Social Decline Research Articles

Does Community-Level Social Capital Predict Decline in Instrumental Activities of Daily Living? A JAGES Prospective Cohort Study.

Instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) represent the most relevant action capacity in older people with regard to independent living. Previous studies have reported that there are geographical disparities in IADL decline. This study examined the associations between each element of community-level social capital (SC) and IADL disability. This prospective cohort study conducted between 2010 and 2013 by the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES) surveyed 30,587 people aged 65 years or older without long-term care requirements in 380 communities throughout Japan. Multilevel logistic-regression analyses were used to determine whether association exists between community-level SC (i.e., civic participation, social cohesion, and reciprocity) and IADL disability, with adjustment for individual-level SC and covariates such as demographic variables, socioeconomic status, health status, and behavior. At three-year follow-up, 2886 respondents (9.4%) had suffered IADL disability. Residents in a community with higher civic participation showed significantly lower IADL disability (odds ratio: 0.90 per 1 standard deviation increase in civic participation score, 95% confidence interval: 0.84–0.96) after adjustment for covariates. Two other community-level SC elements showed no significant associations with IADL disability. Our findings suggest that community-based interventions to promote community-level civic participation could help prevent or reduce IADL disability in older people.

Management of depression and referral of older people to psychological therapies: a systematic review of qualitative studies.

Depressive symptoms are common in later life and increase both the risk of functional and cognitive decline and the use of healthcare services. Despite older people expressing preferences for talking therapies, they are less likely to be referred than younger adults, particularly when aged ≥80 years. To explore how healthcare professionals (HCPs) manage older people in relation to depression and referrals to psychological therapies. Systematic review and thematic synthesis of qualitative studies. MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and the Social Sciences Citation Index (inception-March 2018) were searched for studies exploring HCPs' views regarding management of late-life depression across all settings. Studies of older people's views or depression management across all ages were excluded. In total, 27 studies, were included; these predominantly focused on the views of GPs and primary and community care nurses. Many HCPs felt that late-life depression was mainly attributable to social isolation and functional decline, but treatments appropriate for this were limited. Clinicians perceived depression to have associated stigma for older adults, which required time to negotiate. Limited time in consultations and the complexity of needs in later life meant physical health was often prioritised over mental health, particularly in people with frailty. Good management of late-life depression appeared to depend more on the skills and interest of individual GPs and nurses than on any structured approach. Mental ill health needs to be a more-prominent concern in the care of older adults, with greater provision of psychological services tailored to later life. This may facilitate future identification and management of depression.

Economic Vulnerability, Cultural Decline, and Nativism: Contingent and Indirect Effects

ObjectiveNativism, or anti‐immigrant preferences, is increasingly evident within democratic mass publics. In this article, we explore whether economic concerns, perceptions of social decline, or some combination of the two shape these attitudes.MethodOur data are comprised of more than 8,000 survey respondents from nine Western, industrial democracies (Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and the United States). Using mediation analysis, we test for the extent to which economic anxiety and perceptions of cultural decline exert direct and indirect effects on nativism.ResultsOn balance, the effect of economic anxiety—concern regarding job loss and negative economic assessments—on nativism is mostly indirect, affecting nativism by influencing perceptions of cultural decline.ConclusionGiven the strong association between perceptions of social decline and nativism, it appears as though anti‐immigrant sentiments draw from cultural rather than economic concerns. The story, however, does not end there. Perceptions of societal decline are strongly influenced by economic anxiety.

Great Expectations? Childhood, Family, and Middle-Class Social Mobility in Nineteenth-Century England

ABSTRACTExisting histories of social mobility have focused on adults and on measuring the achievement of individual upward mobility. However, children and families were central to mobility strategies. Using the papers of the Heywoods of Bolton, this article examines how the families of the industrial middle class endowed their offspring with the goods and character needed to secure their social standing, highlighting the emotional intricacy of these processes. It demonstrates that such families conceived of social mobility as a familial project and that rather than pursuing upward mobility, their chief objective was to guard against social decline.

Neurodegenerative Dementias: Improving Brain Health to Decrease Risk.

