Ethnicity Specific Norms and Alcohol Consumption Among Hispanic/Latino/a and Caucasian Students

Previous research has shown that social norms are among the strongest predictors of college student drinking and that normative misperceptions of more similar groups’ drinking behavior may be more influential on individual drinking than those groups perceived to be more different. However, limited research has explored the moderating role of ethnicity in this context. The current study examined the differential impact that Hispanic/Latino/a and Caucasian students’ normative perceptions of both typical and same-ethnicity college students’ drinking behavior had on their own drinking. Participants (N = 5,369 students; 60.4% female; 81.4% Caucasian; mean age 19.9 years) from two colleges completed web-based surveys assessing their alcohol consumption, and their perceptions of the drinking behaviors of both the typical college student and the typical same-ethnicity college student at their campus. Results demonstrated that perceived norms were significantly associated with likelihood of drinking regardless of race or ethnicity specificity, but that Hispanics/Latinos/as typically had weaker relationships between ethnicity-specific norms and drinking than general student norms and drinking. The opposite was true for Caucasians such that the relationship between same-ethnicity norms and drinking was stronger than the relationship between general student norms and drinking. Further, Hispanic/Latino/a students with high perceived norms were less likely to have consumed any alcohol than Caucasians with similar normative beliefs. Further, a campus site interaction suggests that the size of the minority population on campus relative to other students may influence the relationship between norms and drinking. Implications and targets for future investigation are discussed

Multiple prior concussions are associated with symptoms in high school athletes

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association of prior concussion on baseline computerized neurocognitive testing in a large cohort of high school athletes. Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study of student athletes from 49 Maine High Schools in 2010 who underwent baseline computerized neurocognitive evaluation with Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT®). As part of the ImPACT®, subjects reported a prior history of concussion as well as demographic information and a symptom questionnaire. We used linear regression to evaluate the association of prior concussion with baseline: (1) ImPACT® composite scores; and (2) symptom scores. Results: Six thousand seventy-five subjects were included in the study, of whom 57% were boys. The majority of student athletes (85.3%) reported no prior history of concussion while 4.6% reported having sustained two or more prior concussions. On simple linear regression, increasing number of concussions was related to worse performance in verbal memory (P = 0.039) and greater symptoms scores (P < 0.001). On multivariate modeling, only the association with baseline symptoms remained (P < 0.001). Other factors associated with baseline symptom reporting in the multivariate model included mental health history, headache/migraine history, gender, developmental and/or learning problems, and number of prior concussions. Interpretation In this large-scale, retrospective survey study, history of multiple prior concussions was associated with higher symptom burden but not baseline computerized neurocognitive testing. The association between baseline symptom reporting and clinical and demographic factors was greater than the association with a history of multiple concussions

The Grizzly, October 16, 1981

Long Range Improvements Planned • Homecoming Coming Up • Fraternity Hazing Topic of Next Forum • Sadat: The Champion of Peace • USGA Notes • Procedure and Schedule for Spring Term Registration • Frats Resume Reimert Cleanup • Student Advising Program to be Revised Next Year • Transplanted Texan: Evaluation of a Brown-noser • Increased Internationalism Has Positive Effect on Campus • Bad Weather Attendance Rules • Homecoming Queen Candidates • Community and Civilization Course • Ursinus News Briefs: The law of the sea: is it a new threat to peace?; Exploring career options; CPAs to sponsor student manuscript contest • Student Use of Helfferich Clarified • New Medical Ethics Course Offered at Ursinus • Field Hockey Winning Ways Return • Booters Offense Sharp • Bear Loss in Final Quarterhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1064/thumbnail.jp

The Grizzly, April 23, 1982

Recurring Thefts Plague New Men\u27s Dorm • Final Forum Discusses Use of Photography in Space • Too Much Grass on Campus? • Letters to the Editor • Congress Puts Hold on Financial Aid Cuts • Reagan\u27s Change of Style • Vanities Well Received by Community • Hooters Reggae Keeps UC Jumping • UC Baseball Splits With Widener • Men\u27s Tennis Top Widener • Bear Blades Finish Season Strong • Women\u27s Tennis Head to MACs • Women\u27s Track Club Earns First Place • Temple Dumps Women\u27s Lacrosse • Men\u27s Lacrosse is on Trackhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1079/thumbnail.jp

