Research suggests that single mothers experience poorer mental and physical health than their partnered counterparts. This health differential has been attributed, in large part, to the chronic economic and social stressors to which many single mothers are exposed. Less research, however, has focused on the well-being of single mothers who are employed, despite their growing presence in the Canadian labour force. Using data from a telephone survey of employed parents in a mid-sized Western Canadian city conducted in 2005, the aim of this study was to: (1) compare the mental health of employed, single mothers relative to partnered mothers; and (2) explore the potential role of work-family conflict and psychosocial job characteristics as explanations for any observed differences in psychological distress. Analyses were restricted to 674 employed mothers (438 partnered and 236 single), who were 25-50 years old, with at least one child in the household under the age of 20 years. Bivariate analysis indicated that compared to partnered mothers, employed single mothers reported significantly higher levels of psychological distress, work-to-family conflict and family-to-work conflict. Single mothers were also more likely to be employed in a high-strain psychosocial work environment (i.e., high demand and low control). Multiple linear regression revealed that after adjusting for key sociodemographic characteristics, psychosocial work quality and work-family conflict, single parenthood was no longer statistically significantly associated with psychological distress. These findings suggest that being a single mother in and of itself need not result in poorer mental health, but greater attention needs to be paid to the economic and psychosocial work environment of single mothers, including policies to facilitate work-family balance.

Research suggests that single mothers experience poorer mental and physical health than their partnered counterparts. This health differential has been attributed, in large part, to the chronic economic and social stressors to which many single mothers are exposed. Less research, however, has focused on the well-being of single mothers who are employed, despite their growing presence in the Canadian labour force. Using data from a telephone survey of employed parents in a mid-sized Western Canadian city conducted in 2005, the aim of this study was to: (1) compare the mental health of employed, single mothers relative to partnered mothers; and (2) explore the potential role of work-family conflict and psychosocial job characteristics as explanations for any observed differences in psychological distress. Analyses were restricted to 674 employed mothers (438 partnered and 236 single), who were 25-50 years old, with at least one child in the household under the age of 20 years. Bivariate analysis indicated that compared to partnered mothers, employed single mothers reported significantly higher levels of psychological distress, work-to-family conflict and family-to-work conflict. Single mothers were also more likely to be employed in a high-strain psychosocial work environment (i.e., high demand and low control). Multiple linear regression revealed that after adjusting for key sociodemographic characteristics, psychosocial work quality and work-family conflict, single parenthood was no longer statistically significantly associated with psychological distress. These findings suggest that being a single mother in and of itself need not result in poorer mental health, but greater attention needs to be paid to the economic and psychosocial work environment of single mothers, including policies to facilitate work-family balance.

The aim of our investigation is to explore a sexual life, experience and attitudes of women who are divided into for groups, according to their ability to reach orgasm during partnered sexual activities. We try to identify possible differences between these groups in diverse sexual areas. We do not formulate any hypothesis, our research has an exploratory character. We used data from 905 women, who participated in a nationwide research, that aims to investigate changes in Czech population sexual behavior. The research is in progress since 1993 and it repeats every five years. Our sample originates from a data collection in 2008. The data collection (using anonymous questionnaire) was conducted by a specialized agency DEMA a.s. The data were processed using SPSS 16.0. Our results are following: The orgastic ability decreases with age. Widows, pensioners, and Roman Catholics rarely experience orgasm. Highly orgasmic women are of higher education. These women engaged into partnered sexual activities (such as necking, petting, sexual intercourse) earlier than the less orgasmic women did. The highly orgasmic women more masturbate. They also reported a higher number of sexual partners during their life, and they engage into a casual sex and diverse sexual practices more often. Furthermore, the highly...

Although many international and South African studies have investigated teenage parenting, they have rarely viewed the parenting support given to teenage mothers from a coparenting perspective. Coparenting is defined as the manner in which caregivers who are responsible for the upbringing of children, work together in their role as parents to negotiate the child rearing process. Consequently, much of the literature on teenage parenting remains inconclusive in terms of the beneficial nature of parenting support. In South Africa, very little is currently known about the availability of parenting support to teenage mothers from members of the extended family or from the child’s father and about the quality and processes that underlie these parenting relationships. A considerable body of evidence has found the quality of this relationship to be an important facilitator of parenting competence and a predictor of child development outcomes. Coparenting theory and constructs have largely been developed within nuclear, Western family structures that limit their generalizability and applicability to other family systems and contexts. Using a synergistic mixed methods research approach, this study examined the coparenting arrangements and relationship quality of 36 teenage mothers. Quantitative and qualitative data from the teenage mothers, their coparents and key community informants were used to understand coparenting within a particular low-income community where teenage parenting was found to be prevalent. The results revealed that the majority of teenage mothers could identify at least one coparent. A multi-person coparenting arrangement –typically coparenting with both the grandmother and the child’s father – was found to be more common than coparenting with only one other person. The newly developed, multi-domain measure of coparenting quality indicated that teenage mothers’ relationship with coparents was supportive, with minimal conflict and undermining by coparents. Qualitative differences in the roles of coparents revealed that coparenting fathers took on more traditional roles as providers and decision makers in comparison to grandmothers, who mainly performed mentoring roles to facilitate the teenage mothers’ maternal competence. The implications of these findings for coparenting theory as well as interventions and policies related to teenage parenting are discussed. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (CAAC) / Unrestricted

Contemporary conflicts are marked by support relationships between partners for the purpose of achieving common goals, namely partnered military operations. These have been seen to amplify positive or negative repercussions of conflict, like civilian harm and restraint from such. This study explores what influences restraint in partnered military operations by examining the effect of civilian casualty tracking, and asking how does the implementation of civilian casualty tracking mechanisms affect restraint in partnered military operations? This study builds on liberal internationalism, attributing restraint to external pressures. This thesis hypothesises that restraint in a partnered military operation will be higher, the more comprehensive the civilian casualty tracking. Using the method of within-case comparative analysis, resembling a structured focused comparison, the hypothesis is tested on the case of Afghanistan. Results indicate support for the theorized relationship, as low comprehensiveness of civilian casualty tracking is correlated with low restraint, while comprehensive civilian casualty tracking is correlated with higher restraint. The correlation is in line with the expected direction, yet not perfect, indicating that other variables may influence restraint in interaction effects. Further research is needed to determine causal factors and trace underlying mechanisms.