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Social-Ecological Correlates of Social Well-Being in Transgender and Gender Diverse Adults in the USA: Implications for Policy, Theory, and Research
Get PDFIntroduction: Emerging transgender and gender diverse (TGD) health models focus on social well-being. The present study contributes to this movement through investigation of hate crime statutes, state-level political and anti-TGD attitudes, and multiple marginalized identities as correlates of social well-being (i.e., outness, community connection, and workplace and familial support). Methods: The current study merged data from three sources: (a) the 2015 United States Transgender Survey (USTS), (b) the 2014 and 2018 Cooperative Congressional Election Studies (CCES), and (c) the 2018 Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) Hate Crime Map. Bivariate (e.g., chi-square) and regression analyses were used to identify correlates of social well-being among TGD adults in the USA. Results: All types of hate crime laws showed bivariate protective associations for outness and family support. Regression models showed that several marginalized identities (e.g., having a disability) were the most consistent and largest correlates of social well-being. Higher state-level anti-TGD attitudes were linked with lower familial support and outness. The presence of state-level hate crime law civil action and police training statutes was positively associated with outness. Conclusions: The results extend the limited research on correlates of TGD social well-being. Findings support TGD health models addressing resilience and social safety. Future research should address hate crime law policy analysis, police training evaluation, and prospective testing of TGD social well-being. Policy Implications: Hate crime laws, in particular civil action and police training statutes, may be associated with better outcomes for transgender and gender diverse (TGD) persons. Evaluation of hate crime law effectiveness may need to focus on implementation as opposed to mere presence of laws. Policies specific to police training should include guidelines for training content and rigorous evaluation
How do active duty army personnel view the relationships between firearms and suicide? The role of sociopsychological factors, firearm ownership status, and lifetime history of suicidal thoughts and behaviors
Get PDFBackground: Firearms are the primary method by which US military personnel die by suicide, and those at highest risk tend to store firearms unsafely. Promoting secure firearm storage practices is a major component of the Department of Defense’s suicide prevention strategy, but perceptions about firearms being associated with suicide risk may impact such efforts. Purpose: This study examined perceptions that (1) firearm ownership and (2) storage practices are associated with suicide risk and whether key sociopsychological factors (e.g., entrapment, threat perceptions, honor ideology) were associated with these beliefs in a sample of Active Duty (AD) enlisted Army personnel. We then examined if associations varied as a function of firearm ownership or a lifetime history of suicidal thoughts and/or behaviors (STBs). Methods: Survey data about sociopsychological factors and ownership-suicide risk beliefs and storage-suicide risk beliefs were collected from 399 AD Army personnel. Multiple regression and multigroup path analyses were used. Results: Greater intolerance of uncertainty and entrapment, and weaker honor ideology, were associated with greater ownership-suicide risk beliefs, whereas being a parent of a minor child was linked with weaker ownership-suicide risk beliefs. None of the variables examined were associated with storage-suicide risk beliefs. Participants with a lifetime history of STBs who had higher threat perceptions endorsed weaker ownership-suicide risk beliefs. Conclusions: AD Army personnel may tend to believe that firearm ownership and storage practices are largely unrelated to suicide risk. More tailored messaging and suicide-gun violence prevention efforts are likely needed. Findings have important implications for military suicide prevention efforts
An examination of risk factors for ISP tier status placement
No full textThe economic cost of depression in the workplace has significantly increased over the last decade and is associated with substantial functional impairment. The Interactive Screening Program (ISP) is an evidenced-based, innovative program that addresses the critical need for early identification of depression, distress, and other risk factors. The purpose of this study was to determine differences that may exist between tier levels assigned by the ISP and the role of individuals at a health sciences center in the southeastern United States, whether student, resident, or faculty/staff. Bivariate relationships were first examined between ISP tier status and variables of interest using chi-square tests, while ordinal logistic regression was used to examine the likelihood of higher-risk ISP tier status. Younger age, student status, increased alcohol consumption, and feeling unable to control eating were all significantly related to higher-risk tier placement on the bivariate level. In the multivariate model, students, individuals who had increased alcohol consumption, and individuals who had difficulty controlling their eating showed a greater risk for higher-risk tier placement. This study provides insights in the differences of the risk factors among students, residents, and faculty/staff of a health sciences center. Awareness of these difference will be beneficial in training administrators and supervisors in the early identification of depression in hopes to minimize the negative consequences in the workplace as well as in our employees’ and students’ personal and professional lives
Speciation with gene flow in an island endemic hummingbird
