Woman to Woman (W2W): Adapting an HIV risk reduction intervention for older women

Woman to Woman (W2W) is a novel adaptation of the Sisters Informing Sisters about Topics on AIDS (SISTA) HIV prevention program. This article describes the process of adapting and piloting W2W based on recommendations from existing HIV prevention research. Six older women, all of whom had histories of homelessness and the majority of whom identified as African American, enrolled in the study, which piloted the adapted intervention and materials, evaluated the acceptability of the program, and assessed the measures related to the intervention. Participants described satisfaction with the program and had high rates of attendance; observations regarding the measures suggest the need to further develop assessments of HIV knowledge, condom use self-efficacy, and risk behaviors in this context.     

Working on Womanhood (WOW): A participatory formative evaluation of a community-developed intervention

The well-documented disparities in availability, accessibility, and quality of behavioral health services suggest the need for innovative programs to address the needs of ethnic minority youth. The current study aimed to conduct a participatory, formative evaluation of “Working on Womanhood” (WOW), a community-developed, multifaceted, school-based intervention serving primarily ethnic minority girls living in underserved urban communities. Specifically, the current study aimed to examine the feasibility, acceptability, and initial promise of WOW using community-based participatory research (CBPR) and represented the third phase of a community-academic partnership. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected from 960 WOW participants in 21 urban public schools, as well as WOW counselors, parents, and school staff over the course of one academic year. Results demonstrated evidence of acceptability of WOW and noteworthy improvements for WOW participants in targeted outcomes, including mental health, emotion regulation, and academic engagement. Findings also indicated several challenges to implementation feasibility and acceptability, including screening and enrollment processes and curriculum length. Additionally, we discuss how, consistent with participatory and formative research, findings were used by program implementers to inform program improvements, including modifications to screening processes, timelines, curriculum, and trainings – all in preparation for a rigorous effectiveness evaluation.     

A hierarchical point process with application to storm cell modelling

In environmetrics, interest often centres around the development of models and methods for making inference on observed point patterns assumed to be generated by latent spatial or spatio‐temporal processes, which may have a hierarchical structure. In this research, motivated by the analysis of spatio‐temporal storm cell data, we generalize the Neyman–Scott parent–child process to account for hierarchical clustering. This is accomplished by allowing the parents to follow a log‐Gaussian Cox process thereby incorporating correlation and facilitating inference at all levels of the hierarchy. This approach is applied to monthly storm cell data from the Bismarck, North Dakota radar station from April through August 2003 and we compare these results to simpler cluster processes to demonstrate the advantages of accounting for both levels of correlation present in these hierarchically clustered point patterns. The Canadian Journal of Statistics 47: 46–64; 2019 © 2019 Statistical Society of Canada     

Getting Started: An Empirically Derived Logic Model for Age-Friendly Community Initiatives in the Early Planning Phase

Age-friendly community initiatives (AFCIs) foster efforts across stakeholders to make localities more supportive and inclusive of older adults, and potentially better for residents of all ages. This study drew on in-depth interviews with leaders of nine newly forming AFCIs in northern New Jersey to develop an empirically based logic model for the initiatives in the early planning phase. The results obtained from a conventional content analysis indicated three main activities in the early planning phase: assessing the community; meeting; and communicating with stakeholders; and facilitating communitywide communications. These activities worked toward two outputs: increased understanding of aging in the community and more engaged stakeholders in aging. Participants described leveraging the contributions of lead staff, consultants, elected officials, organizational partners, volunteers, interns, funders, and other AFCIs to engage in their focal activities. Based on these findings, a logic model for AFCIs in the early planning phase is presented. AFCI leaders can draw on this model to evaluate AFCI processes and outcomes in their formative stages, as well as to strategically plan for the start of an AFCI within a given locality. Findings also suggest important directions for future research on the development of AFCIs and the community changes that they seek to influence.     

