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In the current study, we sought to understand relations among the key intervention targets of social-emotional and character development (SECD) interventions: character virtues, Positive Purpose, and social-emotional learning (SEL). Sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students (n = 1011, ages 11 to 16, M = 12.94, SD = 1.00) from five urban middle schools in the mid-Atlantic US completed self-report surveys containing measures of five supporting character virtues (diligence, gratitude, forgiveness, future-mindedness, and generosity) and Positive Purpose. Teachers rated students' social-emotional strengths. Hierarchical regressions found a constellation of five character virtues was associated with Purpose and SEL, thereby providing empirical support for the framework for SECD interventions. Exploratory analyses found higher student-reported virtues were associated with a steeper increase in teacher ratings of SEL for males and White students, compared to female students and students of color. The current study contributes to both SEL and character education research by demonstrating positive associations among SEL, character, and Positive Purpose in the context of mid-Atlantic US urban middle schools. Future directions for research include examining how these SECD intervention targets and relations among them develop over time, the ability of SECD interventions to cultivate these skills and virtues, and how differences in teacher ratings by student race/ethnicity and sex may occur.

Objective: To compare the predictive accuracy of the 2022 vs 2011 National Institute of Child Health and Human Development estimator for identifying infants at high risk for bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). Methods: We conducted a single-center retrospective study of infants ≤28 weeks' gestation. Demographic and respiratory support data were used to calculate risk for BPD or death by the BPD estimators. Our outcomes of interest included (1) treatment with systemic steroids for BPD and (2) composite outcome of death or highest severity of BPD at 36 weeks’ postmenstrual age. We used c-statistics and area under receiver operator characteristic curves (AUC) to compare accuracy of the BPD estimators. Results: A total of 159 infants (mean gestational age, 26 weeks; mean birth weight, 837 g) were included. Steroid treatment for BPD occurred in 61 infants. We found that predictive accuracy was similar for both 2022 and 2011 BPD estimators, with c-statistics ranging from 0.77 to 0.89, indicating good-to-excellent accuracy for predicting steroid treatment. Twenty-one infants had death or grade 3 BPD based on definitions used in the 2022 estimator, and 68 infants had death or severe BPD based on definitions used in the 2011 estimator. Overall, we found both BPD estimators had poor AUC for predicting infants at high risk for death or highest severity of BPD, with the exception of the 2022 estimator, which had an acceptable AUC of 0.773 on postnatal day of life 28. Conclusions: The 2022 and 2011 BPD estimators both demonstrate similar good-to-excellent accuracy for identifying infants at high risk for steroid treatment, but poor-to-fair accuracy for predicting death or highest severity of BPD at 36 weeks’ postmenstrual age.

Multilevel marketing (MLM) involvement can adversely affect consumer wellbeing. We examine how individual beliefs about work predict participation and financial losses in MLMs. As MLMs are presented to the marketplace as low-barrier opportunities to start one's own business, we suggest that this may speak directly to people who strongly endorse Protestant work ethic (PWE), making them more inclined toward MLM participation, and financial outcomes associated with that participation. Using a place-based (county level) MLM data set from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC; n = 326,487), and a consumer survey (n = 515), we find evidence that PWE is positively associated with participation in MLMs (studies 1 and 2), and that PWE predicts estimated financial losses among those who lost $1000 or more (study 1) but financial gains in a more general sample of MLM participants (study 2). Implications for research, marketing, and consumer advocacy are discussed.

BackgroundAdherence to intervention training implementation strategies is at the foundation of fidelity; however, few studies have linked training adherence to trainee attitudes and leadership behaviors to identify what practically matters for the adoption and dissemination of evidence-based practices. Through the conduct of this hybrid type 3 effectiveness-implementation cluster randomized controlled trial, we collected Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, and Sustainment (EPIS) data and merged it with tailored motivational interviewing training adherence data, to elucidate the relationship between provider attitudes toward evidence-based practices, leadership behaviors, and training implementation strategy (e.g., workshop attendance and participation in one-on-one coaching) adherence.MethodOur sample included data from providers who completed baseline (pre-intervention) surveys that captured inner and outer contexts affecting implementation and participated in tailored motivational interviewing training, producing a dataset that included training implementation strategies adherence and barriers and facilitators to implementation (N = 77). Leadership was assessed by two scales: the director leadership scale and implementation leadership scale. Attitudes were measured with the evidence-based practice attitude scale (EBPAS-50). Adherence to training implementation strategies was modeled as a continuous outcome with a Gaussian distribution. Analyses were conducted in SPSS.ResultsOf the nine general attitudes toward evidence-based practice, openness was associated with training adherence (estimate [EST] = 0.096, p

Are teachers' growth mindsets associated with the development of their students? We know that teacher growth mindset (TGM) shapes the attributions teachers make about their students' abilities and can lead to assumptions about the role that perceived stable traits play in students' performance; however, to date, research has not focused on the relationship between TGM and the development of student growth mindset. This study fills a gap in our knowledge by testing this association over time. Findings from an analytic sample of 57 teachers and 1957 intervention students reveal that teachers with growth mindsets have a mild positive and statistically significant association with the development of their students' growth mindsets, particularly for boys. Implications for teacher education, practice, and future research are discussed.