This quantitatively driven sequential mixed methods study articulates the role of theory in mixed methods research and assesses the contribution of a mixed methods design to examining gender differences in men and women's genetic testing decisions and the psychosocial factors impacting health-seeking behaviors post-testing. A quantitative online…

Bullying in secondary schools is a serious concern for educators and parents. The relationship between bullying and school climate has been identified and strategies to improve school climate are available. The importance of leadership in shaping school climate has been well documented. This exploratory study explores the role of leadership in…

Objective: College students are a high-risk population for new human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) diagnoses. Although condom use self-efficacy and HIV knowledge can protect against risky sexual behavior (RSB), these same protective factors have been shown to exacerbate RSB. The influence of alcohol use can further complicate these protective…

Purpose: Young adult's drinking is about pleasure, a communal practice of socialising together in a friendship group. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the evolving support practices of drinking groups for better targeting of health communications messages. Design/methodology/approach: This qualitative descriptive study examined the…

Objective: To examine ethnic identity and ethnic socialization as potential protective factors for risk behaviors among US college students. Participants: Participants were 398 African American and Afro-Caribbean students recruited from 30 colleges and universities during September 2008-October 2009. Methods: Data on hazardous alcohol use,…

Problem Statement: Annual gynecological exams could be a strategy to increase initiation and completion of HPV vaccination series among female college students. However, few studies have examined the role these exams play in vaccination uptake. This study assesses the association of OB/GYN visitation and HPV vaccine uptake among female college…

This paper explores discourses of affirmative consent in sex education curriculum and policy. It traces the ways in which discourses of consent have emerged in sex education debates, focusing first on the activism of two young women in Ontario, Canada who lobbied the provincial government to include discussions of consent in a new Health and…

This study examines the role of school food education and school food culture in England and their potential to support pupils' capabilities to adopt health protecting and promoting behaviours. Drawing on Amartya Sen's capability approach, and Susan Michie's COM-B model, the research was conducted for the "Food Education Learning…

This literature review was undertaken in 2019 with the goal of examining the health effects of screen time exposure on school-aged youth. With the COVID-19 outbreak in early 2020, and the subsequent requirement for many students to learn online, concerns about youth exposure to screens only became more pronounced. Now, more than ever, it is vital…

In this Perspective, we build on social justice and emancipatory traditions within the field of health education, and the field's long-standing commitment to building knowledge and shared power to promote health equity, to examine lessons and opportunities for health education emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic. Examining patterns that emerged as…

Schools are recognized as important locales for education and action to change food-related environmental and health behaviours. Research shows the potential for a whole school systems approach to integrate educational activities, food in school, and wider food-related interactions. However, little attention has been given to how theory is put…

Background: The purpose of this study was to assess the protective influence of individual, family, and community assets from the initiation of sexual intercourse (ISI) for adolescents living in one-parent households compared with adolescents living in two-parent households. Methods: Five waves of data were collected annually over a 4-year period…

Although some popular press and nonscholarly sources have claimed that weight is largely unchangeable, the relationship between this belief and objective measures of health remains unclear. We tested the hypothesis that people who believe weight is unchangeable will have poorer objective and subjective health, and fewer exercise behaviors and…

Stress affects students in multiple ways. This article provides a conceptual overview of the direct (e.g., psychoneuroimmunological, endocrine) and indirect (health behavior) pathways through which stress affects physical health, the psychological effects of stress on mental health, and the cognitive effects of stress (e.g., attention,…

Prior research has established associations between body mass index (BMI) and use of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana. However, little research has been done investigating the relationship between other common illicit drugs and BMI trends. The present study investigated whether adolescents who reported using illicit drugs showed differences in BMI…