Imagined and extended contact experiences and adolescent bystanders' behavioral intentions in homophobic bullying episodes.

Bystanders' helping interventions in bias-based bullying are rare, although they have the potential to intervene on behalf of the victim and quickly stop the aggression. Two studies tested, experimentally, the impact of adolescents' imagined (Study 1, N = 113, Mage = 16.17) and extended contact experiences (Study 2, N = 174, Mage = 15.79) on assertive bystanders' behavioral intentions in the context of homophobic bullying, an under-researched but highly detrimental behavior that emerges mainly during early adolescence. Potential mediators (empathic concern, social contagion concerns, and masculinity/femininity threat) were also examined. Results showed that female younger participants revealed more behavioral intentions to help victims of homophobic bullying when asked to imagine an interaction with an outgroup member (Study 1). Younger participants revealed less masculinity/femininity threat in the positive extended contact condition, and female participants revealed less empathic concern in the negative extended contact condition (Study 2). Overall, these findings identify specific conditions (e.g., younger females) where indirect contact interventions (i.e., extended and imagined) are likely to have a stronger impact. Age and sex differences were found to illustrate how adolescents vary in their behavioral intentions, empathic concern, and threat; and also highlight the need to further examine age and sex differences regarding responses to homophobic bullying episodes.

Evaluation of the Healthy Living after Cancer text message-delivered, extended contact intervention using the RE-AIM framework.

BACKGROUND: Text message-delivered interventions have potential to prevent weight regain and maintain diet and physical activity behaviours through extending contact with participants following initial weight loss, lifestyle interventions. Using the RE-AIM Framework, this study evaluated the adoption, reach, implementation, effectiveness, and maintenance of an extended contact text-message intervention following the Healthy Living after Cancer (HLaC) program. HLaC was a 6-month, telephone-delivered intervention targeting healthy diet, physical activity and weight loss for adult cancer survivors, offered by Cancer Councils (CCs) in Australia. METHODS: HLaC completers (n = 182) were offered extended contact via text messages for 6-months (HLaC+Txt). Text message content/frequency was individually tailored to participant's preferences, ascertained through two telephone-tailoring interviews with CC staff. Adoption (HLaC+Txt uptake among eligible CCs), reach (uptake by HLaC completers) and implementation (intervention cost/length; text dose) were assessed. The effectiveness of extended contact relative to historic controls was quantified by pre-to-post HLaC+Txt changes in self-reported: weight, moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), fruit and vegetable intake, fat and fibre behaviour. Maintenance, following 6-months of noncontact for the intervention cohort, was assessed for these same variables. Semi-structured interviews with CC staff and participants contextualised outcomes. RESULTS: HLaC+Txt was adopted by all four CCs who had delivered HLaC. In total, 115 participants commenced HLaC+Txt, with reach ranging across CCs from 47 to 80% of eligible participants. The mean number of weeks participants received the text message intervention ranged across CCs from 18.5-22.2 weeks. Participants received (median, 25th,75th percentile) 83 (48, 119) texts, ranging across CCs from 40 to 112. The total cost of HLaC+Txt delivery was on average $AUD85.00/participant. No meaningful (p < 0.05) differences in self-reported outcomes were seen between HLaC+Txt and control cohorts. After 6-months no contact the intervention cohort had maintained weight, fruit intake, fat and fibre index scores relative to end of HLaC+Txt outcomes. Participants/CC staff perceived an important intervention component was maintaining accountability. CONCLUSIONS: While feasible to implement, HLaC+Txt was not effective in the short term. However, intervention effects during the non-contact period suggest the program supports longer term maintenance of weight and diet behaviour. Intervention delivery in this real-world context highlighted key considerations for future implementation. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR) - ACTRN12615000882527 (registered on 24/08/2015).

The Extended Contact Hypothesis: A Meta-Analysis on 20 Years of Research.

According to the extended contact hypothesis, knowing that in-group members have cross-group friends improves attitudes toward this out-group. This meta-analysis covers the 20 years of research that currently exists on the extended contact hypothesis, and consists of 248 effect sizes from 115 studies. The aggregate relationship between extended contact and intergroup attitudes was r = .25, 95% confidence interval (CI) = [.22, .27], which reduced to r = .17, 95% CI = [.14, .19] after removing direct friendship's contribution; these results suggest that extended contact's hypothesized relationship to intergroup attitudes is small-to-medium and exists independently of direct friendship. This relationship was larger when extended contact was perceived versus actual, highlighting the importance of perception in extended contact. Current results on extended contact mostly resembled their direct friendship counterparts, suggesting similarity between these contact types. These unique insights about extended contact and its relationship with direct friendship should enrich and spur growth within this literature.