No full textWe examined speciation in streamertail hummingbirds (Trochilus polytmus and Trochilus scitulus), Jamaican endemic taxa that challenge the rule that bird speciation cannot progress in situ on small islands. Our analysis shows that divergent selection acting on male bill color, a sexual ornament that is red in polytmus and black in scitulus, acts as a key reproductive barrier. We conducted a population-level analysis of genomic and phenotypic patterns to determine the traits that contribute the most to speciation despite ongoing gene flow across a narrow hybrid zone. We characterized genomic patterns using 6,451 single-nucleotide polymorphisms and a segment of the mitochondrial control region. Our analyses revealed high diversity within species, and low divergence between them, consistent with a recent speciation event or extensive gene flow following secondary contact. We observed narrow clines in two phenotypic traits and several SNP loci. The cline width for male bill color is only 2.3km, marking it as one of the narrowest phenotypic clines documented in an avian hybrid zone. The coincidence of estimated cline centers with the Rio Grande Valley suggests that this landscape feature may contribute to hybrid zone stability. However, given that streamertails are highly mobile, it is unlikely that such a narrow river acts as a physical barrier to dispersal. The limited genomic divergence across scanned regions of the genome offers little support for postmating reproductive barriers. Instead, our findings point to strong premating selection acting on bill color as the primary driver of streamertail speciation
Empowering Citizens Through the Development and Deployment of a Community-Based Environmental Health Reporting Tool
Get PDFCommunity-based participatory research provides communities with an avenue to actively collaborate with environmental researchers. The research aims to gain insight into critical problems of concern to community members while maintaining community autonomy over the research and its outcomes. This article describes the development and implementation of an environmental health communication tool designed to meet the needs of residents of Colfax, Louisiana, a rural community with limited technological access, which is engaging in advocacy with federal and state regulatory agencies to prohibit open burning and open detonation of military and Superfund wastes at a nearby thermal treatment site. We discuss how environmental scientists: (a) designed a community reporting tool specific to community goals and needs, (b) incorporated science and health communication practices, and (c) paired the tool with community outreach activities to support community-based environmental justice efforts. The reporting tool was evaluated with regard to Universal Design for Learning criteria. The tool was found to include key principles, including multiple means of representation, multiple means of action and expression, and multiple means of engagement. Consistent with these principles, several community members expressed that the booklets provided a concise and understandable summary of the data for use in their advocacy
BEYOND THE PROGRAM: A NARRATIVE INQUIRY OF BLACK WOMEN LEADERS\u27 PERCEPTIONS OF LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS IN ADDRESSING SYSTEMIC BIASES IN PUBLIC SECTOR ORGANIZATIONS
No full textDespite their significant presence in the public sector workforce, Black women remain underrepresented in leadership roles and continue to face unique, intersectional challenges because of both their race and gender. This narrative study explored how Black women public sector leaders perceived the impact of leadership development programs on their ability to navigate and challenge systemic biases in the workplace. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine Black women leaders in social service agencies. All participants had at least three years of leadership experience and participated in leadership development programs within the past three years. Analysis revealed five key themes: (1) the inadequacy of mainstream leadership programs in addressing race and gender dynamics, (2) Black women leaders\u27 necessary creation of self-directed development opportunities when organizational support failed, (3) strategic use of organizational expertise as a form of resistance, (4) emotional intelligence as a source of power in navigating biased environments, and (5) the importance of authentic leadership grounded in personal values. Findings indicate that standard leadership development programs systematically fail to address the unique intersectional challenges Black women leaders face, requiring them to supplement formal programs with self-directed initiatives and strategic relationship building. These findings offer actionable guidance for HRD professionals to redesign leadership development programs that better serve the needs of racially and gender-diverse leadership pipelines. Participants identified several crucial competencies for addressing workplace biases, including proactive self-development, strategic relationship building, and inner strength development. This research contributes to human resource development literature by amplifying the voices of Black women leaders and providing insights into the disparities between leadership development programming and lived experiences at the intersection of race and gender. The findings underscore the urgent need for leadership development programs that center intersectionality, equip leaders with tools for navigating systemic inequities, and affirm the identities and contributions of Black women in public leadership. They call for transformative changes in leadership development practices to explicitly acknowledge racial and gender dynamics, provide practical strategies for navigating systemic biases, and create more culturally responsive programs that support Black women\u27s advancement in public sector leadership
Blue Hour
No full textBlue Hour is the moment when the world is quiet, and a sense of melancholic pain surfaces. You are the only person aware of the change and the only person alive, but it only lasts for a moment. It’s the hour just as the sun goes down and the world turns blue, or maybe in the middle of the night when the world is asleep. How do I hold on to this desired space while the rest of the world is awake? In working with clay and paint, I go through a process of sifting through levels of consciousness to make sense of a lost time. At some point, the memories and clay fuse into various stages of stimulated and suppressed messages, relating to exploration and unattainable connection
