The Impact of Help-Self and Help-Others Appeals Upon Participation in Clinical Research Trials

The need for participants in medical research trials continues to grow yet the successful recruitment of volunteers remains a challenge. Much of the research regarding patient recruitment activities has been conducted in the social sciences. As such, the specific impact of advertising strategy to help recruit volunteers remains unclear. The proposed research is designed to help to fill this gap in the literature, generating insight for continuing academic research and helping practitioners gain efficiencies in developing new pharmaceuticals. This research uses an experimental design to assess the impact of two variables upon clinical trial participation. These two variables were selected given that they have not been examined together in the context of clinical trial recruitment. The first manipulated variable is advertising appeal. A help-self appeal, a help-other appeal, or a control appeal are independently featured in advertising copy. The second manipulated variable is message framing. A loss frame or a gain frame is featured in the advertising copy. This resulted in six print advertising scenarios that were randomly assigned to respondents. A third variable, involvement, was measured using three scale items adapted from past research. The research trial was described in each advertisement as a screening/detection trial for melanoma skin cancer. The attitude variable was measured using a six item scale, subjective norm was measured using a three item scale and intention was measured using a two item scale. The scale items used were adapted from prior research. A questionnaire was developed and pretested and the data was collected by Qualtrics of Provo, Utah. Three hundred seventy eight responses were used to test twelve hypotheses. Regression analysis was used to examine moderation and mediation. Moderated mediation was also tested using the SPSS macro PROCESS (Hayes 2013). The full model also included six covariates. A significant relationship was found between the help-others appeal (when compared to the control appeal) and the attitude toward participation in a clinical research trial for melanoma skin cancer. Furthermore, attitude was found to mediate the relationship between a help-others appeal (when compared to the control appeal) and the intention to participate in a clinical research trial for melanoma skin cancer. The moderating variable message frame was found to be a significant moderator of the relationship between both the help-self appeal and the help-others appeal and the attitude toward participation in a clinical research trial for melanoma skin cancer. A loss frame led to a greater attitude toward participation in a clinical trial for either of the two appeals. There was no significant relationship between the gain frame and attitude. Involvement was not a significant moderator of the relationship between either of the two appeals and attitude toward clinical trial participation. The direction of the relationship between involvement and attitude was however positive. Moderated mediation results were different for the help-self and the help-others appeal. Independent of any moderation by message frame (gain or loss), the indirect effect of the help-self appeal on intention through attitude is moderated by involvement. As involvement with melanoma increases, the indirect effect of the help-self appeal through attitude upon intention to participate in a clinical research trial for melanoma skin cancer also increases, regardless of frame type. Independent of any moderation by involvement, the indirect effect of the help-others appeal upon intention through attitude is moderated by frame type. At each level of involvement, there is a greater indirect effect of the help-others appeal through attitude upon intention to participate in a clinical research trial for melanoma skin cancer for a loss frame than a gain frame

Microblogging: Using Digital Literacies to Engage Middle School English Learners

As a result of the changing technologies associated with the 21st century, the definition of literacy has changed and expanded (Antonacci & O’Callaghan, 2011) to encompass e-books, text messages, blogs, and even videogames and the peripheral literacies associated with gaming. These new literacies have demonstrated promise for engaging students in literate practices (Gee, 2007; Gerber, 2009). One practice in particular, microblogging, provides a way to engage English learners in writing and responding to text. Microblogging is a participant web technology that allows users to interact and share information in succinct online posts (Hricko, 2010). For middle school English learners, microblogging provides an avenue for both consuming and producing information in a second language in a way that is interesting and authentic

Microblogging: Using Digital Literacies to Engage Middle School English Learners

As a result of the changing technologies associated with the 21st century, the definition of literacy has changed and expanded (Antonacci & O’Callaghan, 2011) to encompass e-books, text messages, blogs, and even videogames and the peripheral literacies associated with gaming. These new literacies have demonstrated promise for engaging students in literate practices (Gee, 2007; Gerber, 2009). One practice in particular, microblogging, provides a way to engage English learners in writing and responding to text. Microblogging is a participant web technology that allows users to interact and share information in succinct online posts (Hricko, 2010). For middle school English learners, microblogging provides an avenue for both consuming and producing information in a second language in a way that is interesting and authentic

Do child physical abuse and adolescent peer relationships influence typologies of illegal and substance-use behaviors during emerging adulthood?

This study uses latent class analysis (LCA) to explore patterns of illegal behaviors (e.g., property and violent offenses), and substance use (e.g., alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs) among emerging adults (18 to 27 years). Data include 12,677 respondents from Wave 3 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Our study found that behaviors clustered into the following four classes: (a) the illegal and substance-use behaviors class (5.33%); (b) the fighting and substance-use class (5.24%); (c) the substance use class (28.30%); and (d) the normative class (61.12%). The analysis also incorporates indicator variables from Wave 1 onto the latent classes using the 3-step approach. Emerging adults most likely to be in the illegal and substance-use behaviors class with the highest prevalence of illegal behaviors were male; Black; younger; had histories of childhood physical abuse; or had friends at Wave 1 who drank, smoked, or used marijuana. Similarly, those most likely to be in the fighting and substance use class were male, Black, younger, reported childhood physical abuse, and had friends during Wave 1 who smoked or drank alcohol. Members of the fighting and substance-use class were also less educated than members of other classes. The substance use class was younger, less educated, less likely to be Black, had been physically abused, and had friends during Wave 1 who smoked or drank. Within the substance use class, no significant differences were found based on sex. We also found significant direct effects between peer influences and latent class indicators. Overall, results highlight the enduring influence of physical abuse and adolescent peer relationships

Cholecystitis in Pregnancy

Biliary tract disease is a relatively uncommon, heterogenous disease in pregnancy. Specifically, acute cholecystitis can be especially difficult to recognize in pregnancy. However, once diagnosed, the initial management plan should be conservative and include antibiotic therapy. Subsequent management depends on the gestational age at diagnosis. Surgical therapy, when indicated, should not be delayed and a planned intervention during the second trimester appears to offer a better outcome than surgery performed under emergent conditions

Building a Culture of Evidence for Community College Student Success: Early Progress in the Achieving the Dream Initiative

Achieving the Dream is a multiyear, national initiative, launched by Lumina Foundation for Education, to help community college students stay in school and succeed. The 82 participating colleges commit to collecting and analyzing data to improve student outcomes, particularly for low-income students and students of color. This baseline report describes the early progress that the first 27 colleges have made after just one year of implementation