Article Database

Infrastructuring the Circular Economy

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The circular economy (CE), and its focus on the cycling and regeneration of resources, necessitates both a reconfiguration of existing infrastructures and the creation of new infrastructures to facilitate these flows. In urban settings, CE is being realized at multiple levels, from within individual organizations to across peri-urban landscapes. While most attention in CE research and practice focuses on organizations, the scale and impact of many such efforts are limited because they fail to account for the diversity of resources, needs, and power structures across cities, consequently missing opportunities for adopting a more effective and inclusive CE. Reconfiguring hard infrastructures is necessary for material resource cycling, but intervening in soft infrastructures is also needed to enable more inclusive decision-making processes to activate these flows. Utilizing participatory action research methods at the intersection of industrial ecology and design, we developed a new framework and a model for considering and allocating the variety of resources that organizations utilize when creating value for themselves, society, and the planet. We use design prototyping methods to synthesize distributed knowledge and co-create hard and soft infrastructures in a multi-level case study focused on urban food producers and farmers markets from the City of Chicago. We discuss generalized lessons for “infrastructuring” the circular economy to bridge niche-level successes with larger system-level changes in cities.

Precision Therapeutics in the NICU: Why Are We Missing the Mark?

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Commentary on the potential for Precision Therapeutics in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Attachment Orientation and Sexual Risk Behaviour Among Young Black Gay and Bisexual Men

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This mixed methods study used an explanatory sequential design to examine the relationship between attachment and sexual behavior among young Black gay and bisexual men (YBGBM). Cross sectional online surveys and sex diaries were completed by a sample of YBGBM in New York City (n = 153) to assess the association between adult attachment insecurity and sexual risk behavior. The Experiences in Close Relationships Scale-Revised (ECR-R) was used to assess three types of adult attachment (i.e., secure, anxious, and avoidant). Participants reported condomless sex encounters, as well as serodiscordant condomless anal sex encounters, as measures of sexual risk. Quantitative findings suggested that there were few associations between attachment type and sexual risk behavior; only men with attachment avoidance were likely to engage in condomless sex. However, qualitative findings illuminated some of the social complexities of the association between attachment in childhood, attachment in young adulthood and intimate partnerships, which could be linked to young adult sexual risk behavior. The study findings highlight the need for researchers to further examine the process by which individual differences in attachment orientation are related to YBGBM’s sexual behavior.

Family Conflict, Chaos, and Negative Life Events Predict Cortisol Activity in Low-Income Children

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Childhood poverty is hypothesized to increase risk for mental and physical health problems at least in part through dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. However, less is known about the specific psychosocial stressors associated with cortisol reactivity and regulation for children living in poverty. The current study investigates negative life events, household chaos, and family conflict in preschool and middle childhood as potential predictors of cortisol regulation in low-income 7–10 year olds (N = 242; M age = 7.9 years). Participants were assessed in preschool and participated in a follow-up assessment in middle childhood, during which diurnal free cortisol and free cortisol reactivity to the Trier Social Stress Test for Children (TSST-C) were assessed. Household chaos during preschool predicted a more blunted diurnal cortisol slope in middle childhood. Greater negative life events during preschool and greater concurrent family conflict were associated with increased free cortisol reactivity in middle childhood.

Transitions in Friendship Attachment in Adolescence is Associated with Developmental Trajectories of Depression through Adulthood

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Friendship Attachment Style Moderates the Effect of Adolescent Exposure to Violence on Emerging Adult Depression and Anxiety Trajectories

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Exposure to violence during adolescence is associated with increased risk behaviors and mental health problems in adulthood. Friendship attachment during adolescence may, however, mitigate the negative effects of exposure to violence on trajectories of depression and anxiety in young adulthood. In this study, we used growth curve modeling to examine associations between exposure to violence and mental health outcomes, followed by multi-group analyses with friendship attachment as the moderator. The sample was drawn from a longitudinal study (12 waves; 1994–2012) of 676 (54% female) urban high school students. We found strong positive associations between exposure to violence during adolescence and later self-reported depressive and anxiety symptoms. Notably, securely attached adolescents reported faster decreases in mental health symptoms as a function of violence relative to their insecurely attached peers as they transitioned into adulthood.

“They Are Not Taking Cigarettes From Me . . . I’m Going to Smoke My Cigarettes Until the Day I Die. I Don’t Care If I Get Cancer”: Smoking Behaviors of Men Under Community Supervision in New York City

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Cortisol Profiles Differ by Race/Ethnicity Among Young Sexual Minority Men

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Much of the extant scientific research examining hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)-axis functioning is conducted among White heterosexuals. Very little research examines HPA-axis functioning between different minority groups. Individuals who identify as both sexual and racial minorities may experience increased stigma and discrimination that can affect HPA-axis functioning. In the current study, we examined diurnal cortisol rhythm in young White gay men (WGM) compared to young Black gay men (BGM). The sample consisted of 70 healthy gay men (mean [SD] age = 22.9 [3.2]: 68% White and 38% Black) who collected four saliva samples daily for five days. Repeated measures analysis of covariance and post-hoc tests revealed that BGM had higher cortisol levels than WGM in the evening. Secondary analyses revealed no significant group differences for the cortisol awakening response or systemic output throughout the day. However, BGM compared to WGM had a lower drop from peak (morning) to lowest (evening) cortisol concentrations. Taken together, these findings reveal a flatter diurnal cortisol rhythm among BGM compared to WGB. The functional significance of these preliminary findings must be explored further with assessment of psychosocial factors among sexual minorities at the intersection of multiple identities. In summary, we expand health disparities research aimed at delineating sexual minority and race/ethnic variation in stress physiology.

The Integrated Attachment and Sexual Minority Stress Model: Understanding the Role of Adult Attachment in the Health and Well-Being of Sexual Minority Men

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Gay and bisexual boys and men experience social stigma associated with their sexual minority status that can negatively influence health. In addition, experiencing sexual orientation stigma may be linked to a decreased capacity to effectively form and maintain secure attachment relationships with parents, peers, and romantic partners across the life-course. We proposed that utilizing a framework that integrates the process by which sexual minority men develop attachment relationships in the context of sexual minority stress can lead to a better understanding of health and well-being among sexual minority boys and men. In addition, we highlight where future research can expand upon the presented model in order to better understand the developmental processes through which attachment and sexual minority stress influences health and health behaviors among sexual minority boys and men.

World making or world breaking?: a Black womanist perspective on social media crises in higher education

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