Promoting preservice special education teachers’ acquisition of morphosyntactic patterns in African American Vernacular English

Monolingual, monocultural educators who use Mainstream American English (MAE) often lack knowledge of the systematic linguistic patterns used in African American Vernacular English (AAVE), leading to biased interpretations of students’ language use. Such perceptions, often embedded in oral reading and writing assessments, can influence special education referrals and limit access to inclusive, on-grade-level instruction. This study addressed these concerns by providing explicit instruction in AAVE morphosyntactic patterns to 24 preservice special education teachers enrolled in a 16-week literacy methods course at a predominantly white institution in the Midwest. Using a multiple probe design replicated across language rules, the study evaluated the effects of instruction on translation accuracy. Results showed clear increases and maintenance of accuracy post-instruction. Social validity data, collected via a 25-item Likert-style survey, revealed stronger positive perceptions and increased comfort in working with students who use AAVE after participating in explicit instruction. The study is among the first to examine the effects of AAVE-specific instruction for preservice special educators. Implications include recommendations for incorporating dialect awareness, contrastive analysis, and interdisciplinary collaboration into IEP development, inclusive literacy instruction, and special education practice.

Motivational Interviewing in Teacher Consultation: Evaluating Consultant Fidelity, Differentiation, and Relationship to Alliance

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a promising technique in teacher consultation to enhance teacher intervention implementation. However, given the heterogeneity in teacher needs, MI may only be necessary or helpful with those with low motivation. Thus, it is important to explore whether consultants, once trained, can apply or withhold MI techniques. We aimed to explore: (1) the extent to which trained consultants met fidelity benchmarks on the Motivational Interviewing Treatment Integrity (MITI) in practice; (2) the extent to which MI use differed significantly (i.e. differentiation) across the two consultation conditions; one with MI (C+MI) and one without (C Only), and (3) the associations between MI fidelity and teacher-consultant alliance. We analyzed 170 randomly selected audio files from a randomized controlled trial; 84 files from the C+MI condition and 86 from C Only condition. These files represent 9 consultants and 87 teachers who received up to 8 consultation sessions. We found that for the MITI Global MI Technical scores and Percent Complex Reflections, 100% of consultants met the basic benchmark and 89% met or nearly met the benchmark for advanced (e.g. scores of 3.8 or 3.9 with a benchmark of 4). For the MITI Global MI Relational scores 89% met the basic benchmarks and 33% met the advanced benchmark. Our training approach led to statistically significant differentiation of conditions for most fidelity scores. We found no significant associations between MI fidelity scores and teacher-rated working alliance scores. Implications for research and practice of MI training for use in teacher consultation are discussed.

Hope and Capacity

A survey of quit vaping strategies and relapse triggers for maintaining youth and young adult vaping abstinence in Canada

To examine whether various quit strategies and relapse triggers are associated with maintenance period in a sample of people who quit vaping. Young Canadians who used to vape ( N  = 772) completed an online survey on maintenance period, quit strategies, and relapse triggers. Logistic regression was employed to variables associated with maintenance period. People with past vaping history who quit unassisted or through eliminating social influences were more likely to achieve long-term maintenance. Those who quit through thinking about health improvements, distraction techniques, or self-restriction were less likely to achieve long-term maintenance. Other substance use or sensory vaping cues as relapse triggers were less likely to be experienced for those in long-term maintenance. Using very high concentrations of nicotine prior to quitting, and being unemployed were associated with lower likelihood for long-term maintenance. It is important to consider quit strategies, relapse triggers, and nicotine use prior to quitting in vaping cessation programing as they are related to maintenance period.

Tactical Technical Communication as Expert Communication: Strategic Ethos in Corsi-Rosenthal Boxes

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) incorrectly made safety recommendations based on droplet transmission instead of scientifically accurate aerosol transmission. Therefore, experts in the Clean Air Movement moved fluidly between strategies and tactics to produce tactical technical communication that promotes Corsi-Rosenthal boxes as do-it-yourself air filtration. Thus, the Clean Air Movement demonstrates how experts use tactics to produce instructional documents that democratize health information, building coalitions during times of public health crisis.

Examining the effects of evidence disclosure timing and strength on information inconsistencies and provision within investigative interviews

Late disclosure of evidence within investigative interviews with guilty suspects has been shown to increase statement-evidence and within-statement inconsistencies, which are indicators of deception. We experimentally tested whether such inconsistencies were influenced by the timing of evidence disclosure and strength of the evidence. We also tested whether evidence disclosure timing or strength had any effect on the provision of novel investigative information, or the rapport and trust between interviewer and interviewee. We employed a 2(Evidence disclosure timing: Early vs Late) x 2(Evidence strength: Weak vs Strong) between-participants design. Participants ( N  = 101) role-played a suspect guilty of theft and were interviewed via videoconference. Participants were instructed to convince the interviewer that they were innocent. Late disclosure of evidence led to more statement-evidence inconsistencies and within-statement inconsistencies than early evidence disclosure. Evidence disclosure timing did not affect rapport or the provision of novel investigative information. There were no clear indications of the impact of evidence strength, however, we observed that the manipulations of evidence proximity and reliability did not consistently impact perceptions of the evidence’s strength.

