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Research on our connection to nature (CTN) and sense of well-being has gained increased attention in recent years. It is often argued that CTN is an important, yet diminishing, human need, especially when juxtaposed with our increased time spent with screens and social media. Yet, little is known about the potential for social media, CTN, and well-being to form positive relationships. From the self-presentation framework, this study sought to better understand these relationships by examining the connection between three forms of nature posts (self, friends', and celebrities'), CTN, and two forms of well-being (vitality and body appreciation). Results from a cross-sectional survey demonstrated significant positive links between nature posts and CTN. Regression analyses showed active posting (self-nature posts) but not passive exposure (friends', celebrities' posts) was significantly linked to CTN, when also accounting for time spent outdoors and age. There was also a significant relationship between nature posts and well-being. Regression analyses revealed active posts were significantly linked to vitality and marginally significant in connection to body appreciation. Celebrities’ posts were also positively linked to body appreciation. Finally, CTN served as a significant mediator between nature posts and well-being. The findings are discussed in the context of nature-related self-presentation online and attention restoration, and in contrast to the often-deterministic view of the impact of technology use on CTN.

Collaborations are critical to address rural health challenges. We evaluated a new international collaboration between institutions in Georgia, the United States (US), and Scotland, United Kingdom (UK), to address rural health issues and to understand the barriers and facilitators to effective international collaboration efforts. A qualitative approach was used through in-depth interviews and focus groups with educators, researchers, and healthcare providers in the US and Scotland who were involved in the CONVERGE international rural health collaboration. Transcriptions were imported into the NVivo qualitative software program. A reflexive thematic analysis was employed to identify key themes from the collected data. Twelve interviews and two focus groups were conducted virtually with 17 participants. Two primary domains were identified from the thematic analysis: (1) motivators that increase engagement in international collaboration, and (2) mechanisms for, and barriers to, the continuity needed to create meaningful change. Six themes emerged related to commonality of issues, prospect of sharing knowledge, need of sustained funding and institutional support, and selection of human resources. Participants of CONVERGE were more likely to engage when they had a space to share ways to address challenging issues and integrate knowledge and practice. They were motivated by their desire for growth and the institutions they serve and emphasized that infrastructure support is vital for sustainable collaborations., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The COVID-19 pandemic has fostered an environment for increased risk of child maltreatment (CM) as families experience increased psychosocial and financial burdens and spend unprecedented amounts of time together in the home. This narrative review aimed to summarize empirical findings on existing or new pandemic-related risk factors among caregivers. A combination of search terms related to CM and COVID-19 were used to identify articles published within five databases between February 2020 and July 2022. Literature searches produced 113 articles, of which 26 published across 12 countries met inclusion criteria. Four previously well-established risk factors for CM perpetration continued to persist during the pandemic, including stress, parental mental health, financial concerns, and parental substance use. Of note, inconsistent definitions and measures were used to capture these risk factors. Several additional emerging and understudied risk factors were also identified among limited articles, such as food insecurity and parental education. Findings emphasize the ongoing need for evidence-based interventions to address CM risk during the pandemic, including parent training programs. However, consolidated measures and consistent conceptualization of risk factors are needed to advance the study of CM. Going forward, practitioners and researchers should (a) strengthen the identification process for families at greatest risk for CM, and particularly those vulnerable to pandemic-related stressors; and (b) augment delivery of CM prevention strategies and evidence-based programs to fit the pandemic context., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Introduction: Technology has been used in evidence-based child maltreatment (CM) programs for over a decade. Although advancements have been made, the extent of the application of technology in these programs, and its influence on parental and child outcomes, remains unclear within the context of changes that emerged because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This scoping review provides a contextualized overview and summary of the use of technology in evidence-based parenting and child programs serving families impacted by child maltreatment and the effects of technology-enhanced programs on target outcomes., Materials and Methods: Using Arksey and O'Malley's methodological framework, we searched seven databases to identify peer-reviewed and grey literature published in English from 2000 to 2023 on evidence-based programs, according to the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse (CEBC), that included technological supports for two populations: at-risk parents for child maltreatment prevention, and children and youth 0-18 years exposed to child maltreatment. All study designs were included., Results: Eight evidence-based parenting programs and one evidence-based child trauma program were identified as using technology across a total of 25 peer-reviewed articles and 2 peer-reviewed abstracts meeting inclusion criteria ( n  = 19 on parent-level programs; n  = 8 on child-level programs). Four studies were published in the context of COVID-19. Two main uses of technology emerged: (1) remote programmatic delivery (i.e., delivering all or part of the program virtually using technology) and (2) programmatic enhancement (i.e., augmenting program content with technology). Improvements across parenting and child mental health and behavioral outcomes were generally observed., Discussion: Technology use in evidence-based child maltreatment programs is not new; however, the small sample since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in this review that met inclusion criteria highlight the dearth of research published on the topic. Findings also suggest the need for the inclusion of implementation outcomes related to adoption and engagement, which could inform equitable dissemination and implementation of these programs. Additional considerations for research and practice are discussed., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (© 2023 Tiwari, Recinos, Garner, Self-Brown, Momin, Durbha, Emery, O'Hara, Perry, Stewart and Wekerle.)

