The Role of Empathy, Anger Management and Normative Belief about Aggression in Bullying Among Urban, African American Middle School Children

This study used binary logistic regression analysis to examine the role of empathy,anger management, and normative beliefs about aggression on overt bullying, relational bullying, and prosocial behavior in urban African-American middle school children. Participants included 177 African-American sixth, seventh and eighth grade students from two public, urban middle schools in a large city in the Southeast United States. The results of this study indicated that binary logistic regression models including empathy, anger management, and normative beliefs about aggression predicted prosocial behavior, and marginally predicted relational bullying. Nonnative beliefs about aggression had a significant moderating effect, such that for participants who endorsed higher normative beliefs about aggression, low levels of empathy significantly increased the likelihood of being classified as a relational bully. Participants in this study reported highly aggressive behavior, with 24% of the sample being identified as overt bullies. Significant gender differences were also identified in this study. Boys reported more relational aggression than girls, and girls reported higher levels of empathy, and prosocial behavior. Implications for future research and intervention programs for bullying among middle school children are discussed

Childhood Obesity Prevention and Treatment Research (COPTR): Interventions addressing multiple influences in childhood and adolescent obesity

Obesity is a major public health problem affecting more than 12 million (~17%)U.S. children. The scientific community agrees that tackling this problem must begin in childhood to reduce risk of subsequent development of cardiovascular diseases and other chronic diseases. The Childhood Obesity Prevention and Treatment Research (COPTR) Consortium, initiated by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is conducting intervention studies to prevent obesity in pre-schoolers and treat overweight or obese 7–13 year olds. Four randomized controlled trials plan to enroll a total of 1,700 children and adolescents (~ 50% female, 70% minorities), and are testing innovative multi-level and multi-component interventions in multiple settings involving primary care physicians, parks and recreational centers, family advocates, and schools. For all the studies, the primary outcome measure is body mass index; secondary outcomes, moderators and mediators of intervention include diet, physical activity, home and neighborhood influences, and psychosocial factors. COPTR is being conducted collaboratively among four participating field centers, a coordinating center, and NIH project offices

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries