This article discusses the dissemination of a process of youth-led participatory research in urban secondary schools within the Interactive Systems Framework for Dissemination and Implementation (ISF) developed in collaboration with the CDC and its university partners (Wandersman et al. American Journal of Community Psychology, 41(3-4) 2008). The focus here is on the development of the Prevention Support System with respect to general and innovation-specific capacity building. The specific process under study involves youth-led needs assessment and research to inform the planning of prevention programs and policies to address students' health and developmental needs. The article first briefly describes the youth-led research process, its potential benefits, and a case example in two urban secondary schools. It then describes challenges and responses in providing support for the diffusion of this model in 6 secondary schools. The settings are urban public schools with a majority of students of color from diverse ethnic groups: Asian-American, Latino, and African-American. This project constitutes a collaborative partnership with a university school of public health and community-based organizations (CBOs) to build capacity for long-term, sustainable implementation of this innovative process within the local school system. The perspectives of the university-based researcher and the CBO partners on the development and effectiveness of the Prevention Support System are presented.

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The purpose of this convergent, multiphase, mixed methods study was to better understand the perceptions of adolescents’ food environments and related food behaviors using grounded visualization and story mapping. Adolescents from one high school (13–16 years) in the southeastern United States were evaluated via data from health behavior surveys (n = 75), school environment maps, focus groups (n = 5 groups), and Photovoice (n = 6) from October 2016 to April 2017. Data from each phase were integrated using grounded visualization and new themes were identified (n = 7). A story map using ArcGIS Online was developed from data integration, depicting the newly identified themes. Participants failed to meet national recommendations for fruit and vegetable intake (2.71 cups). Focus group and Photovoice findings indicated the need for convenience food items in all environments. The story map is an online, interactive dissemination of information, with five maps, embedded quotes from focus groups, narrative passages with data interpretation, pictures to highlight themes, and a comparison of the participants’ food environments. Story mapping and qualitative geographic information systems (GIS) approaches may be useful when depicting adolescent food environments and related food behaviors. Further research is needed when evaluating story maps and how individuals can be trained to create their own maps.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to describe a modified nominal group technique (mNGT) approach to assess community health priorities and its application to a childhood obesity prevention project conducted with the high school population. Methods: This manuscript provides detailed information of a mNGT separately conducted with 3 cohorts, (students, teachers/administration, parents). Participants used a response sheet to brainstorm, document top 5 responses, and rank each response individually. We also used a unique reverse scoring method to quantify the qualitative data and within and between group scores for comparison against other cohorts. Summaries provided additional insight into the participants' perceptions. Results: The mNGT process successfully reduced limitations common to the traditional nominal group technique by providing an in-depth understanding of perceptions and understanding priorities. Conclusions: mNGT can be useful across other disciplines as a method of gathering rich qualitative feedback that can be transformed into a more quantitative form for analysis.

In NCAA Division I women’s basketball, Black female coaches make up only a small percentage of the total number of coaches (i.e., 26%; NCAA, 2016) even though the majority of student-athletes are Black (i.e., 51%). Although these discrepancies have recently been recognized in sport studies literature (Borland & Bruening, 2010; LaVoi & Dutove, 2012), sport psychology researchers have yet to explore the underlying structural and psychological issues that lead to the underrepresentation of Black female coaches in NCAA Division I women’s basketball. To this end, we utilized narrative inquiry (Smith & Sparkes, 2009a) in the current study to explore the stories of eight NCAA Division I women’s basketball assistant coaches who identify as Black females. During face-to-face interviews, participants described the roles they are asked to fill and the ways they cope with the multiple oppressions they experience as Black women in coaching. The first and second authors co-constructed four themes, (a) Pregame: Learning to coach; (b) First half: Experiences from the first 10 years; (c) Second half: Experiences from the last five years; and (d) Overtime: Thinking about the future, throughout their thematic analysis of these narratives (Braun & Clark, 2006). It is hoped that these findings will lead to the development of interventions that can empower NCAA Division I Black female coaches as well as challenge current structural ideologies that disadvantage Black female coaches in this context. Further, creating a more inclusive environment at NCAA Division I institutions could enhance the experiences and coaching career aspirations of Black female student-athletes by allowing them to see empowered Black female role models in coaching positions. Implications for certified mental performance consultants (CMPCs) working within NCAA Division I women’s basketball, who are well positioned to contribute to these efforts, are also discussed.

