Social Sciences

Holding hands

The Other Side of the Dream

For some immigrant groups, the stress of migrating to the United States can lead to substance use and abuse. In the process of migrating to the United States, Latino men who have sex with men face the additional burden of having to redefine their sexual identity to meet the cultural norms of mainstream white gay culture, says Jose Bauermeister, a research assistant professor in health behavior and health education and supervisor of the newly founded Sexuality and Health Research Lab at the School of Public Health. In his research, Bauermeister finds that homosexual activity can be a catalyst for drug use. [Read more...]

Public Health, Social Sciences

Crary

Recession may be over, but recovery will be gradual

With the severe national recession of the past two years finally behind us, the pace of economic recovery will be slow and unemployment will remain high for quite some time, say economists at the University of Michigan. "Based on the data currently available, the recession that began at the close of 2007 appears to have ended sometime this summer—the longest and steepest drop in output since the Great Depression," said U-M economist Joan Crary. "The federal government's series of unprecedented policy actions—both fiscal and monetary—deserve much of the credit for this dramatic shift from an economy that nearly went into free fall to one that is at least clawing its way back up. We have now shifted out of reverse and into first gear." [Read more...]

Business, Social Sciences

Teen sexual activity and gambling associated with taking nonprescribed medications to get high

Taking nonprescribed medication has become an emerging problem, especially among teens. When using these substances to get high, students are more likely to engage in bad behaviors than those who don't, a new University of Michigan study shows. Kids between the ages of 12-17 who use nonprescribed medications to get high or as an alternative to street drugs—described as sensation seekers—are likely to binge drink, gamble and become sexually active. [Read more...]

Public Policy, Social Sciences

flu

Public may find it hard to follow measures to limit infection in pandemics

The H1N1 flu virus is spreading misery around the country, but University of Michigan researchers say that implementing and sustaining infection-limiting measures will still be a challenge. In focus groups with residents from four Michigan communities, U-M researchers found that people’s mistrust in government and concerns about job security or financial burdens would make social distancing efforts hard to maintain in any pandemic. The study’s results were expected to be published this week in the American Journal of Bioethics. “Leaders in public health need to consider the many challenges articulated by our community members about the closure of businesses, schools and other gathering places during a pandemic,” says co-author Susan D. Goold, director of U-M’s Bioethics Program and professor in the Department of Internal Medicine. [Read more...]

Biomedical, Public Policy, Social Sciences

MCUAAAR

Detroit area science teachers selected for U-M/WSU research fellowship

Four Detroit area science teachers have been selected to participate in an innovative new research fellowship at the Michigan Center for Urban African American Research (MCUAAAR), a collaborative program jointly operated by the University of Michigan and Wayne State University. MCUAAAR is one of six national resource centers for minority aging research focusing on investigating and reducing disparities between minority and non-minority older adults. The one-year fellowship—the African American Aging Summer Immersion for Science Teachers—is designed to provide middle school, high school, and community college teachers with an opportunity to learn about the field of minority aging, and to enrich the social science and science curricula with this new knowledge. [Read more...]

Social Sciences

Stimulus update

U-M has received more than $200M in stimulus funds through October 2009

In data assembled by the U-M's Division of Research Development and Administration, the U-M has received funding for 342 projects through October, 2009 under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The total dollar value of these projects is $206.4M. To date, the five largest grants support solar energy research, diabetes research, an ongoing study of health and retirement issues in the U.S., the creation of a database to support genetic research in the behavioral and health sciences, and a study of pulmonary fibrosis. [Download table of project awards by U-M schools, colleges and other major units...]

Biomedical, Business, Education, Energy, Engineering, Environment, Humanities and Arts, Natural Sciences, Physical Sciences, Public Health, Public Policy, Social Sciences

U-M researchers provide detailed snapshot of race, pollution in America

African-Americans, particularly in the Midwest, are far more likely to live within a mile of a polluting industrial facility than white Americans, according to a national study by University of Michigan researchers. While evidence linking race and pollution exposure is well known, the new study is the first known national effort to use survey data, which is more detailed than more commonly used census data. The responses of more than 3,600 Americans to questions about their lifestyles, race and income were integrated with pinpoint locations of more than 21,000 industrial sites. The study found 58 percent of African-Americans in Midwest metropolitan areas lived within a mile of a polluting industrial facility compared to only 35 percent of white Americans. Similar disparities were found between the races in the U.S. South and West, but not Northeast. The researchers present these and other findings in an academic paper appearing in the November supplement to the American Journal of Public Health. [Read more...]

Environment, Social Sciences

People with less education could be more susceptible to the flu

People who did not earn a high school diploma could be more likely to get H1N1 and the vaccine might be less effective in them compared to those who earned a diploma, new research shows. The University of Michigan study looked at a latent virus called CMV in young people, and the body's ability to control the virus. Previous studies have shown that elderly people with less education are less successful at fighting off CMV, but this is the first known study to make that connection in younger adults as well, said study co-author Jennifer Dowd, who began the work while in the Health and Society Scholars program at the U-M School of Public Health. [Read more...]

Public Health, Social Sciences

Low

SNRE professor contributes to study examining inequality, ’silver spoon’ effect in ancient societies

The so-called "silver spoon" effect—in which wealth is passed down from one generation to another—is well established in some of the world's most ancient economies, according to an international study reported in the Oct. 30 issue of Science. The study expands economists' conventional focus on material riches, and looks at various kinds of wealth, such as hunting success, food-sharing partners and kinship networks. The team of researchers—including Bobbi Low, a Conservation Biology professor at the School of Natural Resources and Environment— found that some kinds of wealth, like material possessions, are much more easily passed on than social networks or foraging abilities. [Read more...]

Social Sciences

Pregnant women risk early delivery from medications to treat depression

The odds triple for early child delivery among pregnant women with a history of depression who used psychiatric medication, a new study showed. Researchers at the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and University of Washington found that a combination of medication use and depression—either before or during pregnancy—was strongly linked to delivery before 35 weeks' gestation. "Medication use may be an indicator of depressive symptom severity, which is a direct or indirect contributing factor to pre-term delivery," said Kristine Siefert, the study's co-author and U-M professor of social work. [Read more...]

Biomedical, Social Sciences

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