The Effectiveness of Interventions for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: A Meta-Analysis

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 607-617 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ko Ling Chan ◽  
Mengtong Chen ◽  
Kin Ming Camilla Lo ◽  
Qiqi Chen ◽  
Susan J. Kelley ◽  
...  

Purpose: The research objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of intervention programs that aim to enhance the well-being of grandparent caregivers and the developmental outcomes of grandchildren and identify useful program components. Method: Relevant studies were identified via comprehensive literature searches of electronic databases. A random effects model was used to calculate effect sizes. Results: We included 20 studies published in and before April 2018. Our review indicates that interventions for grandparent caregivers have positive effects in regard to various well-being outcomes. Small to moderate effect sizes for increases in social support and parenting skills and a decrease in children’s behavioral problems were found. Supportive and educational components could contribute to a promising intervention. Conclusions: The implementation of interventions for grandparents requires ongoing research efforts to obtain high-quality evidence for program effectiveness. We suggest future research be conducted to develop tailored interventions to meet the needs of different grandparent caregivers.

Author(s):  
Jeanne Gubbels ◽  
Claudia E. van der Put ◽  
Geert-Jan J. M. Stams ◽  
Mark Assink

AbstractSchool-based programs seem promising for child abuse prevention. However, research mainly focused on sexual child abuse and knowledge is lacking on how individual program components contribute to the effectiveness of school-based prevention programs for any form of child abuse. This study aimed to examine the overall effect of these school-based programs on (a) children’s child abuse-related knowledge and (b) self-protection skills by conducting two three-level meta-analyses. Furthermore, moderator analyses were performed to identify how program components and delivery techniques were associated with effectiveness. A literature search yielded 34 studies (158 effect sizes; N = 11,798) examining knowledge of child abuse and 22 studies (99 effect sizes; N = 7804) examining self-protection skills. A significant overall effect was found of school-based programs on both knowledge (d = 0.572, 95% CI [0.408, 0.737], p < 0.001) and self-protection skills (d = 0.528, 95% CI [0.262, 0.794], p < 0.001). The results of the first meta-analysis on children’s child abuse knowledge suggest that program effects were larger in programs addressing social–emotional skills of children (d = 0.909 for programs with this component versus d = 0.489 for programs without this component) and self-blame (d = 0.776 versus d = 0.412), and when puppets (d = 1.096 versus d = 0.500) and games or quizzes (d = 0.966 versus d = 0.494) were used. The second meta-analysis on children’s self-protections skills revealed that no individual components or techniques were associated with increased effectiveness. Several other study and program characteristics did moderate the overall effects and are discussed. In general, school-based prevention programs show positive effects on both knowledge and self-protection skills, and the results imply that program effectiveness can be improved by implementing specific components and techniques.


BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. e043722
Author(s):  
Naomi Priest ◽  
Kate Doery ◽  
Mandy Truong ◽  
Shuaijun Guo ◽  
Ryan Perry ◽  
...  

IntroductionRacism is a critical determinant of health and health inequities for children and youth. This protocol aims to update the first systematic review conducted by Priest et al (2013), including a meta-analysis of findings. Based on previous empirical data, it is anticipated that child and youth health will be negatively impacted by racism. Findings from this review will provide updated evidence of effect sizes across outcomes and identify moderators and mediators of relationships between racism and health.Methods and analysisThis systematic review and meta-analysis will include studies that examine associations between experiences of racism and racial discrimination with health outcomes of children and youth aged 0–24 years. Exposure measures include self-reported or proxy reported systemic, interpersonal and intrapersonal racism. Outcome measures include general health and well-being, physical health, mental health, biological markers, healthcare utilisation and health behaviours. A comprehensive search of studies from the earliest time available to October 2020 will be conducted. A random effects meta-analysis will examine the average effect of racism on a range of health outcomes. Study-level moderation will test the difference in effect sizes with regard to various sample and exposure characteristics. This review has been registered with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews.Ethics and disseminationThis review will provide evidence for future research within the field and help to support policy and practice development. Results will be widely disseminated to both academic and non-academic audiences through peer-review publications, community summaries and presentations to research, policy, practice and community audiences.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42020184055.


