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Proximal risk factors including household chaos, parenting and maternal distress can have a broad impact on multiple domains of child development and functioning. Using multiple methodologies including a meta-analysis and structural equation modeling with an empirical, cross-sectional design from a larger longitudinal research study; in this dissertation, I examine the impact of household chaos on child executive functioning, socioemotional and physiological stress outcomes, the role that parenting plays in this association, and how maternal distress predicts chaos in the home. In study 1, I conduct a meta-analysis examining the direct association between household chaos and child executive functioning, as well as multiple potential moderators (e.g. child age, sex and race/ethnicity). It incorporates 26 studies, with 27 independent effect sizes with a total sample of 8,944 children. Overall, I found a significant effect of r = .22 between household chaos and child executive function. Among the moderators assessed, only measurement approach of executive functions (informant-completed questionnaire versus direct assessment) was significant, with informant-completed questionnaires yielding an effect of r = .27 compared to direct assessment, r = .16. I conducted a series of separate moderation analyses for questionnaire and direct assessment effects. No significant moderators emerged from the questionnaire analyses, despite heterogeneous effect sizes. Direct assessment analyses revealed that both household chaos dimensions (disorganization and instability) were significantly related to child executive functions, however instability was a stronger correlate (r = .21) than disorganization (r = .09). Composition of the sample was also a significant moderator with effects increased with the proportion of minorities, and with parents with lower levels of education. Building on this work, in studies 2 and 3, I used cross-sectional empirical data from a sample of 137 mothers and their school-aged (5-year old) children. During home visits, mothers completed questionnaires assessing their mood, stressful experiences, the home environment and their child’s socioemotional functioning. Mothers also completed a video tour of the home. Mother-child interactions were videotaped and later coded for parenting. Both mothers and children independently completed behavioural assessments of executive function. Also, hair samples were collected from mothers and children from which the stress hormone, cortisol, was extracted as a biomarker of chronic stress. In order to empirically test the findings from the meta-analysis, in my second study, I used structural equation modeling to examine the indirect effect of household chaos on child executive functioning via parenting. I found that household chaos was directly and indirectly (via maternal cognitive sensitivity and emotional availability) associated with a latent variable of child executive functioning. Furthermore, instability, but not disorganization, significantly predicted child executive functioning directly and indirectly via parenting. Finally, sex-based analyses indicated that the effect of chaos on child executive functioning was significant through indirect effects only for boys. In the third study, in order to elucidate potential contributing factors to household chaos, I used a structural equation model to examine the indirect effects of a linear regression-weighted composite variable of maternal distress (depression, negative affect and physiological stress) on child hair cortisol levels and externalizing and internalizing behaviour problems via household chaos. I found that maternal distress had both direct and indirect effects (via household chaos) on child hair cortisol levels; however, only indirect effects were significant for externalizing and internalizing behaviour problems. Also, the indirect effect was only significant for household disorganization, but not instability, for child hair cortisol and externalizing and internalizing behaviour problems. Taken together, the findings from my dissertation demonstrate that: 1) household chaos has a direct, negative effect on child executive functioning and an indirect effect via parenting; and 2) maternal distress plays an important role in predicting the levels of chaos within the home which has implications for child chronic stress levels and behavioural problems. Collectively, these findings highlight the need to take a multi-method approach to measuring executive functioning in children and further, to develop and evaluate interventions that aim to support mothers, improve parenting and promote order and stability within the home in order to foster healthy developmental trajectories for children. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Children exposed to household chaos may experience adverse outcomes across multiple domains. Parenting can also be negatively affected by household chaos which may impact the quality of parent-child interactions. Further, the physical and psychological health of the mother may regulate the levels of chaos in the home which has implications for child outcomes as well. This dissertation seeks to examine the influence of household chaos on child executive functioning, stress levels and socioemotional functioning, and the roles that parenting and maternal distress play. I address three primary objectives: 1) using meta-analytic techniques, I examine the magnitude of effect of household chaos on child executive functioning based on existing literature as well as potential factors that may modulate the strength of the linkage between household chaos and child executive functioning; and using cross-sectional data, I examine 2) how household chaos impacts parenting and subsequently, how parenting impacts child executive functioning; and 3) how maternal distress influences the level of chaos in the home and how this chaos impacts child stress levels and socioemotional functioning. Collectively, the results from this dissertation indicate that household chaos has a broad negative impact on child outcomes, and both parenting and maternal distress play important roles in understanding this impact. Further, it demonstrates the need for intervention research aimed at supporting the physical and psychological health of mothers, improving parenting and creating order and stability in homes for children.

