bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An analysis of the sex ratio and occupational class in Japan
Authors: Murata Motoi , Imaizumi Yoko
Published: July 2008

To investigate the effect of social class on the secondary sex ratio, atotal of 7·2 million births in the period 1975–78 in Japan has been tabulated according to the occupation of the head of the household, paternal and maternal ages and birth order. Although the variation in the sex ratio among occupational classes is not statistically significant, the changes observed are compatible with those reported by other authors. Multipleregression analysis revealed that the association of birth order and paternal age with the sexratio is relatively consistent among different occupational classes, while that of maternal age varies substantially among occupational groups, a significant negative regression on maternal age being observed in agricultural workers.
The demographic effect of socioeconomic development in guam
Authors: Tung Shui-Liang
Published: July 2008

Guam has experienced a dramatic socioeconomic development since the end of World War II, accompanied by one of the most rapid fertility declines on record. Although Guam has a very low mortality, comparable to that of the United States, its fertility is higher than in most countries with the same income level. It is suggested that the current high fertility results from the pro-natalist pressures associated with Roman Catholicism. The emigration of residents has been completely offset by immigration from the Orient and, to a lesser extent, the United States. Rural-to-urban migration, mainly from the south to the north, did not start until the late 1950s. Since the end of World War II, the military and alien population has accounted for approximately 40% of the total population and has had substantial demographic, political, and socioeconomic effects.
A Study on genetic selection and haemoglobin heterozygotes: HB A/E and β-thalassaemia trait
Authors: Bhattacharya K. K. , Sarkar J. M. , Das N. K. , Ghosh A. K.
Published: July 2008

In this paper the genetic fitness of the two heterozygotes Hb A/E and β-thalassaemia trait, in Calcutta, is examined in terms of their reproductive performance. It is found from fertility that the heterozygote Hb A/E enjoys some selective advantage over the normal homozygote Hb A/A, but the other heterozygote (β-thalassaemia trait) does not. But from overall reproductive performance (fertility and infant mortality together) it is postulated that the heterozygotes will eventually suffer from a selective disadvantage in a place like Calcutta, where malaria was eradicated about three decades ago.
Hospital morbidity among Aboriginal Australians in New South Wales
Authors: Yusuf Farhat , Hamilton Annette
Published: July 2008

This study examines data from 15,172 episodes of hospitalization pertaining to Aboriginal Australians discharged from public and private hospitals in New South Wales during 1978. Morbidity patterns revealed provide quantitative evidence on a whole population basis for the often impressionistic statements of those dealing with limited areas or with specific diseases.

Respiratory diseases are by far the most common and their occurrence seems to be out of proportion in relation to other diagnoses. Gastrointestinal and diarrhoeal diseases are important among young children, alcoholism among men, and diabetes among older people of both sexes. The most common surgical procedures involved abdomen, female genitals and ear, nose and throat.

It was noted that for most disease categories Aborigines were more likely to be hospitalized than non-Aborigines, the major exception being neoplasms. On the other hand, Aborigines were significantly less likely to be hospitalized for surgical operations. Overall, Aborigines were found to suffer higher levels of ill-health primarily due to their depressed economic conditions and social exclusion as well as racial discrimination to which they are commonly subjected in Australia.
Mortality of the Korean Population in Japan: a life table analysis of selected causes of death
Authors: Shin Kim Yoon
Published: July 2008

The average gains in life expectancy and in working life ages for Koreans in Japan and Japanese are examined when four selected causes of death are hypothetically eliminated. The life expectancy at birth of Korean males and females in Japan (1974–76) was 67·1 and 77·1 years, respectively. The largest increases in life expectancy at birth for Koreans in Japan and Japanese (both sexes) result when cardiovascular diseases are eliminated. At the working ages, 15–65 years, of Koreans in Japan and Japanese (both sexes) the largest gains result from elimination of malignant neoplasms. The implications of the results are discussed in relation to the public health services and acculturation of Koreans in Japan.
Early menopause and its determinants
Authors: Mahadevan K. , Murthy M. S. R. , Reddy P. R. , Bhaskaran Syamala
Published: July 2008

In rural women in Andhra Pradesh, major determinants of early menopause are poor health status, particularly low haemoglobin and protein levels, increased parity, and pathological conditions including infection by bacteria, fungi and viruses. Early menopause leads to increased likelihood of extramarital sexual relations by husbands, resulting in family disharmony. As remedial measures, a greater age difference between prospective spouses, education in sexual hygiene, improvement of health and nutritional status, and limitation of conception are indicated.
Second survey Of secular trends in twinning rates
Authors: James William H.
Published: July 2008

A study has been made of twinning rates throughout the world over the last two decades. There has been a decline in age-specific dizygotic twinning rates in almost all of the developed countries during this period. Exceptions to this trend are provided by the United States, where the only decline in twinning rates in the last two decades was in births to older women in the 1960s, and by Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria, where an initial decline in twinning during the 1960s was followed by stable twinning rates.

