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The Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS) social skills intervention has demonstrated effectiveness for adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, studies have been limited by a lack of objective outcome measures and an underrepresentation of Latinx families. This pilot study extends the PEERS literature by utilizing an observational measure of conversational skills (Contextual Assessment of Social Skills; CASS) with a diverse sample of 13 adolescents with ASD (with parent groups conducted in English and Spanish simultaneously) and a control group of 11 neurotypical adolescents. Consistent with previous research, adolescents with ASD and their parents perceived improvements in social functioning following intervention, which were maintained four months later and corroborated by improvements in conversational skills., Author(s): Elina Veytsman [sup.1] , Elizabeth Baker [sup.1] , Ann Marie Martin [sup.1] , Tricia Choy [sup.1] , Jan Blacher [sup.1] , Katherine Stavropoulos [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.266097.c, 0000 [...]

Author(s): Elizabeth Baker [sup.1] , Donald Weaver [sup.1] , Susan Massengill [sup.1] , Dana Mittag [sup.1] , Jane Juusola [sup.2] , Laurie Demmer [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (Aff1) grid.415907.e, 0000 0004 [...]

This study examined the association between health information seeking and confidence to manage health among men using multiple binary logistic regressions. Study data were drawn from the 2007 Health Tracking [...]

There is increased recognition that the inequitable distribution of social determinants acts as a stressor that influences health outcomes. Men on the Move's Leadership and Job Readiness (LJR) program was [...]

Author(s): Elizabeth Baker [sup.1] , Donald Weaver [sup.1] , Susan Massengill [sup.1] , Dana Mittag [sup.1] , Jane Juusola [sup.2] , Laurie Demmer [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (Aff1) grid.415907.e, 0000 0004 [...]

Previous research fails to find a consistent association between obesity and acculturation for children. We theorize that social isolation shelters children of immigrants from the U.S. 'obesiogenic' environment, but this protective effect is offset by immigrant parents' limited capacity to identify and manage this health risk in the United States. We further theorize that these factors affect boys more than girls. We use data from over 20,000 children in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Cohort and find that boys whose parents were raised outside the United States weighed more and gained weight faster than any other group. However, within this group, sons of low English-proficient parents gained weight more slowly than sons of English-proficient parents. The results thus suggest that two dimensions of low acculturation--foreign place of socialization and social isolation--affect children's weight gain in opposite directions and are more important for boys than girls. Keywords children of immigrants, gender, obesity, acculturation DOI: 10.1177/0022146510372347

Drawing from the Demand-Control Model and the conceptual framework of the stress process developed by researchers at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research, this paper presents and tests an 'integrated model' of occupational stress. The results indicate that control and social support are strongly correlated with negative job feelings. The effect of control on health was found to depend on the type of control and the organizational level at which control is exercised. Specifically, the effect of participation on health outcomes was found to differ at the job and organizational levels, and participation without influence was associated with increased negative job feelings. The effect of social support was found to depend on the type of support and from whom the support was provided. Results also indicate that it is important to test for moderating, mediating, and direct effects of control on health, and underscore the complementary nature of qualitative and quantitative data in furthering knowledge and understanding. Key words - participation, influence, control, social support, occupational stress

Objective: This study tested associations between church-based instrumental and informational social support and meeting physical activity guidelines. Methods: Cross-sectional data were analyzed for 1625 rural residents using logistic regression. Results: Associations were found between instrumental social support and performing some amount of physical activity but not between the 2 forms of support and meeting physical activity guidelines. Conclusion: Instrumental social support might help initiation of physical activity. Given that 54.1% of US adults get no leisure-time physical activity at the recommended minimum level, instrumental social support might be important in considering physical activity programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past two decades, there has been growing interest in improving black men's health and the health disparities affecting them. Yet, the health of black men consistently ranks lowest across nearly all groups in the United States. Evidence on the health and social causes of morbidity and mortality among black men has been narrowly concentrated on public health problems (e.g., violence, prostate cancer, and HIV/AIDS) and determinants of health (e.g., education and male gender socialization). This limited focus omits age-specific leading causes of death and other social determinants of health, such as discrimination, segregation, access to health care, employment, and income. This review discusses the leading causes of death for black men and the associated risk factors, as well as identifies gaps in the literature and presents a racialized and gendered framework to guide efforts to address the persistent inequities in health affecting black men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the 'immigrant epidemiological paradox,' immigrants and their children enjoy health advantages over their U.S.-born peers-advantages that diminish with greater acculturation. We investigated child obesity as a potentially significant deviation from this paradox for second-generation immigrant children. We evaluated two alternate measures of mother's acculturation: age at arrival in the United States and English language proficiency. To obtain sufficient numbers of second-generation immigrant children, we pooled samples across two related, nationally representative surveys. Each included measured (not parent-reported) height and weight of kindergartners. We also estimated models that alternately included and excluded mother's pre-pregnancy weight status as a predictor. Our findings are opposite to those predicted by the immigrant epidemiological paradox: children of U.S.-born mothers were less likely to be obese than otherwise similar children of foreign-born mothers; and the children of the least-acculturated immigrant mothers, as measured by low English language proficiency, were the most likely to be obese. Foreign-born mothers had lower (healthier) pre-pregnancy weight than U.S.-born mothers, and this was protective against their second-generation children's obesity. This protection, however, was not sufficiently strong to outweigh factors associated or correlated with the mothers' linguistic isolation and marginal status as immigrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: While smoking rates in the United States have decreased, some population subgroups have smoking rates that exceed national and state averages. These higher rates often are associated with higher incidence rates of tobacco-associated cancers. Over time, a decrease in smoking rates leads to lower cancer incidence. Methods: Using spatial modelling techniques, we identified an underserved geographic locale in South Florida with higher than expected incidence rates of tobacco-associated cancers. We then used a community-based participatory research (CBPR) design to conduct focus groups in 2011 to elicit information about the acceptability of a smoking cessation intervention delivered by trained former smokers from within peer networks. Results: A variety of smoking cessation strategies was presented and discussed in separate, gender-stratified focus groups comprised of former and current smokers (n = 39). Focus group findings consistently indicated that support groups were the preferred cessation mechanism in this community. Based on this finding, we changed our initially proposed cessation approach to one which employed support groups as a quit method. Conclusions: Currently, we are collecting pilot data to test this intervention and to reach smokers who might not otherwise be directly targeted with cessation messaging from larger tobacco control initiatives. If successful, this strategy can be adapted to effect other important changes in health behaviours in at-risk populations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This research examines the relationship between maternal employment and child overweight among fifth grade Hispanic and non-Hispanic white children. Data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten (ECLS-K) cohort fifth grade sample (N = 4,360) were analyzed. OLS regression models were estimated predicting percentile BMI as a function of maternal employment, ethnicity, parental nativity status, income, and the interactions of employment, ethnicity/nativity, and income. Among Hispanic children of immigrants, maternal employment is associated with lower percentile BMI and this association strengthens at higher levels of income. Among Hispanic children of natives and non-Hispanic whites, maternal employment is beneficial (i.e. associated with lower percentile BMI) among low-income children but detrimental among high-income children, but this pattern is significantly greater in strength for Hispanics than non-Hispanic whites. Thus, maternal employment is associated with worse health outcomes only in the case of Hispanic children of natives, and maternal employment is associated with the best outcomes for Hispanic children of mothers from high-income families. We speculate that among children of immigrants, maternal employment may signify and/or accelerate assimilation towards middle- or upper-class American values of healthy weight and body size. Diet, meal regularity and supervision, and childcare did not mediate the relationship between maternal employment and overweight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]