This dissertation consists of three essays examining household energy decisions and behavior. The first essay examines the adoption of energy efficient Energy Star home appliances by U.S. households. Program effectiveness requires that consumers be aware of the labeling scheme and also change their purchase decisions based on label information. The first essay examines the factors associated with consumer awareness of the Energy Star label of recently purchased major appliances and the factors associated with the choice of Energy Star labeled appliances. The findings suggest that eliminating identified gaps in Energy Star appliance adoption would result in house electricity cost savings of \$164 million per year and associated carbon emission reductions of about 1.1 million metric tons per year. The second essay evaluates household energy security and the effectiveness of the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), the single largest energy assistance program available to poor households within the United States. Energy security is conceptually akin to the well-known concept of food security. Rasch models and household responses to energy security questions in the 2005 Residential Energy Consumption Survey are used to generate an energy insecurity index that is consistent with those found in the food insecurity literature. Participating in LIHEAP is found to significantly reduce household energy insecurity score in the index. Further, simulations show that the elimination of the energy assistance safety net currently available to households increases the number of energy insecure households by over 16 percent. The third essay develops a five equation demand system to estimate household own-price, cross-price and income elasticities between electricity, natural gas, food at home, food away from home, and non-durable commodity groups. Household cross-price elasticities between energy and food commodities are of particular importance. Energy price shocks reduce food expenditures for low-income households, as indicated by negative cross-price elasticity estimates for food and energy commodities. Additionally, low-income households reduce energy expenditures more than other households, further indicating ``heat or eat'' behavior. Results from all three essays provide policy makers with helpful information to shape future federal energy programs. / Ph. D.

Food insecurity is associated with increased stress, symptoms of mental illness, and persistent health disparities. Women caregivers (referred to as mothers) may be at an increased risk because they often compensate for food shortages by reducing their own intake and make household food decisions. The current literature on the relationship between food security status and mental health in the U.S. lacks a clear framework for the relationship between these two phenomena. This dissertation describes three studies that aimed to explore the relationship between food security and mental health for mothers with low income in Virginia: (1) understanding differences in mental health outcomes by food security status (n=1,029), (2) a path analysis of a conceptual framework of the relationship (n=1,029), and (3) a thematic analysis of mothers' lived experiences with this relationship (n=29). An explanatory, sequential mixed methods design was employed with a cross-sectional survey informing semi-structured interviews. The survey (administered August-October 2021) was developed with previously validated measures of food security status, physical and mental health, symptoms of mental illness, behavioral food coping strategies, and social support. The interview guide was developed based on the findings of the survey and administered in May and June 2022. Collective findings of this series of studies suggested lower food security status was associated with negative mental health outcomes. However, there were no direct pathways from food security status to mental health outcomes. Social support and behavioral food coping strategies mediated the relationship between food security status and mental health outcomes. Mothers reported experiencing managing a variety of stressors associated with food insecurity. Mothers also indicated that stressors and coping strategies associated with managing food insecurity impacted their mental health. Future research should explore additional factors impacting household resiliency and strategies to reduce stigma associated with resource utilization. These findings can be built upon to develop screening tools and interventions to help improve food security and mental health status mothers with low income. / Doctor of Philosophy / Household food insecurity, where a household has insufficient access to safe, nutritious foods, is associated with a number of negative physical and mental health outcomes, including stress for members of the household. Food insecurity is not necessarily felt equally by all members of a household. Mothers may be at a greater risk because they often are responsible for household food decisions. Despite an association between food insecurity and mental health being discussed in the existing literature, there was little evidence to support how that relationship works and the other factors that may affect this relationship. This dissertation details three studies that were conducted to better understand the relationship between food security and mental health for Virginia mothers with low-income: (1) understand differences in mental health outcomes by food security status, (2) develop a framework for how factors are related in this relationship, and (3) explore mother's experiences with the relationship. A survey was developed and administered (August-October 2021) using previously tested measures of food security and mental health. The survey also included measures of factors that may have impacted the relationship, including physical health, social support, and behavioral food coping strategies, which are strategies used by people to stretch their available food resources. Interviews were conducted in May and June 2022. Findings suggest food security acts indirectly on mental health outcomes through social support and behavioral food coping strategies. Mothers reported managing multiple stressors associated with the experience of food insecurity that impacted their mental health. In the future, research should explore strategies to encourage resource utilization and identify ways to improve maternal mental health. Ultimately, interventions to improve food security and mental health for mothers with low income should be developed and implemented.