It is suggested that the cause may be some form of environmental pollutant, perhaps a pesticide, which has been the subject of restrictive legislation first in the United States and later in the three Communist countries. Possibly the cause of this decline may be identified by a study of such legislation.

This seems to be the first study of twinning rates in Central and South America. The low twinning rates in some of the countries there may indicate the genetic affiliations of their inhabitants with those (of Mongoloid origin) of countries in the Far East.
Family Break-Down and Stress in Huntington's Chorea
Authors: Tyler Audrey , Harper P. S. , Davies Kathleen , Newcome R. G.
Published: July 2008

The incidence of family breakdown and stress has been examined in an unselected group of 92 South Wales families, each containing a patient suffering from Huntington's chorea, and related to the onset and duration of the disease, age of the patient, and behavioural symptoms shown. The frequency of actual and attempted suicide is analysed and the effects of the disorder on the primary care agent for the patient discussed. Some of the effects on children and the needs of the families for support and practical help are outlined. It is concluded that family support is an essential factor in any programme aimed at the long-term alleviation and prevention of Huntington's chorea.
Unwanted Pregnancies Amongst Teenagers
Authors: Francome Colin
Published: July 2008

This article discusses the conflicting positions on the effectiveness of sex education and availability of birth control facilities in lowering the rate of teenage pregnancies. It provides evidence of a drop in the rate of teenage births only one-third of which can be accounted for by the rise in abortions. It concludes that teenagers must have been using birth control more effectively than in the early 1970s.
Artificial Insemination by Donor: a Survey of Attitudes and Knowledge in Medical Students and Infertile Couples
Authors: Leiblum Sandra R. , Barbrack Christopher
Published: July 2008

Medical students and members of infertile couples were questioned about their knowledge and attitudes toward artificial insemination using donor semen (AID). While both groups were well-informed about AID, considerable attitudinal diversity existed. Subjects generally favoured AID for infertile couples, for single women and for situations where the risk of inheritable retardation or genetic disease existed. Members of infertile couples were more positive about AID than were medical students, and females were more positive than males. The results indicate continued controversy regarding several aspects of AID such as whether to permit AID recipients to select their own donor and whether children conceived through AID should be so informed. The implications for infertility counselling are discussed.
Demography and Evolution in an Immigrant Ethnic Community: Hungarian Settlement, Louisiana, USA
Authors: Koertvelyessy Tibor
Published: July 2008

This paper describes the fertility, mortality, and marriage patterns of the Hungarian Settlement, Louisiana, USA, immigrant ethnic population and relates these demographic processes to the evolutionary forces of natural selection, genetic drift, and gene flow. The results indicate that the maximum opportunity for natural selection decreased over time, and natural selection could have operated in the case of this population at only a very moderate level. The demographic characteristics of this population suggest that genetic drift may be important as an agent of microdifferentiation. Gene flow, however, appears to be the most important evolutionary force in this population. The process, based on the increasing incorporation of non-Hungarians into the gene pool, is causing the breakdown of this ethnic/genetic isolate.
Population Dynamics Among the Totos of West Bengal: A Positive Response to Culture Contact
Authors: Sinha Debasish , Pal Bikas Chandra
Published: July 2008

The population structure of the Toto tribe at Totopara, a small village in West Bengal, District Jalpaiguri, was studied, for since 1951 the Totos have been coming more and more in contact with the outside world and undergoing a process of cultural and developmental change. Demographic data presented include the age-sex structure, marital status, fertility, birth rate, death rate and population growth trends in the pre-contact and contact era. At present the population shows a trend towards increase.
Remarriage of the divorced in England and Wales–a contemporary phenomenon
Authors: Haskey John
Published: July 2008

This paper examines the background to the recent growth in the number of remarriages of the divorced, tracing the increasing trend in divorce and subsequent remarriage in the last decade. The characteristics of such remarriages are analysed: their manner of solemnization, the distribution of ages at remarriage, seasonal variations, and the differences between metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas. Finally, the topical issue of remarriage of the divorced in church is discussed from a statistical standpoint, and variations by county presented in the form of maps.
Assortative mating for phenotypic characteristics in a Zapotec community in Oaxaca, Mexico
Authors: Malina Robert M. , Selby Henry A. , Buschang Peter H. , Aronson Wendy L. , Little Bertis B.
Published: July 2008

