John Lievens

Can the school make a difference? A multilevel analysis of adolescent risk and health behaviour

The main aim of this article is to assess the relationship between the structural and (health) policy variables of the school and characteristics of the individual on the risk and health behaviour of adolescents. Individual and school level effects on seven health-related behaviours are simultaneously estimated, using multilevel modelling. The data are from the Flemish health behaviour in school-aged children study in Belgium. Data are used from 29 Flemish schools in which students (N=3225), school administrators (N=29) and teachers (N=1132) were surveyed with anonymous written questions. The analysis confirms previous findings concerning individual level effects. Although differences between schools in risk and health behaviour were found to originate mainly from differences in pupil characteristics, substantial variation between schools remained with regard to regular smoking, drinking habits and tooth brushing after controlling for individual effects. A wide range of school structure and policy variables were taken into account, but only few of them were found to influence the health and risk behaviour of young people. Moreover, the study could not detect an effect of health promotion policy at school. The analysis therefore only partially confirms the hypothesis that the school has an impact on the health behaviour of young people. The findings demonstrate the need for a more thorough examination of the paths by which schools can influence the health behaviour of their pupils.

Diversity in social support by role relations: A typology ☆

Abstract Social support is fundamental for social integration and emotional well-being. One aspect of social support that is often the focus of attention is the size of a persons support network. However, additional complex measures of social support are necessary to capture qualitative aspects of support networks, such as the diversity in types of support available from specific types of alters. This paper presents a simple way to acquire this comprehensive information and a condensed way to represent the complexity of a persons support network so this information can easily be included in classic survey analyses. Log-linear latent class analysis is used to construct a typology of ego-centric support networks showing the types of support respondents can expect from alters with a specific role. Depending on the role relation for the five support items, this diversity can adequately be represented by distinguishing 2–4 types of respondents. For the role relation friends, we can differentiate between respondents who expect only companionship from their friends, those expecting emotional support as well as companionship, and respondents expecting no social support at all from their friends. For immediate kin, we find those with only emotional support, those with emotional and instrumental support, those with all types of support, and finally a group of respondents expecting no support at all from immediate kin. The approach presented in this article enables a more detailed measurement of the dimensions of social support contents by managing to compile the diversity by distinguishing types of respondents. Such typologies can easily be used as explanatory variables in subsequent analyses.

Interethnic Marriage: Bringing in the Context through Multilevel Modelling

This article deals with the underlying causes of interethnic marriages of Turks and Moroccans living in Belgium. Predictions derived from assimilation theory (micro-perspective) and from the macro-structural perspective are combined in a single empirical model through multilevel modelling. It is found that both individual and higher-level determinants independently influence the propensity for being interethnically married. Higher odds are generally found for the second generation and at higher levels of age at marriage and educational attainment. Interethnic marriage is further promoted by a small size of the ethnic group, by low ethnic heterogeneity and by low correlation between the ethnic and the socio-economic dimension. Interethnic marriages are generally more prevalent in districts where the common language is French and where the majority of immigrants originate from urban regions in the country of origin.

Mortality following conjugal bereavement, Belgium 1991-96: The unexpected effect of education

This paper examines excess mortality following spousal bereavement by time since bereavement, sex, age, and education. The main hypothesis challenged is that higher education buffers the harmful effects of spousal loss. Using a log-rate model, death-rate ratios (widowed/married) are estimated for 49,849 and 126,746 Belgian widowers and widows and an equal number of non-bereaved controls matched to the bereaved on their socio-demographic characteristics. The hypothesis that the more educated suffer less excess mortality is not supported. Although higher educational levels are associated with lower mortality in general, they do not alleviate the effects of bereavement. On the contrary, in the period immediately following spousal loss, the more highly educated seem to have more, rather than less, excess mortality. Three possible arguments are suggested to account for this: education-related differences in the partner-relationship, structural differences in the availability of appropriate social support, and cultural differences in potential support networks.

Partner selection and divorce in ethnic minorities: distinguishing between two types of ethnic homogamous marriages.

This article compares divorce risks according to marriage type. The common dichotomy between ethnic homogamous and ethnic heterogamous marriages is further elaborated by differentiating a third marriage type; ethnic homogamous marriages between individuals from an ethnic minority group and a partner from the country of origin. Based on the analysis of data concerning the Turkish and Moroccan minorities in Belgium, it has been confirmed that the divorce risk associated with these marriages is higher than that of other ethnic homogamous marriages. However, specific divorce patterns according to marriage type also indicate the importance of differences between the minority groups.