The Grizzly, October 9, 1981

False Alarms Plague Campus • Task Force Attempts to Answer Concerns in the Evening School • Breaking of Tradition, Speeding Up of Progress • Sadat is Dead: What Happens Now? • Letters to the Editor • Books Sought by Ursinus Friends • Pi Nu Epsilon Banquet • Sid Quinn, Barbara Blatt • Transplanted Texan: A Funny Thing Happened to Me at the Forum • Making Love is Fact of Life • Kinky Culture at the Spectrum • LeKites Elected Class of \u2785 President • Second Semi-annual Photo Exhibit Presented Tomorrow • Oktoberfest Comes to Ritter • Business Law Dropped from Day School Curriculum By Request of the Econ Department • 20 hrs. Limitation Causes Uproar • USGA Notes • Cross Country Leaves \u27Em Talking • Hockey Suffers First Loss of Season • Dickinson Latest Victim to Ursinus Defense • Soccer Shuts Out Hopkinshttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1063/thumbnail.jp

Cost-effectiveness of introducing national seasonal influenza vaccination for adults aged 60 years and above in mainland China: a modelling analysis

BACKGROUND: China has an aging population with an increasing number of adults aged ≥ 60 years. Influenza causes a heavy disease burden in older adults, but can be alleviated by vaccination. We assessed the cost-effectiveness of a potential government-funded seasonal influenza vaccination program in older adults in China. METHODS: We characterized the health and economic impact of a fully funded influenza vaccination program for older adults using China-specific influenza disease burden, and related cost data, etc. Using a decision tree model, we calculated the incremental costs per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained of vaccination from the societal perspective, at a willingness-to-pay threshold equivalent to GDP per capita (US$8840). Moreover, we estimated the threshold vaccination costs, under which the fully funded vaccination program is cost-effective using GDP per capita as the willingness-to-pay threshold. RESULTS: Compared to current self-paid vaccination, a fully funded vaccination program is expected to prevent 19,812 (95$4832 (3460-8307), with a 98% probability of being cost-effective. The threshold vaccination cost is US$10.19 (6.08-13.65). However, variations exist between geographical regions, with Northeast and Central China having lower probabilities of cost-effectiveness. CONCLUSIONS: Our results support the implementation of a government fully funded older adult vaccination program in China. The regional analysis provides results across settings that may be relevant to other countries with similar disease burden and economic status, especially for low- and middle-income countries where such analysis is limited

RCT of Web-based Personalized Normative Feedback for College Drinking Prevention: Are Typical Student Norms Good Enough?

Objectives Personalized normative feedback (PNF) interventions are generally effective at correcting normative misperceptions and reducing risky alcohol consumption among college students. However, research has yet to establish what level of reference group specificity is most efficacious in delivering PNF. This study compared the efficacy of a web-based PNF intervention employing eight increasingly-specific reference groups against a Web-BASICS intervention and a repeated-assessment control in reducing risky drinking and associated consequences. Method Participants were 1663 heavy drinking Caucasian and Asian undergraduates at two universities. The referent for web-based PNF was either the typical same-campus student, or a same-campus student at one (either gender, race, or Greek-affiliation), or a combination of two (e.g., gender and race), or all three levels of specificity (i.e., gender, race, and Greek-affiliation). Hypotheses were tested using quasi-Poisson generalized linear models fit by generalized estimating equations. Results The PNF intervention participants showed modest reductions in all four outcomes (average total drinks, peak drinking, drinking days, and drinking consequences) compared to control participants. No significant differences in drinking outcomes were found between the PNF group as a whole and the Web-BASICS group. Among the eight PNF conditions, participants receiving typical student PNF demonstrated greater reductions in all four outcomes compared to those receiving PNF for more specific reference groups. Perceived drinking norms and discrepancies between individual behavior and actual norms mediated the efficacy of the intervention. Conclusions Findings suggest a web-based PNF intervention using the typical student referent offers a parsimonious approach to reducing problematic alcohol use outcomes among college students

RCT of web-based personalized normative feedback for college drinking prevention: Are typical student norms good enough?