sub-optimal diet quality scores of soldiers at a Fort Bragg dining facility (DFAC). Poor diet quality may contribute to the increasing military overweight rates and associated comorbidities. It is unclear if similar diet quality scores will be attained at other military installations. Objective: The objective of this study was to determine Soldiers' current dietary intake and diet quality at a Colorado military dining facility (DFAC). Study Design, Setting, Participants, Intervention: In 2017, Pennington Biomedical Research Center partnered with U.S. Army researchers to assess dietary intakes of soldiers at a designated Fort Carson, CO, DFAC. A total of 89 soldiers were recruited and asked to consume three meals in the DFAC over a 2-day period. Soldiers' dining trays were captured using digital photography methodology before and after food consumption. Foods consumed were estimated by two trained dietitians. Outcome Measures and Analysis: Foods consumed were analyzed for nutrient content using the FNDDS 2013-2014. The Healthy Eating Index-2015 (100 points maximum score), a measure of diet quality that reflects the most recent version of the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, was calculated for soldiers who had complete dietary data. Data were analyzed using SAS® version 9.4 software. Results: Forty-one soldiers provided complete dietary data for at least one day (all three meals). Mean HEI-2015 total score was 63.1 + 9.0 and the lowest component score was whole grain consumption (0.25 + 0.7 points). Total protein reached 94.5% of the maximum score; while total fruits, vegetables and dairy reached 64.7%, 80.6%, and 67.4% of the target, respectively. Conclusions and Implications: Low diet quality scores support the need for a DFAC nutrition intervention aimed to improve food offerings and Soldiers' healthy eating scores at the Fort Carson DFAC. These results echo the need for interventions to increase diet quality in military dining facilities. Soldiers tasked with defending our nation need to be in optimal nutritional status.

A critical aspect of learning qualitative research methodology in a doctoral program is to develop deep knowledge of the theoretical frameworks informing one’s research. An in-depth reading of those theories is necessary for them to be used to inform and guide dissertation research. Based in narrative inquiry, this study examined the journeys of 18 novice qualitative researchers as they came to understand theory and develop a theoretical home to inform their doctoral research. Findings include 1) the emotional concerns, uncertainty, and confusion when asked to engage with theory and theoretical frameworks to inform their research for the first time; 2) supports and strategies used to engage deeply with theories; and 3) students’ use of metaphors to describe their relationships with theories over the course of their doctoral studies as they came to a “theoretical home”. Implications for doctoral training in qualitative research include the need to engage pedagogically with students around the complexities and messiness of the role of theory in research.

1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 Objective: Describe challenges and facilitators to incorporating technology into the iCook-4-H intervention program. Design: Randomized control trial.Setting: Community-based participatory childhood obesity prevention program.Participants: 288 dyads; youth (9.4±0.7 years old) and adult primary meal preparers (39.0±8 years). Intervention(s):Six in-person sessions to increase families cooking, eating and playing together with online between-session technology components of curriculum.Main Outcome Measure(s): Baseline, 4, 12, and 24-month assessments included measured anthropometrics for youth and online surveys about camera and website skill and use for dyads. Session leaders and participants completed open-ended process evaluations after each session about technology components.Analysis: Chi Square analysis computed for gender differences in technology variables. Relationships between video posting frequency and outcomes of interest (cooking frequency, self-efficacy and skills; dietary intake; and body mass index [BMI]) were tested with Spearman correlations.Process evaluations and open-ended survey responses were thematically analyzed for beneficial and inhibiting factors including technology components in the curriculum.Results: Only 78.6% of youth and 68.3% of adults reported always being comfortable accessing the internet post-intervention. Male youth reported being more comfortable with technology tasks than females (p< 0.05). Youth who posted more videos had higher cooking skills at 4-months post-intervention (r=0.189, p=0.05). Barriers to website usage reported most frequently by youth included lack of accessibility, remembering, interactivity, motivation, time, and lack of parental encouragement. Conclusions and Implications:Incorporating technology supports, like cameras and websites, into youth programs may help produce improved outcomes. Identifying barriers to and patterns of technology usage need to be considered when developing future youth health-promotion interventions.