Suchergebnisse

AbstractObjectiveVaccine hesitancy remains a significant public health challenge, and one that is socially patterned. This study examined whether the vaccine hesitancy effects of identifying as female, race–ethnicity, the number of children, educational attainment, and political conservatism were mediated by governmental conspiracy beliefs.MethodsLinear mediation models controlling for potential confounders were employed to analyze data from a national survey of adults (2019 Chapman University Survey of American Fears; n = 1,209).ResultsEffects on vaccine hesitancy were significant and negative for educational attainment, and significant and positive for the other focal predictors. Governmental conspiracy beliefs significantly mediated each of these effects; the percent mediated was largest for Hispanic identity (79 percent), followed by female identification (69 percent), educational attainment (69 percent), number of children (55 percent), black identification (34 percent), and political conservatism (30 percent).ConclusionThis study underscores the importance of nonvaccine‐related conspiracy beliefs for future interventions aimed at reducing sociodemographic disparities in vaccine hesitancy.

Purpose: Quality rating and improvement systems (QRIS) are systems approaches to assist states in providing high quality early childhood education. Texas Rising Star (TRS), a voluntary QRIS, exceeds state licensing standards and meets some obesity prevention guidelines. This study examines differences in physical activity, screen time, and outdoor policies and practices by QRIS certification. Design: Cross-sectional. Setting: Online. Sample: After exclusion criteria, respondents were 431 Texas childcare centers. Measures: 2016 survey of policies and Go NAPSACC best practices. Analysis: Chi-square and t-tests indicated differences in 1) practices and 2) policies by QRIS status. Results: TRS-certified centers reported more policies for physical activity ( M = 4.57 ± 3.07 vs. 3.61 ± 2.95, p = 0.009) and screen time ( M = 1.91 ± 1.84 vs. 1.28 ± 1.56, p < 0.001) than non-certified centers. TRS-certified centers reported significantly higher frequencies for 7 of 14 physical activity practices, however no significant differences for screen time practices were found. Additionally, TRS-certified centers reported more outdoor practices, including more classrooms/storage ( p < 0.001) and vegetable gardens ( p = 0.025). Conclusion: TRS-certified centers reported more physical activity policies and practices, more screen time policies, and more outdoor practices. TRS certification was not associated with screen time practices. QRIS can be a practical way to insert obesity prevention in early care and education. Using items from a widely used survey enables comparisons, however future research is needed in larger-scale studies. Some COVID-19 implications are discussed.