Research on the Lawyer Intervention in the Crime Investigation Procedure

In the context of the supervision system reform, the lawyer's involvement in the investigation process is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the involvement of lawyers in the supervision investigation may lead to the obstruction of the investigation and investigation work, the evidence of the case is destroyed, and the corrupt elements escape the hidden dangers of the French law. On the other hand, the involvement of lawyers in monitoring investigations is not only compatible with the constitutional spirit and legislative spirit, but also has many benefits for the realization of human rights protection, the rights relief of respondents and the regulation of monitoring investigations. From the perspective of value analysis, lawyers should be allowed to intervene in the investigation process. However, based on the overall structure of the supervision system reform and the judicial context, reasonable limits should be imposed on the system design of lawyers involved in the investigation process.     

课程干预与不平等社会结构的扭转：皖东村校的尝试

本文试图以批判教育社会学中扭转不平等社会结构的理论框架为指导，发展出一种针对当前中国留守儿童的可行性课程干预实践模式。呼应文化再生产的理论，考察留守儿童的学习过程发现，其学业表现失败一方面是压制性体制下资源缺乏的结果，另一方面也和课堂学习对于底层文化和经验的忽视有关。基于文化的生产性与创造性原则，尊重底层学生的文化和经验、将课堂外的社会情境导入课堂，有可能打造出转折的图景。这一做法，首先可以通过再情境化学生的文化经验激活学生的批判意识和批判思考能力，其次可以突显留守儿童在社会和文化情境中的相对优势，进而促进其学习认同与学业成就。针对安徽新镇留守村校的以研究性学习方式呈现的课程干预试验为我们提供了引入课堂外情境的可能做法和具体效应。结合弗雷勒“提问式”教育的方法，我们探讨了“扩展的文化再生产干预路径”所具有的扭转社会结构的意义。     

Using Values‐Based Webinar Interventions to Facilitate Career‐Life Exploration and Planning

Using a quasi‐experimental design, the authors examined whether career indecision could be reduced by participation in a values‐based career webinar designed to translate various types of psychological data (e.g., Holland‐type themes) into values‐based language. Participants (N = 67; 36 women, 31 men; mean age = 36 years) were divided into 1 control and 2 treatment groups. The 1st treatment group received an interest‐based intervention. The 2nd received a values‐based intervention. Both interventions consisted of 1 additional webinar spanning 1 hour in length. This study demonstrated a statistical significance of career indecision decrease through use of the values‐based, process‐oriented webinar intervention, which is particularly helpful to career counselors working with adults. The study also illustrated the effective application of online technology as a service delivery tool. Future research might examine the efficacy of this intervention in a variety of settings (e.g., K–12, postsecondary, agency, mental health, corporate).     

Adoption breakdown and adolescence

Adoption breakdown has attracted an increasing amount of attention over recent years, and studies coincide in stating that the mean age at which this phenomenon occurs is early adolescence. Nevertheless, the specific factors which influence adoption breakdown, have never been empirically explored. The aim of this article is therefore to analyse these factors by comparing cases of adoption breakdown which occurred prior to the onset of adolescence with those occurring after the beginning of this developmental stage. The study explores 69 cases of adoption breakdown occurring over the course of a decade in one Spanish region, taking into consideration variables related to the adopted children, the adoptive parents, the parent–child relationship, and the professional support services provided to these families. The results reveal a clear difference in the profile of breakdowns occurring before and after the onset of adolescence and identify a series of factors which seem to have a stronger influence in each group, such as violence, timing of problems, and unrealistic expectations regarding the child. These findings have important implications for professional adoption services, such us the importance of early identification of difficulties and the provision of support during adolescence.     

农村最低生活保障减贫效应的区域差异及影响机理——基于2007-2016年的省级面板数据

基于2007—2016年31省（市、自治区）的面板数据，运用基尼系数、面板数据模型、低保减贫指数测度等方法，借助GIS技术，探究农村最低生活保障减贫效应的区域差异及影响机理。研究表明：农村最低生活保障经费支出的基尼指数总体下降，最低生活保障经费支出的公平性不断提高；农村最低生活保障的减贫效应空间格局呈现动态变化的特征，次高等级区和高等级区向西部扩散，低等级区向中部地区收缩，呈现“中部塌陷”特征；城镇化率、人均GDP、社保和就业占财政支出比重、财政收入等影响农村最低生活保障的减贫效应，但同一因素对不同区域的影响存在较大差异。为此，应坚持统筹区域经济发展的理念，大力发展农村经济，合理推进城镇化进程，促进农村最低生活保障减贫效应的区域均衡性。