Background: Tobacco users disproportionately reside in lower-and-middle income countries, with many people beginning consumption of tobacco in adolescence. Countries employ interventions in schools as a means of providing health education thereby creating mass awareness among them. However, research has mostly restricted to developed nations.…

Reservation-dwelling American Indian adolescents are at exceedingly high risk for cannabis use. Prevention initiatives to delay the onset and escalation of use are needed. The risk and promotive factors approach to substance use prevention is a well-established framework for identifying the timing and targets for prevention initiatives. This study…

The objective of the present paper is to apply an intersectional lens to HIV prevention behavior disparities among LGBTQ+ adolescents across multiple social positions (racial, ethnic, gender, and sexual identities) and access to LGBTQ+-inclusive school resources (sex education and gender-sexuality alliances). Data are from the 2022 LGBTQ National…

Electronic cigarettes are the most widely used tobacco product among youth in the United States. Although rapidly growing, research on effective message strategies for e-cigarette use prevention is still limited. This study examined the relative effectiveness of gain framing versus loss framing in youth-targeting prevention text messages delivered…

This study evaluates El Camino, a goal-setting sexual health promotion program developed for Latino youth. A cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted in grades 9-12 in 68 classrooms (n = 746 students) across 11 schools in Maryland with large populations of Latino students. A total of 208 students were lost to follow-up, leaving 538…

This systematic review evaluated interventions and relevant outcomes for health promotion and obesity prevention among children and adolescents with developmental disabilities (DD). Twenty-one studies including randomized control trials (n= 9) and quasi-experimental studies (n=12) published between 2010 and 2021 met inclusion criteria related to…

Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) aims to prepare adolescents for safe, healthy, and fulfilling lives. The aim of this study was to assess the perspective of key informants regarding CSE content to prevent teenage pregnancy, as well as to identify implementation barriers in predominantly indigenous communities in Chiapas, Mexico. We…

Despite a robust field of study in healthy romantic relationship education and risk prevention interventions that employ traditional forms of delivery, the field of digital health interventions (DHIs) in healthy relationship programming for adolescents remains undefined. The purpose of this scoping review was to summarize the scope of published…

Engagement in preventive health behaviors (PHBs; i.e., healthy eating, sleep, and physical activity) during adolescence is associated with reduced risks for chronic conditions, such as diabetes, in adulthood. Although several interventions seek to improve adolescents' engagement in health promoting behaviors, racial- and income-based disparities…

Background: Adolescence is associated with a rise in the incidence of mental health issues. Thus, the factors, processes, and contexts that protect and promote positive mental health in adolescence are of key interest to policymakers. Objective: Our aim was twofold: First, to explore the coping strategies and sources of support that adolescents…

Most people start experimenting with and/or initiating health-compromising behaviors and establishing behavioral patterns during adolescence. Possible selves and episodic future thinking have been used to foster behavioral changes. In this study, we aimed to: (1) develop a program incorporating possible selves and episodic future thinking to…

Background: Exposure to injury and violence early in life increases the risk of experiencing injury and violence later in life. In 2019, the top 3 leading causes of death among 15- to 18-year-olds in the United States were unintentional injury, suicide, and homicide. This study examines the extent to which schools promote injury and violence…

Adolescent smoking is dangerous. This study examined the self-assessment of risk factors to expose student teachers to smoking, compared the scores of health belief model structures in experimental and control groups, and summarized the poster and slogan campaign to prevent smoking. The experimental and control groups (n=30 each) were selected…

Suicide prevention programs delivered in school settings have been shown to reduce suicide attempts and ideation among adolescents. School-based digital interventions targeting at-risk youth are a promising avenue for suicide prevention, and some evidence has shown that blending digital and face-to-face components may improve the effectiveness.…

Behaviour change communication (BCC) remains a central component of the interventions used in the fight against malaria in Ghana. However, there is limited evidence of its effectiveness. This study evaluated the effects of BCC strategies on knowledge (symptoms, causes and prevention) and overall knowledge of malaria among Ghanaian women aged…