Assortative mating for age and several anthropometric characteristics is considered in a sample of 68–70 husband-wife pairs from a rural Zapotec-speaking community in the Valley of Oaxaca in southern Mexico. Conditions in the community with a population of approximately 1700 indicate chronic, mild-to-moderate undernutrition as reflected in high infant mortality rates, smaller body size of school children, and delayed biological maturation. Phenotypic assortative mating, as expressed in husband-wife correlations, is significant for age (r = 0·96), stature (r = 0·35) and grip strength (r = 0·29), but is not significant for body weight (r = 0·01), arm circumference (r = 0·07), the estimated midarm muscle circumference (r = 0·003), Quetelet's index (r = 0·02), and the ponderal index (r = 0·11). Controlling for age of husband and wife reduces the correlations for stature (r = 0·24) and grip strength (r = 0·12), but increases those for arm circumference (r = 0·21) and estimated midarm muscle circumference (r = 0·16). Grouping the spouses into younger (under 30 years of age) and older (30 years and older) results in significant spouse correlations for age, stature, arm circumference and estimated midarm muscle circumference in the younger group and for only age and fatness in the older group.
Application of a marriage model in rural Bangladesh
Authors: Chowdhury A. K. M. Alauddin
Published: July 2008

The applicability of the Coale-McNeil marriage entry model to a Bangladesh population is examined. The distribution of ages at entry into the marriage market is taken as normal and the general waiting times to marriage as negative exponential. This article examines two types of data from Bangladesh: (1) the distributions of ages at entry to the marriage market and waiting times, to verify the basic assumptions of the model, and (2) cross-sectional survey data, to derive the fitted first-marriage schedule. In both instances, the model showed a good fit with the Bangladesh data. In the absence of accurate marital registration data, the model may be appropriately utilized to estimate the ages of marriage of females in Bangladesh.
Biosocial correlates of cognitive abilities
Authors: McManus I. C. , Mascie-Taylor C. G. N.
Published: July 2008

The children in the cohort followed by the National Child Development Study were tested for cognitive ability at the age of eleven, and the influence of a number of biological and social variables was sought on the results of tests of reading, mathematics, verbal and non-verbal abilities. Reading relates strongly to social class, birth order and parental age, suggesting strong social influences upon it, but it is also related to height and acquired myopia, suggesting biological influences. Mathematics ability relates to social class and parental age, but not to birth order, but its relationship with height, birthweight and maternal smoking suggests biological effects. Verbal ability and non-verbal ability have relatively few correlates apart from sex and region. It appears that different cognitive abilities show different relationships to social, biological and personal variables.
Seasonal variation in suicide and homicide: a question of consistency
Authors: Warren Charles W. , Smith Jack C. , Tyler Carl W.
Published: July 2008

Seasonal or monthly fluctuations in suicides and homicides were analysed using US mortality data for the years 1969–78, using periodic regression analysis. The results were generally consistent (year-to-year) over the 10-year period. The pattern for suicide was distinctly seasonal: it was above average all spring and below average all winter. For homicides, the pattern was more monthly, with July–September and December being above average times and January–June being below average.
Return of fertility after use of the injectable contraceptive Depo Provera: up-dated data analysis
Authors: Pardthaisong Tieng
Published: July 2008

Seven hundred and ninety six Thai women who stopped using the long-acting injectable contraceptive depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA, Depo Provera), 437 women who stopped using oral contraceptives and 125 women who had an IUD removed to have a planned pregnancy, were followed up to ascertain the delay to conception after the end of contraception and to determine the proportion of women who did not conceive in the 4 years after discontinuation. The median delay to conception was 5·5 months plus the estimated duration of the effect of the last injection of DMPA, 3 months for oral contraceptives and 4·5 months after discontinuing the IUD. The proportion of women who did not conceive within 9 months after discontinuation of DMPA is similar to that of ex-IUD users, and by 3 years to that of the ex-pill sample. There is no evidence to suggest that prolonged use of DMPA increases the delay to conception, and the return of fertility among never pregnant ex-users resembled that of ever pregnant ex-users.

There were comparable proportions of live births among ex-DMPA users and ex-pill users and both of these showed higher proportions of live-births than ex-IUD users. There was no evidence to suggest that previous use of DMPA had any significant adverse effect on the outcome of pregnancy of the subsequent births. This study did not show any association between infertility and the previous use of DMPA or other contraceptives.
Ethnic fertility differences in Canada, 1926–71: an examination of assimilation hypothesis
Authors: Basavarajappa K. G. , Halli S. S.
Published: July 2008

The changing pattern of fertility differences among ethnic groups in Canada during the period 1926–71 is studied. Two specific questions are addressed. (1) Do ethnic groups assimilate the fertility patterns of the general Canadian population over time, i.e. are the fertility differences disappearing? (2) Is the extent of assimilation in fertility greater in urban than in rural areas? The indirectly standardized general fertility rates, calculated by using the ethnic age distribution data from the censuses of 1931 to 1971, indicate a tendency for the population to become more homogeneous during times of increasing fertility, thus supporting the assimilative possibilities, whereas in times of declining fertility there is a tendency for the population to become more heterogeneous. The data also seem to support weaker assimilatory tendencies in rural areas than in urban areas during only the most recent period, 1966–71, and not in earlier periods.
Breast-feeding: motivation and outcome
Authors: Ellis Donelda J. , Hewat Roberta J.
Published: July 2008

