Impact of Users' Attitudes Toward Anonymous Internet Interventions for Cannabis vs. Alcohol Use: A Secondary Analysis of Data From Two Clinical Trials

Background: Numerous trials have demonstrated the efficacy of internet interventions targeting alcohol or cannabis use, yet a substantial proportion of users do not benefit from the format, warranting further research to identify moderators of treatment effects. Users' initial attitudes toward treatment is a potential moderator, yet no previous study has investigated users' attitudes in the context of internet interventions for addictive disorders.Method: In this secondary analysis on two internet-based trials targeting harmful alcohol use (n = 1,169) and regular cannabis use (n = 303), respectively, we compared user groups' attitudes at the item level; explored within-group heterogeneity by submitting attitude scores to a k-means cluster analysis; and investigated whether latent subgroups in each user group moderated the treatment effects. Outcome models were run using generalized linear models with 10,000 bias-corrected bootstraps accounting for subject-level clustering.Results: While substance groups and latent subgroups converged in enjoying the anonymity provided by the format, their interest toward treatment differed. Outcome analyses revealed a significant and negative time by subgroup effect on grams of cannabis consumed and screening test score (CAST), favoring the subgroup with positive treatment attitudes. There were not any significant effects of subgroup on alcohol consumption. Despite initial treatment reluctance, participants in the neutral subgroup decreased their cannabis use (gram) significantly when receiving the intervention vs. control.Conclusions: This first, exploratory study revealed key differences between substance groups' attitudes, but more importantly that within-group heterogeneity appear to affect cannabis outcomes. Assessing attitudes could be key in patient-treatment matching, yet more research is needed.

A weighted distance metric for assessing ranking dissimilarity and inter-group heterogeneity

In this paper, a weighted variant of the normalized pairwise angular distance metric is proposed. The inclusion of position weights aims at penalizing inversions in the top of the ranking more than inversions in the tail of the ranking. The performance of the proposed weighted distance metric for assessing ranking dissimilarity and its impact on a procedure for testing inter-group heterogeneity have been investigated via a Monte Carlo simulation study under several scenarios—differing for group size, number of ranked alternatives and system of hypotheses—and compared against those obtained for the unweighted variant.

DIFFERENCES OF TOLERANCE CHARACTER PLANTING STRATEGIES RELIGIOUS INTEREST STUDENTS IN SDN INPRES 6.88 PERUMNAS 2 KOTA JAYAPURA

This paper discusses the various strategies for cultivating thecharacter of inter-religious tolerance in students of SDN Inpres 6.88Perumnas 2 Kota Jayapura which is carried out through 1) schoolpolicies; 2) habituation to differences; 3) habituation to equations,and 4) group heterogeneity exercises. This research is field research. Theresearch approach used in this research includes methodological(phenomenological) and scientific approaches (normative, juridical, andpedagogical theological approaches). The research method used was aninterview, observation, and documentation. The results of this studyindicate that the character of interreligious tolerance in students of SDNInpres 6.88 Perumnas 2 Kota Jayapura is carried out through severalstrategies, namely: First, school policy. A strong commitment must bepossessed by school policymakers in cultivating the character of tolerancebetween religious believers in students. This commitment is manifested inthe inclusion of the character values of tolerance among religious believersin the mission, goals, and school regulations. Second, habituation todifferences. The teacher accustoms students to differences from an earlyage. This is done by giving understanding to students to appreciate thedifferences that exist between them. Besides, in learning the teacher alsotrains students to appreciate differences of opinion when discussing. Third, habituation to equality. The teacher gives the understanding that allstudents have the same position in a school that is, both become studentswho have the same rights and obligations. Students when learning areaccustomed to the teacher to see the similarities in meaning if there aredifferent answers. . The teacher invites students to think from the samepoint of view, not from each student. Fourth, exercise heterogeneity ingroups. The teacher gives group heterogeneity exercises to students inassigned group discussions during learning. The learning strategy used bythe teacher in group discussion assignments is the cooperative learningstrategy. Students work together in their study groups to complete theassignments the teacher has given them. Heterogeneity of study groups thatfavor cooperation can train and accustom students to learnto respect and tolerate differences that exist between themselves and theirpeers in terms of ethnicity, religion, social strata, or abilities.

Modeling Drivers’ Stopping Behaviors during Yellow Intervals at Intersections considering Group Heterogeneity

Stopping behavior during yellow intervals is one of the critical driver behaviors correlated with intersection safety. As the main index of stopping behavior, stopping time is typically described by Accelerated Failure Time (AFT) model. In this study, the comparison of survival curves of stopping time confirms the existence of group specific effects on drivers. However, the AFT model is developed based on the homogeneity assumption. To overcome this drawback, shared frailty survival models are developed for stopping time analysis, which consider the group heterogeneity of drivers. The results show that log-logistic based frailty model with age as a grouping variable has the best goodness of fit and prediction accuracy. Analysis of the models’ parameters indicates that phone status, maximum deceleration, vehicles’ speed, and the distance to stopping line at the onset of the yellow signal have significant impacts on stopping time. Additionally, heterogeneity analysis illustrates that young, middle-aged, and female drivers are more likely to brake harshly and stop past the stop line, which may block the intersection. Furthermore, drivers, who are more familiar with traffic environments, are more possible to make reasonable stopping decisions approaching intersections. The results can be utilized by traffic authorities to implement road safety strategies, which will help reduce traffic incidents caused by improper stopping behavior at intersections.

When does an online brand community backfire? An empirical study

Purpose Although online brand communities (OBCs) are extensively demonstrated to be an important social media tool in building brand equity, they may have backfire effects under certain conditions. Drawing from the self–brand connection theory, the purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of group heterogeneity on brand commitment. The mediation effect of self–brand connection and moderation effect of brand symbolism has also been examined. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected using a survey of 498 users from a range of OBCs. Hierarchical regression and bootstrapping method were used to test the research model. Findings The findings indicate that group heterogeneity negatively affects brand commitment in which self–brand connection plays a role of mediation. Further, the negative effect is more pronounced for high-symbolic brands than low-symbolic ones. Practical implications Brand managers are advised to note the dark side of OBCs in general and alleviate the adverse effects of group heterogeneity in particular, especially for high-symbolic brands. Originality/value Previous research pays little attention to the adverse effect of OBCs. This study enriches the literature by revealing that the backfire effect of OBCs arises when users become heterogeneous and uncovering in what situations the negative effect is stronger.

The Two Faces of Linked Fate: How Survey Respondents Interpret Linked Fate Question

Scholars of race and ethnic politics have long been interested in what binds racial and ethnic group members together. One famous explanation is linked fate (Dawson 1994). We conceptualize two ways respondents might think about their ties to a racial group, linked hurt or linked progress. Linked hurt is when a respondent believes that when their group is hurt then they are hurt, while linked progress is when a respondent believes that when their group is helped then they are also helped. We compare the standard linked fate measure to our measures using a representative survey in California. We make three contributions. First, people interpret linked fate more expansively than expected by Black utility heuristic theory. Second, we provide two new novel measures that better capture the concept and outperform the original linked fate measure. Finally, we show that our measures better pick up between group heterogeneity than the traditional linked fate measure. We encourage scholars to use our measures instead of the traditional linked fate measure when the concept of interest is linked fate.