Neurodegenerative Dementias: Improving Brain Health to Decrease Risk.

Deprived of protection: The ethico-politics of authorship in Ian McEwan’sAtonement

AbstractThe paper proposes to read the British novelist Ian McEwan as an ethically disconcerted post-imperial writer. His early works “gave voice to an anxiety about social, cultural and moral decline after the end of Britain’s imperial power had become vividly apparent” (Groes). Both the writer’s and his characters’ fatherless post-war childhoods testify to the systematic disconnection of the public and private in the late imperial and post-imperial country, which induced the growing feeling of unprotectedness among its inhabitants. McEwan consistently searches for an ethically responsible literary form to cope with the traumatic defenselessness that, much beyond post-imperial Britain, became the experience of both the recent world and literature. In this search, he develops a peculiar technology of his authorial self. By tending to provide a shelter to the defenseless characters, it reproduces the protective attitude of these characters toward the other characters. However, the author simultaneously exposes their remorseful attachment to the victims as selfish. As he thus never stops ethically exempting himself from his Doppelgängers, he continuously wrong-foots the reader. In sum,Atonementdraws its characters, narrator, author, and readers into a frenetic pursuit of the finalethicaltruth by repeatedly entrapping them in this truth’s provisionalpoliticalsurrogates.

The Global Functioning: Social and Role Scales-Further Validation in a Large Sample of Adolescents and Young Adults at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis.

Traditional measures for assessing functioning with adult patients with schizophrenia have been shown to be insufficient for assessing the issues that occur in adolescents and young adults at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis. The current study provides an expanded validation of the Global Functioning: Social (GF:Social) and Role (GF:Role) scales developed specifically for use with CHR individuals and explores the reliability and accuracy of the ratings, the validity of the scores in comparison to other established clinical measures, stability of functioning over a 2-year period, and psychosis predictive ability. Seven hundred fifty-five CHR individuals and 277 healthy control (HC) participants completed the GF:Social and Role scales at baseline as part of the North American Prodrome Longitudinal Study (NAPLS2). Inter-rater reliability and accuracy were high for both scales. Correlations between the GF scores and other established clinical measures demonstrated acceptable convergent and discriminant validity. In addition, GF:Social and Role scores were unrelated to positive symptoms. CHR participants showed large impairments in social and role functioning over 2-years, relative to the HCs, even after adjusting for age, IQ, and attenuated positive symptoms. Finally, social decline prior to baseline was more pronounced in CHR converters, relative to non-converters. The GF scales can be administered in a large-scale multi-site study with excellent inter-rater reliability and accuracy. CHR individuals showed social and role functioning impairments over time that were not confounded by positive symptom severity levels. The results of this study demonstrate that social decline is a particularly effective predictor of conversion outcome.

The Czech Islamophobic movement: beyond ‘populism’?

ABSTRACTSlačálek and Svobodová’s paper focuses on the ideology of the Czech Islamophobic movement as seen during the 2015–16 migration crisis. In their analysis of interviews with demonstrators and speeches by leaders of the movement, they discuss first how the movement imagined its enemies, and then describe its vision of positive core values. They conclude that the movement’s key ideological features are: an emphasis on social and civilizational decline (declinism); a return to an assumed naturalness in economic and gender relationships (naturalization); and the open evocation of violence and severity (brutalization). In terms of Rogers Brubacker’s distinction between xenophobic ethno-nationalism in Eastern Europe, and the xenophobic defence of liberal values in the West, Slačálek and Svobodová find that the Czech case fits the allegedly western pattern better than the eastern one, which may cast doubt on the whole essentialization of distinctions between ‘western’ and ‘eastern’ populisms.

