Debt, Doubt, and Dreams: Understanding the Latino College Completion Gap

We surveyed individuals who had matriculated to, but never completed, at least one college program (community college, college, university, trade school, or certificate program). With a survey sample of more than 1,500 respondents, 35 percent of whom self-identified as Latino* (Latino = 522; non-Latino = 985), we gathered critical information about the most salient barriers to college completion, especially those that disproportionately burden Latino students. Based on prior literature and research, we paid particular attention to the relationship between debt, attitudes about debt, and college completion. We organized the barriers to college completion into four categories: precollege, institutional, environmental, and financial. Precollege factors account for one’s experience and environment before entering a higher education program, including high school academic experience, social capital, and motivation and/or fit at college. Institutional factors account for one’s experience and environment with and at the chosen college institution and include academic integration and cultural integration. Environmental factors account for the responsibilities and challenges in one’s life outside of school while in a college program, and include family responsibilities, health concerns, and transportation concerns. Financial factors account for the financial pressures and stressors facing students, including financial crises, need to work, and desire to avoid debt

Measuring Concurrency Attitudes: Development and Validation of a Vignette-Based Scale

Concurrent sexual partnerships (partnerships that overlap in time) may contribute to higher rates of HIV transmission in African Americans. Attitudes toward a behavior constitute an important component of most models of health-related behavior and behavioral change. We have developed a scale, employing realistic vignettes that appear to reliably measure attitudes about concurrency in young African American adults

Predictors of Nonresponse in a Longitudinal Survey of Adolescents

Research in this study focuses on two related aspects of unit nonresponse (nonresponse by sampled members of study populations) in the rounds of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) (Chantala and Tabor, 1999): (i) round-specific nonresponse bias and its component contributions, and (ii) the statistical utility of alternative approaches to adjusting sample weights for nonresponse. This work is part of four research studies funded by CDC-NCHS, at the UNC Center for Health Statistics Research

Consideration of patient preferences and challenges in storage and access of pharmacogenetic test results

Pharmacogenetic (PGx) testing is one of the primary drivers of personalized medicine. The use of PGx testing may provide a lifetime of benefits through tailoring drug dosing and selection of multiple medications to improve therapeutic outcomes and reduce adverse responses. We aimed to assess public interest and concerns regarding sharing and storage of PGx test results that would facilitate the re-use of PGx data across a lifetime of care

Public attitudes toward ancillary information revealed by pharmacogenetic testing under limited information conditions

Pharmacogenetic (PGx) testing can inform drug dosing and selection by aiding in estimating a patient’s genetic risk of adverse response and/or failure to respond. Some PGx tests may generate ancillary clinical information unrelated to the drug treatment question for which testing is done – an informational “side effect.” We aimed to assess public interest and concerns about PGx tests and ancillary information

Predictors of Smoke-Free Policies in Affordable Multiunit Housing, North Carolina, 2013

IntroductionSmoke-free policies can effectively protect nonsmokers from secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure in multiunit housing. We surveyed all affordable multiunit housing properties in North Carolina to determine the statewide prevalence of smoke-free policies and to identify predictors of smoke-free policies.MethodsRepresentatives of affordable housing properties in North Carolina completed a mailed or online survey during June through October 2013. The primary outcome measure was presence of a smoke-free policy, defined as prohibiting smoking in all residential units. We used χ2 analysis and multivariate logistic regression to identify correlates of smoke-free policies.ResultsOf 1,865 eligible properties, responses were received for 1,063 (57%). A total of 16.5% of properties had policies that prohibited smoking in all residential units, while 69.6% prohibited smoking in indoor common areas. In multivariate analysis, an increase in the number of children per unit was associated with a decrease in the odds of having a smoke-free policy at most properties. Newer properties across all company sizes were more likely to have smoke-free policies. Accessing units from interior hallways predicted smoke-free policies among medium-sized companies.ConclusionMore smoke-free policies in affordable multiunit housing are needed to protect vulnerable populations, particularly children, from SHS exposure. Public health professionals should continue to educate housing operators about SHS and the benefits of smoke-free policies at all properties, including older ones and ones where units are accessed from outside rather than from an interior hallway

Public understanding of cigarette smoke constituents: three US surveys

The Tobacco Control Act requires public disclosure of information about toxic constituents in cigarette smoke. To inform these efforts, we studied public understanding of cigarette smoke constituents

Minor Consent and Delivery of Adolescent Vaccines

To explore whether, and to what extent, minor consent influences adolescent vaccine delivery in the United States

Erratum to: understanding how perceptions of tobacco constituents and the FDA relate to effective and credible tobacco risk messaging: a national phone survey of U.S. adults, 2014–2015

As reported in the original paper [1], the Center for Regulatory Research on Tobacco Communication conducted a telephone survey in 2014–2015 with a national sample of adults ages 18 and older living in the United States (N = 5014). Poverty level was determined using the household size and income reported by the respondents and applying the federal poverty numbers available from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 2014. A coding error was made during the data recoding process such that 2.7% of respondents (n = 129) were incorrectly classified as living above the poverty line. Below are updated Tables 1, 2 and 4 presenting both the original and corrected estimates. No substantive conclusions reported in the paper were affected by this correction

Understanding how perceptions of tobacco constituents and the FDA relate to effective and credible tobacco risk messaging: A national phone survey of U.S. adults, 2014–2015

Abstract Background The passage of the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act has necessitated the execution of timely, innovative, and policy-relevant tobacco control research to inform Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory and messaging efforts. With recent dramatic changes to tobacco product availability and patterns of use, nationally representative data on tobacco-related perceptions and behaviors are vital, especially for vulnerable populations. Methods The UNC Center for Regulatory Research on Tobacco Communication conducted a telephone survey with a national sample of adults ages 18 and older living in the United States (U.S.). The survey assessed regulatory relevant factors such as tobacco product use, tobacco constituent perceptions, and tobacco regulatory agency credibility. The study oversampled high smoking/low income areas as well as cell phone numbers to ensure adequate representation among smokers and young adults, respectively. Coverage extended to approximately 98 % of U.S. households. Results The final dataset (N = 5,014) generated weighted estimates that were largely comparable to other national demographic and tobacco use estimates. Results revealed that over one quarter of U.S. adults, and over one third of smokers, reported having looked for information about tobacco constituents in cigarette smoke; however, the vast majority was unaware of what constituents might actually be present. Although only a minority of people reported trust in the federal government, two thirds felt that the FDA can effectively regulate tobacco products. Conclusions As the FDA continues their regulatory and messaging activities, they should expand both the breadth and availability of constituent-related information, targeting these efforts to reach all segments of the U.S. population, especially those disproportionately vulnerable to tobacco product use and its associated negative health outcomes