Parents\u27 Choice of Pre-Kindergarten: A Transactional Ecological Approach

Empirical research on parents’ decision making process and parents’ actual criteria when considering preschool is critical when considering its relationship to early educational experiences and subsequent outcomes for children. Research has consistently demonstrated that the type and quality of preschool program children attend has implications for future academic success. A review of past research suggests parents often have difficulty assessing quality and include a wide range of considerations that include both practical and educational features of care. The current study utilized a transactional ecological framework to examine parent considerations and related family, child and cultural factors. A series of focus groups and interviews were conducted with parents to identify parent considerations and inform creation of a survey measure designed to assess these considerations. Surveys were then completed by 203 parents from varying socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds who had a child that qualified for state-funded preschool the following year. Parents were recruited from 20 centers including Head Start programs, private-for profit programs, religiously affiliated programs and one YMCA center. Exploratory factor analysis identified two highly correlated categories of considerations: 1) characteristics that designate several types of quality indicators and 2) characteristics that designate a program’s practical features. A series of hierarchical regressions indicated a combination of cultural, family and child factors are important when assessing parents’ considerations for pre-kindergarten. In particular, socioeconomic status, parents’ beliefs about childrearing and involvement and children’s prosocial skills and family structure were uniquely related to parental endorsement of quality and practical considerations. These findings have important implications for policymakers and practitioners

Student Engagement in After-School Programs, Academic Skills, and Social Competence among Elementary School Students

Research on the relationship between after-school program participation and student outcomes has been mixed, and beneficial effects have been small. Most recent studies suggest that participation is best characterized as a multidimensional concept that includes enrollment, attendance, and engagement, which help explain differences in student outcomes. The present study uses data from a longitudinal study of after-school programs in elementary schools to examine staff ratings of student engagement and school outcomes. The factor structure of the staff-rated measure of student engagement was examined by exploratory factor analysis. Multiple regression analyses found that student engagement in academic, youth development, and arts after-school program activities was significantly related to changes in teacher ratings of academic skills and social competence over the course of the school year and that students with the greatest increase in academic skills both were highly engaged in activities and attended the after-school program regularly. The results of this study provide additional evidence regarding the benefits of after-school programs and the importance of student engagement when assessing student outcomes

“I didn’t realise I was such a sausage”: Men’s Accounts of Whole-body Scanning, Body Image, and Expected Changes in Health-related Behaviours

Objective: Whole-body scanning is now available in stores to assist buyers in choosing well-fitting clothes. This study was designed to investigate men’s accounts of scanning, body image, and expectations of behaviour change. Design: Ten men aged 18-39 years without histories of eating disorders or previous experience of whole-body scanning, took part in semi-structured interviews before and after scanning. Data were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Results: Pre-scan, men’s body ideals were tall, slender, and relatively muscular. Post-scan, seven reported looking shorter, fatter, thinner, and/or less symmetrical than they hoped; three were pleasantly surprised by the images. Men were interested in scans as an objective view of their bodies and as a “wake-up call” to motivate healthy behaviours. Five men intended to change their behaviour as a result of scanning, and repeat scanning was seen as a good way to monitor behavioural changes. Participants suggested that scanning may raise body concerns in other men, though downplayed impacts on their own body image. Conclusion: Whole-body scanning may encourage men to exercise and eat more healthily. However, men became more negative about their bodies as a result of seeing their body scans, so scanning needs to be carried out with supervision and support

‘I think a little bit of a kick is sometimes what you need’: Women’s Accounts of Whole-body Scanning and Likely Impact on Health-related Behaviours

Objective: This study was designed to investigate whether whole-body scanning might promote healthy eating and physical activity in women, and to explore the effects of scanning on body image. Design: Fourteen women aged 22-45 years without histories of eating disorders or whole-body scanning, took part in semi-structured interviews before and after scanning. Data were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Results: Scans did not look as expected, and participants expressed ‘surprise’ and ‘shock’. Participants focused on perceived negative aspects of their bodies as revealed in scan images, and agreed that women with body concerns would find scans too ‘real’ and ‘raw’. Eleven women who met UK government physical activity and healthy eating guidelines reported that the scan provided additional motivation to maintain, and in nine cases to increase, those behaviours. Two women who neither exercised nor ate healthily would not increase physical activity or change their diets following scanning. Conclusion: Whole-body scanning may enable maintenance or even acceleration of physical activity and healthy eating, but is unlikely to be useful in promoting initiation of these behaviours. Participants engaged in unhelpful body critique when viewing scans; scanning needs to be confined to contexts where support is provided, to avoid increasing body-related concerns

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival

An Efficacy Trial of an Intervention Program for Children Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence

Children exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV) are at high risk for adjustment problems, especially internalizing disorders. Few evidence-based interventions are available to address internalizing behavior problems in this population. An efficacy trial compared outcomes for 4–6 year old children randomly assigned to a program designed to address the effects of exposure to IPV with those allocated to a waitlist comparison condition. Mothers (N = 120) and children from the United States and Canada were assessed at baseline, 5 weeks later (post-intervention) and at 8-month follow-up. The evaluation compared rates of change over time for child internalizing problems. Results were analyzed using both intent-to-treat (ITT) and per-protocol (PP) approaches. ITT analyses indicated the program reduced internalizing problems for girls at follow-up. PP analyses indicated the program reduced internalizing problems for both boys and girls at post-intervention. In this study, child internalizing problems were significantly reduced through an intervention for the mother and the child

Trajectories of children\u27s attitudes and beliefs about violence in families exposed to intimate partner violence

Intimate partner violence (IPV) poses serious risks to the health of women. Numerous studies link children\u27s IPV exposure to various forms of developmental psychopathology. One possible explanatory factor appears to be children\u27s beliefs and attitudes about the violence they have witnessed. Little research has investigated how these beliefs may change over time. The sample consisted of 109 mother-child pairs where the mother experienced IPV in the past 2 years. Multilevel modeling was used to examine change in children\u27s attitudes and beliefs over time. Maternal depression and corporal punishment were associated with higher initial levels of maladaptive beliefs about family violence. Children\u27s beliefs about violence improved over time. Findings indicate that while cognitive treatments may offer some utility for intervening with children, providing intervention support for the broader family system (i.e., around maternal depression and use of corporal punishment) may also be important pathways to supporting families exposed to IPV