The joint effect of topic interest and follow-up procedures on the response in a mail questionnaire : An empirical test of the leverage-saliency theory in audience research

Leverage-saliency theory provides a seminal basis for research on the differential effects of response-facilitating techniques in surveys. In this article, a quasi-experimental design is applied to analyze the effect of follow-up procedures, taking into account the sample persons’ interest in the survey topic. The authors use multilevel logistic regression to map response on a mail questionnaire in the second step of a two-step data collection procedure. It is found that—after controlling for the effects of sociodemographic and performance-related covariates—the effect of follow-up procedures is larger for those less interested in the survey topic. As such, these findings are an empirical confirmation of the leverage-saliency theory. Some implications for survey research are discussed.

Whose Education Matters More? Mothers’ and Fathers’ Education and the Cultural Participation of Adolescents

This article examines the effects of parental educational levels on the art/heritage and pop/rock participation of adolescents. We use a subset of adolescents from the survey ‘Cultural Participation in Flanders 2003–2004’ (N = 1030) to test the relative effects of the educational levels of the mother and father. Using diagonal reference models, we find that the parent with the highest educational level – regardless of whether it is the father or mother – has the largest influence on the cultural participation of their children, which can be interpreted as a status maximization effect. However, we also find that a lower educated mother still has an influence on art and heritage participation and a lower educated father still has an influence on pop and rock participation. These results highlight the need to reassess the influence of the mother in the Bourdieusian framework. Furthermore, they have important implications for the conceptualization and operationalization of the social status position of families.

An Exploratory Study of Factors Associated With Sexual Inhibition and Excitation: Findings From a Representative Survey in Flanders

The dual control model of sexual response was developed to account for individual differences in sexual excitation and inhibition. According to this model, the balance between excitation and inhibition is of crucial importance in determining an individuals sexual response to a stimulus. In this study, we aimed to contribute to the existing literature on sexual excitation and inhibition in two ways. First, we investigated the distribution of excitation and inhibition scores in a representative population sample. Second, we conducted an exploratory study of the factors associated with variation in excitation and inhibition. We used data from a representative survey on the sexual health of men and women in Flanders (N = 1,825; mean age = 43.77; SD = 17.98). The results indicated that excitation and inhibition had a near normal distribution among men and women. However, the scores for sexual inhibition due to threat of performance failure (SIS1) among men, and for sexual inhibition due to the threat of performance consequences (SIS2) among women, were somewhat skewed. Furthermore, age, gender, physical and mental health, education level, and attitudes toward sex were all to some extent associated with differences in inhibition, excitation, or both.

Social inequality in adolescents' healthy food intake: the interplay between economic, social and cultural capital

Background Current explanations of health inequalities in adolescents focus on behavourial and economic determinants and rarely include more meaningful forms of economic, cultural, and social capital. The aim of the study was to investigate how the interplay between capitals constitutes social inequalities in adolescent healthy food intake. Methods Data were collected in the 2013/14 Flemish Health Behavior among School-aged Children (HBSC) survey, which is part of the international WHO HBSC survey. The total sample included 7266 adolescents aged 12-18. A comprehensive set of 58 capital indicators was used to measure economic, cultural and social capital and a healthy food index was computed from a 17-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) to assess the consumption frequency of healthy food within the overall food intake. Results The different forms of capital were unequally distributed in accordance with the subdivisions within the education system. Only half of the capital indicators positively related to healthy food intake, and instead 17 interactions were found that both increased or reduced inequalities. Cultural capital was a crucial component for explaining inequalities such that social gradients in healthy food intake increased when adolescents participated in elite cultural practices ( P < 0.05), and were consequently reduced when adolescents reported to have a high number of books at home ( P < 0.05). Conclusion A combination of selected resources in the form of economic, cultural and social capital may both increase or reduce healthy food intake inequalities in adolescents. Policy action needs to take into account the unequal distribution of these resources within the education system.

Cultural Capital and Attitudes Toward Homosexuals: Exploring the Relation Between Lifestyles and Homonegativity

This article explores the potential of cultural capital as explanatory factor in understanding homonegativity. Building on recent findings suggesting the need for a cultural component in understanding homonegativity, this article explores the relation between lifestyles (the measurable expression of cultural capital) and homonegativity. Using the “Social-Cultural Changes in Flanders 2006” survey (a population-wide survey in Flanders, the northern part of Belgium), we observed that homonegativity is lowest in lifestyle clusters where cultural capital is higher. This effect, furthermore, is maintained even after controlling for other homonegativity correlates. These results suggest that cultural capital, expressed by lifestyles, is a valuable addition to the understanding of homonegativity.