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…

Policy reforms and rising income inequality transformed educational and economic opportunities for Americans approaching midlife in the 1990s. Rising income inequality may have reduced mobility, as income gaps increased between rich and poor children. Against the effects of rising inequality, Civil Rights reforms may have increased mobility, as…

Presents and tests a theory which specifies the conditions under which adolescents shift their valuations between three sets of reference sources--fathers, mothers, and peers; the thesis incorporates components from four interpretations of parent--adolescent cleavage, summarily entitle Push, Pull, Selective Attachment, and Drift. (Author/JM)