Can Children’s Museums Deliver Effective Health Outreach?: Evaluation Results of the HealthWorks! Be A Food Groupie Program for Elementary Students

Objectives: We evaluated the Be A Food Groupie (BAFG) program’s impact on health/nutrition knowledge among elementary students who received BAFG at HealthWorks! children’s museum. Methods: In 2012-2013, we conducted a matched comparison evaluation using pre-/post-tests among 446 intervention and 524 comparison students (N = 970) in Grades 3-5 recruited from 11 Mississippi schools to determine whether BAFG improved health/nutrition knowledge across three domains: 1) comprehending food labels, 2) understanding serving sizes, 3) understanding food groups. Results: After controlling for pre-test scores, ANCOVA results indicate that intervention students scored significantly higher on the post-test across all three domains and across all three grades as compared to comparison students. Third-grade intervention students had significantly higher post-test scores overall than their comparison counterparts, F (1,288) = 52.02, p \u3c .001, h2 = .153. Fourth-grade intervention students had significantly higher post-test scores overall than their comparison counterparts, F (1,373) = 58.52, p \u3c .001, h2 = .136. Fifth-grade intervention students had significantly higher post-test scores overall than their comparison counterparts, F (1,300) = 151.71, p \u3c .001, h2 = .336. Conclusion: BAFG results support the argument that interactive health/nutrition education programs at children’s museums can positively impact children’s health knowledge and, therefore, can support learning beyond the school setting. When children’s museums and schools collaborate to develop long-term partnerships to enhance children’s learning experiences that—like BAFG—meet state-mandated requirements, programmatic impacts can be further augmented. Children’s museums can provide supplemental health-related education—including obesity prevention information—that can be reinforced at school, home, and in the community

The Effect of Traumatic Brain Injury on Exposure Therapy in Veterans with Combat-related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation New Dawn are presenting for treatment with high rates of combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI), spurring a need for clinical research on optimal treatment strategies. While exposure therapy has long been supported as an efficacious treatment for combat-related PTSD, some clinicians are hesitant to utilize this treatment for veterans with TBI history due to presumed cognitive deficits that may preclude successful engagement. The purpose of this study was to compare exposure therapy process variables in veterans with PTSD only and veterans with PTSD+TBI. Results suggest that individuals with PTSD+TBI engage successfully in exposure therapy, and do so no differently than individuals with PTSD only. Additional analyses indicated that regardless of TBI status, more severe PTSD was related to longer sessions, more sessions, and slower extinction rate during imaginal exposure. Finally, in a subset of participants, self-report of executive dysfunction did not impact exposure therapy process variables. Overall, findings indicate that exposure therapy should be the first-line treatment for combat-related PTSD regardless of presence of TBI history

Comorbidity Of Psychopathy In Schizotypy: Skin Conductance To Affective Pictures

Prior research substantiates a relationship between psychopathy and schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, which has begun to elucidate why some individuals with schizophrenia are violent. Unfortunately, this relationship has been limited to self-report. To objectively corroborate this finding, undergraduate students were recruited from an online screening administration of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire. This resulted in 56 participants (52% male) with a mean age of 20.37 (SD = 4.74) and a wide range of schizotypy scores who participated in the experiment. Following completion of self-report measures, participants viewed 15 pictures (five neutral, five threatening, and five of others in distress) from the International Affective Pictures System while electrodermal activity was recorded from one palm. As expected, all participants exhibited increased peak skin conductance (SC) to both threat and distress pictures compared to neutral pictures; however; no difference was found between threat and distress pictures. Although the self-report relationship was replicated, neither total psychopathy nor total schizotypy were related to any SC variable. Therefore, it does not appear that increased schizotypy was related to a differential SC response to emotional pictures in our sample, even after testing for the potential moderating influence of anxiety and the Self-Centered Impulsivity factor of psychopathy. Total schizotypy was, however, significantly and positively related to the Personality Assessment Inventory Aggression scale (including the subscales of Aggressive Attitude and Physical Aggression) and the total score on the Beck’s Anxiety Inventory. Overall findings suggest that despite presence of the comorbidity in this subclinical population, subthreshold levels of both constructs do not relate to a reduced SC response to affective pictures as is seen in clinical psychopath

Why gender and land matter: Examples from rural Ghana

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Water insecurity and emotional distress: Coping with supply, access, and seasonal variability of water in a Bolivian squatter settlement

