To study national-level trends in assisted reproduction technology (ART) treatments and outcomes as well as the characteristics of women who have sought this form of infertility treatment.
...Population-based study.
Not applicable.
For CDC: All reporting clinics from 1996-2010. For NSFG: for the logistic analysis, sample comprising 2,325 women aged 22-44 years who have ever used medical help to get pregnant, excluding women who used only miscarriage prevention services.
None.
CDC data (number of cycles, live birth deliveries, live births, patient diagnoses); and NSFG data (individual use of ART procedures).
Between 1995 and 2010, use of ART increased. Parity and age are strong predictors of using ART procedures. The other correlates are higher education, having had tubal surgery, and having a current fertility problem.
The two complementary data sets highlight the trends of ART use. An increase in the use of ART services over this time period is seen in both data sources. Nulliparous women aged 35-39 years are the most likely to have ever used ART services.
This study tested whether effects of a workplace intervention, aimed at promoting employees’ schedule control and supervisor support for personal and family life, had implications for ...parent–adolescent relationships; we also tested whether parent–child relationships differed as a function of how many intervention program sessions participants attended. Data came from a group randomized trial of a workplace intervention, delivered in the information technology division of a Fortune 500 company. Analyses focused on 125 parent–adolescent dyads that completed baseline and 12-month follow-up home interviews. Results revealed no main effects of the intervention, but children of employees who attended 75 % or more program sessions reported more time with their parent and more parent education involvement compared to adolescents whose parents attended <75 % of sessions, and they tended to report more time with parent and more parental solicitation of information about their experiences compared to adolescents whose parents were randomly assigned to the usual practice condition.
Research thus far on the psychological consequences of impaired fecundity in developed countries has relied heavily on clinic-based samples. This study uses a nationally representative sample of ...American women regardless of fecundity status or treatment status. I analyze reports of fecundity status and anxiety from a 1995 sample of almost 11,000 respondents. The results show consistent positive effects of subfecundity on the odds of fulfilling the diagnostic criteria for Generalized Anxiety Disorder and the incidence rate of symptoms among those who would be so diagnosed, even when controlling for potential confounding factors. Whether a subfecund respondent currently desires to have a child does not moderate the likelihood of being anxious, but does moderate the number of symptoms reported. The lack of a moderating effect of seeking treatment suggests that past research on clinic-based samples is generalizable to all subfecund women.
We examine the importance of the family and friendship group as two crucial developmental contexts for adolescent relationship experiences. We focus particularly on immigrant adolescents who make up ...an increasing proportion of the youth population and who come from cultural contexts with stronger family traditions than native-born adolescents. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we model the characteristics associated with having romantic relationships and participating in sex-related activities within relationships for immigrant adolescents, children of immigrants and adolescents in native-born families. First generation adolescents are less likely to enter romantic relationships than adolescents in native-born families, but those who do participate engage in similar sex-related activities as native-born youth. This evidence suggests that immigrant youth who enter romantic relationships are selective of the more assimilated to native adolescent norms of heterosexual behavior. The peer group is especially important for immigrant adolescents because it provides opportunities for romantic relationship involvement.
A substantial proportion of students who are enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities are over age 25. A key question is whether older students are as likely to obtain degrees as are younger ...students. The authors examine the odds of obtaining a bachelor's degree by the age of the enrolled student. The effects of background attributes and adult role events are also examined using data on women aged 15-44 from the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth. Women over age 25 are at a disadvantage in completing their degrees, but this effect is due largely to the fact that older students are more likely to be enrolled part time and to face competing demands for their time and attention. When part-time enrollment is taken into account, the negative effect of age on the completion of degrees is explained. The implications of these results for future research and for policies and practices regarding adult college students are discussed.
Schedule control and supervisor support for family and personal life may help employees manage the work-family interface. Existing data and research designs, however, have made it difficult to ...conclusively identify the effects of these work resources. This analysis utilizes a group-randomized trial in which some units in an information technology workplace were randomly assigned to participate in an initiative, called STAR, that targeted work practices, interactions, and expectations by (1) training supervisors on the value of demonstrating support for employees' personal lives and (2) prompting employees to reconsider when and where they work. We find statistically significant, although modest, improvements in employees' work-family conflict and family time adequacy, and larger changes in schedule control and supervisor support for family and personal life. We find no evidence that this intervention increased work hours or perceived job demands, as might have happened with increased permeability of work across time and space. Subgroup analyses suggest the intervention brought greater benefits to employees more vulnerable to work-family conflict. This study uses a rigorous design to investigate deliberate organizational changes and their effects on work resources and the work-family interface, advancing our understanding of the impact of social structures on individual lives.
