Objectives
Childhood obesity more than doubled in the last 20 years, suggesting a need for evidence-based public health strategies. The use of social media to share health information is increasing among the public and public health professionals. However, little is known about the use of social media as a tool for health communication. We used a mixed-methods design to examine communication about childhood obesity on Twitter.
Methods
NodeXL was used to collect tweets sent in June 2013 containing the hashtag #childhoodobesity. Tweets were coded for content; tweeters were classified by sector and health focus. The network of follower connections among the tweeters was also collected. We used descriptive statistics and exponential random graph modeling to examine tweet content, tweeter characteristics, and the composition and structure of the network of connections facilitating communication among the tweeters.
Results
We collected 1,110 tweets originating from 576 unique Twitter users. More individuals (65.6%) than organizations (32.9%) tweeted. Tweets were more likely to focus on individual behavior than environment or policy as a cause of, and strategy to combat, childhood obesity. Few government and educational tweeters were in the network. Network members affiliated with government and media were more likely than private individuals to be followed by others in the network, suggesting an important dissemination role.
Conclusion
There is an opportunity to better disseminate evidence-based information to a broad audience through Twitter by increasing the presence of credible sources in the #childhoodobesity conversation and focusing the content of tweets on scientific evidence.
This cross-sectional study examined the links between body appreciation, contraceptive use, and sexual health outcomes. Body appreciation has been shown to influence contraceptive use in homogenous samples of women. However, a common problem in body image literature is a lack of racial and ethnic diversity with regard to sample; this study was able to take steps toward overcoming that limitation. A sample of 499 women aged 18-56 (M = 26.24; SD = 6.15) was recruited via Reddit.com-White (29.3%, n = 120), Asian (19%, n = 78), Black (17.3%, n = 73), multiracial (13.9%, n = 57), and Latina (13.9%, n = 57). Covariates included race/ethnicity, body size as measured by body mass index, relationship status, age, sexual orientation, and education level. Results indicated that higher levels of body appreciation were related to a higher likelihood of using non-barrier contraception. Regarding the covariates, race, relationship status, age, and education were related to non-barrier contraceptive use and age was related to dual contraceptive use. Further exploration is needed to determine how body appreciation may affect contraceptive use and sexual health outcomes and how these differ by race/ethnicity.
Background: Challenging classroom behaviors can interfere with student social and academic functioning and may be harmful to everyone in schools. Self-management interventions within schools can address these concerns by helping students develop necessary social, emotional, and behavioral skills. Thus, the current systematic review synthesized and analyzed school-based self-management interventions used to address challenging classroom behaviors. Objectives: The current study aimed to inform practice and policy by (a) evaluating the effectiveness of self-management interventions at improving classroom behaviors and academic outcomes and (b) examining the state of research for selfmanagement interventions based on existing literature. Search Methods: Comprehensive search procedures included electronically searching online databases (e.g., EBSCO Academic Search Premier, MEDLINE, ERIC, PsycINFO), hand-searching 19 relevant journals (e.g., School Mental Health, Journal of School Psychology), reference-list searching 21 relevant reviews, and searching gray literature (e.g., contacting authors, searching online dissertation/theses databases and national government clearinghouses/websites). Searches were completed through December of 2020. Selection Criteria: Included studies employed either a multiple group-design (i.e., experimental or quasi-experimental) or single-case experimental research design and met the following criteria: (a) utilized a self-management intervention, (b) conducted in a school setting, (c) included school-aged students, and (d) assessed classroom behaviors.Data Collection and Analysis: Standard data collection procedures expected by the Campbell Collaboration were used in the current study. Analyses for single-case design studies incorporated three-level hierarchical models to synthesize main effects, and meta-regression for moderation. Further, robust variance estimation was applied to both single-case design and group-design studies to account for dependency issues.
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