American journal of preventive medicine
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In 2014, the National Cancer Institute conducted the Family Life, Activity, Sun, Health, and Eating Study (FLASHE). This parent and adolescent survey examines psychosocial; generational (parent-adolescent); and environmental (home and neighborhood) correlates of cancer-preventive behaviors, with a particular emphasis on diet and physical activity. This paper describes the FLASHE data collection methods and enrollment and response rates. ⋯ FLASHE recruited a large sample of parent-adolescent dyads. Although challenges for research in parent-adolescent dyads include enrolling a diverse sample and having multistep enrollment and consent processes, study completion rate was high among fully enrolled dyads. Future panel studies may consider approaches used in FLASHE to encourage study enrollment and completion.
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The National Cancer Institute developed the Family Life, Activity, Sun, Health, and Eating (FLASHE) Study to examine multiple cancer preventive behaviors within parent-adolescent dyads. The purpose of creating FLASHE was to enable the examination of physical activity, diet, and other cancer preventive behaviors and potential correlates among parent-adolescent dyads. FLASHE surveys were developed from a process involving literature reviews, scientific input from experts in the field, cognitive testing, and usability testing. ⋯ Analyses were run in 2015-2016. FLASHE data present multiple opportunities for studying research questions among individuals or dyads, including the ability to examine similarity between parents and adolescents on many constructs relevant to cancer preventive behaviors. FLASHE data are publicly available for researchers and practitioners to help advance research on cancer preventive health behaviors.
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An accurate family health history is essential for individual risk assessment. This study uses a multiple-informant approach to examine whether family members have consistent perceptions of shared familial risk for four common chronic conditions (heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, and hypertension) and whether accounting for inconsistency in family health history reports leads to more accurate risk assessment. ⋯ Considerable inconsistency exists in individual knowledge of their family health history. Accounting for such inconsistency can, nevertheless, lead to a more accurate genetic risk assessment tool. A multiple-informant approach is potentially powerful when coupled with technology to support clinical decisions.
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Comparative Study
Non-routine Discharge From Military Service: Mental Illness, Substance Use Disorders, and Suicidality.
Mental illness and substance use disorders among newly returned military service members pose challenges to successful reintegration into civilian life and, in extreme cases, may lead to outcomes such as incarceration, homelessness, and suicide. One potential early indicator for these difficulties is non-routine discharge from military service. ⋯ Non-routine service discharge strongly predicts VHA-diagnosed mental illness, substance use disorders, and suicidality, with particularly elevated risk among Veterans discharged for disqualification or misconduct. Results emphasize the importance of discharge type as an early marker of adverse post-discharge outcomes, and suggest a need for targeted prevention and intervention efforts to improve reintegration outcomes among this vulnerable subpopulation.