Modulators of Energy Expenditure Accuracy in Adults with Overweight or Obesity: E-MECHANIC Secondary Analyses
Get PDFPurpose American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) metabolic equations are used to estimate energy expenditure (EE) of physical activity and prescribe aerobic exercise to meet EE requirements. Limited evidence supports their accuracy in sedentary adults with overweight or obesity during controlled exercise interventions. The purpose of this study was to compare EE estimated by the ACSM walking equation versus EE measured by indirect calorimetry during a 24-wk aerobic exercise intervention, and identify potential modulators for their accuracy. Methods Data from the exercising groups (8 or 20 kcal·kg body weight-1·wk-1) of the E-MECHANIC study were utilized in this ancillary analysis (N = 103). Every 2 wk for the initial 8 wk and monthly thereafter, EE was measured via indirect calorimetry during absolute (2 mph, 0% grade) and relative (65%-85% peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak)) workload exercise. Resting metabolic rate, VO2peak, and body composition were assessed at baseline and follow-up. An EE offset factor (EOF) was calculated to express measured EE as a percentage of the estimated EE at each workload (EOF \u3c 100% represents an overestimation of ACSM estimated EE). Results The accuracy of the equation decreased with increasing exercise workload (0.44%, 9.2%, and 20.3% overestimation at absolute, relative, and maximal workloads, respectively, at baseline) and overestimation of EE was greater after the exercise intervention. Furthermore, race, sex, age, fat mass, and VO2peak were identified as modulators for equation accuracy. Greater overestimation of EE was observed in Black compared with White females, particularly at lower exercise workloads. Conclusions These findings support future efforts to improve the accuracy of metabolic equations, especially in diverse populations. Researchers should account for exercise efficiency adaptations when using metabolic equations to prescribe exercise precisely
Experience is all you need: a large language model application of fine-tuned GPT-3.5 and RoBERTa for aspect-based sentiment analysis of college football stadium reviews
No full textDespite extensive research in service industries, fine-grained explorations of customer experience within spectator sports remain limited. This study pioneers a transfer learning approach grounded in a post-positivism paradigm, underpinned by an integrative customer experience framework for aspect-based sentiment analysis of user-generated content, shedding light on the complexity of the college football game day experience. Three fine-tuned large language models were employed to qualitatively identify and quantitatively analyze customer experience from Tripadvisor reviews on college football stadiums. Our findings indicated that fans’ positive reactions to stimuli related to core (game dynamics), functional (facilities/services), emotional (intense feelings), and socialization (fan interactions/bonding) significantly increased the likelihood of them giving a five-star rating. Mitigating negative experiences across functional, emotional, socialization, safety, and monetary experience was crucial for achieving a top rating, with reducing negative functional issues and safety concerns having the greatest positive impact. Our study contributes to the sport management literature by establishing a unified view of customer experience, enabling a holistic conceptualization and operationalization of customer experience in spectator sports. Empirically, our research proposes targeted strategies to manage customer experience in college football and offers sport management professionals ready-to-use large language models along with detailed deployment guidelines tailored for distinct use cases
Strategic Patent Litigation Disclosures and Innovation: The Influence of Competition and Peer Signals in Technology Sectors
No full textIn the high-stakes environment of technology innovation, this dissertation examines how competitive pressures and legal transparency shape managers’ strategic disclosure and innovation decisions. The first study investigates whether competition from startups—measured as New Entry Threats (NET)—influences technology firms’ decisions to disclose ongoing patent infringement lawsuits in their annual Form 10-K filings. Although all patent litigation cases are publicly available through mandated court filings, SEC Regulation S-K Item 103 and FASB ASC 450 grant managers substantial discretion over whether to disclose these cases in annual Form 10-K filings. This discretion allows firms to omit cases they deem routine or immaterial, creating scope for strategic disclosure decisions. Guided by proprietary-cost and entry-deterrence theories, I test whether managers suppress or amplify litigation disclosures in response to startup competition. Using a sample of U.S. public technology firms from 2004 to 2017, I find that higher NET is associated with a lower likelihood of disclosing individual patent suits in 10-K filings, supporting proprietary-cost theory and demonstrating that firms strategically withhold legal risk information when competitive threats from startups are high. The second study explores whether firms alter their innovation activities in response to peer firms disclosing patent litigation cases in their annual 10-K filing. Linking all verified patent infringement cases from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to the subset of firms that voluntarily disclose such cases in 10-K filings, I analyze whether peer litigation transparency via annual 10-K filings affects firms’ subsequent patenting activity. While peer disclosures provide potential signals about technological strengths, vulnerabilities, or contested innovation domains, the results show that peer litigation disclosures do not significantly influence firms’ future patenting behavior. Instead, firms increase patenting following their own litigation exposure, suggesting that direct legal experience, rather than peer transparency, drives innovation responses. Together, the studies highlight that firms’ disclosure and innovation decisions are interdependent outcomes of competitive and legal pressures, reflecting how managers balance transparency against strategic risk