Are patients with pulmonary tuberculosis identified by active and by passive case detection different? A cross-sectional study in Pakistan.

OBJECTIVES: Our objective was to compare the characteristics of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) identified through "extended contact screening" (ECS) with those of patients identified through routine passive case finding (PCF). METHODS: Active TB case finding by ECS was tested from 2013-2015. This was a cross-sectional study based on data collected from ECS and routine program data from Lahore, Faisalabad, and Rawalpindi districts, and Islamabad in 2015. Characteristics of patients identified through ECS and PCF were compared. RESULTS: Of the 12,114 patients with pulmonary TB in the study, 4604 (38%) were identified through ECS, of whom 4052 (88%) had bacteriological confirmation. Male patients comprised 56.2% (95% confidence interval [CI] 54.8-57.6) of patients with pulmonary TB identified through ECS and 49.7% (95% CI 48.6-50.8) of those identified through PCF. The proportion of bacteriologically confirmed cases was 88.0% (95% CI 87.1-88.9) in the ECS group and 50.3% (95% CI 49.2-51.4) in the PCF group. By regression analysis we found that compared with patients aged 15-44 years, children aged <15 years had higher chances of being identified through ECS (adjusted odds ratio 2.69; 95% CI 2.21-3.28). There was a higher chance of cases being detected by ECS in Faisalabad (adjusted odds ratio 2.57; 95% CI 2.01-3.29) than in Islamabad. CONCLUSION: ECS identified a higher proportion of male and child patients with pulmonary TB than routine case finding; both of these groups are more often unidentified through routine TB control.

Knowledge About Individuals' Interracial Friendships Is Systematically Associated With Mental Representations of Race, Traits, and Group Solidarity.

Individuals with other-race friends are perceived to identify less strongly with their racial in-group than are individuals with same-race friends. Using the reverse-correlation technique, we show that this effect goes beyond perceptions of social identification, influencing how people are mentally represented. In four studies with Black and White American participants, we demonstrate a "racial assimilation effect": Participants, independent of their own race, represented both Black and White targets with other-race friends as phenotypically more similar to the respective racial out-group. Representations of targets with racial out-group friends were subsequently rated as more likely to engage in social action supportive of the racial out-group. Out-group targets with other-race friends were represented more favorably than out-group targets with mostly same-race friends. White participants had particularly negative representations of in-group members with mostly Black friends. The present research suggests that individuals' social networks influence how their race and associated traits are mentally represented.

The effect of direct and extended contact on attitudes towards social robots.

The development of social robots has the potential to address significant societal concerns, however, most people have limited experience of such technology. The present research investigated whether techniques borrowed from the psychology of intergroup relations - namely direct and extended contact - affect people's attitudes towards robots. Participants were provided with either direct contact with a social robot or extended contact (these participants watched a video recorded by a friend who had met the robot) before their explicit and implicit attitudes towards robots were measured. Results indicated that direct contact affected both explicit and implicit attitudes, while extended contact affected implicit attitudes. The implication of these findings is that contact with a robot, direct or indirect, can change attitudes; much as previous research has shown that contact with a person who is a member of an out-group can change attitudes towards that group. We conclude that methods and theories from the study of human intergroup relationships can be usefully applied to understand attitudes toward social robots.

I (dis)like the way you (dis)like them: The role of extended contact on social distance and attitudes towards the ingroup.

While extended intergroup contact has been commonly studied in the context of prejudice reduction, less is known about its implications for processes related to the ingroup. Through three correlational and one experimental studies (total N = 897) conducted in two different intergroup contexts (Turkey and United Kingdom), we investigated whether extended intergroup contact relates to social distance and attitudes towards ingroup members as a function of outgroup attitudes. We also investigated ingroup identification and perceived ingroup morality as potential mediators in these associations. Correlational studies demonstrated that especially when outgroup attitudes were more negative, participants' positive (but not negative) extended contact was related to a more negative evaluation of the ingroup; whereas when outgroup attitudes were more positive, extended contact was associated with positive attitudes towards the ingroup. We found experimental evidence for the suggested relationships in relation to ingroup social distance. Findings are discussed in the light of vicarious dissonance theory and deprovincialization hypothesis.