Importance: Health care delivery faces a myriad of challenges globally with well-documented health inequities based on geographic location. Yet, researchers and policy makers have a limited understanding of the frequency of geographic health disparities., Objective: To describe geographic health disparities in 11 high-income countries., Design, Setting, and Participants: In this survey study, we analyzed results from the 2020 Commonwealth Fund International Health Policy (IHP) Survey-a nationally representative, self-reported, and cross-sectional survey of adults from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, and the US. Eligible adults older than age 18 years were included by random sampling. Survey data were compared for the association of area type (rural or urban) with 10 health indicators across 3 domains: health status and socioeconomic risk factors, affordability of care, and access to care. Logistic regression was used to determine the associations between countries with area type for each factor, controlling for individuals' age and sex., Main Outcomes and Measures: The main outcomes were geographic health disparities as measured by differences in respondents living in urban and rural settings in 10 health indicators across 3 domains., Results: There were 22 402 survey respondents (12 804 female [57.2%]), with a 14% to 49% response rate depending on the country. Across the 11 countries and 10 health indicators and 3 domains (health status and socioeconomic risk factors, affordability of care, access to care), there were 21 occurrences of geographic health disparities; 13 of those in which rural residence was a protective factor and 8 of those where rural residence was a risk factor. The mean (SD) number of geographic health disparities in the countries was 1.9 (1.7). The US had statistically significant geographic health disparities in 5 of 10 indicators, the most of any country, while Canada, Norway, and the Netherlands had no statistically significant geographic health disparities. The indicators with the most occurrences of geographic health disparities were in the access to care domain., Conclusions and Relevance: In this survey study of 11 high-income nations, health disparities across 10 indicators were identified. Differences in number of disparities reported by country suggest that health policy and decision makers in the US should look to Canada, Norway, and the Netherlands to improve geographic-based health equity.

The study of inheritance of quantitative traits of high plasticity in insects has been limited. The heritability of larval development time and body weight in Tenebrio molitor L. was determined using the method of parent-offspring regression. The parental group of adults obtained from a cohort from one day of oviposition from a stock colony was divided into 28 class groups according to their larval development time and pupal weight. The progeny resulting from these parental classes was grouped in experimental units and allowed to develop to the pupal stage. Means of larval development time and pupal weight of the progeny were compared with their parental class levels using linear regression. The selection of larval development time and pupal weight in the parental classes had a significant impact on the means of larval development time and pupal weight of the progeny. The regression coefficients for larval development time and pupal weight were 0.626 ± 0.02 and 0.408 ± 0.02, respectively. These values represent the proportion of genetic determination of these two traits based on the principles of the method of parent-offspring regression. The apparent independence of larval development time and pupal weight based on their poor linear correlation is discussed., (Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America 2022.)