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Early puberty raises depression risk
EARLY MATURING GIRLS are at increased risk of developing depressive symptoms, according to new research based on the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). Researchers set out to examine whether
gender, puberty and environmental adversities contributed to depressive symptoms. Findings reveal similar rates of depression in boys’ and girls’ pre-adolescence. The onset of depressive symptoms in late childhood were more strongly associated with early exposure to socioeconomic disadvantage than when onset of symptoms occurred in adolescence.
The study reveals a marked increase in rates of depression in girls during early adolescence. By mid-adolescence the prevalence of symptoms in girls was over twice that in boys. Moreover, puberty had an impact on the emergence of depressive symptoms in girls, but not boys. Researchers conclude that early maturing girls could be targeted for preventive intervention. n
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Contact Dr Carol Joinson, University of Bristol Email
Carol.Joinson@bristol.ac.uk Telephone 0117 954 6693 ESRC Grant Number RES-000-22-2509
Caring is dead end for migrants
WELL QUALIFIED MIGRANTS are wrong to believe that working in the care sector will provide them with a stepping stone into more appropriate work, or even offer them a decent livelihood for themselves and their families, says a new study. Dr Sandra Cuban’s research looked at migrants, mostly women, with a high degree of professional expertise and tertiary education working in the social care industry in Cumbria. She discovered considerable de-skilling and workplace exploitation to the point where few migrants, especially those who were not from the EU, progressed their careers. “Our findings reveal significant brain waste amongst a hidden and talented workforce where their higher education neither safeguarded them
from mistreatment nor assisted them in career advancement,” Dr Cuban points out.
Contrary to popular myth, they rarely lacked information or language proficiencies. Rather, the obstacles ranged from non-marketable vocational qualification treadmills to long and unsociable hours in a sector that paid them poorly and bound them to contracts. Most importantly, the restrictive immigration policies, especially for those on student routes, limited their freedom and capacities to move upwards – the reason many came to England in the first place. n
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Contact Dr Sondra Cuban, University of Lancaster Email
s.cuban@
lancaster.ac.uk Telephone 01524 593572 ESRC Grant Number RES-000-22-2554
TEEN VIOLENCE TO PARENTS
Adolescent-to-parent violence remains largely unarticulated within the fields of youth justice, policing and criminology. Researchers aim to increase the visibility and understanding of such violence and to develop clear recommendations for effective policies and appropriate interventions for these families and the criminal justice agencies they encounter. ESRC Grant Number RES-061-25-0392
EXPLORING STREET TRADE In many cities in the Southern Hemisphere, informal employment now provides up to 80 per cent of urban jobs. Street trade is one of the informal economy’s largest, most visible and contested domains. This study will explore the fragmented and plural regulatory environment facing urban street traders.
ESRC Grant Number RES-167-25-0591 Part of the ESRC/DFID Joint Scheme for Research on International Development – Poverty Alleviation
HEALTH EQUITY IN CITIES The geographical concentration of high-income groups and the segregation of poverty and low-income groups is a common feature of urbanisation in Brazil and India. This study asks whether living in a spatially mixed area is better for population health and health equity than living in a spatially segregated area. ESRC Grant Number RES-238-25-0015 Part of the Collaborative Analysis of Microdata Resources: Brazil, India programme
AUTUMN 2010 SOCIETY NOW 9
IN BRIEF
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