Systematic review and meta analysis of psychological interventions to prevent or treat pediatric chronic disease in rural communities.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to examine the effectiveness of psychological interventions at improving physical or mental health outcomes for youth living in rural communities who have, or are at-risk for, any chronic medical condition in comparison to control interventions conducted in rural communities. METHODS: Following prospective registration (OSF.IO/7TDQJ), 7 databases were searched through July 1, 2023. Studies were included if they were a randomized control trial of a psychological intervention conducted with youth living in a rural area who had, or were at-risk for, a chronic medical condition. Risk of bias was assessed with the Cochrane risk of bias version 2 tool. A qualitative synthesis and meta-analysis were conducted. RESULTS: 15 studies met inclusion criteria. Obesity studies (n = 13) primarily focused on body mass index metrics, with limited significant findings across studies. Asthma treatment interventions (n = 2) showed no impact on hospitalizations. 3 studies evaluated mental health outcomes with no significant group differences observed. We meta-analytically analyzed 9 studies that evaluated body mass index z-scores and identified an overall null effect (Hedge's g = 0.01, 95% CI [-0.07, 0.09], p = .85). CONCLUSIONS: Most included studies focused on pediatric obesity, and there was a limited range of health outcomes reported. Compared to controls, minimal significant improvements in health outcomes were identified for psychological interventions for youth living in rural communities. Future efforts may benefit from situating this work more systematically within a health disparities framework with a focus on understanding mechanisms of disparities and translating this work into interventions and policy changes.

Understanding group leader affect as a factor for career education programming.

The purpose of this study was to explore how group leader affect impacted facilitation of a career education program. Through a case study design, data were gathered via focus groups and blog posts from 16 program staff members. Five major themes were derived, highlighting group leader affect and experience: Emotions During Intervention, Flexibility, Student Engagement and Connections, Support from Program Staff, and School Culture. The findings encouraged career educators to remain flexible when delivering programming, to consider regular evaluations of affect throughout career programming, and to acknowledge the reciprocity of engagement, affect, and programmatic buy-in between facilitators and participants.

Le but de cette étude était d'explorer comment l'affect du leader de groupe influence l'impact d'un programme d'éducation au choix de carrière. Par le biais d'une étude de cas, les données ont été recueillies par des focus group et des post dans des blogs de 16 membres du personnel du programme. Cinq thèmes principaux ont été dégagés, mettant en évidence l'affect et l'expérience du leader de groupe: Les émotions pendant l'intervention, la flexibilité, l'engagement et les liens avec les étudiantes, le soutien du personnel du programme et la culture de l'école. Les résultats encouragent les professionnels à rester flexibles lors de la mise en œuvre des programmes, à envisager des évaluations régulières de l'affect tout au long des programmes de choix de carrière et à reconnaître la réciprocité de l'engagement, de l'affect et de l'adhésion au programme entre les intervenantes et les participantes.

El propósito de este estudio fue explorar cómo el afecto del líder grupal impactó en la impartición de un programa de educación vocacional. A través de un diseño de estudio de caso, se recopilaron datos a través de grupos focales y publicaciones en blog procedentes de 16 miembros del personal del programa. Se obtuvieron cinco temas principales, destacando el afecto y la experiencia del líder del grupo: emociones durante la intervención, flexibilidad, participación y relaciones de los estudiantes, apoyo del personal del programa y cultura escolar. Los hallazgos alentaron a los educadores vocacionales a permanecer flexibles al entregar la programación, a incluir evaluaciones periódicas del afecto a lo largo de la programación de la carrera y a reconocer la reciprocidad del compromiso, el afecto y la aceptación mutua del programa entre los facilitadores y los participantes.

Development and Validation of a Short Form of the College-Going Self-Efficacy Scale.

Social Cognitive Career Theory (Lent et al., 1994) is a useful framework for understanding educational attainment and reducing educational inequities. A key construct for middle and high school students is college-going self-efficacy. The College-Going Self-Efficacy Scale (CGSES; Gibbons & Borders, 2010a) has been used to measure secondary students' confidence in their abilities to attend and persist in post-secondary education, but with 30-items, it may be too lengthy for use with other measures in SCCT-grounded research in school settings. Using two independent samples of rural Appalachian high school students, we develop and validate the College-Going Self-Efficacy Scale-Short Form (CGSES-SF). This 14-item measure retains the full breadth of content from the original CGSES, demonstrates measurement equivalence across gender and prospective college generation status, and demonstrates good reliability and validity in these samples. Suggestions for future use of the CGSES-SF are provided.