Although there is an enormous amount of literature demonstrating socio-psychological determinants of suicide and self-injurious behaviour among adults or clinical samples of children and adolescents, there is a scarcity of studies focussing on non-clinical adolescent samples. The current study examined associations between self-reported data on…

Over the last decade, there has been an explosion of interest in issues related to quality of life (QoL). While QoL for persons with mental retardation has long been an interest, and there is a foundation for the assessment of QoL for this population, there is still much to be done. This article describes QoL assessment for persons with mental…

Health literacy is important for all adults. Because lower health literacy is associated with lower educational attainment, many adult basic and literacy education programs increasingly provide health education to low-literate adults to improve their health literacy. Using data from the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL), this study…

The methodological and empirical literature on measuring the need of child populations is sparse. What does exist is more orientated towards children in receipt of non-universal or specialist services, overlooking those children with similar needs who are not in contact with such services. Further, there is a tendency often for need analyses not…

Because of the perceived lack of youth physical fitness and/or concerns for increased obesity, physical education teachers are interested in youth fitness and physical activity levels. Statewide mandates are being developed that require school-based teachers to complete physical fitness testing. Data from the nationally representative School…

Responding to the dramatic growth in Assisted Living Facilities (ALFs), the present study focused on mental health among older residents in ALFs. We assessed the effects of physical health constraints (chronic conditions, functional disability, and self-rated health) and psychosocial resources (social network, sense of mastery, religiosity, and…

Moderate physical activity provides substantial health benefits for individuals not only in fitness, athletic, and health organizations, but also for individuals who struggle with addictions and behaviors in correctional programs. The purpose of this pilot study is to examine the relationship between physical activity and offender attitudes. The…

Since publication use of the WHOQOL-Bref has rapidly risen. However, as yet no population norms have been published as a reference point against which researchers can interpret their findings. This study provides preliminary population norms for this purpose. Randomly sampled community residents from two studies were pooled and used to examine the…

The present study investigated theoretically and empirically derived similarities and differences between the constructs of enduring happiness and self-esteem. Participants (N = 621), retired employees ages 51-95, completed standardized measures of affect, personality, psychosocial characteristics, physical health, and demographics. The relations…

Prompted by increasing U.S. longevity and aging demographics, this phenomenological study explored what it is like for 13 women, 75-91, to thrive in elder adulthood. Through multiple interviews, projective inventories, and focus groups, 6 group patterns emerged: (a) vital involvement and service, (b) desire to learn, (c) appreciation of basic life…

Background: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) in detecting emotional and behavioural problems among children with chronic illness (CI). Methods: Parents and teachers of a population of primary school children in Norway (n = 9430) completed a…

Child health and well-being are intrinsically important and also contribute to a healthy, productive adolescence and adulthood. Parents can play an important role in helping their children acquire or strengthen the behaviors, skills, attitudes, and motivation that promote physical and mental health and overall well-being in childhood, adolescence…

Forty-three adolescents (11-16 years of age) attending a health care program, Project Alternatives, for "street children" in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, drew randomly assigned pictures of either the ideal man or woman, engaged in some activity. These drawings were compared to samples from adolescents in various parts of the world to assess…

High school biology textbooks feature little coverage of cancer, so that college students are not generally informed about the condition. At the same time, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of young people who survive cancer, which means that college instructors are likely to have students who have or have had cancer. Instructors…

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) have become a serious health threat to university students. This study evaluated a peer-led intervention program with university students to increase knowledge and attitudes of HIV/AIDS infection and transmission. Subjects were students (n=41) from an undergraduate…