In this dissertation, I use interview data to answer three questions concerning the deindustrialization of southwest and southside Virginia. First, how have Radford City, Montgomery County, Pulaski County, the City of Martinsville and Henry County been affected by plant closures and mass layoffs at the community level? Second, how have displaced workers and their households been affected by this loss of manufacturing jobs? And third, what survival strategies have displaced workers and their households employed as a result of being displaced? In carrying out this research, I engage with four theoretical discussions: (1) deindustrialization of the US South, (2) the impact of deindustrialization on local communities and economies, (3) the impacts of deindustrialization on workers, and (4) workers' strategies for coping with job loss. I argue that the strategies employed are influenced, shaped, and/ or constrained by regional resources, family structure, and previous experience(s) with job loss due to plant closures and layoffs. The findings from this research suggest that household survival strategies are based on four influential or motivating factors: (1) the presence of a spouse and/or children in the home, (2) having prior experience with being displaced, (3) use of personal networks, and (4) utilization of spouses' knowledge, skills, and abilities. At the community level, there are two major findings. First, there is a level of resilience in the worst affected communities that keeps them moving forward, if at a slower pace than desired. Second, deindustrialization does not affect all manufacturing communities the same way. Local economic profiles, local resources, and past ties to manufacturing matter both in the severity of impacts and the options for rebounding and/ or creating new economic identities. For these reasons and others, it is suggested that future research continue to focus on individual communities and localities which are working to identify good long term solutions to address changes due to large scale economic disruption. / Ph. D.

National statistics regarding subsidized commuting suggest that employer-based transit subsidies may be inaccessible to the vast majority of the working poor. My main purpose with this study is to increase our understanding of employer-based transit subsidies from a transport justice perspective. I apply the theory of transport justice developed by Karel Martens to evaluate whether the provision of transit subsidies varies significantly by income, and whether the subsidies are significantly associated with accessibility as measured by daily trip levels. I use worker-level data from household travel surveys for 10 of the 22 largest MPOs in the U.S., organized into 7 cases: 1) Atlanta; 2) Baltimore and Washington, DC; 3) Denver; 4) Los Angeles and San Diego; 5) New York and Newark; 6) Philadelphia; and 7) San Francisco. In each of the 7 cases, the odds of being offered a transit subsidy were significantly lower for workers in the 1st income quintile compared to workers in the 4th and 5th income quintiles, even after controlling for other relevant worker and employer characteristics. I found a lack of evidence, in most cases, that transit subsidies are significantly associated with accessibility, both in terms of daily trip levels for low-income workers and daily trip differentials between income groups. Given my finding that low-income workers are the least likely to have access to employer-based transit subsidies, policymakers may consider reform alternatives, such as commuter benefit ordinances, a refundable tax credit for commuting expenses, or alternatives such as income- and location-based subsidies for transit that may support all trip purposes. I hope this study will serve as a reference for policymakers deliberating commuter benefit reforms as well as strategies to support affordable access to opportunities for the working poor. / Ph. D.

This dissertation provides program evaluation and policy analysis evidence from USA and Iran. The first chapter studies the impact of paid leave legislation on women employment. We employ California’s first-in-the-nation Paid Family Leave program to draw inference using difference-in-differences and triple differences methods. The change in the employment outcomes for women before and after this program is compared to the change in similar outcomes for a set of control groups. We find that women’s employment increased in the intensive margin but not extensive margin. We also find that wages increased for married prime-age and decreased for highly educated young women. The second chapter provides evidence on the impact of a nation-wide unconditional cash transfer program in Iran on labor supply. As compensation for the removal of bread and energy subsidies in 2011, the government of Iran started monthly deposits of cash into individual family accounts amounting to 29% of the median household income. A popular outcry against the subsidy reform program has focused on the negative labor supply effects of the cash transfers on the poor. We use panel data to study the impact of these transfers on the labor supply of poor households and individuals during the first two years of the program, before inflation reduced their value. We use the exogenous variation in the value of the cash transfers relative to household income to estimate the impact of the transfers on labor supply of individuals using fixed effects method. We also use a difference-in-differences methodology using the variation in the time households first started receiving transfers. Although everyone was eligible to receive cash transfers starting January 2011, about 20 percent of the households who for one reason or another did not submit their application in time, started receiving it three months later. Neither set of results support the hypothesis that cash transfers reduced labor supply as measured by hours of work or probability of employment. The third chapter analyses what happens to the welfare of households and the budget of the government if it implements further price reforms in Iran. Five years into the reform, energy prices in Iran were still well below international levels. The impacts of a gradualist approach to price increase versus a one-off approach are simulated in this chapter. Under the gradualist approach government savings (reduction in foregone earnings) from selling subsidized items will increase by 20.2 trillion Rials or 0.18 percent of GDP in 2014. Half of these savings is needed as transfers to households to keep the poverty rate constant by paying each person 17,059 Rials per month. A one-off price increase would have a large effect on poverty and would require transfers equivalent to 203,775 Rials per person per month. Government savings after transfers would equal 96.4 trillion Rials or 0.87 percent of GDP. / Ph. D.

