The aim of this study was to explore and compare the views of Hong Kong Chinese adolescents, parents and teachers on the same adolescent health issues. A total of 22 focus groups were conducted with Form 1 students (aged from 11 to 13) who attended the Basic Life Skills Training program organized by the Student Health Service, Department of Health…

This study examined the relation between witnessing violence and drug use initiation among 6th graders attending middle schools in 5 rural counties and investigated the extent to which family support and parental monitoring moderated this relation. Data were obtained from 1,282 adolescents at 2 time points during the 6th grade. Witnessing violence…

It all started with a night of bowling in Austin, Texas, when fifth-grade student Amit had an evening of fun with his grandparents. When Amit returned to his home in Lubbock, TX, and tried to replicate his newfound recreation, his night of bowling fun ended after 10 minutes in an asthma attack. His second attempt at Lubbock bowling also brought a…

Objective: To determine the agreement between 2 measures (adult vs adolescent) of current cigarette smoking among young adults. Methods: We examined data from 1007 young adults from the New Jersey Adult Tobacco Survey. The adult measure incorporates lifetime and present use, whereas the adolescent measure assesses past 30-day use. The kappa…

This study reports on findings from the first two years of a study to compare a standard Life Skill Training (LST) program with an infused (I-LST) approach. Nine small, rural school districts were randomly assigned to LST, I-LST, or control conditions in grade seven. The LST program significantly reduced alcohol use, binge drinking, marijuana use,…

The study was designed to examine how intensity of anti-smoking media campaigns and differing types of anti-smoking community-based programs influence young adolescents tobacco use and related psychosocial variables. Sixth grade students attending 11 middle schools in eight study communities assigned to varying intervention conditions were…

The primary objective of this study was to examine the combination of acculturation, family functioning, and parental smoking as predictors of smoking attitudes and behaviors among Asian-American adolescents. The participants were 106 Asian-American high school students whose ages ranged from 15 to 19 (51 male and 55 female, mean age = 16.30…

Cross-national comparative analysis of tobacco control strategies can alert health advocates to how opportunities for public health action, types of action, and probabilities for success are shaped by political systems and cultures. This article is based on case studies of tobacco control in the United States, Canada, Britain, and France. Two…

Objective: Decades of research into smoking cessation have created a plethora of knowledge yet quit rates continue to be low and relapse rates high. In order to better understand this complex behaviour, this paper examines incentives and barriers to smoking cessation for a high risk group. Methods: The successful and unsuccessful quitting…

Problem: Priority health-risk behaviors, which are behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of morbidity and mortality among youth and adults, often are established during childhood and adolescence, extend into adulthood, are interrelated, and are preventable. Reporting Period Covered: January-December 2007. Description of the System: The…

This report summarizes evaluation results for AISD's federally-funded Title IV safe and drug-free schools program activities for the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 school years.

Risk-taking behavior includes alcohol and drug use, delinquency, acts of aggression, sexual activity, and so on. Many studies have explored the relationship between adolescents and risk-taking behavior; however, only a few studies have examined this link in adolescents with learning disabilities (LD) or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder…

Relative reinforcing efficacy refers to the behavior-strengthening or maintaining property of a reinforcer when compared to that of another reinforcer. Traditional measures of relative reinforcing efficacy sometimes have led to discordant results across and within studies. By contrast, previous investigations have found traditional measures to be…

This paper explores the ways in which sixth-form students in Milton Keynes negotiate their identities and the symbolic significance they attach to leisure activities in the process of doing this. The paper draws upon qualitative, young-person-centred interviews with sixth formers in state and private schools. It addresses the investments of sixth…

This study found 20.4% of children attending a middle school located in rural Mississippi had used inhalants to "get high," a figure that is much larger than the national average. Many (3.4%) students reported they had used inhalants on 10 or more occasions. Inhalant use was most associated with being younger, ever smoking, riding with a…