The recent popularity of models that capture the dynamic coevolution of both network structure and behavior has driven the need for summary indices to assess the adequacy of these models to reproduce dynamic properties of scientific or practical importance. Whereas there are several existing indices for assessing the ability of the model to…

Objective: To examine gender differences in the association between beliefs in heart disease preventability and 10-year incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD) in a population-based sample. Methods: A total of 2,688 Noninstitutionalized Nova Scotians without prior CHD enrolled in the Nova Scotia Health Study (NSHS95) and were followed for 10…

Little information describes how adolescents change their smoking behavior. This study investigated the role of gender in the relationship of motivation and cognitive variables with adolescent smoking self-change efforts. Self-report and semi-structured interview data from a prospective study of smoking self-change efforts were examined among 98…

This article examines the prevalence of current smoking and associated psychosocial correlates and whether these correlates differ by sex among adolescent students in Thailand. Data were analyzed from the Thailand Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS), a school-based, cross-sectional survey conducted in 2005 and completed by Mathayom 1, 2, and 3…

During the past several decades, smoking prevalence among youth has fluctuated in puzzling and unexpected ways. To help understand these changes, this study tests seven explanations: (a) compositional changes, (b) sample selection, (c) adult smoking, (d) social strain, (e) cigarette prices, (f) tobacco advertising, and (g) other drug use. Figures…

The main purpose of this preliminary study was to examine the association between four constructs of the Health Belief Model (HBM) (i.e. perceived severity of smoking-related health problems, perceived susceptibility to smoking-health related problems, perceived barriers to non-smoking and perceived benefits of non-smoking) and cigarette smoking …

Background: The school setting is frequently used both to educate youth about risks involved in tobacco use and to implement tobacco prevention and cessation programs. Given that school-based programs have resulted in limited success, it is necessary to identify other setting-level intervention strategies. School tobacco policies represent a type…

The study examined associations among physical activity, cigarette smoking, body mass index, perceptions of body weight, weight-management goals, and weight-management behaviors of public high school adolescents. The CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survey provided a cross-sectional sample (n = 3,089) of public high school students in South Carolina.…

The authors test biosocial models that posit interactions between biological variables (testosterone, estradiol, pubertal status, and pubertal timing) and social context variables (family, peer, school, and neighborhood) in predicting adolescent involvement with cigarettes and alcohol in a sample of 409 adolescents in Grades 6 and 8. Models…

This study sought variables associated with current smoking for young adult males and females in college compared with those not in college. A self-administered questionnaire was completed by a cohort of 1,270 young adults (ages 20-24) who have been followed from grade 6 for 10 years. Both bivariate and multivariable analyses of demographic…