a greater use of contraception (75%) than men in the lower class or village sample (35%). 23% of those in the village sample who did not use contraception cited reasons such as lack of knowledge and money or fear of harmful effects, while only 2% of the upper class in the urban sample cited such reasons. Approval of abortion for their wives was expressed by around 40% of all respondents. Approval of abortion in general ranged from 81% in cases of probable fetal deformity to 31% in single girls. Questions on sexual relations revealed that the median age for the first sexual intercourse was 16 years. 91% of the unmarried men were sexually active at a median frequence of once every 2 weeks, and contraception, if used, was most frequently oral or male devices. Among married men, sexual relations occurred at a median frequency of once every 4 days, with contraception, if used, most likely being an intrauterine device. All of the respondents tended to favor dissemination of contraceptive information more readily to men than women. Approval of providing this information to single girls was directly related to economic status. The schools were readily accepted as a forum for contraceptive discussion. The father was by far the preferred principal source of information for a son (44%) rather than friends (6%), but the respondents themselves got their information from friends (41%) rather than their fathers (2%). Including single and married men in family planning counseling programs may increase contraceptive use and lower the abortion rate.

Ear Laterality Performance of Children from Low and Middle Socioeconomic Levels on a Verbal Dichotic Listening Task

The present investigation compared the ear laterality performance of children four to seven years from low and middle socioeconomic levels on a dichotic digits task. The results of this study confirmed earlier evidence that children as early as age four were capable of recalling digits presented to the right ear more accurately than those presented to the left ear. Such right ear superiority was demonstrated by four, five, six and seven year old cildren from the middle socioeconomic level, and by seven year old children from the low socioeconomic level. Thus, children from lower socioeconomic areas manifested a right ear effect to a lesser degree and at a later age than did their middle class counterparts. A preference to report the right ear first was observed for middle socioeconomic level children. Although children from the lower socioeconomic level demonstrated a similar preference at a later age, this finding was not significant. There was no significant difference between sexes on the test, although at age four girls showed the greatest mean difference relative to boys. The findings were discussed in relation to the possible factors that might account for the comparative performance between socioeconomic groups.

Temporal reliability of length-complexity index

The purpose of this study was to determine the test-retest reliability of a new measure of children's language, the Length-Complexity Index (LCI). There were seventeen subjects who participated in this study, seven males and ten females. The subjects were five-year-old children attending Kindergarten in the Sullivan, Illinois Public Schools. Each of the subjects had normal hearing, average or above average intelligence as measured on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (Dunn, 1965), no obvious neuromuscular disorders, and American English family language background. None were twins, or had a history of stuttering. All subjects came from middle or lower class socioeconomic level families. Language samples were elicited from these children on three separate occasions within a ten-day period by two examiners. The stimulus material constructed to elicit the verbalizations consisted of three sets of pictures judged to be of interest to five-year-old children. The intraclass correlation coefficient for MLR was r i = .65 for the individual child's responses on subsequent retests of single 50-response language samples. This indicates the considerable variability of MLR as a measure of a child's daily verbal output. The intraclass correlation coefficient for the LCI was r i = .80 for the individual child's responses on subsequent retests of single 50-response language samples. The results indicate that within the limits of this study as a language measure the LCI is not as variable as the MLR; that it tends to measure children's language output more reliably over time. This is interpreted to mean that a composite linguistic analysis of length and complexity will yield a more consistent picture of an individual child's verbal output than will a measure of length alone.

Field articulation of enuretic boys and their mothers.

The description of the personality of the enuretic boy and his mother as characteristically immature had a particular relevance to field articulation as formulated by Witkin, the literature suggesting that both would be predisposed toward a perceptual field-dependence. 60 enuretic and non-enuretic boys, ranging in age from 6 to 12 yr. and coming from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, were selected from a pediatric and psychiatric clinic. The Children's Embedded-figures Test and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale For Children were administered to the boys and the Embedded-figures Test to the mothers. The results indicated: (a) enuretic boys, but not their mothers, tend to be field-dependent, (b) field articulation is not related to level of adjustment in the enuretic boy, and (c) field articulation is not related to IQ to the same degree in lower socioeconomic level children as for those of middle socioeconomic level.

Speech avoidance, social class and parental awareness

This study was concerned with the testimony of speech defective children regarding their reaction in speaking situations as obtained by the Speech Avoidance Test (SAT). Seventy-five children with functional articulation errors from families representing low, middle and high socio-economic levels and their parents participated in this investigation. A modified form of the SAT was administered to the mothers and fathers of these children. Mean differences in SAT responses of the three groups of children were inconsequential. Only the correlations between the SAT responses of the most affluent parents and their children were significant. The number of discrepancies between the individual SAT responses of each parent and his child was a function of socio-economic level. The clinical and sociological implications of these findings may be of some importance.

A Beginning Reading Program with Audio-Visual Reinforcement: An Experimental Study

AbstractAn audio-visual prompting- and reinforcing device was used In conjunction with reading materials emphasizing whole words and sentences based on the Introduction of the Initial consonant sounds In n sequentially consistent manner. Three hundred and twenty-seven B-l pupils were matched between experimental and control groups on the basis of Intelligence and silent reading skills. The results Indicated that the control group scored significantly higher in the areas of sounding out words, word substitution and the use of teacher assistance. Teacher assistance seemed to be linked to the significantly superior scores earned by the control group, divided-day pupils, and girls above the median of 112 Intelligence In the middle socio-economic level.

Growth and development of negro infants: VIII. Comparison of the deciduous dentition in negro and white infants (A preliminary study)

<h2>Summary</h2> The time of eruption of the firstdeciduous tooth and the number of teeth present at one year of age in Negro and white infants was compared and related to the race, socioeconomic level, and sex of the infant. From this study the following conclusionsare made:<ul><li>1.The mean time of eruption of thefirst deciduous tooth in Negro male and female infants was 27.7 and 28.9 weeks, respectively. The white male and female infants erupted their first tooth at 29.1 and 31.6 weeks, respectively. This earlier eruption time in Negro infants is possibly due to a racial tendency toward accelerated tooth eruption in this group.</li><li>2.The Negro male and female infants had a mean of 6.0 and 5.9 teeth at the age of one year as compared to 6.9 and 6.4 teeth for white male and female infants, respectively. The larger number of teeth found in the white infants at one year of age may be attributed to nutritional advantages, since it was of statistical significance only when the white infants from a middle socioeconomic level (private practice) were compared with Negro infants from a lower socioeconomic level (clinic infants).</li><li>3.The influence of sex is demonstratedby the slight acceleration in dentition in the male infants in all groups studied.</li></ul>