Maternal work early in the lives of children and its distal associations with achievement and behavior problems: a meta-analysis.

This meta-analysis of 69 studies (1,483 effect sizes) used random effects models to examine maternal employment during infancy/early childhood in relation to 2 major domains of child functioning: achievement and behavior problems. Analyses of studies that spanned 5 decades indicated that, with a few exceptions, early employment was not significantly associated with later achievement or internalizing/externalizing behaviors. The exceptions were for teacher ratings of achievement and internalizing behaviors: Employment was associated with higher achievement and fewer internalizing behaviors.

Substance use after residential treatment among individuals with co-occurring disorders: the role of anxiety/depressive symptoms and trauma exposure.

This longitudinal study examined the contribution of anxiety/depressive symptoms and lifetime and recent trauma exposure to substance use after residential substance abuse treatment among individuals with co-occurring disorders. Data were collected from adults at treatment entry and 6 and 12 months later. At treatment entry, nearly all participants reported lifetime trauma exposure, and over one third met criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Income volatility and psychological depression.

Income volatility appears to be increasing especially among lower income workers. Such volatility may reflect the ongoing shift of economic risk from employers to employees as marked by decreasing job security and employer-provided benefits. This study tests whether absolute volatility or downward volatility in income predict depression controlling for prior depression.

Maternal employment and children's achievement in context: a meta-analysis of four decades of research.

This meta-analysis of 68 studies (770 effect sizes) used random effects models to examine whether children's achievement differed depending on whether their mothers were employed. Four achievement outcomes were emphasized: formal tests of achievement and intellectual functioning, grades, and teacher ratings of cognitive competence. When all employment was compared with nonemployment for combined and separate achievement outcomes without moderators, effects were nonsignificant.

Physical and mental health costs of traumatic war experiences among Civil War veterans.

Background: Hundreds of thousands of soldiers face exposure to combat during wars across the globe. The health effects of traumatic war experiences have not been adequately assessed across the lifetime of these veterans.

Objective: To identify the role of traumatic war experiences in predicting postwar nervous and physical disease and mortality using archival data from military and medical records of veterans from the Civil War.

Birth weight and mothers' adverse employment change.

Low birth weight has been linked at the aggregate level to unemployment rates and at the individual level to subjective distress. We hypothesize that maternal underemployment, including unemployment, involuntary part-time work, and low wage work predicts decreased birth weight. The relationship of birth weight to maternal employment changes during pregnancy was studied prospectively in 1,165 singleton first births in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth data set.

Mental health and welfare transitions: depression and alcohol abuse in AFDC women.

From a selection perspective, does prior dysfunction select women into welfare or serve as a barrier to leaving welfare? From a social causation perspective, does entering or exiting welfare lead to changes in well being? These questions were analyzed in panel data for over 3,600 women drawn from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth for the period 1992-94. Welfare is associated with both depression and alcohol consumption cross-sectionally. This link appears to derive in small part from selection into welfare by depression (in interaction with marital status), butdepression and alcohol abuse did not operate as barriers to leaving welfare.