The influence of humanitarian crises on social functioning among civilians in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review.

Our aim was to systematically review how social functioning is measured, conceptualised, impacted, and associated with mental disorders in populations affected by humanitarian crises. Quantitative studies conducted with civilian populations affected by humanitarian crises in low- and middle-income countries with outcomes of social functioning were examined up to 2014. Data sources included Medline, Embase, PsycInfo, and Global Health, and 8 grey literature sources, yielding 14,350 records, of which 20 studies met inclusion criteria. A descriptive synthesis analysis was used, and the final selected studies assessed for quality using a modified Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. In the 20 studies, social functioning was conceptualised in 6 categories: family functioning, friendship quality, functional impairment, overall social functioning, social adaptation, and social relations. Seventeen studies were cross-sectional, two were cohort, and one a controlled trial. The quality of the studies was generally moderate. The limited evidence suggests that social functioning is a relevant variable. Greater crisis exposure is associated with more severe depression and lower social functioning. The protective role of familial and social resources for social functioning is highlighted in different crisis settings. However, greater research on social functioning and mental health is required

Social Norms Change and Tobacco Use: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Interventions

Files related to Social Norms Change and Tobacco Use: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Intervention

Research Transparency and Reproducibility: A Complementary Module for All

BITSS Catalyst Project - Shaon Lahiri. This project is funded by the Berkeley Initiative for Transparency in the Social Sciences (BITSS), managed by the Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA)

A latent growth modeling analysis of social norms and tobacco use among adult smokers in Mainland China [Second Pre-Registration]

This is the second and final pre-registration for this project. The first pre-registration is publicly available here: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/9GHU3. It described the initial hypotheses and description for generating descriptive statistics, frequencies, and psychometrics for the dataset prior to receiving and accessing it from the data vendor. This pre-registration explains the final hypotheses and main analysis plan now that the data has been received, and descriptives/psychometrics have been completed. The main analyses in this pre-registration relate to the final hypotheses, and have not yet been run. The final hypotheses differ from the initial hypotheses listed in the first pre-registration in terms of wording, as they have been simplified. Hypothesis #4 in the first pre-analysis plan was subsumed under the more broad non-directional growth hypotheses evident in this pre-analysis plan. This was mainly done to simplify the hypotheses whose wording was judged to be confusing

Promoting Latrine Use in India

This scoping paper provides a systematic overview of the quantitative evidence on latrine use in rural India. It is part of background scoping research conducted to assess the evidence base on interventions to increase latrine use in rural India, with particular attention to causal or correlational studies. This paper is part of the Promoting Latrine Use in Rural India thematic grant window.

Achieving and Sustaining Change Through Capacity Building Train-the-Trainer Health Initiatives in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review

INTRODUCTION: Given the anticipated health challenges, forecasted deficiencies in the global health workforce, and steady demands to work through resource constraints, effective and efficient training approaches to build capacity are direly needed. Although train-the-trainer (T3) is not a new approach, there has been considerable interest in using it to develop and sustain capacity, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. This systematic review aimed to better understand the factors to achieve and sustain change across multiple countries and levels through T3 approaches. METHODS: A literature search was conducted of six scholarly, peer-reviewed, and gray literature databases. Data were extracted for the study method, design, characteristics, and implicit or explicit factors related to maximizing the likelihood of achieving and sustaining change. An existing conceptual framework for T3 interventions in global health guided the thematic analysis. The framework consisted of five factors pertinent to capacity building T3 initiatives: Talent, Resources, Alignment, Implementation, and Nurture and Development. RESULTS: Twenty-two studies met the inclusion criteria. The T3 training spanned all geographical regions, but interventions were most prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa (46%). Nearly all studies (68%) quantitatively examined change at the individual level (95%), but some studies also explored change at the organizational (77%) and institutional (23%) levels. Implementation and Nurture/Development were the two most salient factors in achieving and sustaining change. The greatest hindrances involved Resources and Context, an additional theme that the data identified. DISCUSSION: The findings and recommendations from this first systematic review exploring antecedents influencing change through health-related T3 interventions can inform training and capacity-building investments, improve existing T3 initiatives, and steer planning for future approaches

Installations for Civic Culture: Behavioral Policy Interventions to Promote Social Sustainability

Achieving more equitable, safer, and resilient societies—crucial dimensions of social sustainability—depends on durable transformations in people’s behavior. Traditional policy interventions attempt to influence people’s behavior in different ways, such as increased policing, fines, or awareness campaigns, but often have limited effects because they fail to systematically address local determinants of behavior. In this paper, we analyze two complex behavioral policy interventions to illustrate how installation theory can provide a framework to systematically analyze and design for large-scale behavioral change to support social sustainability. We focus on two of Antanas Mockus’ iconic “civic culture” interventions to reduce deaths in traffic accidents and domestic violence in Colombia. To study them, we collected intervention reports, citizens’ narratives, creators’ accounts and press articles to identify their main characteristics and behavioral techniques. In our results, we find that the civic culture approach used in these two interventions addresses physical, psychological and social determinants of behavior in ways that reduce reactance and promote mutual regulation and collective agency. By unraveling the essential factors of behavioral influence, installation theory and related frameworks provide a useful guide to structure, analyze and report interventions that address the behavioral components of social sustainability