Forest and fuel wood are fundamental as sources of energy in almost all developing economies. However there are a few empirical studies addressing the issue of fuelwood production and consumption for rural households. In this paper, household fuelwood use behavior is empirically assessed and policy implications are drawn. with specific reference to Nepal's tarai and mid-hills. Fuelwood production, supply and demand functions are estimated using market, forest and access, and demographic variables characteristic of each region. Both regional and district level supply and demand elasticities are also estimated with respect to opportunity cost of labor, fuelwood price, income, resource stock and access, and demographic variables. The results suggest that rural households produce and consume fuelwood according to the opportunity cost of their labor and market fuel wood prices. Market( economic) variables such as fuel wood price and opportunity costs of labor along with forest stock and its access can provide better insights for assessing household responsiveness to forestry and related development activities and for policy than mere resource stock size or its access. / Master of Science

Nature reserves affect the local environment and communities. I use household data from the Chinese Household Income Project (CHIP) to estimate the impacts of nature reserves on several aspects of rural households: migration, local off-farm work, and off-farm income. This thesis also examines the heterogeneous impacts of nature reserves across administrative levels, lengths of existence time, and types. To reduce selection bias, propensity scores matching (PSM) is carried out to match counties with nature reserves to counties that have a similar possibility of establishing nature reserves, but that do not yet have any. Considering that counties with nature reserves might affect their neighboring counties without nature reserves, I construct two additional samples: one that excludes adjacent counties, and the other that generates new indicators for adjacent counties to check spillover effects directly. I use models with year fixed effects and county fixed effects to estimate the impacts across samples. The estimation results show that national nature reserves (NNRs) generally decrease the possibility of migration, while the impact depends on how long the NNRs have been in place. In the short run, NNRs increase migration. Forest NNRs significantly decrease migration but increase participation in local off-farm work and off-farm income. Nonforest NNRs have positive influences on migration and off-farm income. Although both forest and nonforest NNRs increase off-farm income, the sources might be different. The off-farm income increase in counties with forest NNRs might come from local off-farm work because forest NNRs encourage local off-farm work. The off-farm income increase in counties with nonforest NNRs might come from migration work because nonforest NNRs increase migration. Provincial nature reserves (PNRs) increase the likelihood of migration and the estimates also imply that PNRs only have short-run impacts on the local communities. Forest PNRs increase migration while nonforest ones decrease migration. PNRs generally decrease participation in local off-farm work and off-farm income, except for nonforest PNRs increase both of them. The results indicate that nature reserves of different administrative levels and lengths of existence time negatively affect local off-farm participation and off-farm income. These results imply that nature reserves in China during 2002-2013 had overall negative impacts on the local livelihood. / M.S. / Nature reserves are a crucial ecological policy in China for protecting endangered species and the environment. There is no doubt that nature reserves are beneficial to the environment. However, the multi-faceted social impacts of the establishment of nature reserves on the local households are unclear. This thesis studies the impacts of nature reserves on migration, participating in local off-farm work, and household off-farm income. I obtained household data from the Chinese Household Income Project (CHIP). The selection of nature reserves' locations is nonrandom: counties with nature reserves and those without are different in geographic characteristics, such as the distances to the nearest provincial capital and prefecture, average slope, and average elevation, which could be correlated with local economic development. Without eliminating those differences, the results will be misleading when comparing counties with nature reserves with those without nature reserves. This thesis considers the heterogeneous impacts of nature reserves across administrative levels, lengths of existence time, and types. Considering that counties with nature reserves might also affect their adjacent counties without nature reserves, I construct two additional samples: one that excludes adjacent counties and the other that generates new indicators for adjacent counties to measure the spillover effects directly. The results show that different designations of nature reserves have various impacts on migration. National nature reserves (NNRs) decrease migration, while provincial nature reserves (PNRs) generally increase migration. In the short run, NNRs increase migration and PNRs also increase migration. In general, nature reserves across different administrative levels and lengths of existence time all decrease local off-farm participation and off-farm income. This result implies that nature reserves in China during 2002-2013 had overall negative impacts on the local livelihood in the aspects of participation in local off-farm work and off-farm income.

