Search

There are substantial disparities in clinical trial participation, which is problematic in diseases such as lupus that disproportionately affect racial/ethnic minority populations. We examined the effectiveness of an online educational course aiming to train medical providers to refer Black and Latino patients to lupus clinical trials (LCTs).The American College of Rheumatology's Materials to Increase Minority Involvement in Clinical Trials (MIMICT) study uses an online, randomized, two-group, pretest/posttest design with medical and nursing providers of multiple specialties. We exposed intervention group participants to an education course, while the control group participants received no intervention. Controlling for the effects of participant characteristics, including specialty, and professional experience with lupus, we modeled relationships among exposure to the education course and changes in knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy, and intentions to refer Black and Latino patients to LCTs. We also examined education course satisfaction.Compared to the control group, the intervention group had significantly higher posttest scores for knowledge, self-efficacy, and intentions to refer Black and Latino patients to LCTs. Both medical and nursing trained intervention group participants had significantly higher mean posttest scores for knowledge and intentions to refer compared to the medical and nursing trained control group participants. Attitude was insignificant in analysis. The online education course, which received a favorable summary score, indicated that satisfaction and intentions to refer were strongly and positively correlated.The MIMICT education course is an effective method to educate medical providers about LCTs and improve their intentions to refer Black and Latino patients.

To examine gender differences in commentary about self and others in same- and mixed-gender contexts, the authors analyzed dyadic conversations involving 78 children in 5 preschool facilities. Compared to girls talking to girls, boy talking to boys made more statements with negative connotations for others and less often pointed out self–other similarities. No gender differences were observed in mixed-gender contexts. Compared to boys talking with boys, boys talking with girls spoke more frequently of similarities and abilities. Compared to girls with girls, girls with boys less often spoke descriptively or talked of activities and possessions and more often spoke of conduct, possibly in an effort to manage boys’ behavior. Overall, the findings support a social-constructivist or contextual rather than a biological perspective on early gender differences.

This study evaluated the efficacy of Above the Influence (ATI), a national media-based health persuasion campaign to deter youth drug use. The campaign uses public service anti-drug prevention messages and targets youth between the ages of 14 and 16, a period of heightened susceptibility to peer influences. The evaluation utilized mall intercepts from geographically dispersed regions of the country. Theoretical impetus for the campaign combines elements of the theory of reasoned action (TRA), persuasion theory, and the health belief model. A series of structural equation models were tested with four randomly drawn cross-validation samples ( N = 3,000). Findings suggest that awareness of ATI is associated with greater anti-drug beliefs, fewer drug use intentions, and less marijuana use. Congruent with the TRA, changes in beliefs and intentions are intermediate steps linking campaign awareness with behavior. This study provides further evidence of positive campaign effects and may strengthen reliance on mass media health persuasion campaigns as a useful adjunct to other programs targeting youth.

This study examines the impact of a video-based intervention to increase children’s knowledge and positive attitudes toward a peer with Tourette Syndrome (TS). TS, a neurological disorder characterized by verbal and motor tics, is a confusing and potentially stigmatizing disorder. Although symptoms wax and wane over the life span, TS typically begins in childhood and peaks at puberty. The available literature suggests that individuals with TS are at risk for social rejection; because TS is primarily a childhood disorder, many of the social adjustment problems experienced by individuals with the disorder have their roots in negative childhood experiences in the classroom. An intervention was developed and evaluated using a pretest, posttest control group study. Children exposed to the intervention video showed greater changes in knowledge, positive attitudes, and behavioral intentions than a control group. Such interventions may have potential to improve social outcomes for children with differences.