Extending contact screening within a 50-m radius of an index tuberculosis patient using Xpert MTB/RIF in urban Pakistan: Did it impact treatment outcomes?

BACKGROUND: Pakistan implemented initiatives to detect tuberculosis (TB) patients through extended contact screening (ECS); it improved case detection but treatment outcomes need assessment. OBJECTIVES: To compare treatment outcomes of pulmonary TB (PTB) patients detected by ECS with those detected by routine passive case finding (PCF). METHODS: A cohort study using secondary program data conducted in Lahore, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi districts and Islamabad in 2013-15. We used log binomial regression models to assess if ECS was associated with unfavorable treatment outcomes (death, loss-to-follow-up, failure, not evaluated) after adjusting for potential confounders. RESULTS: We included 79,431 people with PTB; 4604 (5.8%) were detected by ECS with 4052 (88%) bacteriologically confirmed. In all PTB patients the proportion with unfavorable outcomes was not significantly different in ECS group (9.6%) compared to PCF (9.9%), however, among bacteriologically confirmed patients unfavorable outcomes were significantly lower in ECS (9.9%) than PCF group (11.6%, P = 0.001). ECS was associated with a lower risk of unfavorable outcomes (adjusted relative risk (aRR) 0.90; 95% CI 0.82-0.99) among 'all PTB' patients and bacteriologically confirmed PTB patients (aRR 0.91; 95% CI 0.82-1.00). CONCLUSION: In PTB patients detected by ECS the treatment outcomes were not inferior to those detected by PCF.

Effectiveness of extended contact interventions for weight management delivered via text messaging: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Extended contact interventions provide support for continued weight management (weight loss/prevention of weight regain) following a weight loss intervention. Text messages offer a medium for delivery in a potentially cost-effective, broad-reach manner. OBJECTIVES: This study aims to examine (i) the effectiveness of extended contact, text message interventions for adults in supporting weight management, and (ii) which intervention characteristics are common to those that are effective. METHODS: A systematic database search (to 19 September 2016) was conducted. Meta-analyses were performed to quantify the average weight changes (kg) during the extended contact intervention, net of control (if a control group was present) and within-group. RESULTS: Seven studies were eligible for inclusion. The pooled effect of the extended contact intervention compared with control (n = 3 studies) was -0.82 kg (95% confidence interval -1.43, -0.21), while the pooled within-group weight loss (n = 6 studies) during the extended contact interventions was -2.16 kg (95% confidence interval -3.40, -0.91). Interventions considered 'effective' (n = 4) were more likely to be >12 weeks duration, compared with interventions considered 'ineffective' (n = 3). CONCLUSION: Evidence from the small number of studies reviewed suggests that extended contact, text message-delivered interventions are effective. Further research is required to elucidate effective intervention components and the longer-term impact on weight, diet and physical activity behaviour.

Extended low oxygen transmissibility contact lens use induces alterations in the concentration of proinflammatory cytokines, enzymes and electrolytes in tear fluid.

Prolonged and continuous use of contact lenses for as long as 3 or 4 weeks is common in Mexico due to the low socioeconomic status, poor patient education and self-neglect. Furthermore, wearing contact lenses with low oxygen permeability is common due to their low cost. Thus, patients seek ophthalmologic evaluation due to signs and symptoms of overuse such as red eye, discomfort and tearing. In the present study, the effect of wearing soft contact lenses with a low oxygen permeability on the tear fluid composition after 1 day, 1 week and 1 month without removing them was examined. In this prospective clinical trial, several tear fluid biomarkers were measured in 84 non-adapted contact lens wearers (NACLWs), including the pH, electrolytes, osmolarity, pro-inflammatory molecules [interleukin (IL)-8, IL-1ß and interferon (IFN)-γ], total protein (TP) levels and enzymes [aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and alkaline phosphatase (AP)]. The results indicated that the tear pH was significantly decreased after 1 day and 1 week; however, after 1 month of use, the tear pH level returned to the baseline. Tear electrolyte analysis demonstrated a significant decrease in Na+ at 1 day, 1 week and 1 month and Cl- levels at 1 week and 1 month, and a significant increase in Ca2+ at 1 week and 1 month, K+ at 1 day, 1 week and 1 month, IL-8 at 1 week and 1 month, IL-1ß only at 1 week and IFN-γ at 1 week and 1 month. Furthermore, the study observed an elevation of TP, AST, LDH and AP levels, however, there were no significant changes in ALT. In conclusion, the current study revealed that continuous wearing of soft contact lenses with low oxygen permeability increase tear fluid proinflammatory cytokine levels and enzymes reflecting tissue damage.

