This study examines the conceptualization of risk behavior held by 26 Franco-Ontarian young adolescents (12-14 years of age) who participated in Lions Quest, a program specially designed to promote physical and mental health and to prevent drug and alcohol use. More specifically, it seeks to better understand the participating adolescents'…

Television advertisements, packaging regulations and health warning labels (HWLs) are designed to communicate anti-smoking messages to large number of smokers. However, only a few studies have examined how high smoking prevalence groups respond to these warnings. This study explored how socioeconomically disadvantaged smokers engage with health…

Every year, the Austin Independent School District (AISD) administers the Student Substance Use and Safety Survey to a random, representative sample of middle and high school students. The survey tracks student knowledge, attitudes, and behavior over time. These results are from the 2014-2015 school year.

Background: Quitlines offer evidence-based, multisession coaching support for smoking cessation in the 50 U.S. states, Canada, and several other countries. Smokers who enroll in quitline services have, "ipso facto," shown readiness to attempt to quit, but noncompletion of coaching services appears widespread and has not been widely investigated.…

Sampling mainstream cigarette smoke is a challenging and stimulating laboratory activity for undergraduate students. In addition to the public health significance, cigarette smoke is an unusual source of analytes to examine the differences between gaseous matrices versus liquid or solid matrices. Sophisticated automated smoking machines complying…

Using a network analytic framework, this study introduces a new method to measure peer influence based on adolescents' affiliations or 2-mode social network data. Exposure based on affiliations is referred to as the "affiliation exposure model." This study demonstrates the methodology using data on young adolescent smoking being influenced by…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify and describe adolescents' health-related behaviours from a socio-ecological perspective. Socio-ecological factors have been widely shown to be related to health behaviours (smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity and diet) in adolescence and to affect health. The review integrates evidence…

Background: Little is known about how children differ in the onset and evolution of separation anxiety (SA) symptoms during the preschool years, and how SA develops into separation anxiety disorder. In a large, representative population-based sample, we investigated the developmental trajectories of SA symptoms from infancy to school entry, their…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effects of the Dutch "Skills for Life" programme on students' health behaviours, bullying behaviour and suicidal ideation. Design/methodology/approach: The effectiveness of the "Skills for Life" programme on health behaviour outcomes was evaluated at three points in time in…

Background: Children exposed to secondhand smoke (SHS) have higher rates of behavioral and cognitive effects, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but the costs to the health care and education systems have not been estimated. We estimate these costs for school-aged children aged 5-15. Methods: The relative risk (RR) of ADHD…

Objectives: To explore factors influencing compliance with campus tobacco policies and strategies to increase compliance. Participants: Sixty tobacco smokers (April 2012). Methods: A 22-item intercept-interview with closed-and open-ended questions was conducted with smokers in adjacent compliant and noncompliant areas at 1 university with a 100%…

Background: Relative to youth in regular high schools, alternative high school (AHS) youth are at high risk for alcohol, tobacco, and other drug (ATOD) misuse. Prevention and cessation efforts are needed for this population. Methods: A systematic, exhaustive literature search was completed to identify ATOD misuse prevention and cessation research…

Objective: Smokeless tobacco (SLT) use is associated with specific adverse health effects. Knowledge of student tobacco use, including SLT, may guide inquiry into other risky health behaviors, and provide opportunities for health education of students. Design: An incentivized email invitation to complete a web-based survey was sent to students at…

Background: Numerous studies have examined gene × environment interactions (G × E) in cognitive and behavioral domains. However, these studies have been limited in that they have not been able to directly assess differential patterns of gene expression in the human brain. Here, we assessed G × E interactions using two publically available datasets…

Background: In efforts to curb and prevent youth smoking, school tobacco policies have become an important and effective strategy. This study explores the degrees and types of tobacco-free school policy (TFSP) enforcement that are associated with adolescent smoking. Methods: A multilevel analysis was performed using 983 students who are nested in…