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Population-level health outcomes and measures of well-being are often described relative to broad racial/ethnic categories such as White or Caucasian; Black or African American; Latino or Hispanic; Asian American; Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander; or American Indian and Alaska Native. However, the aggregation of data into these groups masks critical within-group differences and disparities, limiting the health and social services fields’abilities to target their resources where most needed. While researchers and policymakers have recognized the importance of disaggregating racial/ethnic data—and many organizations have advocated for it over the years—progress has been slow and disparate. The ongoing lack of racial/ethnic data disaggregation perpetuates existing inequities in access to much-needed resources that can ensure health and well-being. In its efforts to help build a Culture of Health and promote health equity, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has supported activities aimed to advance the meaningful disaggregation of racial/ethnic data—at the collection, analysis, and reporting phases. This special issue presents further evidence for the importance of disaggregation, the technical and policy challenges to creating change in practice, and the implications of improving the use of race and ethnicity data to identify and address gaps in health.

This random assignment impact study of Big Brothers Big Sisters School-Based Mentoring involved 1,139 9- to 16-year-old students in 10 cities nationwide. Youth were randomly assigned to either a treatment group (receiving mentoring) or a control group (receiving no mentoring) and were followed for 1.5 school years. At the end of the first school year, relative to the control group, mentored youth performed better academically, had more positive perceptions of their own academic abilities, and were more likely to report having a \"special adult\" in their lives. However, they did not show improvements in classroom effort, global self-worth, relationships with parents, teachers or peers, or rates of problem behavior. Academic improvements were also not sustained into the second school year.

Abstract Background: Recent findings show that national childhood obesity prevalence overall is improving among some age groups, but that disparities continue to persist, particularly among populations that have historically been at higher risk of obesity and overweight. Over the past several years, many jurisdictions at the city or county level across the nation have also reported declines. Little evaluation has focused on understanding the factors that influence the implementation of efforts to reduce childhood obesity rates. This article summarizes the rationale, aims, and overall design of the Childhood Obesity Declines Project (COBD), which was the first of its kind to systematically study and document the what, how, when, and where of community-based obesity strategies in four distinct communities across the nation. Methods: COBD was initiated by the National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity Research (NCCOR), was led by a subset of NCCOR advisors and a research team at ICF, and was guided by external advisors made up of researchers, decision makers, and other key stakeholders. The research team used an adapted version of the Systematic Screening and Assessment method to review and collect retrospective implementation data in four communities. Results: COBD found that sites implemented strategies across the many levels and environments that impact children's well being (akin to the social–ecological framework), building a Culture of Health in their communities. Conclusions: COBD demonstrates how collaboratives of major funders with the support of other experts and key stakeholders, can help to accelerate progress in identifying and disseminating strategies that promote healthy eating and physical activity.

Reported are results of an independent effectiveness study of the Project ALERT drug prevention program implemented in eight Pennsylvania middle schools by outside program leaders employed by Cooperative Extension. In this randomized, 2-cohort longitudinal evaluation, 1,649 seventh-grade students completed a pretest and four waves of posttests over the 2-year program and 1-year follow-up. Project ALERT's effectiveness was tested through a 3-level hierarchical linear model. Analyses failed to yield any positive effects for substance use or mediators for use in the adult or teen-assisted delivery of the curriculum. An extensive set of additional analyses detected no differential program effects by student risk level, gender, school, or level of implementation quality. Potential explanations for outcomes relative to Project ALERT's original effectiveness trial are discussed, as well as implications for future research, including the need to conduct independent effectiveness studies of previously validated programs in a variety of contexts.

A previously published effectiveness study of Project ALERT delivered in schools by outside providers from Cooperative Extension found no positive effects for the adult or teen-assisted delivery of the curriculum despite high-quality implementation. Those findings and the likelihood that more outside providers will deliver evidence-based drug prevention programs in the future, led to this investigation of possible influences of leaders' personal characteristics on ALERT's program effects. Influence of leader characteristics on students' drug use and mediating variables for use were assessed by modeling program effects on within-student change as a function of leader characteristics. Students in classrooms with adult leaders who were more conscientious, sociable, or individuated were more likely to experience beneficial program effects. Students in teen-assisted classrooms with teen leaders who were more sociable or, to a lesser extent, highly individuated, showed more positive effects. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

The three studies presented in this dissertation examine the developmental process of ethnic identity and its implications for well-being among Asian American college students. As such, Study 1 examined (1) the extent to which Asian American individuals' (n = 128, aged 18--22 years) experiences with familial ethnic socialization influenced three dimensions of ethnic identity development (exploration, commitment, and affirmation), and (2) the extent to which these dimensions were associated with various domains of self-esteem (social, academic, affective, competence, and family). Results indicated that having had more frequent parent-child discussions predicts higher exploration and commitment for both males and females. A second goal of this dissertation was to explore what factors moderate the relationship between ethnic identity and indicators of well-being, which has gone virtually unexamined in prior research. Study 2 examined the extent to which attitudes about women's roles moderate the relationship between ethnic identity and concurrent and later mental health. Results suggest that attitudes about women's roles moderate the relationship between ethnic identity and concurrent acculturative stress as well as the relationships between ethnic identity and later acculturative stress and depression. Specifically, women with a strong ethnic identity reported lower stress and lower depression only if they held more conservative attitudes about women's roles, attitudes that are more consistent with those of their ethnic culture. In contrast, strongly ethnically-identified women who possessed stronger feminist attitudes, attitudes that may contradict those of their ethnic group, reported feeling higher levels of depression and stress. Lastly, Study 3 examined the moderating role of ethnic-specific normative beliefs for the relationship between ethnic identity and alcohol use (frequency of last month use, average consumption per drinking occasion, and frequency of drunkenness in the last month). Results suggest that ethnic-specific normative beliefs moderate the relationship between ethnic identity and alcohol use, particularly for quantity of alcohol consumption. Specifically, strongly Asian-identified respondents reported lower drinking only if they believed that drinking was less prevalent among Asian peers. In contrast, strongly Asian-identified respondents reported higher drinking if they believed that alcohol use was more prevalent among Asian peers. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)