Validation of Autism Diagnosis and Clinical Data in the SPARK Cohort.

The SPARK cohort was established to facilitate recruitment in studies of large numbers of participants with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Online registration requires participants to have received a lifetime professional diagnosis by health or school providers although diagnoses are not independently verified. This study was set to examine the validity of self- and caregiver-reported autism diagnoses. Electronic medical records (EMR) of 254 SPARK participants (77.6% male, age 10.7 years) were abstracted. Using two different methods, confirmation of ASD diagnosis in EMRs was obtained in 98.8% of cases. Core clinical features recorded in EMRs were typical of autism samples and showed very good agreement with SPARK cohort data, providing further evidence of the validity of clinical information in the SPARK database.

Opposing effects of impulsivity and mindset on sources of science self-efficacy and STEM interest in adolescents.

Impulsivity has been linked to academic performance in the context of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, though its influence on a wider spectrum of students remains largely unexplored, particularly in the context of STEM learning (i.e. science, technology, engineering, and math). STEM learning was hypothesized to be more challenging for impulsive students, since it requires the practice and repetition of tasks as well as concerted attention to task performance. Impulsivity was assessed in a cross-sectional sample of 2,476 students in grades 6-12. Results show impulsivity affects a larger population of students, not limited to students with learning disabilities. Impulsivity was associated with lower sources of self-efficacy for science (SSSE), interest in most STEM domains (particularly math), and self-reported STEM skills. The large negative effect size observed for impulsivity was opposed by higher mindset, which describes a student's belief in the importance of effort when learning is difficult. Mindset had a large positive effect size associated with greater SSSE, STEM interest, and STEM skills. When modeled together, results offer that mindset interventions may benefit impulsive students who struggle with STEM. Together, these data suggest important interconnected roles for impulsivity and mindset that can influence secondary students' STEM trajectories.

Experiential Learning Through Participatory Action Research in Public Health Supports Community-Based Training of Future Health Professionals.

Engaging community members in research can help cultivate effective partnerships while providing experiential training and continuing education opportunities. Several studies have involved communities in this way, though many have been small in the scale of community involvement or have included little detail of the institutional review board process by which community members became approved researchers in the study. This article presents findings on an evaluation of the training procedures and experiences of 703 first-time community-based volunteer researchers who were recruited in their communities and trained on-site to enroll research participants, collect data, and provide individualized consultation of results at travelling health education and research fairs. Open-ended registration prompts and postfair surveys assessed volunteers' reasons for participating, comfort with their volunteer experiences, and attitudes toward the biomedical research process. An open-ended survey assessed two key community partners' perspectives about their organizations' involvement with supporting the research throughout the process. Volunteers reported their experience to be a unique training opportunity, citing its ability to help them engage with their community, advance research, and obtain additional experience in their health field of interest, particularly nursing, allied health, and medicine-related careers. Community partners cited that their community's participation as volunteer researchers served as a tool to educate the larger community about research, which enabled other research projects to gain acceptance. Together, these results demonstrate that using volunteer researchers can strengthen community research partnerships while providing valuable training experience in public health research for current and aspiring health personnel.