To determine patterns of infant feeding and influencing factors, 131 women, interested in breast-feeding and giving birth in one hospital in British Columbia, Canada, were followed for 6 months post-partum. Data were collected from hospital records and each participant completed mail-in questionnaires when their babies were 1, 3 and 6 months old. At 6 months 3·9% were exclusively breast-feeding, 26·5% were feeding their infants breast-milk and semi-solids and 26·5% were combining breast-feeding with formula and/or semi-solids. Over 50% discontinued breast-feeding before their stated intentions. Most women had chosen to breast-feed because of benefits to the baby, and most gave up breastfeeding because of perceived insufficient milk.
Albinism in the South African Negro. III. Genetic counselling issues
Authors: Kromberg Jennifer G. R. , Jenkins Trefor
Published: July 2008

A sample of 35 South African Negro albinos and a normally pigmented matched control group have been studied for adjustment problems and attitudes towards this inherited condition. The results showed that although the albinos appeared to be as well adjusted as the controls, significantly more of the albino group had adjustment problems of a physical nature indicated by psychosomatic symptoms. Attitudes were found to be reasonably positive. One common local misconception was revealed: that albinos do not die but disappear or ‘vanish away’. There was very little understanding of the cause, mode of inheritance or the problems associated with albinism. It is concluded that relevant genetic counselling should be offered to the Negro albinos to enable them to understand their condition, its implications and the myths which surround it. Because albinism is so common in South Africa the education of the community in this connection is also desirable.
Assortative mating for IQ: a multivariate approach
Authors: Mascie-Taylor C. G. N. , Boldsen J. L.
Published: July 2008

This paper examines the similarity between husbands and wives at the IQ subtest level, using seven tests from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. There was some evidence for sex differences; husbands scored higher than their wives on three of the subtests. After logarithmic transformation of some subtests the data were shown to be consistent with multivariate normality. A simplified covariance matrix was produced. Principal component analysis revealed an underlying general ability factor but there was no simple division into verbal and into performance components as would be expected from the IQ test structure. Canonical correlation analysis indicated that there were highly variable contributions to spousal associations. The major contributors were, in decreasing order of importance, due to similarities, vocabulary, digit symbol and block design tests. One subtest, comprehension, made no overt contribution.
Artificial insemination by donor: a review of 12 years' experience
Authors: James W. H.
Published: July 2008

Foss (1982) writes:… ‘Guerrero (1974) in a large series showed no relationship of the child's sex to the cycle day of insemination…’. It seems to me that this is ambiguous. If the first day of menstrual bleeding is taken as the time origin, then Foss is correct. But if the biologically more relevant estimated day of ovulation is taken as the time origin, he is not. Using the latter time origin, Guerrero found that for natural inseminations the variance of cycle day of male conceptions was significantly greater than that of female conceptions. In other words, boys are more likely to be conceived at the beginning and end of the fertile period, and girls in the middle. Harlap (1979) has reported findings which seem to confirm those of Guerrero. It has been suggested (James, 1980a, b) that these and other findings would be explained if maternal gonadotrophin levels at the time of conception partially controlled the sex of the zygote.
Epidemiology, genetics and sociology
Authors: Himsworth Harold
Published: July 2008

In the course of this century man's control over his natural environment and its effects has vastly increased. As a result, death rates from many illnesses caused by environmental factors have fallen markedly. This is very evident in the field of infant mortality. In 1906–10, of every 1000 babies born alive in this country, 117 died before their first birthday. By 1971–75 this figure had dropped to less than 17.
Bongaarts' proximate determinants of fertility applied to group data from the Kenya Fertility Survey 1977/78
Authors: Kalule-Sabiti I.
Published: July 2008

The effect of the intermediate fertility variables on marital fertility in Kenya is examined using Bongaarts' model on group data from the Kenya Fertility Survey 1977/78. The findings suggest that variations in the proportion married among the population, level of contraceptive use and post-partum lactational infecundability can account for much but not all of the observed marital fertility differentials. Modernization through education and urbanization has had offsetting effects on fertility, by reducing lactation and increasing contraception. However, the proportion using contraception, limited mainly to those with secondary and higher education or metropolitan residence, is too small to have an appreciable impact on the overall level of fertility. The low level of marital fertility observed particularly among the metropolitan, coast and Muslim categories of population may be attributed to the prevalence of venereal diseases and unreported contraception and induced abortion.
The choice of sterilization: voluntarily childless couples, mothers of one child by choice, and males seeking reversal of vasectomy
Authors: Callan Victor J. , Que Hee Raymond W.
Published: July 2008

