E. Helen Berry

Multi-ethnic comparison of risk and protective factors for adolescent pregnancy.

Data from a longitudinal cohort study, the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, are used to examine the differences in risk and protective factors for adolescent pregnancy among four ethnic groups—non-Hispanic Whites, non-Hispanic Blacks, Hispanics, and American Indians. The objective is the identification of differential predictors for adolescent pregnancy among each ethnic group included in the analyses, as well as better comprehension of the differences among women who experienced a teen pregnancy compared to those who did not. The model for this sample of 5,053 women indicates that higher self-esteem and a higher level of maternal education are protective factors; living in poverty as a young teen, substance use, and adolescent marriage are factors associated with an increased risk for teen pregnancy. Further, the results indicate that unique sets of predictors exist for each ethnic group. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Changes in reports and incidence of child abuse following natural disasters

OBJECTIVE The aim of this research was to investigate if there is a higher incidence of child abuse following major natural disasters. METHODOLOGY Child abuse reports and substantiations were analyzed, by county, for 1 year before and after Hurricane Hugo, the Loma Prieta Earthquake. and Hurricane Andrew. Counties were included if damage was widespread, the county was part of a presidential disaster declaration, and if there was a stable data collection system in place. RESULTS Based on analyses of numbers, rates, and proportions, child abuse reports were disproportionately higher in the quarter and half year following two of the three disaster events (Hurricane Hugo and Loma Prieta Earthquake). CONCLUSIONS Most, but not all, of the evidence presented indicates that child abuse escalates after major disasters. Conceptual and methodological issues need to be resolved to more conclusively answer the question about whether or not child abuse increases in the wake of natural disasters. Replications of this research are needed based on more recent disaster events.

The Changing Faces of Rural America

Rural Americans can still be Norwegian bachelor farmers. They can also be Hmong seamstresses, Latino businessmen, Pakistani landlords, and Filipino computer programmers. The Norwegians, meanwhile, are buying radicchio at the co-operated by newly retired women lawyers or organic basil grown by hobby farmers living on 20-acre ranchettes. Nonmetropolitan (nonmetro) places in the 21st century are very different than they were just 30 years ago. Rural populations have also changed as a significant number of retirees have moved into nonmetro places, while increasing tourism has helped to shift the nature of rural livelihoods. Simultaneously, as young people leave high schools in some rural areas to move to cities, schools and businesses are closing due to a lack of students and customers. In other places, rural schools and hospitals now must provide bilingual teachers and nurses to educate and care for new immigrants’ children. As a result, nonmetro people are now older, more likely to be female, and more ethnically diverse than in the recent past. Why did rural populations transform so dramatically in the latter part of the 20th century? Partly these changes had been coming for more than 30 years. As the economy shifted from resource extraction and manufacturing to services, and as family farms were replaced by corporate farms, the types of employment that could be found in nonmetro places was transformed. The need for low wage labor on corporate farms and in processing plants greatly augmented already existing streams of immigrant labor. At the other end of the spectrum, these technological developments, in association with rising personal affluence, also allowed people with higher incomes to move to rural places for non-economic reasons. For example, an IBM employee could have her phone ring in Atlanta; her secretary could answer the phone in Boston; and transfer the call to her actual location in Logan, Utah. Finally, while the total U.S. population was aging because of declining fertility rates and increasing life expectancy, the overall age of people in nonmetro places increased even more rapidly than in metropolitan (metro) areas

A longitudinal analysis of neighboring in rapidly changing rural places

Abstract A substantial body of research on changes in neighboring patterns has emphasized the impact of ecological and population change. This paper examines neighboring in four western U.S. communities experiencing either rapid population increases or declines. Differentials in the socio-demographic composition of rural communities did influence local interaction patterns. Differences in population and ecological growth patterns did not independently affect neighboring.

Demography of Rural Aging

Population aging as a demographic phenomenon, not an individual one, is described in this chapter, in tandem with a description of the demographic characteristics of the rural elderly. Population aging occurs when the population of a place as a whole has fewer births while life expectancies in older ages increase. This process is exacerbated in rural places by the out-migration of rural youth and, in rural retirement areas, by the in-migration of elders. Aging in rural places presents special challenges first and foremost because greater distances between places result in a lower density of services and the associated strain of providing those services for the aged. However, older people can also be a boon to rural areas when they themselves become a source for economic or social development.

Rural Aging in International Context

Population aging is described and measures of population aging are summarized. Rural aging is discussed, broadly, at an international level and associated with both broad population changes and with societal-level transformations. The reasons why aging in rural places differs from aging in urban places are considered. Issues related to the sex ratio, work force, caretaking, and health are examined. Examples focus primarily on the U.S. although international differences and similarities are considered.

Introduction to Rural Aging in Twenty-First Century America

This book investigates demographic and social aspects of aging in nonmetropolitan areas of the United States in the twenty-first century. This introductory chapter briefly overviews the persisting and changing trends related to aging in rural environments. We identify major themes examined in the various chapters of the book. We next address the question of why it is important to study population aging in the rural United States. We define major concepts used across many of the chapters of the book. Finally, we describe briefly the content of major sections of the book and chapters within each section.

Conclusions and Policy Implications for Aging in Rural Places

The greying of populations has the potential to be divisive or to be a benefit to rural places and communities. The age, sex, race/ethnic and immigrant composition of the 65 years of age and older population is discussed in terms of both challenges and opportunities for rural areas. The diversity of the aging population, in particular, is considered as well as issues related to transportation and amenities in rural places.