Evaluation of the Acceptance Journeys Social Marketing Campaign to Reduce Homophobia.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effectiveness of the Acceptance Journeys social marketing campaign to reduce homophobia in the Black community in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. METHODS: We assessed the campaign's effectiveness using a rolling cross-sectional survey. Data were collected annually online between 2011 and 2015. Each year, a unique sample of Black and White adults, aged 30 years and older, were surveyed in the treatment city (Milwaukee) and in 2 comparison cities that did not have antihomophobia campaigns (St. Louis, MO, and Cleveland, OH; for total sample, n = 3592). RESULTS: Black self-identification and Milwaukee residence were significantly associated with exposure to the campaign, suggesting successful message targeting. The relationship between exposure and acceptance of gay men was significantly mediated through attitudes toward gay men, perceptions of community acceptance, and perceptions of the impact of stigma on gay men, but not through rejection of stereotypes. This model accounted for 39% of variance in acceptance. CONCLUSIONS: This evidence suggests that the Acceptance Journeys model of social marketing may be a promising strategy for addressing homophobia in US Black communities.

Racism and Resistance: A Qualitative Study of Bias As a Barrier to Breastfeeding.

Background: Nearly 75% of Black non-Hispanic babies born in 2016 ever breastfed. However, Black mothers still experience barriers to breastfeeding, perpetuating disparities in exclusivity and duration. Subjects and Methods: Using data collected from five focus groups with Black mothers (N = 30) in Washington, District of Columbia during summer 2019, we critically examine the influence of institutionalized and personally mediated racism on breastfeeding. We also explore the counter-narratives Black women use to resist oppression and deal with these barriers. Results: Themes surrounding institutionalized racism included historic exploitation, institutions pushing formula, and lack of economic and employment supports. Themes regarding how personally mediated racism manifested included health care interactions and shaming/stigma while feeding in public. At each level examined, themes of resistance were also identified. Themes of resistance to institutionalized racism were economic empowerment and institutions protecting breastfeeding. Themes of resistance to personally mediated biases were rejecting health provider bias and building community. Conclusions: There are opportunities for health providers and systems to break down barriers to breastfeeding for Black women. These include changes in clinical training and practice as well as clinicians leveraging their position and lending their voices in advocacy efforts.

Breastfeeding in Context: African American Women's Normative Referents, Salient Identities, and Perceived Social Norms.

The purpose of this study was to describe social norms and salient social identities related to breastfeeding intentions among African American mothers in Washington, D.C. Five focus groups were held with 30 mothers who gave birth to a child between 2016 and 2019. Two coders conducted pragmatic thematic analysis. This study demonstrated that women hold different identities relevant to making infant feeding decisions, with mother being primary and race/ethnicity, age, and relationship status factoring into how they define themselves. Mothers drew their perceptions of what is common and accepted from family, friends, the "Black community," and what they perceived visually in their geographic area and heard from their health care providers. Mothers believed breastfeeding to be increasing in popularity and acceptability in African American communities in Washington, D.C., but not yet the most common or accepted mode of feeding, with some variability by socioeconomic status group. Implications for public health communication and social marketing are discussed.

Meeting the Challenge: The National Cancer Institute's Central Institutional Review Board for Multi-Site Research.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) issued a new policy that requires a single institutional review board (IRB) of record be used for all protocols funded by the NIH that are carried out at more than one site in the United States, effective January 2018. This policy affects several hundred clinical trials opened annually across the NIH. Limited data exist to compare the use of a single IRB to that of multiple local IRBs, so some institutions are resistant to or distrustful of single IRBs. Since 2001, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) has funded a central IRB (CIRB) that provides human patient reviews for its extensive national cancer clinical trials program. This paper presents data to show the adoption, efficiencies gained, and satisfaction of the CIRB among NCI trial networks and reviews key lessons gleaned from 16 years of experience that may be informative for others charged with implementation of the new NIH single-IRB policy.

When women attack.

The common assumption that female candidates on the campaign trail should not go on the attack, because such tactics contradict gender stereotypes, has not received consistent support. We argue that in some circumstances gender stereotypes will favor female politicians going negative. To test this proposition, this study examines how gender cues affect voter reactions to negative ads in the context of a political sex scandal, a context that should prime gender stereotypes that favor females. Using an online experiment involving a national sample of U.S. adults (N = 599), we manipulate the gender and partisan affiliation of a politician who attacks a male opponent caught in a sex scandal involving sexually suggestive texting to a female intern. Results show that in the context of a sex scandal, a female candidate going on the attack is evaluated more positively than a male. Moreover, while female participants viewed the female sponsor more favorably, sponsor gender had no effect on male participants. Partisanship also influenced candidate evaluations: the Democratic female candidate was evaluated more favorably than her Republican female counterpart.