Studying Positive and Negative Direct and Extended Contact: Complementing Self-Reports With Social Network Analysis.

Traditionally, studies of intergroup contact have primarily relied on self-reports, which constitute a valid method for studying intergroup contact, but has limitations, especially if researchers are interested in negative or extended contact. In three studies, we apply social network analyses to generate alternative contact parameters. Studies 1 and 2 examine self-reported and network-based parameters of positive and negative contact using cross-sectional datasets ( N = 291, N = 258), indicating that both methods help explain intergroup relations. Study 3 examines positive and negative direct and extended contact using the previously validated network-based contact parameters in a large-scale, international, and longitudinal dataset ( N = 12,988), demonstrating that positive and negative direct and extended contact all uniquely predict intergroup relations (i.e., intergroup attitudes and future outgroup contact). Findings highlight the value of social network analysis for examining the full complexity of contact including positive and negative forms of direct and extended contact.

Strengthening Purity: Moral Purity as a Mediator of Direct and Extended Cross-Group Friendships on Sexual Prejudice.

The present research investigated whether enhanced perceptions of moral purity drive the effects of intergroup cross-group friendships on the intentions to interact with homosexuals. High-school students (N = 639) reported their direct and extended cross-group friendships with homosexuals as well as their beliefs regarding the moral character of the sexual minority. Participants further reported their desire to interact with homosexuals in the future. Results showed that both face-to-face encounters and extended contact with homosexuals increased their perceived moral purity, which in turn fostered more positive behavioral intentions. Results further revealed the specific role of moral purity in this sense, as differential perceptions along other moral domains (autonomy and community) had no mediation effects on behavioral tendencies toward homosexuals. The importance of these findings for improving intergroup relations is discussed, together with the importance of integrating research on intergroup contact and morality.

Direct and extended intergenerational contact and young people's attitudes towards older adults.

Research suggests that positive intergenerational contact can improve young people's attitudes towards older adults. However, today's age-segregated society may not provide ample opportunities for positive contact between younger and older adults to occur on a regular basis. In three studies, we investigated whether the positive attitudinal outcomes associated with direct contact might also stem from a more indirect form of intergenerational relationship: extended contact. In Study 1 (N = 70), extended contact was associated with more positive attitudes towards older adults even when controlling for direct intergenerational contact (contact frequency and contact quality). In Study 2 (N = 110), the positive effects of direct and extended contact on young people's age-related attitudes were mediated by reductions in intergroup anxiety and ageing anxiety. The mediational effects of intergroup anxiety were replicated in Study 3 (N = 95) and ingroup norms additionally emerged as a mediator of the positive effects of extended contact on young people's attitudes towards older adults. Discussion focuses on the implications for strategies aimed at tackling ageism.

Assessing the similarity of ligand binding conformations with the Contact Mode Score.

Structural and computational biologists often need to measure the similarity of ligand binding conformations. The commonly used root-mean-square deviation (RMSD) is not only ligand-size dependent, but also may fail to capture biologically meaningful binding features. To address these issues, we developed the Contact Mode Score (CMS), a new metric to assess the conformational similarity based on intermolecular protein-ligand contacts. The CMS is less dependent on the ligand size and has the ability to include flexible receptors. In order to effectively compare binding poses of non-identical ligands bound to different proteins, we further developed the eXtended Contact Mode Score (XCMS). We believe that CMS and XCMS provide a meaningful assessment of the similarity of ligand binding conformations. CMS and XCMS are freely available at http://brylinski.cct.lsu.edu/content/contact-mode-score and http://geaux-computational-bio.github.io/contact-mode-score/.

'And the best essay is ': Extended contact and cross-group friendships at school.

We conducted one experimental intervention based on extended contact principles aimed at fostering the formation of cross-group friendships within educational settings. Italian school children took part in a school competition for the best essay on personal experiences of cross-group friendships with immigrants, to be written in small groups. This manipulation was intended to favour the exchange of personal positive cross-group experiences, thus capitalizing on the benefits of extended contact. In the control condition, participants wrote an essay on friendship, without reference to cross-group relations. Results revealed that children who took part in the intervention reported a higher number of outgroup friends 3 months later. This indirect effect was sequentially mediated by pro-contact ingroup and outgroup norms and by outgroup contact behavioural intentions. This study provides experimental evidence that interventions based on extended contact can foster cross-group friendship formation. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.