This dissertation investigates the evacuees' behavior under hurricane evacuation conditions and develops an agent-based travel demand model system for hurricane evacuation simulation using these behavioral findings. The dissertation econometrically models several important evacuation decisions including evacuate-stay, accommodation type choice, evacuation destination choice, evacuation mode choice, departure time choice, and vehicle usage choice. In addition, it explicitly considers the pre-evacuation preparation activities using activity-based approach. The models are then integrated into a two-module agent-based travel demand model system. The dissertation first develops the evacuate-stay choice model using the random-coefficient binary logit specification. It uses heterogeneous mean of the random parameter across households to capture shadow evacuation. It is found that the likelihood of evacuation for households that do not receive any evacuation notice decreases as their distance to coast increase on average. The distance sensitivity factor, or DSF, is introduced to construct the different scenarios of geographical extent of shadow evacuation. The dissertation then conducts statistical analysis of the vehicle usage choice. It identifies the contributing factors to households' choice of the number of vehicles used for evacuation and develop predictive models of this choice that explicitly consider the constraint imposed by the number of vehicles owned by the household. This constraint is not accommodated by ordered response models. Data comes from a post-storm survey for Hurricane Ivan. The two models developed are variants of the regular Poisson regression model: the Poisson model with exposure and right-censored Poisson regression. The right-censored Poisson model is preferred due to its inherent capabilities, better fit to the data, and superior predictive power. The multivariable model and individual variable analyses are used to investigate seven hypotheses. Households traveling longer distances or evacuating later are more likely to use fewer vehicles. Households with prior hurricane experience, greater numbers of household members between 18 and 80, and pet owners are more likely to use a greater number of vehicles. Income and distance from the coast are insignificant in the multivariable models, although their individual effects have statistically significant linear relationship. However, the Poisson based models are non-linear. The method for using the right-censored Poisson model for producing the desired share of vehicle usage is also provided for the purpose of generating individual predictions for simulation. The dissertation then presents a descriptive analysis of and econometric models for households' pre-evacuation activities based on behavioral intention data collected for Miami Beach, Florida. The descriptive analysis shows that shopping - particularly food, gasoline, medicine, and cash withdrawal - accounts for the majority of preparation activities, highlighting the importance of maintaining a supply of these items. More than 90% of the tours are conducted by driving, emphasizing the need to incorporate pre-evacuation activity travel into simulation studies. Households perform their preparation activities early in a temporally concentrated manner and generally make the tours during daylight. Households with college graduates, larger households, and households who drive their own vehicles are more likely to engage in activities that require travel. The number of household members older than 64 has a negative impact upon engaging in out-of-home activities. An action day choice model for the first tour suggests that households are more likely to buy medicine early but are more likely to pick up friends/relatives late. Households evacuating late are more likely to conduct their activities late. Households with multiple tours tend to make their first tour early. About 10% of households chain their single activity chains with their ultimate evacuation trips. The outcomes of this paper can be used in demand generation for traffic simulations. The dissertation finally uses the behavioral findings and develops an agent-based travel demand model system for hurricane evacuation simulation, which is capable of generating the comprehensive household activity-travel plans. The system implements econometric and statistical models that represent travel and decision-making behavior throughout the evacuation process. The system considers six typical evacuation decisions: evacuate-stay, accommodation type choice, evacuation destination choice, mode choice, vehicle usage choice and departure time choice. It explicitly captures the shadow evacuation population. In addition, the model system captures the pre-evacuation preparation activities using an activity-based approach. A demonstration study that predicts activity-travel patterns using model parameters estimated for the Miami-Dade area is discussed. The simulation results clearly indicate the model system produced the distribution of choice patterns that is consistent with sample observations and existing literature. The model system also identifies the proportion of the shadow evacuation population and their geographical extent. About 23% of the population outside the designated evacuation zone would evacuate. The shadow evacuation demand is mainly located within 3.1 miles (5 km) of the coastline. The output demand of the model system works with agent-based traffic simulation tools and conventional trip-based simulation tools. The agent-based travel demand model system is capable of generating activity plans that works with agent-based traffic simulation tools and conventional trip-based simulation tools. It will facilitate the hurricane evacuation management. / Ph. D.