Several DUPRI students attended the Population Association of America (PAA) Annual Meeting in Columbus, Ohio from April 18-20. There they presented their research at both panels and poster sessions and serving as panel discussants. Below we summarize their work.
Religious Beliefs Do Not Buffer the Effects of Chronic Stressor Exposure on Health
Isabella Bouklas, Duke University.
Existing work on religion and health is predominantly concerned with the health effects of institutionalized religious behavior, such as service attendance. Some research has addressed the potential health effects of religious beliefs independent of religious behavior with mixed results. Using longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study (n = 20,167), this study examines whether the relationship between exposure to a range of chronic stressors and self-rated health varies by the strength of four religious beliefs. Multilevel models estimate null marginal effects of religiosity, indicating that religious beliefs do not buffer the adverse effects of chronic stressors on health. These results demonstrate the need for further work integrating aspects of religious coping and the stress process model to advance the limited and mixed literature around religious beliefs and stress.
Catastrophic Health Care Expenditures and Children: The Protective Effect of Health Insurance Coverage
Shuyi Qiu, Duke University.
Catastrophic healthcare expenditure (CHE), an extreme case of healthcare expenditure, could have detrimental effects on the wellbeing of household members, especially children. With a set of multi-variable logistic regressions models built on longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics from 2011 to 2019, this study will contribute to the literature as the first to examine the impact of CHE and the buffering effect of health insurance coverage on child education attainment. Preliminary results show that children who experienced CHE tended to be in households with better socio-economic status, but they have a relatively lower probability of being enrolled in college compared to their counterparts who did not experience CHE, indicating that CHE experience may be a risk factor for human capital attainment. This analysis will provide evidence for policymakers to consider more comprehensive ways to improve child development outcomes in those vulnerable households via health insurance coverage.
The Consequences of Sibling Criminal Legal System Contact for Family Life
Sara Wakefield, Rutgers University; Garrett Baker, Duke University; Christopher Wildeman, Duke University.
Sibling incarceration is the most common form of familial incarceration in the United States, yet little research considers its consequences for other children in the household or for family life more broadly. Using hierarchical linear models and data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, this study seeks to partially fill that gap by testing how a sibling’s criminal legal system contact (SCLSC) influences the home life, social support, and wellbeing of other children in the household. Results suggest that SCLSC contributes to substantial declines in familial social support and material security while reducing the wellbeing of other children in the household. Preliminary analyses also imply that some effect heterogeneity exists along gender and racial/ethnic lines. Taken together, the results suggest that SCLSC can disrupt home life for siblings and families alike, highlighting an important but under-studied vehicle through which mass incarceration may imperil families and children.
Measuring Insecurity: Dynamics of Housing Arrangements and Residential Mobility Among Children
Warren Lowell, Duke University.
Measurement of housing insecurity is unsettled in research literature, and the relationship between static housing insecurity measures and residential mobility is unknown. I use individual-fixed effects regression models with restricted-access residential histories from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to test how three housing arrangements commonly considered insecure—cost burden, overcrowding, and doubling up—predict residential mobility outcomes. I find that children are more likely to experience a move when they reside in housing arrangements considered insecure, but these moves are not always emblematic of insecurity. Severe cost burdens, severe overcrowding, and doubling up with non-kin increase the probability of either frequent or reactive mobility. However, moderate cost burdens, moderate overcrowding, and doubling up with kin are associated with mobility outcomes that are purposive (such as reducing costs, obtaining more space, or starting a new household). These findings imply a reconsideration of housing insecurity thresholds and better targeted housing support.
Using a Linked Dataset to Study the Spatial and Social Integration of Immigrants From China in a New Area of Destination
Yingzhi Xu, Duke University; Giovanna Merli, Duke University; Ted Mouw, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill; Jerry Reiter, Duke University.
This paper explores (1) processes of immigrants' social incorporation as measured by residential patterns of Chinese immigrants in a new immigrant destination in the U.S. South, where suburbanization in majority white areas and spatial dispersion characterize immigrants’ residential arrangements; and (2) the role of Chinese immigrants' social networks in characterizing their social contexts despite spatial dispersion and neighborhood attainment, and the implication of their co-ethnic and native ties for socio-cultural integration. It utilizes individual records from a population representative survey of Chinese immigrants and their social ties at destination and origin, linked to a commercial database of residential addresses (InfoUSA) which facilitates precise investigation of the spatial distribution of immigrants. The paper contributes to the literatures on spatial assimilation, neighborhood attainment and selective assimilation.