Gender-stratified analyses reveal longitudinal associations between social support and cognitive decline in older men

Objectives: Research has extensively examined the relationship between social support and health outcomes in older adults. Little is known, however, about the longitudinal associations between distinct dimensions of perceived social support and incident cognitive decline. The current longitudinal study examined whether dimensions of perceived social support were associated with increased risk of cognitive decline, and if the relationship differed by gender.Methods: 493 community-residing non-demented older adults were assessed for baseline social support via the Medical Outcomes Study-Social Support Survey (MOS-SSS). Incident cognitive impairment was determined using a 1 standard deviation below age and education adjusted total score on the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status Cox proportional-hazard models were used to analyze incident risk of cognitive impairment.Results: Higher perceived support, overall and in specific domains, at baseline was associated with increased risk of incident cognitive impairment. Further gender-stratified analyses revealed that higher perceived support at baseline was associated with increased risk of incident cognitive impairment only among males.Conclusion: Contrary to previous research, results from this longitudinal study suggest that perceived support might be an important risk factor for cognitive decline, notably in males, and should be integrated into multifactorial risk assessment and intervention procedures.

Community-level social capital and cognitive decline after a natural disaster: A natural experiment from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami.

We examined prospectively whether community-level social capital can mitigate the adverse effects of natural disaster on cognitive decline in the aftermath of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. The baseline for our natural experimental study was established seven months before the disaster in a survey of older community-dwelling adults who lived in Iwanuma City, Japan, located 80 km west of the epicenter. Two and a half years after the disaster, we conducted a follow-up survey of survivors to gather information about their personal experiences during the disaster (n = 3560; 82.1% follow-up rate). Our primary outcome was the level of cognitive disability (measured on an 8-level scale) assessed within people's homes. Factor analysis established two subscales of community social capital: a cognitive dimension (perceptions of community social cohesion) and a structural dimension (informal socializing and social participation). The prevalence of cognitive decline at follow-up (11.5%) was three times higher than at baseline (4.2%). Our multiple membership multilevel model indicated that pre-versus post-disaster increases in community-level informal socializing and social participation were associated with lower risk of cognitive decline (coefficient = -0.12, 95% confidence interval: -0.20 to -0.04). In addition, social capital mitigated the risk of cognitive decline due to housing damage (interaction effect coefficient = -0.07, 95% confidence interval: -0.14 to -0.01). Community-level informal socializing and social participation buffers the impact of housing damage on cognitive decline in the aftermath of natural disaster. Relocating residents together with other community members may help to preserve community social capital and improve the cognitive resilience of older survivors.

Corviale Megastructure: Narratives of Utopia and Roman Realism

ABSTRACTCorviale is a linear mass-housing complex of one km length on the outskirts of Rome (Italy), realised between 1972 and 1982. Similar to other megastructures, it underwent social decline and until recently was considered a failed experiment. Outstanding both in scale and design complexity, its genesis spans a crucial turn in the development of mass-housing and urban design. This paper analyses Corviale’s development and conceptual narratives in relation to its architectural fabric. It discusses the project within the context of late modernist large-scale housing, namely the megastructure family. A critical review of the project’s roots in twentieth-century Roman urban planning and architectural historiography provide insight into the conceptual shift from international avant-garde to an allegedly site-specific, Roman identity. Historiographic narratives are compared, addressing the visual versus the societal notions of the term “utopian” in relation to the project. Even before completion, architect Mario Fiorentino revisited his own project, re-proposing it as an as-found structure within a collage of other projects, in order to regain a sense of grounding within tradition, an attempt of recollection of the city within suburbia. Similarly, the term urbatecture shifted from a synonym of megastructure to an historical frame of reference.

Higher Education as a Factor of the Cities’ Preservation in the Ural Macro-Region

The article considers the relationship between the development of Ural cities and institutions of higher education there. The topic of the study is relevant as there is a need to find resources for socio-economic, demographic, and sociocultural development of the medium-sized, big and large cities of the Ural Federal District (UFD). Many of these cities have been under the crisis. In our view, one of the ways to overcome it is to develop there the universities and branches of higher education institutions. We focus on the relationships and dependencies between contradictory processes in higher education and constructive and destructive trends of the dynamics of the Ural cities. For the first time, on the theoretical level and empirical data, we show the conditions and limitations for the city-preserving function of universities. This function is closely connected with the «third mission» of the university. We prove that under conditions of social and economic uncertainty, the universities and strong branches of universities can be the key factor in preserving middle-sized, big and large cities. With the results of the case studies of three UFD cities — Nizhny Tagil, Surgut, Tobolsk, we show the necessity of feedback between the city and the university. The study of higher education in these cities confirmed the connection between the degradation of educational institutions and recent negative trends — youth migration, and then — social and economic decline of the city. We have argued the need for mutual support of educational institutions and urban actors. The city-preserving function of universities can be implemented under the condition of the university-preserving activities of university management, urban community, urban and the regional authorities. In our opinion, the strategies of cities should include provisions on the universities’ preservation and interaction with them as with mechanisms enabling cities to act as the main agents of socio-economic and socio-cultural development of the Ural Federal District. The results of the research can become a basis for the improvement of UFD educational policy as well as for the development of strategies for medium-sized, big and large cities of the region.

