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Despite the emerging body of literature on the benefits of youth peer support, there is also evidence that peer support can have unintended negative impacts on peers themselves. It is important to explore what aspects of the peer role contribute to these difficulties in order to mitigate risks. This paper uses a participatory approach to examine the unique attributes of youth peer practice and the related challenges. We conducted semi-structured interviews and focus groups with both peer and non-peer staff from a community-based youth mental health program that provides peer support services (N = 29). Thematic analyses were completed using QSR NVivo. Analyses capture the defining features and related challenges of the peer support role (self-disclosure, boundaries, role confusion and dynamic recovery), and risk factors that affect peers (stigma, exposure to harm and burnout). This paper contributes to the literature on peer support as well as youth participatory evaluation. The findings will be useful to support the development of improved organizational contexts for peer practice and more effective peer support programming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current prostate cancer (PCa) screen test, prostate-specific antigen (PSA), has a high sensitivity for PCa but low specificity for high-risk, clinically significant PCa (csPCa), resulting in overdiagnosis and overtreatment of non-csPCa. Early identification of csPCa while avoiding unnecessary biopsies in men with non-csPCa is challenging. We built an optimized machine learning platform (ClarityDX) and showed its utility in generating models predicting csPCa. Integrating the ClarityDX platform with blood-based biomarkers for clinically significant PCa and clinical biomarker data from a 3448-patient cohort, we developed a test to stratify patients' risk of csPCa; called ClarityDX Prostate. When predicting high risk cancer in the validation cohort, ClarityDX Prostate showed 95% sensitivity, 35% specificity, 54% positive predictive value, and 91% negative predictive value, at a ≥ 25% threshold. Using ClarityDX Prostate at this threshold could avoid up to 35% of unnecessary prostate biopsies. ClarityDX Prostate showed higher accuracy for predicting the risk of csPCa than PSA alone and the tested model-based risk calculators. Using this test as a reflex test in men with elevated PSA levels may help patients and their healthcare providers decide if a prostate biopsy is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Alcohol-induced injury is one of the leading causes of preventable morbidity and mortality. We investigated the relationship between impulsive personality and physical injury (e.g. falls, sports), and whether peak drinking quantity specifically, and/or risky behaviour more generally, mediates the relationship between impulsivity and injury in undergraduates. Method: We used data from the winter 2021 UniVenture survey with 1316 first- and second-year undergraduate students aged 18–25 years (79.5% female) from five Canadian Universities. Students completed an online survey regarding their demographics, personality, alcohol use, risky behaviours, and injury experiences. Impulsivity was measured with the substance use risk profile scale, past 30-day peak alcohol use with the quantity-frequency-peak Alcohol Use Index, general risky behaviour with the risky behaviour questionnaire, and past 6-month injury experience with the World Health Organization's (2017) injury measurement questionnaire. Results: Of 1316 total participants, 12.9% (n = 170) reported having sustained a physical injury in the past 6 months. Mean impulsivity, peak drinking quantity, and risky behaviour scores were significantly higher among those who reported vs. did not report injury. Impulsivity and peak drinking quantity, but not general risky behaviour, predicted injury in a multi-level generalized mixed model. Mediation analyses supported impulsivity as both a direct predictor of physical injury and an indirect predictor through increased peak drinking (both p <.05), but not through general risky behaviour. Conclusion: Results imply emerging adults with impulsive tendencies should be identified for selective injury prevention programs and suggest targeting their heavy drinking to decrease their risk for physical injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]