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Objective: African Americans in the USA experience a disproportionate burden of chronic disease. Healthy lifestyle promotion programmes can help decrease this disease risk. This study determined the feasibility of using dyadic peer support to augment an existing healthy lifestyle programme in African American churches. Design: A prospective pre-post design was used with 80 participants from three churches in the southeastern USA over an 18-week period. Methods: Participants attended 9 weeks of group nutrition classes followed by 9 weeks of a dyadic peer support programme. Feasibility was measured by recruitment, acceptability, ability to collect peer support data, ability to implement the peer support component and preliminary health outcomes. Descriptive statistics and multilevel models were used to analyse the data. Results: Seventy-eight percent of participants completed group classes and peer support activities. Over 95% of participants would work with a partner again. Lay leaders and educators felt they had the resources and participant support to implement a dyadic peer support intervention. Participants achieved small but significant average increases of 1.1 fruit servings per day (p = 0.001) and 1.2 days of physical activity per week (p = 0.01) post-intervention. Significant changes in weight (-2.6 pounds, 95% confidence interval [CI] = -4.18, -1.1; p = 0.001) and vegetable intake (0.681 servings, 95% CI = 0.122, 1.241; p = 0.017) achieved during the first 9 weeks of the programme were maintained during the second 9 weeks. Conclusion: Dyadic peer support can successfully be used to augment existing healthy lifestyle promotion programmes within African American churches. Studies using control groups are needed to test the effectiveness of dyadic peer support on health outcomes more rigorously.

Latinx immigrants are exposed to acculturative stressors as they adapt to the U.S. However, little is known about the impact of acculturative stressors and psychosocial resilience on physiological responses and health over time. The purpose of this study was to examine trajectories of physiological stress markers among Latinx adults over time and examine the influence of acculturative stressors and psychosocial resilience factors on these different trajectories. A community-based, longitudinal study was conducted with adult Latinx immigrants in North Carolina (N = 391) over a two-year period. Self-reported measures of ten different types of acculturative stressors (e.g., occupational, family, healthcare, discrimination) and psychosocial resilience factors (individual resilience, coping, ethnic pride, familism, and social support) along with urine samples were taken at baseline and 12- and 24-month follow-up periods. Biomarkers of physiological stress (inflammatory cytokines interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-8 and IL-18 and C-Reactive Protein (CRP)) were measured in urine. Multivariate latent class growth analysis, linear mixed models, and unadjusted bivariate analyses were conducted to address the study aims. Participants were an average of 39 years of age (SD = 6.94) and mostly women (68.8%) and Spanish speakers (83%). Three latent classes of physiological stress marker trajectories were identified: resilient, rapidly increasing stress, and chronic elevated stress. These latent classes had significant differences in gender, race, coping styles, ethnic pride, and parental acculturative stressors. The findings from this study identify specific types of acculturative stressors and psychosocial resilience factors that are important targets for health promotion and disease prevention programs for Latinx immigrants. • Latinx immigrant in the United States experience health decays over time. • Social determinants of health become biologically embedded among Latinx immigrants. • Acculturative stressors and psychological resilience are determinants of health. • Interventions adressing sress and resilience are needed to promote health equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To explore barbers' attitudes and beliefs regarding the feasibility and acceptability of a barber- led STI/ HIV risk reduction intervention for fathers and their preadolescent and adolescent sons. Design and Sample A qualitative descriptive design was used. Twenty-two barbers were recruited from barbershops and a barber school in central North Carolina. Measures A combination of five focus groups and two key informant interviews were conducted. Results The following themes were generated: (1) The barbershop was embraced as a venue for an adolescent sexual health father-son intervention, (2) Barbers desired more information about STIs and HIV among Black male youth, (3) The use of incentives to engage barbers and fathers was important, and (4) Time commitment of barbers for a barber-led intervention varied. Conclusion The trust established between barbers and the Black community presents an opportunity for pre-adolescent and adolescent STI/ HIV risk reduction programs that include the role of fathers. Intervention programs can be tailored to address this important intervention opportunity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Delays in the diagnosis of children with fragile X syndrome (FXS) suggest the possibility of newborn screening as a way to identify children earlier. However, FXS does not have a proven treatment that must be provided early, and ethical concerns have been raised about the detection of infants who are carriers. This article summarizes major findings from a multisite, prospective, longitudinal pilot screening study. METHODS: Investigators in North Carolina, California, and Illinois collaborated on a study in which voluntary screening for FXS was offered to parents in 3 birthing hospitals. FXS newborn screening was offered to >28 000 families to assess public acceptance and determine whether identification of babies resulted in any measurable harms or adverse events. Secondary goals were to determine the prevalence of FMR1 carrier gene expansions, study the consent process, and describe early development and behavior of identified children. RESULTS: A number of publications have resulted from the project. This article summarizes 10 "lessons learned" about the consent process, reasons for accepting and declining screening, development and evaluation of a decision aid, prevalence of carriers, father participation in consent, family follow-up, and maternal reactions to screening. CONCLUSIONS: The project documented public acceptance of screening as well as the challenges inherent in obtaining consent in the hospital shortly after birth. Collectively, the study provides answers to a number of questions that now set the stage for a next generation of research to determine the benefits of earlier identification for children and families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]