The voluntarily childless and parents of one child by choice might be expected to make strong use of sterilization. This study examined the reasons given by couples who were early articulators of voluntary childlessness, couples childless through postponement, and mothers of a single child, for selecting or avoiding sterilization. Early articulators were more likely to be sterilized and more often reported difficulties in arranging sterilization than did those who were postponing parenthood. Among the voluntarily childless and mothers of a single child who were not sterilized, respondents cited its finality, aversion to non-essential surgery, and satisfaction with present methods. Clinic data on requests for reversals of previous vasectomies revealed that neither the intentionally childless nor single child parents were over-represented among men seeking reversals.
Sexual behaviour and contraceptive practice at Oxford and Aberdeen universities
Authors: Anderson Peter , McCance Colin
Published: July 2008

At the end of the fourth week of the Spring term 1982, 730 female undergraduates at Aberdeen University and 744 female under-graduates at Oxford University were sent a questionnaire enquiring about their sexual behaviour and contraceptive practice. Of the 978 unmarried women who replied, 507 (52%) had experienced sexual intercourse. No contraception had been used by 31% of the women on the first occasion that they had had intercourse; during the 4-week period preceding receipt of the questionnaire 14% of sexually active women had had intercourse on one or more occasions without a contraceptive. Twenty-nine women had been pregnant in the past; two women were known to be pregnant at the time of the survey and twelve women thought that they might be. These findings are discussed and some recommendations are put forward.
Bedtimes of 11 to 14-year-old children in north-east England
Authors: Rugg-Gunn A. J. , Hackett A. F. , Appleton D. R. , Eastoe J. E.
Published: July 2008

As part of a longitudinal study of diet and dental caries, 405 Northumberland children initially aged 11–12 years recorded the time of going to bed on 3 consecutive days on 5 occasions over a 23-month period. The bedtimes were recorded in a personal diary and checked at private interview. Mean bedtime for the 212 females changed from 21 hr 44 min at age 11 years 7 months to 22 hr 11 min at age 13 years 3 months. Bedtime for the 193 males was, on average, 9 min later than that for the females. There was a consistent relation between bedtime and social class, with social class IV + V children going to bed, on average, 14 min later than social class I + II children. When the average age of the children was 13 years 3 months, 13% of them went to bed at or after 23.00 hr, and they were latest to bed on Saturday when their average bedtime was 22 hr 59 min.
Fertility and family planning in Papua New Guinea
Authors: Agyei William K. A.
Published: July 2008

Data collected on fertility and family planning between November 1979 and March 1980 in eight provinces of Papua New Guinea (PNG) are presented in this report. Interviews with 2923 rural and 3360 urban male and female respondents found attitudes favouring large families. There was a relatively high level of contraceptive awareness, but the overall practice of modern contraception in both rural and urban areas is low. Despite the rural–urban differences in socioeconomic levels, awareness of family planning is only slightly higher among the urban respondents. The level of usage for the urban respondents is slightly higher than for the rural respondents.
Socioeconomic and demographic correlates of medical care and health practices
Authors: Rao P. S. S. , Richard J.
Published: July 2008

Using a two-stage stratified sampling procedure, a representative random sample of 1021 rural families in North Arcot District of Tamil Nadu State in South India was studied to determine the inter-relationships of utilization of medical care and health behaviour with social, demographic and economic factors. The research was directed towards a better understanding of how medical and social deprivations are connected in a rural setting of India. Distance from a town, education, and accessibility of medical facilities seem to play a prominent role in the various decision-making processes of the family in utilization of the best available health care and in improving their health status. The policy implications arising from this study are outlined.
Profile of contraceptive clients in Katsina, northern Nigeria
Authors: Naghma-E-Rehan  , McFarlane Hildegarde P. , Sani Sule
Published: July 2008

In 375 women who accepted contraception at a clinic in northern Nigeria there were significant differences between IUD and pill acceptors. The pill acceptors were younger women of lower parity who tended to be less educated and mostly not engaged in any profession. The IUD clients were older women of high parity with better education and many had occupations outside the home. The most striking difference was in the religious affiliations of the two groups. The majority of Muslim women (72·9%) opted for the pill whereas the majority of Christian women (55·9%) chose the IUD.
Fertility, birth timing and marital breakdown: a reinterpretation of the evidence
Authors: Murphy M. J.
Published: July 2008