This review examines arguments and evidence pertaining to the question: why have children in settings where the net economic costs of children are clearly substantial? The review is organized around ...three themes: biological predispositions, environment (social coercion) and rational choice. Specifically, we explore the argument that evolution has produced sets of genes that predispose persons to childbearing by making sex and parenthood pleasurable. We review sociological arguments regarding the pronatalism/antinatalism of societal institutions. Finally, we discuss arguments that stress the rationality of childbearing decisions by appealing to biological predispositions and the economic and non-economic values of children. The authors speculate that while a modern social structure and rationale supportive of childbearing could be constructed, such changes are not inevitable and may be difficult in the face of competing interests. Moreover, future social and technological change could alter the context of childbearing substantially. This uncertainty complicates policy recommendations. /// Cet article examine les arguments répondant à la question: pourquoi avoir des enfants quand on sait bien que leurs coûts nets sont importants? Cet examen est organisé autour de trois thèmes: les prédispositions biologiques, l'environnement (la contrainte sociale) et le choix rationnel. Plus précisément, nous explorons l'argument selon lequel l'évolution a produit des ensembles de gènes qui prédisposent les individus à avoir des enfants, en rendant la sexualité et la parenté plaisantes. Nous examinons les arguments sociologiques portant sur le pronatalisme/antinatalisme des institutions de la société. Finalement, nous discutons les arguments qui font ressortir la rationalité des décisions d'avoir un enfant, en faisant appel aux prédispositions et aux valeurs économiques et non-économiques des enfants. Bien qu'il soit possible de mettre en place une structure sociale moderne et raisonnable dans le but d'avoir des enfants, les auteurs pensent que ces changements ne sont pas inévitables et peuvent même rencontrer des difficultés devant des intérêts divergents. Cependant, les changements futurs, tant sociaux que technologiques peuvent substantiellement altérer le contexte dans lequel nous avons des enfants. Cette incertitude complique les recommandations politiques.
This study examines age differences among adolescent females, the fathers of their children, and their first sexual partners, as well as the girl's relationship to her first partner. It uses data ...from Vital Statistics, the National Maternal and Infant Health Survey, and the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth. We investigate the potential impact of statutory rape laws on teen fertility and the initiation of sexual activity. We find that age differences between teen mothers and the fathers of their children follow historic norms. We further show that one may draw misleading conclusions about the extent to which teen girls engage in sexual activity with older men if conclusions are based simply on data on births. Finally, our demonstration of the potential effects of statutory rape laws on teen births and the age pattern of first intercourse suggests that even successful enforcement of these laws is unlikely to lead to substantial reductions in teen childbearing.
We examine interracial marriage as a culminating event in a sequence of intimate relationships across the life course. Using data from the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth, we analyze the ...background characteristics associated with selecting a first sex partner and first husband who differ in race/ethnicity from the respondent as well as the continuity across both outcomes. Our results show that respondents' race/ethnicity, parents' education, and region of birth are significant predictors of both choices. Selecting partners across racial lines for first sex is significantly associated with the selection of a first husband across race; the association between both outcomes is particularly strong for non-Hispanic black women, implying that social integration across race may be a life course phenomenon.
We examine the importance of the family and friendship group as two crucial developmental contexts for adolescent relationship experiences. We focus particularly on immigrant adolescents who make up ...an increasing proportion of the youth population and who come from cultural contexts with stronger family traditions than native‐born adolescents. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we model the characteristics associated with having romantic relationships and participating in sex‐related activities within relationships for immigrant adolescents, children of immigrants and adolescents in native‐born families. First generation adolescents are less likely to enter romantic relationships than adolescents in native‐born families, but those who do participate engage in similar sex‐related activities as native‐born youth. This evidence suggests that immigrant youth who enter romantic relationships are selective of the more assimilated to native adolescent norms of heterosexual behavior. The peer group is especially important for immigrant adolescents because it provides opportunities for romantic relationship involvement.
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