Socius最新文献

Previous work has documented the rise of educational expectations amongst US adolescents and the change in its ability to predict future educational attainment. However, studies have yet to examine these longitudinal changes across generational birth cohorts defined by ever-shifting social norms, cultural contexts, and social policies. Using Monitoring the Future study panel data, we conducted cohort-stratified modified Poisson regression models to estimate the probability of bachelor's degree completion by educational expectations overall and by gender, race and ethnicity, and parental educational attainment. We found that despite high educational expectations, non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic, and first-generation students had a low likelihood of bachelor's degree completion. These relationships persisted across generational cohorts. These findings suggest that social and economic resources remain salient factors that structure educational opportunities for students from minoritized racial and ethnic backgrounds and first-generation students.

Measurement strategies for gauging sexual identity within the United States's population-based data infrastructure are evolving. Despite notable advancements, most measurement techniques still do not accurately reflect the nuanced ways in which sexually diverse adults conceptualize their identities. One measurement limitation involves asking participants to choose a single "best" identity. In this visualization, drawing on data from the National Couples' Health and Time Study, the authors illustrate the complexity of sexual identity responses by constructing a network that aggregates the patterns of multiple identities chosen by respondents. The findings underscore that relying on a single-item response risks undercounting the range of sexually diverse identities. As national surveys progress in incorporating sexual identity measures, a "select all that apply" option is crucial if the identities of sexually diverse adults are to be accurately represented.

Social infrastructure (SI) may buffer against suicide risk by improving social cohesion, social support, and information and resource sharing. This study uses an ecological approach to examine the relationship between county-level SI availability and suicide rates among working-age adults (ages 25-64) in the United States, a population for whom suicide rates are high, rising, and geographically unequal. Mortality data are from the National Vital Statistics System for 2016-2019. SI data are from the National Neighborhood Data Archive for 2013-2015 and capture the availability of typically free SI (e.g. libraries, community centers) and commercial SI (e.g. coffee shops, diners, entertainment venues). Results from negative binomial models show that suicide rates are significantly lower in counties with more SI availability, net of county demographic, socioeconomic, and health care factors. This relationship held for both typically free and commercial SI. Policymakers should consider strengthening existing and developing new social infrastructure, particularly in counties with less educated populations, as part of a broader strategy to reduce suicide rates in the United States.

Sociological research has documented myriad associations between individuals' overall social connectedness and health, but rarely considers the shorter-term dynamics of social life that may underlie these associations. We examine how being with others ("social accompaniment") is associated with momentary experiences of symptoms, drawing smartphone-based ecological momentary assessments (N=12,720) collected from 342 older adults from the Chicago Health and Activity in Real Time study. We find that patterns of social accompaniment are distinct from global measures of social integration such as network size. Older adults who are in the company of a friend or neighbor are significantly less likely to experience momentary fatigue and stress, even after accounting for overall measures of social integration. These results suggest that social accompaniment has unique implications for short-term health outcomes. New theoretical perspectives and empirical analyses are needed to better understand the dynamic nature of everyday social accompaniment and its longer-term implications for well-being.