The conventional view that childlessness was associated with higher than average risk of marital breakdown was questioned by Chester (1972) and Gibson (1980) on the basis of analysis of divorce records. Data from the 1980 General Household Survey are used to show that childless couples, and those who have children early in marriage (and are thus more likely to have large families) are considerably more at risk of breakdown at all marriage durations than delayed two-child families. The reasons for the different conclusions of these three studies are assessed and it is concluded that standardization has many unattractive features for demographic analysis (especially in areas other than mortality), and that presentations based on relative or absolute risk of breakdown allow the key features to be assessed most satisfactorily.
Voluntary childlessness: early articulator and postponing couples
Authors: Callan Victor J.
Published: July 2008

Twenty-seven voluntarily childless couples who had made early decisions prior to marriage not to have children were compared to 23 couples childless through a series of successive postponements of childbearing. While the two groups differed little on background characteristics, husbands in early deciding relationships were less feminine-oriented and their wives more masculine-oriented than husbands and wives in the postponing group. Early deciding couples revealed higher levels of commitment to their choice, especially being more likely to seek an abortion for any pregnancy or to adopt out any child. A repertory grid measure revealed few differences in perceptions of others by either group of deliberately childless couples.
Social class and mobility in male adoptees and non-adoptees
Authors: Teasdale T. W. , Owen David R.
Published: July 2008

Four hundred and fourteen adoptees were located in a population of 28,879 males born within a 4-year period. For all of these males, two social class ratings were obtained, based upon their occupations at age 25–28 and 35–38. A single rating was obtained for their fathers, based upon occupation at the time of birth of the population males. In the case of adoptees, this rating was obtained for both the biological and the adoptive fathers. The adoptees had, at both ages, an average social class not deviating from that of the population at large. Their biological fathers were, however, below average paternal social class and their adoptive fathers were above it. Positive correlations for social class were found between the adoptees, at both ages, and their biological and adoptive fathers. The social class of adoptees is less well predicted by that of their biological and adoptive fathers, even when these are taken jointly, than the social class of sons in the population is predicted by that of their fathers. Evidence from both the group means and the correlations suggests that the adoptees at age 35–38 came to resemble their biological fathers in social class more than they had done at age 25–28.
Mental health and female sterilization: a follow-up
Authors:   Report of A WHO Collaborative Prospective Study
Published: July 2008

In a WHO-co-ordinated prospective multi-centre study in Agra and Chandigarh (India), Cali (Colombia), Ibadan (Nigeria), Manila (Philippines) and Nottingham (UK), 926 women undergoing elective sterilization for fertility control and 924 controls using other methods of contraception, were examined before the operation and at entry into the study, respectively. Of the initial sample, 81·6% were re-examined at a 6-month follow-up and 77·4% at a 12-month follow-up. At initial examination, the prevalence of clinically significant emotional disorder ranged from 1·6% to 14·6% in four of the six centres; it was higher in Cali (25·5%) and nil in Ibadan. In all centres except Agra, women applying for sterilization had a somewhat higher rate of mental health problems than control subjects at initial examination. At the 6-month follow-up, the prevalence was within the range 1·6–15·4% for the sterilization group and 0–14·5% for the control group in all centres except Cali which continued to have a higher rate. At the 12-month follow-up the prevalence of mental ill-health ranged from 0% in Manila to 29·2% in Chandigarh; if the latter centre were removed, the range would be 0–13·6%. There were no significant differences in the frequency of mental ill-health between sterilization cases and control subjects in any of the centres. Further, there were no significant differences in the prevalence of mental ill-health in relation to the timing of sterilization, i.e. interval, post-partum or post-abortion. Chandigarh was the only centre which showed a consistent increase of the rates of psychological disorder over time; in all other centres the rates showed some fluctuations but no clear tendency either to increase or decrease. The data do not support a notion of a significant impact of sterilization on mental health of women.
The effects on menstruation of elective tubal sterilization: a prospective controlled study
Authors: Bledin K. D. , Cooper J. E. , Brice B. , Mackenzie S.
Published: July 2008

As part of a prospective controlled study of the psychosomatic effects of elective tubal sterilization, 138 women were questioned about their menstrual functioning before sterilization, and again 6 months and 12 months post-operatively, using standardized interviewing procedures. Adverse changes, including (subjectively assessed) increased menstrual loss, shorter menstrual cycles and greater use of pads or tampons were reported by sterilized subjects at both of the post-operative interviews. Control subjects reported several comparable effects, although adverse changes overall were reported more commonly by sterilized women than by control subjects. However, many of the reported changes appeared to be related to pre-operative contraceptive methods, although consistent increases in use of pads or tampons were found in women who had pre-operatively used neither the pill nor the IUD.
Parental age, parity and sex ratio in births in England and Wales, 1968–77
Authors: James William H. , Rostron John
Published: July 2008

