Objective: To evaluate the change in tobacco use by college students in California during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants: Young adults (18-24 years) currently enrolled in a California college or university (N = 212). Methods: Students recruited through social media posts and by student tobacco advocate members completed an online survey of 59…

Objective: College students are among the age-group most affected by sexually transmitted infections, yet few evidence-based interventions have proved effective in increasing college student condom use. The goal of this study was to determine which combination of referent proximity and width of discrepancy between perceived and actual norms within…

Public health practice involving adolescents is largely focused on preventing or delaying the initiation of risk behavior. However, given the experimental and exploratory nature of this developmental period, this is often impractical. This article focuses on behavioral transitions and the ways in which youth involved in risk behaviors shift to…

Sexual and reproductive health indicators for young people in the USA have improved in recent decades, but teenage pregnancies remain high, and large differences between Whites and non-Whites persist in teenage births, abortions, and the acquisition of sexually transmitted infections. Prior research shows that young people are receptive to…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report on the use of the Delphi method to gain expert feedback on the identification of behaviour change techniques (BCTs) and development of a novel intervention to reduce adolescent alcohol misuse, based on the Prototype Willingness Model (PWM) of health risk behaviour. Design/methodology/approach: Four…

Problem: There is evidence that university students have poor eating behaviors that can lead to short and long term negative health effects. Understanding the influences on eating behaviors will aid universities and health agencies in developing effective healthy eating promotion strategies. Purpose and Method: To determine the impact of a range…

This volume presents new 2018 findings from the U.S. national Monitoring the Future (MTF) follow-up study concerning substance use among the nation's college students and adults from ages 19 through 60. The authors report 2018 prevalence estimates on numerous illicit and licit substances, examine how substance use differs across this age span, and…

Qualitative investigation can provide invaluable information towards understanding the influence of school nutrition education (NE). The study explored teachers' perceptions of the immediate impact of NE on learners' eating behaviours. Twenty-four primary school teachers in the Bronkhorstspruit district, Gauteng, South Africa, who taught nutrition…

Tobacco use is the most preventable cause of chronic diseases and cancers worldwide. In south-western Taiwan, tobacco use has become one of the top risk behaviors. Smoking in young people has been associated with alcohol addiction and drug abuse in later life; and most smokers start young. Initiation of cigarette smoking at an early age leads to…

Adolescent girls and young women in urban slum areas in developing countries face a myriad of challenges regarding education, sexual health, livelihoods and gender-based violence. One way of understanding how these challenges interact with each other is through the Asset Building Framework, which posits that girls need a combination of social,…

There has been significant research into the harms associated with injecting drugs and about the use of needle exchange programmes (NEPs) by adult injecting drug users (IDUs) in the United Kingdom. However, very limited research has been conducted investigating the knowledge, experiences and beliefs of IDUs under 18 years old, who due to their age…

The purpose of this study was to develop and pilot a theory-based, computer-tailored feedback system for healthy behaviors for college students at a large, public university, aiming to enhance student wellness. A total of 1300 college students were contacted. Sixty-two students completed the eight week intervention. The participants were randomly…

Reliability and validity of intervention studies are impossible without adequate program fidelity, as it ensures that the intervention was implemented as designed and allows for accurate conclusions about effectiveness (Bellg AJ, Borrelli B, Resnick B "et al." Enhancing treatment fidelity in health behavior change studies: best practices…

Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore midlife African American women's low-fat eating habits in the context of health attitudes, social support, and food preferences. Design: A cross-sectional design was used. Settings: One Midwestern and 1 national African American women's organization were targeted for data collection.…

One purpose of "identification and prevention of dietary- and lifestyle-induced health effects in children and infants" (IDEFICS) is to implement a standardized community-based multi-component healthy eating intervention for younger children in eight different countries. The present study describes important influencing factors for dietary…