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Media literacy education teaches youth to critically examine the influence of media messages on health and substance use behavior. A small group of low-achieving middle school students at high risk for substance abuse attending an afterschool academic remediation program received a media literacy intervention intended for elementary students in a classroom setting. Participants significantly increased their: preferences for non-alcohol-related advertisements, ability to identify advertising techniques, media deconstruction skills, negative opinions about drinking and smoking behaviors, and significantly decreased their positive perceptions of cigarette and alcohol content in advertising. Results suggest that the Media Detective Program, an elementary-level, classroom-based intervention, can improve outcomes for at-risk middle school students in the afterschool setting.

Mammography use has increased over the past 20 years, yet more than 30% of women remain inadequately screened. Structural barriers can deter individuals from screening, however, cognitive, emotional, and communication barriers may also prevent mammography use. This study sought to identify the impact of number and type of barriers on mammography screening status, and to examine whether number and type of barriers are different for never-screened and off-schedule women. A total of 182 women aged 40 years or older completed a computer kiosk facilitated survey as part of a larger patient navigator intervention. Logistic regression analysis indicated that breast cancer knowledge predicted whether a woman had ever had a mammogram (odds ratio [OR] = 1.04, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.02-1.06, p = 0.0003), while the number of emotional, structural, and communication barriers predicted whether a woman was on-schedule for mammograms (OR = 0.79, 95% CI = 0.65-0.95, p = 0.0127). The results suggest that to increase the use of mammography at recommended regular intervals, interventions should be tailored toward current screening status.

The plains spotted skunk (Spilogale interrupta) is of conservation concern because of widespread population declines and is being considered for listing under the United States Endangered Species Act. Although the taxon is relatively rare and difficult to study, recent research and reports provided some information about spotted skunks in Arkansas and Missouri, USA. Using this information, we employed full and simplified multivariate species distribution models to evaluate cover type associations and identify regions of high predicted presence for plains spotted skunks. The simple model contained percent forest and percent development within 5 km, land cover category, and distance to water. Percent forest within 5 km was the most important variable based on permutation importance in both models, indicating that plains spotted skunk habitat may persist in contiguous forest at the landscape scale. Regions predicted to have high presence occurred in northern, western, and southern Arkansas and southern Missouri, totaling >300,000 ha. The resulting plains spotted skunk distribution map can be used for research and management efforts in areas of high probability of occurrence, and future statewide survey efforts may validate our results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]