Polar Record ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 53 (5) ◽  
pp. 534-549 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clare Hawkes ◽  
Kimberley Norris

ABSTRACTThe third-quarter phenomenon is the dominant theoretical model to explain the psychological impacts of deployment in Antarctica on personnel. It posits that detrimental symptoms to functioning, such as negative mood, increase gradually throughout deployment and peak at the third-quarter point, regardless of overall deployment length. However, there is equivocal support for the model. The current meta-analysis included data from 21 studies (involving 1,826 participants) measuring negative mood during deployment to elucidate this discrepancy. Across studies analyses were conducted on three data types: stratified by month using repeated-measured all time points meta-analytic techniques and pre/post-deployment data for summer/winter deployment seasons. Our results did not support the proposed parameters of the third-quarter phenomenon, as negative mood did not peak at the third-quarter point (August/September) of deployment. Overall effect sizes indicated that negative mood was greater at baseline than the end of deployment for summer and winter deployment seasons. These findings have theoretical and practical implications and should be used to guide future research, assisting in the development and modification of pre-existing prevention and intervention programmes to improve well-being and functioning of personnel during Antarctic deployment.


Author(s):  
Ciro Conversano ◽  
Graziella Orrù ◽  
Andrea Pozza ◽  
Mario Miccoli ◽  
Rebecca Ciacchini ◽  
...  

Background: Hypertension is among the most important risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, which are considered high mortality risk medical conditions. To date, several studies have reported positive effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) interventions on physical and psychological well-being in other medical conditions, but no meta-analysis on MBSR programs for hypertension has been conducted. Objectives: The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of MBSR programs for hypertension. Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials examining the effects of MBSR on systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP), anxiety, depression, and perceived stress in people with hypertension or pre-hypertension was conducted. The PubMed/MEDLINE and PsycINFO databases were searched in November 2020 to identify relevant studies. Results: Six studies were included. The comparison of MBSR versus control conditions on diastolic BP was associated with a statistically significant mean effect size favoring MBSR over control conditions (MD = −2.029; 95% confidence interval (CI): −3.676 to −0.383, p = 0.016, k = 6; 22 effect sizes overall), without evidence of heterogeneity (I2 = 0.000%). The comparison of MBSR versus control conditions on systolic BP was associated with a mean effect size which was statistically significant only at a marginal level (MD = −3.894; 95% CI: −7.736–0.053, p = 0.047, k = 6; 22 effect sizes overall), without evidence of high heterogeneity (I2 = 20.772%). The higher the proportion of participants on antihypertensive medications was, the larger the effects of MBSR were on systolic BP (B = −0.750, z = −2.73, p = 0.003). Conclusions: MBSR seems to be a promising intervention, particularly effective on the reduction of diastolic BP. More well-conducted trials are required.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Wendsche ◽  
Andrea Lohmann-Haislah ◽  
Jürgen Jürgen

Within-shift rest breaks are important to prevent an accumulation of impairing short-term effects of strain over working time. In this meta-analysis (k = 11, N = 705), we investigated how supplementary, frequent short rest breaks affect task performance and strain. We found positive effects on quality (g = 0.23) and quantity (g = 0.12) measures of task performance. The mean reduction of working time due to rest breaks was 9.3%. Performance improvements occurred not at costs of higher strain. Thus, our study shows that both employees’ performance and well-being benefits from scheduled within-shift breaks. We found no further effects of potentially moderating variables. Future research should examine the boundary conditions and underlying mechanisms of these effects.


Author(s):  
Ronald E. Rice ◽  
Simeon J. Yates ◽  
Jordana Blejmar

We conclude the Handbook of Digital Technology and Society by identifying topics that appear in multiple chapters, are more unique to some chapters, and that represent general themes across the material. Each of these is considered separately for the ESRC theme chapters and the non-ESRC chapters. In the ESRC theme chapters, cross-cutting research topics include digital divides and inequalities; data and digital literacy; governance, regulation, and legislation; and the roles and impacts of major platforms. Cross-cutting challenges include methods; theory development, testing, and evaluation; ethics; big data; and multi-platform/holistic studies. Gaps include policy implications, and digital culture. In the non-ESRC chapters, more cross-cutting themes include future research and methods; technology venues; relationships; content and creation; culture and everyday life; theory; and societal effects. More unique, these were digitization of self; managing digital experience; names for the digital/social era; ethics; user groups; civic issues; health, and positive effects. The chapter also shows how the non-ESRC chapters may be clustered together based on their shared themes and subthemes, identifying two general themes of more micro and more macro topics. The identification of both more and less common topics and themes can provide the basis for understanding the landscape of prior research, what areas need to be included in ongoing research, and what research areas might benefit from more attention. The chapter ends with some recommendations for such ongoing and future research in the rich, important, and challenging area of digital technology and society.