Variations in sex ratio with maternal age, paternal age, parity and time have been examined in data on all legitimate births (live and stillbirths) in England and Wales, 1968–77. There were significant linear declines in sex ratio with both increasing parity and increasing paternal age, and a curvilinear relationship with maternal age. These effects were largely independent. Before 1955 it seems likely that sex ratio declined with increase in maternal age. But it seems that between 1955 and 1968 there was an unexplained decline in the sex ratio of births to women aged 20–24 and an increase in that of births to women aged 30–34. There was no significant secular trend in sex ratio during the period 1968–77.
Socioeconomic status and fertility in rural Bangladesh
Authors: Shaikh K. , Becker S.
Published: July 2008

Using a unique set of birth registration data from the Demographic Surveillance System of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, for the period 1974–77, and socioeconomic information collected in the 1974 census, fertility was studied in relation to occupation, size of dwelling, number of cows and number of boats owned. The total fertility rate was found to vary between 6 and 6·5 except in the famine year of 1975. There was no consistent relationship between fertility and education of women. Fertility differentials by occupation showed that the household heads who were farm labourers had relatively lower fertility compared to other occupational groups, except for the year 1977 where the families of service holders were found to have relatively lower fertility. There was a consistent direct relationship between the dwelling size and fertility for each of the years.
Teenage fertility, socioeconomic status and infant mortality
Authors: Miller Michael K. , Stokes C. Shannon
Published: July 2008

The paper examines the relationship between infant mortality and a complex measure of socioeconomic status for evidence of diminution. In data on counties in the United States with a minimum of 20 infant deaths over the 5-year period 1971–75, no evidence of a declining relationship between socioeconomic status and infant mortality was found. Both level of community affluence and racial composition of the population exerted direct effects on levels of infant deaths. In addition, both socioeconomic status and racial composition exhibited indirect effects which operated through teenage childbearing. When total infant mortality was subdivided, teenage fertility serves as a mediating variable in the link between socioeconomic status and neonatal mortality, but not for the postneonatal components. Given the nearly equivalent total effect of socioeconomic status on infant mortality, it is concluded that the classic division into neonatal (supposedly a function of biological and genetic agents) and postneonatal (traditionally attributed to social and environmental agents), may be too crude to allow the contemporary effects of the socioenvironmental milieu to be evaluated effectively.
Non-marital pregnancies in New Zealand since the Second World War
Authors: Carmichael Gordon A.
Published: July 2008

Shortcomings of the illegitimacy ratio as an index of the level of non-marital childbearing in New Zealand are exposed. Trends in the level of bridal pregnancy are analysed in terms of changes in age-specific probabilities of conceiving a child outside marriage, of ‘regularizing’ such a pregnancy before confinement, and of marrying when non-pregnant. Finally, trends in childbearing resulting from non-marital pregnancies are examined using an index which allows all relevant pregnancies to be related to a single population at risk, and which can be partitioned according to the eventual status of confinements as marital or non-marital. A substantial decline in such childbearing during the 1970s is established and attributed mainly to greater use of abortion. Marital births resulting from non-marital conceptions declined especially sharply.
Abortion experience among obstetric patients at Korle-Bu Hospital, Accra, Ghana
Authors: Lamptey Peter , Janowitz Barbara , Smith Jason B. , Klufio Cecil
Published: July 2008

Among obstetric patients with at least one previous pregnancy, over 20% reported having at least one induced abortion. Abortion experience was more common among women at lower gravidities and among women with the highest levels of education, suggesting that abortion is most used to delay the first birth, particularly for young women still at school. This is in contrast to the situation in Latin America where abortion is used most often to limit family size.

The proportion of women who reported that they used contraception prior to the pregnancy was low, suggesting that knowledge of attitudes towards and availability of family planning services needs to be improved.
Nearwork, school achievement and Myopia
Authors: Ashton Geoffrey C.
Published: July 2008

Data from 723 families tested for ocular refraction, measures of cognitive ability and school achievement, and measures of school-related nearwork activity were analysed, to examine the association of nearwork and intellectual ability with the development of myopia. The basis of the tests was detection of heterogeneity of standardized regression coefficients, derived from the regression of spherical refraction on age, between scaled nearwork or achievement measures. The results did not provide any evidence in support of the hypothesis that nearwork influences myopia but did confirm a relationship between school grades and myopia.
Factors affecting fertility in four Muslim populations: a multivariate analysis
Authors: Ahmad Sultan
Published: July 2008

Data collected as part of the World Fertility Survey programme in the mid-1970s in four Muslim populations (Bangladesh, Java (Indonesia), Jordan and Pakistan) show that the demographic variables age at first marriage, duration of marriage, status of first marriage and experience of child loss explain most of the variations in fertility among these populations. There was no consistent pattern which could explain fertility differentials by selected socioeconomic variables. Fertility differentials by wife–husband education and childhood–current residence were found not to be in the expected direction in most of the populations. Fertility transition has not yet started among the majority of the people in these populations.
The changing pattern of contraception in Lahore, Pakistan: 1963–80
Authors: Yusuf Farhat , Hussain Mazhar
Published: July 2008

