A comprehensive school-based prevention program based on an ecological model is recommended. Important components include staff training; classroom interventions; integration of relevant material into the existing curriculum; individual counseling and small group work with high-risk students; referral systems; opportunities for healthy eating;…

Junior high school students (n=1,510) completed the Health Behaviors Questionnaire in order to determine healthy and unhealthy behaviors and emotions which might identify at-risk students. Results indicate that all of the independent demographic and health-related variables used in this study were important predictors of at-risk status. Discusses…

A survey of third graders' (n=677) health knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors indicated that white children had significantly higher knowledge than black children, though attitudes were similar. Females had more positive attitudes than males, but knowledge was similar. There was a significant interaction of sex and race on the health behavior…

Investigated health behaviors practiced by 10th graders in Bogota, Colombia. Data from a modified version of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey indicated that there was a high use of gateway substances (tobacco and alcohol) among respondents, but lower usage, when compared to U.S. students, of other mind-altering substances such as marijuana,…

This preliminary study evaluated effectiveness of a tobacco prevention program on knowledge, attitude, intention, and behavior of tobacco use among fourth-grade students. Results suggest that the program was effective and showed that students in the education group had greater improvement in knowledge than the comparison group. Both students and…

High school students (N=1,515) in Massachusetts were surveyed about whether participation in athletics promoted a healthier lifestyle and decreased use of recreational drugs. Participation in athletics did promote a healthier lifestyle and athletes were significantly less likely to use cocaine, psychedelic drugs, or smoke cigarettes. However, work…

Surveys on the collaborative experiences of colleges, state-level organizations, and school districts related to comprehensive school health programs (CHSP) in 12 states found four collaborative outcomes (training, consultation, research, and networking) and five dimensions of collaboration (interpersonal and organizational interactions, level of…

This 1943 paper describes findings from the Massachusetts High School Study regarding physical status and the evaluation of students' health behavior, interests, knowledge, and attitudes. Results found that it was impossible to determine the health status of Massachusetts high school students from the medical data recorded in the schools. There…

Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypothesis that parental distress would mediate relations between parental lifetime alcohol and physical health problems and child behavior problems. Results indicated that sons of parents with alcohol and physical health problems are at elevated risk for behavior problems, partly related to…

Describes an integrative, multisystem clinical approach to the psychological and relational problems that develop around learning disabilities. The therapist uses expert knowledge to help members of the treatment system transform blaming, helpless, or hopeless interpretations of the problem into more helpful constructions, which support healthy…

The influence of neighborhoods on adolescent behaviors has received increasing research attention. In the present study, we use structural equation models to specify pathways from neighborhoods to adolescent cigarette and alcohol use through parental closeness, parental monitoring, parent substance use, and peer substance use. We use a national…

Compared with the volume of research on school effects on educational outcomes, and in spite of growing interest in the health promoting school, there are very few studies that have investigated the way schools influence pupils' health behaviours. This paper reports the results of a longitudinal study of over 2000 young people in the West of…

This paper examined changes in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related risk behaviors among high school students in the United States during 1991-2005. Data from 8 national Youth Risk Behavior Surveys conducted during that period were analyzed. During 1991-2005, the percentage of US high school students engaging in HIV-related sexual risk…

To examine HIV/AIDS knowledge, attitudes, related behaviors, and sources of HIV/AIDS information among high school-aged students in South Korea. One thousand and seventy-seven students (586 females and 491 males) from 5 high schools from 5 representative school districts participated in the survey. A self-administered questionnaire measuring…

Peer contagion of adolescent males' aggressive/health risk behaviors was examined using a computerized "chat room" experimental paradigm. Forty-three 11th-grade White adolescents (16-17 years old) were led to believe that they were interacting with other students (i.e., "e-confederates"), who endorsed aggressive/health risk behaviors and whose…