Kathryn S. Oths

Prenatal Predictors of Intimate Partner Abuse

OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence of physical abuse and to identify predictors of abuse in a sample of pregnant women in Alabama. DESIGN A prospective, correlational design was used. SETTING Participants were drawn from four unrelated public and private prenatal clinics in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. PARTICIPANTS The sample consisted of pregnant women between 20 and 34 years of age who had no high-risk health conditions and who initiated prenatal care during the 1st trimester. Four hundred thirty-nine ethnically diverse women completed interviews during the 1st and 3rd trimesters and had available birth outcomes. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Physical abuse during pregnancy was measured by a modified version of the Abuse Assessment Screen. Bivariate and multiple logistic regressions yielded significant associations between individual predictors and physical abuse during pregnancy. RESULTS The findings showed that 10.9% of the sample experienced physical abuse during the current pregnancy and 62% reported the intimate partner or former intimate partner to be the perpetrator. The best predictive model included stressful life events, depression, lack of faith in God or a higher power, and lack of contraceptive use.

A prospective study of psychosocial job strain and birth outcomes.

We conducted a prospective study in Alabama to examine the relation between job strain during pregnancy and birth outcomes. We hypothesized that maternal jobs high in demands and low in control would lead to lower birth weight in offspring. The sample consisted of 480 black and white women, 20 to 34 years of age receiving early prenatal care. Adjusting for standard covariates, women with high strain jobs had babies with birth weights 190 gm lower than those born to mothers in low strain jobs or unemployed (95% CI = 48gm, 333gm). Black women experienced a greater effect from job strain than white women.

Communication in a chiropractic clinic: How A D.C. treats his patients

This study of a chiropractor and his patients represents the first interaction analysis of an alternative practitioner. Relationships between the types and quantities of communications in clinical exchanges and patient satisfaction with treatment are examined using both quantitative and qualitative analysis of verbal dialogue and clinical observations. Findings suggest that patient satisfaction is enhanced by a practitionerpatient relationship characterized by initial transmission of large amounts of comprehensible information successively supplanted by personal affective dialogue. New patients are usually unfamiliar with the chiropractic belief system and may have special communication needs due to the psychoemotional component to their, often chronic, problems. The chiropractor provides the patient with a structured, supportive environment and theoretical explanations designed to take the mystery out of process and problems. In essence, the chiropractor first manipulates a patients belief structure before manipulating his or her physical structure, providing an analogous structural realignment in both the mind and body. Contrasts between biomedical and chiropractic clinical encounters are noted.

How culture shapes the body: Cultural consonance and body mass in urban brazil

The aim of this article is to develop a model of how culture shapes the body, based on two studies conducted in urban Brazil.

SOCIAL STATUS AND FOOD PREFERENCE IN SOUTHERN BRAZIL

The prestige value of food and food behaviors is a topic of inquiry that complements the study of nutritional aspects of food use. In this work, varying social groups in Brazil are examined with regard to their evaluation of the status of available foods, and in turn, the frequencies with which they consume high and low status foods. Ethnographic and structured interviews were used to collect data, with agreement among groups tested by using Cultural Consensus Modeling. It was found that most social groups had a distinct notion of what foods are prestigious, although the high consumption of these same foods did not necessarily follow.

Assessing variation in health status in the Andes: a biocultural model

Research on health status in the Andes highlands is synthesized to demonstrate that intracultural diversity in the region is greater than often appreciated. Understanding the range of diversity in health status requires a biocultural model of sickness processes. Ecological, sociocultural, political-economic and historical factors, such as altitude, mode of production, labor relations and land reform, are shown to combine to produce varying levels of health as measured at the community level. The model is illustrated both by comparing communities and by the in-depth examination of a single community in the northern Peruvian highlands. A rapid assessment checklist is provided to aid health agents in better assessing the relative health of communities in a potential intervention area.

Intracultural Diversity in Food Knowledge in Southern Brazil

This research explores the social distribution of food knowledge in Ribeirão Preto, a city in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Through an analysis of the distribution of individual expertise in regard to the cultural model of food along the dimensions of healthfulness, practicality, and prestige, this research demonstrates that knowledge of the cultural model of food is most strongly shared in the upper class of the city. Qualitative and quantitative ethnographic research suggests that the social patterning of health-related food knowledge in Ribeirão Preto may serve to maintain class distinction.

Chestnuts and Spring Chickens: Conflict and Change in Farmers Market Ideologies

The taxonomy of farmers markets requires an update to encompass the expanding range of available options. Also absent from the literature is an appreciation of the connection between market types, ideological stances, social characteristics, and conflict—necessary for understanding the social processes, motivations, and expectations that create a farmers market. Our study of a long-standing farmers market on the verge of municipal revamping aims to unite these interests, with a focus on the diverse demographics and values of the social groups involved. We propose a synthetic two-dimensional scheme to classify U.S. farmers markets. Bourdieus theory of distinction is instrumental in making sense of the diversity encountered.

A decade of rapid change: Biocultural influences on child growth in highland Peru

In the past decade many areas of Peru have been undergoing extreme environmental, economic, and cultural change. In the highland hamlet of Chugurpampa, La Libertad, climate change has ruined harvests and led to frequent periods of migration to the coast in search of livelihood. This biocultural research examines how the changes could be affecting the growth of children who maintain residence in the highlands.

Who Will Be Served? Farmers Market Variability and the Expectations of Young Adults

The number of farmers markets in the United States has increased rapidly over the past decade. The emergence of trendier markets puts pressure on cities to rehabilitate their traditional markets to compete. When considering any new community enterprise, it is imperative to gather knowledge on the needs, wants, and extent of the potential customer base in order to shape it to local realities. While much has been said about the elitist nature of alternative food movement, one segment whose values and expectations have not been studied regarding farmers markets is young adults. In Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where farmers markets were in the process of transformation, a survey of the consumer preferences of a diverse sample of young adults at a large public university demonstrated the greater attraction of a more festival-like market, even if the produce was perceived as more expensive. Green values and the desire for a wide variety of items for purchase beyond fresh fruits and vegetables were other notable traits ...