Surveys carried out in Lahore, Pakistan, in 1963 and 1980 showed that most women have some knowledge of contraception. The proportion who had ever used contraception rose from 7% of respondents in 1963 to 48% in 1980. The rate of current use in 1980 was 34%. Highest rates of use were found among women aged 30 years or older and among those of higher education and socioeconomic status. The most commonly used methods of family planning were the condom, the pill and abstinence.
Influence of maternal age, parity and social class on perinatal mortality in Scotland: 1960–82
Authors: Forbes J. F. , Pickering R. M.
Published: July 2008

This paper examines secular changes in the influence of maternal age, parity and social class on perinatal mortality in Scotland. Despite changes in reproductive behaviour, improved access to maternity services and more effective perinatal care, the influence of maternal age and social class on perinatal mortality remained unchanged between 1960 and 1982. Although there were no significant changes in the traditional J-shaped association between parity and stillbirths, cross-sectional analysis shows that in the early 1980s the risk of both neonatal and perinatal deaths decreased as parity increased: this finding is consistent with the pattern of risks observed in longitudinal studies and retrospective surveys of reproductive histories. The stability of age, parity and social class effects thus suggests that little if any of the overall decrease in Scottish perinatal mortality can be attributed to a significant narrowing of relative risks in the obstetric population.
Canonical correlation analysis of assortative mating in two groups of Brazilians
Authors: Trachtenberg Anete , Stark A. E. , Salzano F. M. , Da Rocha F. J.
Published: July 2008

In two groups of people, 98 couples in which the husband was a military serviceman and 63 couples of Jewish ancestry living in Porto Alegre, Brazil, age at marriage, age at time of survey, fifteen anthropometric variables, and hair and eye colour were studied. Proper adjustments of the data were made taking into consideration duration of cohabitation, aging and secular effects, and skewness in the distributions. There are some differences between the two groups in age at marriage, but in both there is a tendency for those currently older to have married later in life. The correlation coefficients between spouses are with very few exceptions positive, with no indication of preferences for opposites. Size and factors related to body build are the most readily detectable agents in the assortative mating occurring in this population, but in the military group relative lengths of leg and trunk, rather than stature itself, are important in conditioning mate choice.
Is there a Connection between a Woman's fecundity and that of her mother?
Authors: Langford C. M. , Wilson C.
Published: July 2008

Data on the fertility of mothers and daughters in 10,931 mother–daughter pairs were obtained from family reconstitution studies based on English parish registers between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. These data indicate that there is no association between the fecundity of daughters and that of their mothers.
Determinants of breast-feeding and post-partum sexual abstinence: analysis of a Sample of Yoruba women, western Nigeria
Authors: Aborampah Osei-mensah
Published: July 2008

This study employs multiple classification and regression techniques to determine the influence of marital, sociodemographic and selected intermediate variables on duration of breast-feeding and post-partum sexual abstinence among a sample of 300 Yoruba women of western Nigeria. Only education and place of residence appeared to be significantly related to the post-partum variables. Breast-feeding was shown to exert a significant positive effect on abstinence. The effect of contraception on the post-partum variables appeared to be a function of socioeconomic status.

Reductions in the duration of the post-partum variables due to relative affluence can result in increases in fertility. Planners may do well to encourage women to go back to the use of these traditional child spacing practices in the absence of large scale and effective use of contraceptives.
Married women and contraceptive sterilization: factors that Contribute to pre-surgical ambivalence
Authors: Miller Warren B. , Shain Rochelle N.
Published: July 2008

Two hundred and fifty-five married women about to have a tubal ligation and 167 women whose husbands were about to have a vasectomy were interviewed about their decisions. The data were analysed to determine the factors with which pre-surgical ambivalence about the decision was associated.

Three independent factors were indicated: a substantive factor related to childbearing motivations, attitudes, and beliefs; a processual factor related to the decision-making process; and a contextual factor relating to situational pressures for and against the decision.
Factors affecting infant and child mortality
Authors: Adlakha Arjun L. , Suchindran C. M.
Published: July 2008

This paper examines the determinants of infant and child mortality variations in four near east countries using data from WFS surveys. The analysis considers biological correlates of mortality—mother's age, birth order, birth interval, and previous infant loss—and several social factors—mother's and father's education, mother's residence, father's occupation, and mother's work experience since marriage. A multivariate analysis using a logistic regression model is carried out to obtain the net effect of each factor on mortality. Separate models are constructed for infant mortality and childhood mortality and for each country.

The four countries show large variations in mortality, but this is persistently higher in female than male children. All four demographic characteristics affect mortality significantly, especially the length of the preceding birth interval. Among the socioeconomic variables, only rural–urban residence is influential.