Apuntes para pensar una ecología política de los territorios fronterizos

Al reconocer el avance de las geografías de la extracción sobre territorios que hasta hace poco eran considerados marginales y subalternizados, como las regiones fronterizas, este artículo discute, desde el prisma de la ecología política, las características que adopta este renovado proceso en las áreas fronterizas en América Latina. La internacionalización de las fronteras, el crecimiento de los niveles de seguridad y el vaciamiento social y cultural de estos espacios serían tres características de este nuevo redescubrimiento de los territorios fronterizos, con implicaciones sobre la soberanía y la continuidad de los pueblos que históricamente han habi-tado en estas áreas.

Hate Speech di Indonesia

This article aims to explain hate speech in Indonesia and its solution. The theory used in this article is Critical Race Theory which is initiated by Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic. This Critical Race Theory is also sustained by an Islamic perspective so as to be found the causes of hate speech and solutions that must be done. This paper concludes that: First, hate speech in Indonesia is verbally and non-verbally done which is delivered both directly and indirectly (social media). Second, hate speech in Indonesia causes social inequality, non-respectful attitudes, and national decline. Third, hate speech does not reflect the character of the Indonesian people who uphold ethics and the values of nationalism. Fourth, hate speech triggers violence and intolerance of religions, ethnicities, races, and groups. Hate speech must be jointly solved by government, religious leaders and society.

Age of onset and quality of life among males and females with schizophrenia: A national study

BackgroundAge of onset is considered central to understanding the course of schizophrenia, yet little is known regarding its association with quality of life in general, and specifically among males and females. AimsTo examine the association between the age of schizophrenia onset and quality of life, in general, and among males and females, using data from a national sample and competing statistical models. MethodsParticipants with a diagnosis of schizophrenia (N = 1624) completed the Manchester Short Assessment of Quality of Life (MSA-QoL) and were rated on a parallel measure by their professional caregivers (N = 578). Multiple regression analysis models were computed for self-appraised quality of life, and mixed models with random intercepts were used for caregivers. Six competing models were tested for parsimony for each rating source. Three models without adjustment and three models adjusted for confounding variables. Sensitivity analyses were conducted for males and females separately. ResultsAge of onset was statistically significantly (P < .05) negatively associated with self-appraised and caregiver-appraised quality of life on aggregate and among females. Among males, a significant (P < .01) quadratic effect of onset age on self-appraised quality of life demonstrated a negative association up to onset age of 36.67 years, after which the association was positive. ConclusionsAn earlier age of onset is associated with a better quality of life in schizophrenia which is tentatively explained by social decline. Specific trends in psychiatric symptom severity may account for this association among females while social advantages may account for the particular results found among males.

Restoration of sensory input may improve cognitive and neural function

Age-related hearing loss is one of the most prevalent health conditions among the elderly. Hearing loss may lead to social isolation, depression, and cognitive decline in older adults. The mechanistic basis for the association between hearing loss and decreased cognitive function remains unknown as does the potential for improving cognition through hearing rehabilitation. To that end, we asked whether the restoration of sensory input through the use of hearing aids would improve cognitive and auditory neural function. We compared a group of first-time hearing aid users with a hearing-matched control group after a period of six months. The use of hearing aids enhanced working memory performance and increased cortical response amplitudes. Neurophysiologic changes correlated with working memory changes, suggesting a mechanism for decreased cognitive function with hearing loss. These results suggest a neural mechanism for the sensory-cognitive connection and underscore the importance of providing auditory rehabilitation for individuals with age-related hearing loss to improve cognitive and neural function. Our findings of improved cognitive function with hearing aid use may lead to increased adoption of hearing loss remedies.

