Research on culture has generally ignored social situations, and research on social situations has generally ignored culture. In bringing together these two traditions, we show that nations vary considerably in the strength of social situations, and this is a key conceptual and empirical bridge between macro and distal cultural processes and micro and proximal psychological processes. The model thus illustrates some of the intervening mechanisms through which distal societal factors affect individual processes. It also helps to illuminate why cultural differences persist at the individual level, as they are adaptive to chronic differences in the strength of social situations. The strength of situations across cultures can provide new insights into cultural differences in a wide range of psychological processes.

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Genetic factors contribute to the individual variability in weight gain caused by several antipsychotic drugs. The FTO gene is associated with obesity in the general population; we have investigated whether a common risk polymorphism (rs9939609) in this gene is associated with antipsychotic drug-induced weight gain and obesity. Two samples were studied: (1) 93 first-episode patients receiving antipsychotic drugs for the first time and having body weight monitored for up to 12 months; (2) 187 chronic patients with schizophrenia assessed for measures of obesity and metabolic dysfunction. No association of FTO genotype with weight gain was found in initially drug-naive patients. The chronically treated patients had a significant association of genotype with body mass index (BMI), reflected in associations with waist circumference, waist:hip ratio and the frequency of central obesity. These findings indicate that FTO genotype has a major effect on body weight determined by BMI in chronically treated patients with schizophrenia.

ImportanceGreater than 20% of cases and 0.4% of deaths from COVID-19 occur in children. Following demonstration of the safety and efficacy of the adjuvanted, recombinant spike protein vaccine NVX-CoV2373 in adults, the PREVENT-19 trial immediately expanded to adolescents.ObjectiveTo evaluate the safety, immunogenicity, and efficacy of NVX-CoV2373 in adolescents.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsThe NVX-CoV2373 vaccine was evaluated in adolescents aged 12 to 17 years in an expansion of PREVENT-19, a phase 3, randomized, observer-blinded, placebo-controlled multicenter clinical trial in the US. Participants were enrolled from April 26 to June 5, 2021, and the study is ongoing. A blinded crossover was implemented after 2 months of safety follow-up to offer active vaccine to all participants. Key exclusion criteria included known previous laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection or known immunosuppression. Of 2304 participants assessed for eligibility, 57 were excluded and 2247 were randomized.InterventionsParticipants were randomized 2:1 to 2 intramuscular injections of NVX-CoV2373 or placebo, 21 days apart.Main Outcomes and MeasuresSerologic noninferiority of neutralizing antibody responses compared with those in young adults (aged 18-25 years) in PREVENT-19, protective efficacy against laboratory-confirmed COVID-19, and assessment of reactogenicity and safety.ResultsAmong 2232 participants (1487 NVX-CoV2373 and 745 placebo recipients), the mean (SD) age was 13.8 (1.4) years, 1172 (52.5%) were male, 1660 (74.4%) were White individuals, and 359 (16.1%) had had a previous SARS-CoV-2 infection at baseline. After vaccination, the ratio of neutralizing antibody geometric mean titers in adolescents compared with those in young adults was 1.5 (95% CI, 1.3-1.7). Twenty mild COVID-19 cases occurred after a median of 64 (IQR, 57-69) days of follow-up, including 6 among NVX-CoV2373 recipients (incidence, 2.90 [95% CI, 1.31-6.46] cases per 100 person-years) and 14 among placebo recipients (incidence, 14.20 [95% CI, 8.42-23.93] cases per 100 person-years), yielding a vaccine efficacy of 79.5% (95% CI, 46.8%-92.1%). Vaccine efficacy for the Delta variant (the only viral variant identified by sequencing [n = 11]) was 82.0% (95% CI, 32.4%-95.2%). Reactogenicity was largely mild to moderate and transient, with a trend toward greater frequency after the second dose of NVX-CoV2373. Serious adverse events were rare and balanced between treatments. No adverse events led to study discontinuation.Conclusions and RelevanceThe findings of this randomized clinical trial indicate that NVX-CoV2373 is safe, immunogenic, and efficacious in preventing COVID-19, including the predominant Delta variant, in adolescents.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04611802