Estimating Student Attrition in School-Based Prevention Studies: Guidance from State Longitudinal Data in Maryland.

Attrition is a critical concern for evaluating the rigor of prevention studies, and the current study provides rates of attrition for subgroups of students and schools who are often sampled for prevention science. This is the first study to provide practical guidance for expected rates of attrition using population-level statewide data; findings indicated that researchers using K-12 school-based samples should plan for attrition rates as high as 27% during middle school and 54% during elementary school. However, researchers should consider the grade levels initially sampled, the length of follow-up, and the specific student characteristics and schools available for sampling. Postsecondary attrition ranged from 45% for bachelor's degree seekers to 73% for associate degree seekers. This practical guidance can help researchers to proactively plan for attrition in the study design phase, limiting bias and increasing the validity of prevention studies.

Stigma in a Collectivistic Culture: Social Network of Female Sex Workers in China.

In this egocentric network study, we explored Chinese collectivism in relation to social network characteristics and sex work-related stigma among mid-age female sex workers (FSWs). Respondent-driven sampling was used to recruit 1245 mid-age FSWs from three cities in China. We found that a one standard deviation (SD) increase in FSWs' collectivism was associated with a 0.18 SD decrease in social support (95% CI - 0.32, - 0.04), a 0.20 SD decrease in network effective size (i.e., the diversity of a social network; 95% CI - 0.30, - 0.10), and a 0.21 SD decrease in network betweenness (i.e., the "bridging potential" of egos within their networks; 95% CI - 0.33, - 0.09). Among participants who perceived more sex work stigma, the association between collectivism and FSWs' network betweenness was attenuated. In a collective culture emphasizing group values and honor, belonging to a less interconnected social network may give FSWs a structural advantage to cope with stigma and secure social support.

Testing the effectiveness of the Developing Inclusive Youth program: A multisite randomized control trial.

The Developing Inclusive Youth program is a classroom-based, individually administered video tool that depicts peer-based social and racial exclusion, combined with teacher-led discussions. A multisite randomized control trial was implemented with 983 participants (502 females; 58.5% White, 41.5% Ethnic/racial minority; Mage  = 9.64 years) in 48 third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade classrooms across six schools. Children in the program were more likely to view interracial and same-race peer exclusion as wrong, associate positive traits with peers of different racial, ethnic, and gender backgrounds, and report play with peers from diverse backgrounds than were children in the control group. Many approaches are necessary to achieve antiracism in schools. This intervention is one component of this goal for developmental science.

Facile Surfactant-Free Synthesis of p-Type SnSe Nanoplates with Exceptional Thermoelectric Power Factors.

A surfactant-free solution methodology, simply using water as a solvent, has been developed for the straightforward synthesis of single-phase orthorhombic SnSe nanoplates in gram quantities. Individual nanoplates are composed of {100} surfaces with {011} edge facets. Hot-pressed nanostructured compacts (Eg ≈0.85 eV) exhibit excellent electrical conductivity and thermoelectric power factors (S(2) σ) at 550 K. S(2) σ values are 8-fold higher than equivalent materials prepared using citric acid as a structure-directing agent, and electrical properties are comparable to the best-performing, extrinsically doped p-type polycrystalline tin selenides. The method offers an energy-efficient, rapid route to p-type SnSe nanostructures.

A Latent Space Network Model for Social Influence.

Social network data represent interactions and relationships among groups of individuals. One aspect of social interaction is social influence, the idea that beliefs or behaviors change as a result of one's social network. The purpose of this article is to introduce a new model for social influence, the latent space model for influence, which employs latent space positions so that individuals are affected most by those who are "closest" to them in the latent space. We describe this model along with some of the contexts in which it can be used and explore the operating characteristics using a series of simulation studies. We conclude with an example of teacher advice-seeking networks to show that changes in beliefs about teaching mathematics may be attributed to network influence.