2021 ◽  
pp. 016264342198997
Author(s):  
Sojung Jung ◽  
Ciara Ousley ◽  
David McNaughton ◽  
Pamela Wolfe

In this meta-analytic review, we investigated the effects of technology supports on the acquisition of shopping skills for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) between the ages of 5 and 24. Nineteen single-case experimental research studies, presented in 15 research articles, met the current study’s inclusion criteria and the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) standards. An analysis of potential moderators was conducted, and we calculated effect sizes using Tau-U to examine the impact of age, diagnosis, and type of technology on the reported outcomes for the 56 participants. The results from the included studies provide evidence that a wide range of technology interventions had a positive impact on shopping performance. These positive effects were seen for individuals across a wide range of ages and disability types, and for a wide variety of shopping skills. The strongest effect sizes were observed for technologies that provided visual supports rather than just auditory support. We provide an interpretation of the findings, implications of the results, and recommended areas for future research.


2021 ◽  
pp. 0044118X2110223
Author(s):  
Natasha Pusch

School delinquency in public elementary, middle, and high schools has decreased in recent years, but is still a major issue that has negative mental health and academic implications for adolescents. Although research has focused on both individual-level and school-level explanations of school delinquency, it is not yet clear which macro-level criminological perspectives best explains it. Using 656 effect sizes nested within 75 studies and 30 unique datasets, this study addresses two questions using meta-analytic methods: Which macro-level criminological perspectives explain between-school differences in delinquency? Are effect sizes invariant across samples and research design? Results indicate that only concentrated disadvantage and social cohesion are significantly related to school delinquency. With the exception of concentrated disadvantage, effects are homogenous. This suggests that some school-level explanations are useful and future research should not exclude these factors. Practical implications suggest that improving social cohesion in schools may be more effective at preventing violence than target-hardening efforts.


2020 ◽  
pp. 152483802096734
Author(s):  
Mengtong Chen ◽  
Ko Ling Chan

Digital technologies are increasingly used in health-care delivery and are being introduced into work to prevent unintentional injury, violence, and suicide to reduce mortality. To understand the potential of digital health interventions (DHIs) to prevent and reduce these problems, we conduct a meta-analysis and provide an overview of their effectiveness and characteristics related to the effects. We searched electronic databases and reference lists of relevant reviews to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published in or before March 2020 evaluating DHIs on injury, violence, or suicide reduction. Based on the 34 RCT studies included in the meta-analysis, the overall random effect size was 0.21, and the effect sizes for reducing suicidal ideation, interpersonal violence, and unintentional injury were 0.17, 0.24, and 0.31, respectively, which can be regarded as comparable to the effect sizes of traditional face-to-face interventions. However, there was considerable heterogeneity between the studies. In conclusion, DHIs have great potential to reduce unintentional injury, violence, and suicide. Future research should explore DHIs’ successful components to facilitate future implementation and wider access.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beau Gamble ◽  
David Moreau ◽  
Lynette J. Tippett ◽  
Donna Rose Addis

Reduced specificity of autobiographical memory has been well established in depression, but whether this ‘overgenerality’ extends to future thinking has not been the focus of a meta-analysis. Following a preregistered protocol, we searched six electronic databases, Google Scholar, personal libraries, and contacted authors in the field for studies matching search terms related to depression, future thinking, and specificity. We reduced an initial 7,332 results to 46 included studies, with 89 effect sizes and 4,813 total participants. Random effects meta-analytic modelling revealed a small but robust correlation between reduced future specificity and higher levels of depression (r = .13, p &lt; .001). Of the 11 moderator variables examined, the most striking effects related to the emotional valence of future thinking (p &lt; .001) and the sex of participants (p = .025). Namely, depression was linked to reduced specificity for positive (but not negative or neutral) future thinking, and the relationship was stronger in samples with a higher proportion of males. This meta-analysis contributes to our understanding of how prospection is altered in depression and dysphoria and, by revealing areas where current evidence is inconclusive, highlights key avenues for future research.


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