Use of myoelectric orthosis after stroke or traumatic brain injury: a systematic review

Upper extremity (UE) paralysis and weakness due to stroke or traumatic brain injury (TBI) can limit independent functioning. Myoelectrically controlled orthoses can be used for compensatory support for activities of daily living (ADL), and for restorative rehabilitation to reduce disability. We investigate the use of UE myoelectric orthoses (UE-MEO) for compensatory and/or restorative use after stroke or TBI. We conducted a systematic review (PROSPERO CRD42024577225) from 15 databases including MEDLINE®, Embase®, and APA PsycInfo®. Peer-reviewed reports from 2014 onwards with patient use of UE-MEO after stroke or TBI were included. Ten studies (11 reports) met the criteria; all included individuals post-stroke and one included a post-TBI subset. The majority were Oxford level of evidence 3b and rated as low risk of bias. All compensatory use studies showed participants could complete more activities or more parts of activities while wearing the UE-MEO. Studies in which the UE-MEO was studied as a restorative therapy took place in outpatient clinics and in the home setting, with mixed results across studies. The results suggest that use of a UE-MEO is a viable option as a compensatory tool to improve UE function in individuals with partial paralysis or weakness due to stroke or TBI. Additional evidence is needed to test the utility of a UE-MEO for restorative use and to identify the patient population most likely to derive benefits.

Pubertal Development and the Onset of Substance Use Among Appalachian Youth: A Longitudinal Study

Objective : We investigated the links between pubertal timing and tempo and the onset of cannabis, alcohol, and tobacco use among middle schoolers in Appalachian communities. Methods : School surveys were administered to middle school students of the 6th grade and continuing through the spring of the 8th grade ( n  = 2,587; 49.4% boys), beginning in the fall at six-month intervals. Youth self-reported on their pubertal development and substance use. We examined the influence of baseline levels and rate of growth in puberty as predictors of substance use onset with Latent Growth Curve Modeling (LGCM), stratified by sex/gender. Results : Our findings show that early pubertal timing was associated with an increased likelihood for onset of cannabis and alcohol use for boys, but not girls; pubertal tempo was not associated with onset. Conclusion : Early pubertal development may be a risk factor for early-onset substance use for boys. Prevention programming beginning in the first year of middle school is recommended.

Major Depression and Hazardous Alcohol Use in a Spanish Language Survey of Leisure and Hospitality Industry Workers

Depression and risky alcohol use are common in vulnerable populations, such as leisure and hospitality workers. While Hispanic workers are overrepresented in the hospitality industry, empirical research on these health burdens among Hispanic workers is limited, particularly workers who prefer to speak Spanish. Given the devastating unemployment following the COVID-19 lockdown, data on health burdens among hospitality industry workers is especially important. To assess the impact of pandemic-related unemployment within vulnerable populations, we examined current major depression (MDD) and recent binge drinking among leisure and hospitality workers who completed a survey in Spanish ( N  = 373). We recruited participants from a large Nevada hospitality labor union and included validated measures of depression and binge drinking in our survey. Current MDD was significantly higher among unemployed (59.6%, 95%CI, 46.9–72.4) versus currently employed (24.1%, 95%CI, 19.3–28.8) participants. Further, overall prevalence of MDD (29.5%, 95%CI, 25.1–34.3) and binge drinking (22.8%, 95%CI, 18.8, 27.3) were higher in our sample than the rates seen in concurrent statewide assessments. Given the clinically important elevations in depression and hazardous drinking found in our study, greater attention to leisure and hospitality workers is warranted, especially workers of color and workers whose preferred language is not English.

Recovery Capital in Patients Receiving Methadone Maintenance Treatment Who Use Methamphetamine in Vietnam

Background: Recovery from substance use disorder may require various types of support to address complex needs. Recovery capital (RC), a measure of resources aiding recovery, could play a vital role in determining recovery outcomes. This study explored RC and related factors in patients on methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) who also use methamphetamine. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study in December 2023 with 50 participants from a large clinical trial at three MMT clinics in Hanoi, Vietnam. RC was measured using the Brief Assessment of RC (BARC-10). Multivariate linear regression was used to examine the relationships between BARC-10 scores and potentially associated variables such as age, sex, employment, friends and relatives, drug use, mental health, HIV status, MMT-related stigma, and MMT duration. Results: Participants were predominantly male (90%), with a mean age of 44.1 years. The mean duration of MMT was 62.9 months. The mean BARC-10 scores were 47 (SD = 6.2); with the highest item scores were recovery experience and sobriety, and the lowest in social support, and physical health. Employment was positively associated with RC (Coef = 4.68; 95% CI: 0.29–9.07), whereas drug use – measured during intervention trail in the parent study (Coef = −4.20; 95% CI: −8.20 to −0.02) and enacted MMT stigma (Coef = −0.46; 95% CI: −0.82 to −0.09) were negatively associated. Conclusions: Addressing social and structural barriers, such as employment and enacted MMT-related stigma may enhance RC among MMT patients with co-occurring methamphetamine use.