In this article, we report on a study in which 39 final-year students at two New Zealand high schools were interviewed about their adoption of alternative subject positions in relation to the prevailing norm of alcohol consumption. There were four ways in which participants in our study constituted themselves as non-drinkers in relation to this…

This study aims to investigate the relationship between past experience and the career mobility of 31 high-flying female academics from eight established Malaysian universities. Based on data gathered from in-depth interviews, it is discerned that the respondents' career mobility at the "exploration" stage is influenced by early exposure…

High-risk behavior in youths related to HIV transmission continues to occur despite large-scale efforts to disseminate information about safe sexual practices through education. Our study examined the relationships among knowledge, decision-making strategies, and risk assessment about HIV by youths during peer group focused discussions. Two focus…

Understanding teens' perceptions of the sources of stress and the ways teens cope with the stress in their lives can lead to more appropriate and effective interventions. Shifting the Lens is a multi-phase project that involved the study of stress from the youth perspective and the application of findings in the form of several tools for use by…

Participation in a health promotion program for 192 overweight and obese adults with mental retardation was associated with behavior change resulting in reduction of body mass index--BMI (weight in kg, divided by height in meters, squared) by the end of the program. We analyzed the mediating and intermediate factors contributing to weight…

The brain gets fed first! That is an important idea that directly relates to the nutrition/cognition connection in schools. As the education community faces the challenges of childhood obesity, malnutrition of the brain, food allergies, disorders of metal metabolism and biochemical imbalances, educators are eager to learn about how to guide…

Obesity is a major pediatric public health problem. Adolescents are a priority population for intervention strategies. School nurses are in key positions to design intervention strategies to promote healthy lifestyles and prevent adolescent obesity in the students they serve. To design effective programs, school nurses need to know what components…

HIV-related behaviors, self-reported using Web-delivered or paper-pencil modes, were collected from two convenience samples of college students at a major university in the southeastern U.S. To enhance the equivalence of the comparisons, a subset pool of participants from each group, proportionally matched on key demographic variables including…

Objective: To understand low uptake of breast cancer screening through exploring the personal reasoning underlying women's attendance or non-attendance, and identifying differences between those who attend and those who decline. Design: Cross-sectional survey. Setting: Community and home environments of women eligible for breast screening aged…

This study, using Andersen's health care utilization model, examined how predisposing characteristics, enabling resources, need, personal health practices, and psychological factors influence health care utilization using a nationally representative, longitudinal sample of Canadian adolescents. Second, this study examined whether this process…

Background: This study assessed whether data-collection formats, computerized versus paper-and-pencil, affect response patterns and descriptive statistics for adolescent health assessment surveys. Youth were assessed as part of a health risk reduction program. Methods: Baseline data from 1131 youth were analyzed. Participants completed the…

The purpose of this study was to assess healthy behavior recognition in Head Start, preschool children through picture identification. Participants in the study were 172 children in 7 Head Start centers, in 3 counties in Central Texas. The testing instrument was a booklet containing 30 questions, with 3 pictures per question, of which 1…

This document reports on a study to analyze the success of a revised health/wellness course at Gettysburg College (Pennsylvania). The research focused on two questions: (1) what increased knowledge and behavioral change students report once they have completed their health course; and (2) after a period of time, what students will say about the…

This paper is concerned with the application of market research techniques to segment large populations into homogeneous units in order to improve the reach, utilization, and effectiveness of health programs. The paper identifies seven distinctive patterns of health attitudes, social influences, and behaviors using cluster analytic techniques in a…

A survey was conducted investigating the health habits and attitudes of 18,000 K-12 students enrolled in Kansas public schools. This document presents results of the study in tabular form. Information is provided on responses to questions dealing with: (1) stress management; (2) nutrition; (3) use of alcohol; (4) safety; (5) smoking; and (6)…