Evaluation of a School Campaign to Reduce Hatred

Combating violent extremism can involve organizing Peer-to-Peer (P2P) preventing violent extremism (PVE) programs and campaigns. In recent years, hundreds of school campaigns have been launched around the world but very few have been evaluated. In this manuscript, we present the results of the evaluation of one of these initiatives.  Study objectives consisted of: 1) Assessing the impact of the campaign in increasing students’ exposure to messages of acceptance and decreasing exposure to hate messages in the school environment, 2) Assess the impact of the campaign in improving students’ attitudes towards ethnocultural diversity. We conducted a longitudinal cohort study with control groups. The study was implemented in Utah in schools of 8th and 9th-grade levels. Two schools were identified as campaign implementation sites, and two schools of similar socio-economic and ethnocultural characteristics were identified as the control sites.  We utilized univariate and multivariate regression analysis to assess changes in students’ exposure to hate messages and attitudes towards ethnocultural diversity. Our study findings can be useful for the development of future campaigns and educational programs as they highlight the importance of ethnocultural empathic awareness in improving students’ attitudes regarding ethnocultural diversity

Exploring the association between misinformation endorsement, opinions on the government response, risk perception, and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in the US, Canada, and Italy

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the adverse consequences created by an infodemic, specifically bringing attention to compliance with public health guidance and vaccine uptake. COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is a complex construct that is related to health beliefs, misinformation exposure, and perceptions of governmental institutions. This study draws on theoretical models and current data on the COVID-19 infodemic to explore the association between the perceived risk of COVID-19, level of misinformation endorsement, and opinions about the government response on vaccine uptake. We surveyed a sample of 2697 respondents from the US, Canada, and Italy using a mobile platform between 21-28 May 2021. Using multivariate regression, we found that country of residence, risk perception of contracting and spreading COVID-19, perception of government response and transparency, and misinformation endorsement were associated with the odds of vaccine hesitancy. Higher perceived risk was associated with lower odds of hesitancy, while lower perceptions of government response and higher misinformation endorsement were associated with higher hesitancy

Freedom of choice to vaccinate and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Italy

Despite the availability of effective vaccines that lower mortality and morbidity associated with COVID-19, many countries including Italy have adopted strict vaccination policies and mandates to increase the uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine. Such mandates have sparked debates on the freedom to choose whether or not to get vaccinated. In this study, we examined the people's belief in vaccine choice as a predictor of willingness to get vaccinated among a sample of unvaccinated individuals in Italy. An online cross-sectional survey was conducted in Italy in May 2021. The survey collected data on respondents' demographics and region of residence, socioeconomic factors, belief in the freedom to choose to be vaccinated or not, risk perception of contracting and transmitting the disease, previous vaccine refusal, opinion on adequacy of government measures to address the pandemic, experience in requesting and being denied government aid during the pandemic, and intent to accept COVID-19 vaccination. The analysis employed binary logistic regression models using a hierarchical model building approach to assess the association between intent to accept vaccination and belief in the freedom to choose to vaccinate, while adjusting for other variables of interest. 984 unvaccinated individuals were included in the study. Respondents who agreed that people should be free to decide whether or not to vaccinate with no restrictions on their personal life had 85% lower odds of vaccine acceptance (OR = 0.15; 95% CI, 0.09,0.23) after adjusting for demographic and socioeconomic factors and their risk perception of contracting and transmitting COVID-19. Belief in the freedom to choose whether or not to accept vaccinations was a major predictor of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among a sample of unvaccinated individuals in Italy in May 2021. This understanding of how individuals prioritize personal freedoms and the perceived benefits and risks of vaccines, when making health care decisions can inform the development of public health outreach, educational programs, and messaging

HIV+ caregivers and HIV+ non-caregivers: differences in sociodemographics, immune functioning, and quality-of-life

OBJECTIVE: To examine a cohort of HIV+ study participants, who are caregivers (CGs) and non-caregivers (NCGs), to determine whether differences exist across their sociodemographic backgrounds, immune functioning, and quality-of-life (i.e., symptom distress, physical, and mental quality-of-life). METHODS: A secondary analysis of the cross-sectional subset of the population-based Collaborations HIV Outcomes Research US Cohort (CHORUS). Sample consists of 5521 HIV+ adults; median age 43 years (SD 8.7); 88.6% male; 70.7% non-Hispanic White, 17.6% African-American, and 7.8% Hispanic. Measures include the HIV Symptom Distress Scale and the SF-12. Analytical models included t-tests and multivariate linear regression. RESULTS: HIV+ CGs have lower educational attainment than HIV+ NCGs (p=0.02). Seropositive CGs also experience greater HIV symptom distress (adjusted p<0.006) and poorer physical quality-of-life (adjusted p<0.001) than their seropostive NCG counterparts. CONCLUSION: HIV+ CGs may require different supportive services than HIV+ NCGs, suggesting a need to develop tailored interventions to address modifiable factors, such as lower education and poor physical health. Both of these factors have been associated with suboptimal antiretroviral adherence, suggesting a role for the routine screening of adherence predictors amongst HIV+ CGs. These findings may have more relevance in resource-poor settings where the prevalence of HIV is higher, with a likely growing population of informal and family CGs infected with HIV