Recent research suggests that insecure access to key resources is associated with negative mental health outcomes. Many of these studies focus on drought and famine in agricultural, pastoral, and foraging communities, and indicate that food insecurity mediates the link between water insecurity and emotional distress. The present study is the first to systematically examine intra-community patterns of water insecurity in an urban setting. In 2004-2005, we collected interview data from a random sample of 72 household heads in Villa Israel, a squatter settlement of Cochabamba, Bolivia. We examined the extent to which water-related emotional distress is linked with three dimensions of water insecurity: inadequate water supply; insufficient access to water distribution systems; and dependence on seasonal water sources, and with gender. We found that access to water distribution systems and female gender were significantly associated with emotional distress, while water supply and dependence on seasonal water sources were not. Economic assets, social assets, entitlements to water markets, and entitlements to reciprocal exchanges of water were significantly associated with emotional distress, while entitlements to a common-pool water resource institution were not. These results suggest that water-related emotional distress develops as a byproduct of the social and economic negotiations people employ to gain access to water distribution systems in the absence of clear procedures or established water rights rather than as a result of water scarcity per se.Bolivia Cochabamba Water scarcity Social suffering Urban poor Common-pool resource Mental health

What do Parents in Mississippi Really Think about Sex Education in School?: Results of a State-Level Survey

Purpose: Despite broad public support for comprehensive sex education, its implementation remains controversial in the United States, especially in states such as Mississippi that have been identified as politically conservative. This study examined parental opinions regarding the implementation of age-appropriate sex-related education (SRE) (i.e., abstinence-plus education) in Mississippi public schools. Methods: Data were used from the first state-level survey of a randomized sample of parents (N = 3,600) of public school students in Mississippi. The sample was relatively equally distributed between non-Hispanic whites (52.8%) and African Americans (48.2%). Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to determine parental support for a number of components associated with comprehensive sex education (i.e., condom use demonstration). Results: More than 90% of parents endorsed implementing age-appropriate SRE in Mississippi public schools, discussing the transmission and prevention of HIV/STIs during SRE, and discussing how to get tested for HIV/STIs during SRE. More than 80% endorsed discussing where to obtain birth control during SRE and more than 70% endorsed demonstrating correct condom use during SRE. Results varied somewhat across race/ethnicity and gender, such that African American parents who were female were most supportive. Conclusions: Although Mississippi has been identified as a politically conservative state, our results indicate that an overwhelming majority of surveyed parents endorsed age-appropriate SRE. Results may not be fully generalizable to parents across the nation, yet they are consistent with similar surveys conducted among parents in Minnesota, North Carolina, and Texas to assess attitudes towards school-based sex education

Sensory Panel Results of a Dried Fish Powder Supplement among Caregivers and Young Children in Zambia

Abstract Objective: To evaluate the acceptability of traditional Zambian dishes fortified with Complementary Food for Africa+Dried Fish Powder (ComFA+Fish), a locally sourced protein/micronutrient blend designed to impact nutrient deficiencies among infants and young children (IYC) and improve pregnancy and birth outcomes among women of reproductive age (WRA). Design: During two sensory panels, caregivers evaluated 1) the acceptability of four ComFA+Fish dishes for household consumption, including fortified chibwabwa fisashi, savory Kapenta chutney, fortified complementary maize porridge, and fortified bean-vegetable soup; and 2) whether their IYC found the fortified complementary maize porridge acceptable. Setting: Lake Kariba, Southern Province, Zambia. Participants: Women of reproductive age (N=42) and their IYC aged 6-11 months (n=16) and 12-23 months (n=26) were recruited from fishing villages in Gwembe, Siavonga, and Sinazongwe District. Results: A majority of caregivers extremely liked/liked the: 1) fortified chibwabwa fisashi’s sensory attributes (94.7%) convenience (92.8%) and overall acceptability (100%); 2) savory Kapenta chutney’s sensory attributes (81.8%), convenience (92.8%) and overall acceptability (100%); 3) fortified complementary porridge’s sensory attributes (83.5%), convenience (90.5%) and overall acceptability (88.1%); and 4) fortified bean-vegetable soup’s sensory attributes (66.8%), convenience (87.5%) and overall acceptability (87.5%). Further, a majority of caregivers evaluated the fortified complementary porridge as highly acceptable to their IYC. Conclusions: Results suggest that ComFA+Fish is strategically well-placed to fill nutritional gaps among IYC and WRA in Zambia and has the potential to be scaled across sub-Saharan Africa