Examining indirect effects of advertising exposure on young adults' cannabis and nicotine vaping.

OBJECTIVE: To examine longitudinal associations between exposure to two types of advertisements (medical/recreational cannabis and e-cigarette retailers [vape shops]) and young adults' cannabis and nicotine vaping behavior. Positive and negative expectancies for cannabis and vaping nicotine were examined as mediators of these associations. METHOD: Secondary analysis of observational data from a longitudinal cohort of young adults recruited from Southern California (Wave 13: N = 2,411, 56% female, Mage = 23.6). Participants completed web-based surveys annually, reporting on advertising exposure in 2018, expectancies in 2019, and cannabis and nicotine vaping in 2020. Two path models were specified: (a) of past-month cannabis vaping only, nicotine vaping only, and co-use (vs. no vaping) and (b) of single product vaping (vs. co-use). Path analyses modeled direct and indirect associations between variables. RESULTS: Controlling for past-month cannabis and nicotine use and other covariates, there were no significant direct associations of advertising exposure with cannabis and/or nicotine vaping. However, the association between cannabis advertising exposure and vaping (cannabis only) was significantly mediated by positive cannabis expectancies (ß = 0.02, SE = 0.01, p = .03). Among those who vaped cannabis and/or nicotine in the past month at Wave 13, expectancies did not significantly mediate associations between advertising exposure and single product use (vs. co-use). CONCLUSIONS: Although exposure to cannabis advertisements may not be directly associated with young adults' cannabis vaping 2 years later, the effects of advertising exposure may be exerted indirectly by increasing positive beliefs about cannabis. Implications for public health policy are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

"Palliative Care Is the Only Medical Field That I Feel Like I'm Treated As a Person, Not As a Black Person": A Mixed-Methods Study of Minoritized Patient Experiences with Palliative Care.

Background: Racial and ethnic disparities are well-documented in health care but generally understudied in palliative care. Objective: The goal of this mixed-methods study was to examine differences in patient experiences by race/ethnicity in palliative care and to qualitatively explore minoritized patient experiences with care for a serious illness. The data for this study were collected as part of a larger national effort to develop quality measures for outpatient palliative care. Setting/Subjects: Patients receiving outpatient palliative care (n = 153 Black patients and 2215 White patients) from 44 palliative care programs across the United States completed the survey; 14 patients and family caregivers who identified as racial/ethnic minorities participated in an in-depth qualitative interview. Measurements: We measured patients' experiences of (1) feeling heard and understood by their palliative care provider and team and (2) receiving desired help for pain using items developed from the larger quality measures project. We also conducted in-depth interviews with 14 patients and family caregivers to understand their experiences of palliative or hospice care to provide additional insight and understand nuances around minoritized patient experiences with palliative care. Results: Survey responses demonstrated that a similar proportion of Black patients and White patients (62.9% vs. 69.3%, p = 0.104) responded "completely true" to feeling heard and understood by their provider and team. Fewer Black patients than White patients felt that their provider understood what was important to them (53.3% vs. 63.9%, p = 0.009). The majority of Black patients and White patients (78.7% vs. 79.1%, p = 0.33) felt that they had received as much help for their pain as they wanted. Interviews with patient and family caregivers revealed positive experiences with palliative care but demonstrated experiences of discrimination in health care before referral to palliative care. Conclusion: Future work is needed to understand nuances around minoritized patient experiences with palliative care and receiving pain and symptom management.

Accounting for Movement between Childcare Classrooms: Does it Change Teacher Effects Interpretations?

Child care studies that have examined links between teachers' qualifications and children's outcomes often ignore teachers' and children's transitions between classrooms at a center throughout the day and only take into account head teacher qualifications. The objective of this investigation was to examine these traditional assumptions and to compare inferences made from these traditional models to methods accounting for transitions between classrooms and multiple teachers in a classroom. The study examined the receptive language, letter-word identification, and passage comprehension skills of 307 children enrolled in 49 community-based childcare centers serving primarily low-income families in Colorado. Results suggest that nearly one-third of children and over 80% of teachers moved daily between classrooms. Findings also reveal that failure to account for daily transitions between classrooms can affect interpretations of the relationship between teacher qualifications and child outcomes, with the model accounting for movement providing significant improvements in model fit and inference.