The implications of recent weight gain trends for widening social disparities in body weight in the United States are unclear. Using an intersectional approach to studying inequality, and the longitudinal and nationally representative American's Changing Lives study (1986-2001/2002), we examine social disparities in body mass index trajectories…

While income inequality among college graduates is well documented, inequality in occupational status remains largely unexplored. We examine whether and how occupational specificity of college majors is related to college graduates' transition into the labor market and their subsequent occupational trajectories. Analyses of NLSY79 indicate that…

We use the National Violence against Women (and Men) Survey to examine the effects of region and race on the tendency to carry weapons for protection. We find that Southern and Western whites are much more likely than Northern whites to carry guns for self-protection, controlling for their risk of victimization. The difference between Southern and…

Social contexts in which confidants get to know each other affect the composition of their personal networks, inter alia the similarity among confidants. Results from analyses on a representative sample of the Dutch population between 18 and 65 years of age (SSND 2000), support the idea that differences in similarity among confidants can be…

Many youth in the United States lack clear occupational aspirations. This uncertainty in achievement ambitions may benefit socio-economic attainment if it signifies "role exploration," characterized by career development, continued education and enduring partnerships. By contrast, uncertainty may diminish attainment if it instead leads…

To investigate the role of body size in social networks, this study estimated cross-nested multilevel network models (p2) with longitudinal data from the 16 saturated schools in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. As body mass index increased, the likelihood of being nominated by schoolmates as friends--but not the likelihood of…

In over 500,000 pregnancies in 1980, abortions were more likely among White unmarried adult women than among Black; among Black married women than among White. Likelihood of abortion increased monotonically with increasing education, but only for unmarried women. Results were similar for a teenage sample. Contains 32 references. (SV)

Multivariate hazards regression analysis of data from the 1979-85 National Longitudinal Mortality Study provided mixed results concerning the social integration hypothesis of suicide. Among white males, divorced or separated men and those living alone had significantly higher risks of suicide mortality, but single and widowed men did not have…

I examine age variation in the effects of socioeconomic status (SES) on self-rated health in Korea by including three alternative indicators of SES--liquid assets, home ownership, and real estate ownership--as well as two standard measures of education and household income. Furthermore, I consider the SES-health relationship and its variation by…

Among a longitudinal cohort of 400 employed males, illicit drug use had a positive impact on wages up to age 28-29 and a negative impact by the mid-30s. A life-span perspective emphasizes differential short- and long-term impacts of education, training, and job changes on users' and nonusers' incomes. Contains 57 references. (Author/SV)