Commentary on “Fall prevention for people with learning disabilities: key points and recommendations for practitioners and researchers”

Purpose Age-related processes are marked by physiological, psychological and social decline, threatening health, quality of life, functional status and the mobility of individuals. As the impact of demographic change also begins to affect persons with intellectual disabilities (ID), issues and needs regarding the aging process are slowly entering the field of ID research. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach In the population of older people with ID, important, age-related events such as falls have prompted increasing research. Falls may lead to several negative health outcomes, require that an individual receives higher levels of care sometimes including hospitalisation and, in the worst case, hasten death. Falls also lead to psychological consequences such as fear of falling which fuels a vicious circle in which older persons afraid of falling reduce their physical activity, in turn hastening their functional decline. Findings Fall prevention in persons with ID is just evolving and further research is clearly necessary. This research can draw on the existing evidence from other fall prevention areas, especially the work carried out with the general older population. Originality/value As stated by Finlayson, a useful next step would be the development of a consensus on the definitions and methodology that should underpin future fall prevention research with persons with ID.

Social alienation and environmental decline in a coral reef: Challenges to coastal management in the Mexican Caribbean

Tourism is the primary economic activity on the Riviera Maya in Quintana Roo, Mexico. The area's main attractions are the fringing coral reefs along the coast and the myriad white sand beaches produced by them. Rapid growth of tourism and supporting industries generates jobs and a steady flow of immigrants, increasing demand for housing and services. It also increases pressure on coastal and marine resources through impacts such as pollution, overfishing, coastal zone modification, etc. In this context, Akumal a small tourism-support town associated to the coastal tourism center Akumal Beach, was selected to assess its level of dependence and appropriation of marine resources. A two-pronged approach included a characterization of the town's population socio-economic indicators, as well as their use and perception of easily identifiable marine resources (coral reef, fish and water quality), applying surveys with close-ended questions. And the second approach was the interview of key local business owners and tours operators to establish their vulnerability to coral reef degradation, and their disposition towards conservation efforts. The relationships between community involvement and resource appropriation, as well as, socioeconomic indicators and local perceptions about the past, present and future condition of marine resources were explored using redundancy analysis (RDA), and additionally important variables identified were tested for significance with a Chi-squared test. Surveys highlighted two socio-economic factors: its high employment rate (90%) with 80% working directly in tourism (but earning average wages 25% lower than the regional average), and the heavy out-of-state immigration. Surveys also brought up two phenomena among newcomers: deterritorialization (or social alienation), consisting in lack of involvement by the local community in decision-making processes, scarce participation in natural resources use, and shifting-baselines associated to ignorance of current resource condition. Interviews with local stakeholders found that they felt only partially vulnerable in a hypothetical situation of total reef loss, and were open to support conservation efforts as long as transparency and full cooperation from all stakeholders was ensured. The measures recommended to coastal managers, broadly applicable to the Mexican Caribbean, focus on development of local strategies addressing the root causes of social mistrust and misperceptions, leading to environmental degradation.

Book Review: Social Inequality, Economic Decline, and Plutocracy: An American Crisis by Dale Johnson

Book Review: <i>Social Inequality, Economic Decline, and Plutocracy: An American Crisis</i> by Dale Johnson

Dominant Chinese National Policies on Aging and Their Degree of Attention to Eldercare by Seniors

This article examines dominant Chinese national policies on aging to assess the extent to which they attend to caregiving for the elderly by seniors. While seniors’ contributions to eldercare do receive scattered mention in such policies, the focus is on elders’ need for and traditional right to support and care, together with the obligation of younger adult sons and daughters to resist social decline in filial values. Where mentioned, it is the sporadic extraordinary offerings of skilled professionals that are highlighted, rather than the informal everyday efforts of ordinary senior men and women. International sources focused on productive aging recommend that aging societies forge a better policy balance between meeting seniors’ needs and tapping their continuing potential. This balance may be especially important for China, as a developing nation that has “gotten old before getting rich.”