Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore Finnish adolescents' subjective health literacy (HL) in association to school achievement, learning difficulties, educational aspirations, and family affluence. Design/methodology/approach: Nationally representative data were collected in Finland as a part of the international Health Behaviour in…

The primary goal of the current study was to test whether parent and adolescent preference for a common language moderates the association between parenting and rank-order change over time in offspring substance use. A sample of Mexican-origin 7th-grade adolescents (M[subscript age] = 12.5 years, N = 194, 52% female) was measured longitudinally on…

This study aimed to explore the role of school engagement and the mediation effect of acculturation in predicting 1.5 and second-generation migrant adolescents' mental health and risk behaviors. Participants included 448 seventh to tenth grade Israeli students (mean age 14.50, 53% boys): 128 non-Jewish 1.5 generation migrant adolescents (children…

Maternal and paternal psychological control, peer attitudes, and the interaction of psychological control and peer attitudes at age 13 were examined as predictors of risky sexual behavior before age 16 in a community sample of 181 youth followed from age 13 to 16. Maternal psychological control moderated the link between peer attitudes and sexual…

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate tobacco use behaviours and their correlates among secondary school students in Nepal and Sri Lanka together with cross-country comparisons. Design: Cross-sectional survey. Methods and Settings: The data were obtained from the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS), 2007. Current tobacco use was considered as…

Purpose: To examine the utility of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) for explaining physical activity (PA) intention and behavior among a large population sample of overweight and obese adolescents (Alberta, Canada), using a web-based survey. Secondary objectives were to examine the mediating effects of the TPB constructs and moderating effects…

Parental knowledge is defined as parental awareness and information about a child's activities, whereabouts, and associations that is obtained through parental monitoring, parental solicitation, or self-disclosure. Increased parental knowledge is generally associated with lower adolescent substance use; however, the influence of various contextual…

This article contributes new evidence on the associations among immigrant generation, gender, and sexual risk behavior among Latino adolescents in the United States. Longitudinal data from 3,272 Latino adolescents (grades 7-12) who participated in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) were examined for evidence of the…

For the four leading causes of death in the United States (heart disease, cancer, stroke and chronic respiratory disease), tobacco use is a common risk factor. Tobacco use is responsible for almost 450,000 deaths per year and impacts the health of every member of our society. Tobacco is a gateway drug for substance abuse. That role is critical to…

Purpose: Chances for a healthy life are not equally distributed across society. Instead, genetic, social, and environmental factors help determine the probability that a child will be healthy and active. We investigate the probability that youth will be physically active by examining 3 consistent correlates of physical activity. The individual and…

Peer influence has been found to be correlated with a host of harmful health behaviors. However, little research has been conducted investigating the relationship between peer influence and disordered eating. The present study surveyed 6th-, 7th-, and 8th-grade girls and boys using the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI) and Inventory of Peer…

Using data from Grades 5, 6, and 7 of the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development (PYD), the role of intentional self-regulation in the positive development of young adolescents was examined through use of the Selection, Optimization, and Compensation (SOC) measure. Consistent with Gestsdóttir and Lerner (2007), results of confirmatory factor…