Immigrant status is associated with lower rates of use of mental health services, even with universal health insurance. This lower rate of use likely reflects cultural and linguistic barriers to care.

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This report describes a cluster randomized control trial (RCT) intervention study of the effectiveness of the ABRACADABRA (ABRA) Web-based literacy system using a classroom-level RCT intervention with 1,067 children in 74 kindergarten and Grade 1 or Grade 1/2 classrooms across Canada. The authors closely followed the CONSORT criteria for executing and reporting high-quality RCT studies. Well-trained teachers delivered the ABRA intervention to their regular classrooms for 20 hr per child over one full semester. At posttest, the ABRA intervention classroom showed significant advantages over controls in phonological blending ability, letter–sound knowledge and, marginally, for phoneme segmentation fluency. A secondary analysis exploring the effects of different levels of program implementation showed that with fidelity of implementation (80% of intervention teachers), advantages were evident at posttests in phonological blending, phoneme segmentation fluency, sight word reading, and letter–sound knowledge. It is concluded that ABRA is an effective resource for key skills associated with early reading. Implications for the role of both Web-based technologies and extended professional development for technology in aiding in the scale-up of evidence-based reading interventions are discussed.

This cross-sectional research examines how social comparison, competition and teacher estudent relationships as classroom characteristics are associated with bullying and victimization among junior high school students in grades 7 and 8 in Canada. The study tests a conceptual model of youth outcomes that highlights the importance of modeling the effects of teaching practices as proximal structural conditions at the classroom level (N ¼ 38) that affect bullying outcomes at the individual level (N ¼ 687). Results of Hierarchal linear modeling (HLM) revealed significant classroom-level effects in that increased social comparison, competition and teacherestudent relationships were related to bullying and victimization. An interaction for teacherestudent relationships and gender also emerged. These findings may guide future intervention programs for junior high schools that focus on enhancing cooperation and pro-social behavior in classrooms. The findings could also inform programs that focus on building strong relationships between students and teachers to help prevent bullying and victimization, particularly among boys.

Objectives The COVID-19 outbreak has worsened the ongoing economic crisis in Puerto Rico by creating "parallel pandemics" that exacerbate socioeconomic and health inequalities experienced by its most vulnerable residents. Unfortunately, conditions on the island have been largely overlooked by national media outlets and the mainland U.S. population. Thus, this research report aims to draw attention to the disparate burden multiple and compounding disasters have on older island-dwelling Puerto Rican adults’ health and well-being. Methods We characterize the lived experiences of the older population in Puerto Rico by incorporating data from numerous sources and contextualizing the effects of compounding disasters, the fiscal pandemic, and health care challenges to provide a more nuanced portrait of existing compounding factors that negatively affect the health and well-being of older adults in the era of COVID-19. Results We highlight two main factors that exacerbate pre-pandemic inequities experienced by the older adult population amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Puerto Rico: 1) the impact of multiple and compounding disasters; and 2) health care challenges. Discussion The human suffering of the Puerto Rican population is compounded by the consequences of fiscal austerity, increasing levels of income and wealth inequality, the debt crisis, significant emigration, and a dysfunctional health care system. Future governmental actions are required to lessen the burden of parallel pandemics on older adults in Puerto Rico.

We evaluated the impact of teaching complex grapheme-phoneme correspondences (GPC) derived from the Simplicity Principle (Vousden, Ellefson, Solity, & Chater, 2011) to at-risk poor readers in Grade 2 classrooms, using a two-arm dual site matched control trial intervention. Poor word readers (n = 149) were allocated to either a) Simplicity GPC (n=79) or b) Letter-Name Control (n=70) small group reading programs, and received intervention for 12-15 hours over 12 weeks. Students were matched on baseline reading, language, parent demographics, and observed regular classroom teaching quality. Results of hierarchical data modeling showed advantages for the GPC-group for word reading, pseudoword reading, and sentence comprehension at post-test moderated by pre-test phonological awareness skills. The results provide support for teaching complex GPCs derived from a 'Simplicity Principle' as an approach to intervention for word reading, but suggest that children with low PA need additional supports.

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