Are college students health literate?

Abstract

Objective: To examine the health literacy of college students. Participants: A convenience sample of 245 graduate and undergraduate college students. Methods: During February–April of 2018 participants completed the Short Test of Functional Health Literacy which assessed literacy on two passages describing a thyroid scan, and basic healthcare insurance information. Results: Most college students displayed adequate health literacy (99.2%). The ANOVA analyses revealed college classification was the most significant predictor, followed by ethnicity, sex, and primary language. Age was significantly related to health literacy, when holding college classification constant. Interestingly, college major, healthcare work experience, or having health care credentials were not predictors of health literacy. Conclusion: This group of college students had adequate health literacy skills. However, the results of this study revealed demographic disparities that suggest further study.     

Is emergency preparedness a ‘disaster’ for people with disabilities in the US? Results from the 2006–2012 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS)

This study compared emergency preparedness of people with activity limitations, with limitations who use specialized equipment, and with mental health conditions with that of people without these disabilities. Results of chi-square analysis and logistic regression analysis showed that people with activity limitations and/or mental health conditions were significantly less prepared for emergencies than people who used specialized equipment or persons without disabilities. Having an activity limitation and/or severe mental health conditions, and being non-white, uncoupled, female, and below the poverty line increases the likelihood of not being prepared. Suggestions for increasing preparedness related to training and policy development were discussed.     

Transnational policy entrepreneurs and the cultivation of influence: individuals,organizations and their networks

ABSTRACT

The ‘policy entrepreneur’ concept arises from the Multiple Streams’ theory of agenda setting in Policy Studies. Through conceptual stretching’, the concept is extended to global policy dynamics. Unlike ‘advocacy networks’ and ‘norm entrepreneurs’, the discussion addresses the strategies of ‘insider’ or ‘near-governmental’ non-state actors. The analysis advances the policy entrepreneur concept in three directions. First, the discussion develops the transnational dimensions of this activity through a case study of International Crisis Group. Second, rather than focusing on charismatic individuals, the discussion emphasizes the importance of organizational resources and reputations for policy entrepreneurship and access into international policy communities. Organizations maintain momentum behind policy solutions and pressures for change over the long term when individuals retire or depart for other positions. Third, the discussion outlines four distinct entrepreneur strategies and techniques that both individuals and organizations cultivate and deploy to enhance their power and persuasion in global policy processes and politics.     

Caste,Religion, and Mental Health in India

Population Research and Policy Review - The relationship between mental health and social disadvantage in low- and middle-income countries is poorly understood. Our study contributes the first...     

Understanding preferences for tree attributes: the relative effects of socio-economic and local environmental factors

Urban plant biodiversity is influenced by both the physical environment and attitudes and preferences of urban residents for specific plant types. Urban residents are assumed to be disconnected from their immediate environment, and cultural and societal factors have been emphasized over environmental factors in studies of landscaping choices. However, we postulate that local climatic and environmental factors can also affect preferences for plant attributes. Therefore, spatial and temporal patterns in urban tree biodiversity may be driven not only by the direct effect of environmental variables on plant function, but also by the effect of environmental variables on attitudes toward trees and associated choices about which types of trees to plant. Here, we tested the relative effects of socio-economic and local environmental factors on preferences toward tree attributes in five counties in southern California in and surrounding Los Angeles, based on 1,029 household surveys. We found that local environmental factors have as strong an effect on preferences for tree attributes as socio-economic factors. Specifically, people located in hotter climates (average maximum temperature 25.1 °C) were more likely to value shade trees than those located in cooler regions (23.1 °C). Additionally, people located in desert areas were less likely to consider trees to be important in their city compared with people located in naturally forested areas. Overall, our research demonstrates the inherent connections between local environmental factors and perceptions of nature, even in large modern cities. Accounting for these factors can contribute to the growing interest in understanding patterns of urban biodiversity.     

Patterns of Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Risk Behavior among Young Heterosexually Active Men

Intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization is linked to sexual risk exposure among women. However, less is known about the intersection of IPV perpetration and sexual risk behavior among men. This study used data from a diverse, community sample of 334 heterosexually active young men, aged 18 to 25, across the United States to examine whether and how men with distinct IPV-related behavior patterns differed in sexual risk–related behavior and attitudes. Participants were recruited and surveyed online, and grouped conceptually based on the types of IPV perpetration behavior(s) used in a current or recent romantic relationship. Groups were then compared on relevant sexual risk variables. Men reporting both physical abuse and sexual coercion against intimate partners reported significantly higher numbers of lifetime partners, higher rates of nonmonogamy, greater endorsement of nonmonogamy, and less frequent condom use relative to nonabusive men or those reporting controlling behavior only. This group also had higher sexually transmitted infection (STI) exposure compared to men who used controlling behavior only and men who used sexual coercion only. Findings suggest that interventions with men who use physical and sexual violence need to account for not only the physical and psychological harm of this behavior but also the sexual risk to which men may expose their partners.     

Infant–Mother and Infant–Caregiver Emotional Relationships: Process Analyses of Interactions in Three Contemporary Childcare Arrangements

Emotional relationships in infant–mother dyads in families where mothers provided full‐time childcare were compared with those of families where mothers used in‐home childcare providers and family childcare providers (N = 245). Infant relationships with childcare providers were also studied. Emotional relationships were adequate in all three childcare arrangements, but infant–mother dyads in in‐home childcare arrangements displayed healthier emotional relationships than infant–mother dyads in mother care arrangements; no differences in the health of emotional relationships with infants emerged among the three types of childcare providers (mother care, in‐home childcare, family childcare). Infant–mother dyads in in‐home childcare arrangements also displayed healthier emotional relationships than infant–in‐home childcare caregiver dyads, but infant–mother and infant–caregiver dyads were comparable in family childcare families. Emotional relationships in infant–mother and infant–caregiver dyads were not correlated, regardless of the type of childcare.