Katherine Trent

Sex Ratios and Women's Roles: A Cross-National Analysis.

Data for a sample of 117 countries are analyzed to test several hypotheses derived from the Guttentag-Secord theory relating societal-level sex ratios to womens status and roles. The theory implies that high sex ratios, which indicate a relative undersupply of women, will be positively associated with the proportion of women who marry and the fertility rate and negatively associated with womens average age at marriage, rates of divorce and illegitimacy, and female rates of literacy, labor-force participation, and suicide. Although the bivariate correlations between the sex ratio at ages 15-49 and these dimensions of womens roles provide little support for the theory, most of the expected relationships emerge when the level of socioeconomic development, as measured by a multi-item index, is statistically controlled. Additional analyses indicate that the effect of the sex ratio on womens role is more pronounced in developed than in developing countries.

Structural Determinants of the Divorce Rate: A Cross-Societal Analysis.

Data for a sample of 66 countries are analyzed to investigate the societal-level correlates of the divorce rate. On the basis of theoretical precedence four major factors are considered as predictors of divorce rates at the societal level: socioeconomic development the female labor participation rate the sex ratio and dominant religion. Regression analyses reveal that all factors except religion have a significant effect on the crude divorce rate....Theoretical interpretations [of the findings] are discussed. (EXCERPT)

Adolescent Birth Intentions: Social Disadvantage, and Behavioral Outcomes.

This study examines the relationship between birth intentions and outcomes among adolescents in the US. Data were obtained from the National Longitudinal Survey of Labor Market Experience of Youth among 3070 never-married female adolescents without children in 1979. These adolescents were followed for 5 years through 1984 in order to examine nonmarital and adolescent birth outcomes. Birth intentions include expectations about bearing a child before the age of 20 years and expectations about nonmarital childbearing in the 5-year period. Independent variables include race ethnicity poverty status and family structure and controls for respondent characteristics family characteristics and context. Findings indicate that African American adolescents had greater expectations of adolescent births and nonmarital births. Adolescents from poverty backgrounds were more likely to expect early and nonmarital births. Adolescents from two parent families were less likely to expect early and nonmarital births and to experience a nonmarital birth early or later. Women with expectations of early or nonmarital births were more likely to later experience an early or nonmarital birth. Multivariate analysis reveals that expectation of an early or nonmarital birth significantly increased the odds of having an early or nonmarital birth. The effects were not large. Women who expected an early birth were 1.7 times more likely to experience that event. Women who expected a nonmarital birth were 1.5 times more likely to experience that event. African Americans were 3.4 times more likely as Whites to have a nonmarital adolescent birth and 4.6 times more likely to have a nonmarital birth. Women from poor families were 2 times as likely to have an early or nonmarital birth. Disadvantaged social position increased the risk.

Teenage Mothers in Nuclear and Extended Households Differences by Marital Status and Race/Ethnicity

As an initial step in expanding our understanding of the influence of family context on adolescent mothers, this article investigates the patterns of, and factors associated with, their household arrangements. Although adolescent mothers are at great risk of eventually living in female-headed households and facing economic hardship, past research has said little about the households of these young mothers while they are teenagers. Using individual-level data from the 1980 U.S. Census, we show household arrangements vary by marital status, race/ethnicity, age, number of children, and central city residence. And there are important differences by race/ethnicity in the way the other variables are related to household arrangements. Importantly, household arrangements are related to school enrollment, labor force participation, poverty status, and receiving public assistance.

Imbalanced Sex Ratios, Men’s Sexual Behavior, and Risk of Sexually Transmitted Infection in China

China has been experiencing pronounced changes in its sex ratio, but little research has explored the consequences of these changes for sexual behavior and health. We merge data from the 1999–2000 Chinese Health and Family Life Survey with community-level data from the 1982, 1990, and 2000 Chinese censuses to examine the relationship between the local sex ratio and several dimensions of men’s sexual behavior and sexual health. Multilevel logistic regression models show that, when faced with a relative abundance of age-matched women in their community, Chinese men are slightly less likely to have intercourse with commercial sex workers, but are more likely to engage in premarital noncommercial intercourse and to test positive for a sexually transmitted infection. These findings are consistent with hypotheses derived from demographic-opportunity theory, which suggests that an abundance of opposite-sex partners will increase the risk of early, frequent, and multi-partner sex and, through this, sexually transmitted infection risk.