Objectives: Personalized normative feedback (PNF) interventions are generally effective at correcting normative misperceptions and reducing risky alcohol consumption among college students. However, research has yet to establish what level of reference group specificity is most efficacious in delivering PNF. This study compared the efficacy of a web-based PNF intervention employing eight increasingly-specific reference groups against a Web-BASICS intervention and a repeated-assessment control in reducing risky drinking and associated consequences. Method: Participants were 1663 heavy drinking Caucasian and Asian undergraduates at two universities. The referent for web-based PNF was either the typical same-campus student, or a same-campus student at one (either gender, race, or Greek-affiliation), or a combination of two (e.g., gender and race), or all three levels of specificity (i.e., gender, race, and Greek-affiliation). Hypotheses were tested using quasi-Poisson generalized linear models fit by generalized estimating equations. Results: The PNF intervention participants showed modest reductions in all four outcomes (average total drinks, peak drinking, drinking days, and drinking consequences) compared to control participants. No significant differences in drinking outcomes were found between the PNF group as a whole and the Web-BASICS group. Among the eight PNF conditions, participants receiving typical student PNF demonstrated greater reductions in all four outcomes compared to those receiving PNF for more specific reference groups. Perceived drinking norms and discrepancies between individual behavior and actual norms mediated the efficacy of the intervention. Conclusions: Findings suggest a web-based PNF intervention using the typical student referent offers a parsimonious approach to reducing problematic alcohol use outcomes among college students

Application of Statistical Shape Modeling to Predict Clinical Metric of Femoral Head Coverage in Patients with Developmental Dysplasia

Developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) is described as under-coverage of the femoral head by the acetabulum, resulting in mechanical instability. Though DDH is often diagnosed using plain film radiographs, these images cannot adequately capture 3D joint coverage. Herein, we applied a 3D statistical shape model (SSM) to the femur and hemi-pelvis of patients with DDH to objectively measure shape variation and evaluated whether SSM outputs could predict measurements of joint coverage. The femur and hemi-pelvis were semi-automatically segmented from CT images (83 hips from 47 females with DDH). Surfaces of each hip were reconstructed from segmentations, aligned, and input into a multi-domain SSM (shapeworks.sci.utah.edu). Correspondence particles were automatically placed over the bone surfaces and a subset on the femoral head and acetabulum were isolated for a joint-specific model. Modes of shape variation were determined with principal component analysis (PCA). A sparse model of PCA modes predicting coverage was determined using linear regression with Lasso regularization. Coverage measurements ranged from 27.3% to 39.4%. Eight and 13 modes were selected for the full bone and joint-specific models, respectively. These modes represented 6.1% and 39.6% of the overall shape variation for full bone and joint-specific models with mean prediction errors of 0.9% and 0.6% coverage, respectively (Figure 1). Selected modes represented the depth of the acetabulum and oblateness of the femoral head, aligning well with the clinical description of DDH. In addition, the full bone model captured morphological and pose-related differences potentially related to altered muscle paths or differences in femoral torsion

Descriptive Drinking Norms: For Whom Does Reference Group Matter?

Objective: Perceived descriptive drinking norms often differ from actual norms and are positively related to personal consumption. However, it is not clear how normative perceptions vary with specificity of the reference group. Are drinking norms more accurate and more closely related to drinking behavior as reference group specificity increases? Do these relationships vary as a function of participant demographics? The present study examined the relationship between perceived descriptive norms and drinking behavior by ethnicity (Asian or White), sex, and fraternity/sorority status. Method: Participants were 2,699 (58% female) White (75%) or Asian (25%) undergraduates from two universities who reported their own alcohol use and perceived descriptive norms for eight reference groups: typical student ; same sex, ethnicity, or fraternity/sorority status; and all combinations of these three factors. Results: Participants generally reported the highest perceived norms for the most distal reference group (typical student), with perceptions becoming more accurate as individuals\u27 similarity to the reference group increased. Despite increased accuracy, participants perceived that all reference groups drank more than was actually the case. Across specific subgroups (fraternity/sorority members and men) different patterns emerged. Fraternity/sorority members reliably reported higher estimates of drinking for reference groups that included fraternity/ sorority status, and, to a lesser extent, men reported higher estimates for reference groups that included men. Conclusions: The results suggest that interventions targeting normative misperceptions may need to provide feedback based on participant demography or group membership. Although reference group-specific feedback may be important for some subgroups, typical student feedback provides the largest normative discrepancy for the majority of students