HIV testing has the potential to reduce HIV transmission by identifying and counseling individuals with HIV, reducing risk behaviors, linking persons with HIV to care and earlier treatment, and reducing perinatal transmission. In Lesotho, a high HIV prevalence country in which a large proportion of the population has never tested for HIV,…

Background: Schools can promote healthy eating in adolescents. This study used a qualitative approach to examine barriers and facilitators to healthy eating in schools. Methods: Case studies were conducted with 8 low-income Michigan middle schools. Interviews were conducted with 1 administrator, the food service director, and 1 member of the…

This dissertation discusses the development and assessment of a parent intervention and training program. Out of concern for the sexual health of adolescents in the United States, both parents and researchers have called for programs assisting parents in the sexual education of their children. Encouraging sexual communication and increasing the…

In this review, we propose a social ecological constraint model to study inclusion of overweight or obese students in physical education by integrating key concepts and assumptions from ecological constraint theory in motor development and social ecological models in health promotion and behavior. The social ecological constraint model proposes…

Background: There has been considerable interest in using financial incentives to help people improve their health. However, paying people to improve their health touches on strongly held views about personal responsibility. Method: "The New York Times" printed two articles in June 2010 about patient financial incentives, which resulted in 394…

Objective: To assess the extent to which university students are following UK Government advice regarding appropriate consumption of alcohol, and to investigate if students can be placed into distinct clusters based on their drinking behaviour. Design: A descriptive questionnaire study. Setting: One hundred and nineteen undergraduate students from…

Bathing is here treated as an exemplar of the widespread profligacy of prosperous people and of the continually expanding expectations for all on this overloaded planet. The author places cleanliness in a wider context, not merely of animals but of all living organisms. With this in mind, it is possible to consider, in a wider than usual manner,…

As the level of competition in youth sports increases, so does athletes' vulnerability to experimenting with performance-enhancing aids (PEAs) at alarmingly young ages. One of the more commonly used PEAs is a supplement called creatine, which has the ability to generate muscular energy, allowing athletes to train at higher intensities for longer…

Objective: To review the literature on college student waterpipe use with a focus on undergraduates in the United States. Participants: Undergraduate students. Methods: Studies were accessed using the databases PubMed, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and Academic Search Premier. Searches included combinations of the following keywords: "waterpipe," "hookah,"…

Workplace health-promotion programs have the potential to reduce health care expenditures, especially among people with disabilities. Utilizing nationally representative survey data, the authors provide estimates for health care expenditures related to secondary conditions, obesity, and health behaviors among working-age people with disabilities.…

Excessive alcohol consumption and heavy episodic drinking is increasingly common among female university students. This trend is concerning given that excessive alcohol consumption and binge drinking have several adverse effects, including increased levels of risky sexual behaviour. The findings presented here are the first step in establishing an…

This study examined associations between perceived peer and adolescent alcohol use in European and North American countries. Self-reported monthly alcohol use and adolescents' report of their peers' alcohol use were assessed in nationally representative samples of students aged 11.5 and 13.5 years (n = 11,277) in Greece, Scotland, Switzerland, and…

Objective: To introduce item response theory (IRT) to health behavior researchers by contrasting it with classical test theory and providing an example of IRT in health behavior. Method: Demonstrate IRT by fitting the 2PL model to substance-use survey data from the Adolescent Health Risk Behavior questionnaire (n = 1343 adolescents). Results: An…

Objective: To examine unique contributions of depression, alcohol consumption, and alcohol-related consequences on functional health outcomes in college students. Methods: Participants were heavy-drinking undergraduate students (N = 207) who completed self-report questionnaires. Results: For men and women, depression predicted overall general…

This study models primary abstinence and age at first sex in a cross-sectional sample of Ghanaian youth aged 17 to 22 years. The aim is to examine how reproductive knowledge and social cognitive factors jointly affect the choice to initiate sex. Among males, the authors find that reproductive knowledge is negatively associated with abstinence. Its…