Growing Up Without Siblings and Adult Sociability Behaviors

The authors use data from the National Survey of Families and Households to examine a range of sociability behaviors for adults who grew up with and without siblings. Compared with adults who grew up with siblings, adults who grew up without siblings have less frequent social activities with relatives, and the difference is greater among those who did not live with both parents growing up. Differences in engaging in certain social events between adults who grew up without and with siblings vary by age. Differences in participation in sports-, youth-, or school-related group activities for those who grew up without and with siblings vary by gender. Thus, there are some differences in adult sociability behaviors between those who grew up with and without siblings; however, the pattern of findings in this study suggests that these differences are not large or pervasive across a range of sociability behaviors and may grow smaller with age.

Skewed Sex Ratios and Criminal Victimization in India

Although substantial research has explored the causes of India’s excessively masculine population sex ratio, few studies have examined the consequences of this surplus of males. We merge individual-level data from the 2004–2005 India Human Development Survey with data from the 2001 India population census to examine the association between the district-level male-to-female sex ratio at ages 15 to 39 and self-reports of victimization by theft, breaking and entering, and assault. Multilevel logistic regression analyses reveal positive and statistically significant albeit substantively modest effects of the district-level sex ratio on all three victimization risks. We also find that higher male-to-female sex ratios are associated with the perception that young unmarried women in the local community are frequently harassed. Household-level indicators of family structure, socioeconomic status, and caste, as well as areal indicators of women’s empowerment and collective efficacy, also emerge as significant predictors of self-reported criminal victimization and the perceived harassment of young women. The implications of these findings for India’s growing sex ratio imbalance are discussed.

Structural determinants of the abortion rate: a cross-societal analysis.

Data for a sample of 89 countries are used to examine societal-level predictors of the legal status of abortion and its incidence as indicated by abortion rates. Measures of socioeconomic development, womens labor force participation, and dominant religion are considered as predictors of abortion. Logistic regression analysis reveals that socioeconomic development has a positive effect on the probability of abortion being legal. Both a greater dominance of Catholicism and Islam in a society reduce the probability that abortion is legal. Results of tobit analyses show that development has curvilinear effects on abortion rates, with lower rates of abortion at both the lower and higher ends of development. Findings also indicate a positive effect of female labor force participation on the abortion rate that initially grows stronger with increases in socioeconomic development, but weakens with further increases. Finally, a greater proportion of Catholics in a population lowers the abortion rate.

Teenage childbearing: structural determinants in developing countries

Data for a sample of 50 developing countries are analysed to investigate the social correlates of the teenage birth rate. Of five major factors considered as predictors of national birth rates (socioeconomic development, family planning programmes, womens status, the sex ratio, and marriage patterns), regression analyses reveal that only the average age at marriage for women has a significant effect on the teenage birth rate. In contrast, all variables except the sex ratio and the average age at marriage for women have a significant effect on the total fertility rate.

Changes in Individual Sibling Relationships in Response to Life Events

Data from the first two waves of the National Survey of Families and Households are used to examine how individual sibling relationships change in response to life events in a gendered context. We find union formation is associated with a decline in sibling visits, as is transitioning from part- to full-time work. Becoming a parent increases support from a sibling and remaining childless over time is associated with more exchanges of support. Parental death decreases support to a sibling. Moving farther away lowers the number of visits, exchanges of support, and frequency of phoning or writing. However, for most of the life events examined, we find no significant effects on sibling relationships and little evidence that gender of siblings influences the effects of life events on sibling relationships. We conclude that the nature of individual sibling relationships remains relatively stable in the face of life events.