This article examines the relationship between exposure to violence, fear of exposure to violence, and sexual risk among a sample of urban middle school youth. The sample included 911 seventh-grade students who completed self-report surveys. Approximately 20% of the sample reported at least one direct threat or injury with a weapon in the past 3…

The purpose of this study was to examine the determinants of benefits and barriers and their relationship with physical activity (PA) among predominantly Latino middle school students. Data were collected in a cross-sectional survey of 4,773 seventh-grade students recruited from a large, urban school district in Los Angeles. Hierarchical logistic…

There are currently mixed findings on the social and academic benefits of youth participation in school sponsored sports, such as football. While some research suggests positive outcomes through increased sense of school belongingness, other studies link participation in football to increased delinquent behavior. Social control theory informed the…

The primary goal of the current study was to test whether parent and adolescent preference for a common language moderates the association between parenting and rank-order change over time in offspring substance use. A sample of Mexican-origin 7th-grade adolescents (M[subscript age] = 12.5 years, N = 194, 52% female) was measured longitudinally on…

This study examined the relationship between stress and sleep duration for adolescent females from affluent backgrounds. Participants were 218 students attending two independent single-sex secondary schools. Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression models (cross-sectional and longitudinal) were run to examine the association between stress and…

The Active and Healthy School Program (AHS) can be used to alter the culture and environment of a school to help children make healthier choices. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of AHS to increase physical activity while decreasing total screen time, increase healthy food choices, and improve knowledge about physical…

Background: Body image refers to an individual's thoughts and feelings about his or her body and physical appearance. To date, several qualitative and quantitative findings implicate sociocultural influences, such as the media or parental pressure, in shaping female adolescents' body image perceptions. Overall, there is not much quantitative…

Reducing risky sexual behaviors and their negative health outcomes in youth remains a priority for health educators. Years of research have documented media's effect on various adolescent health risks, including sexual behaviors. As technology evolves and youth access to media increases, understanding the role of media in adolescent health risk…

This study aimed to explore the role of school engagement and the mediation effect of acculturation in predicting 1.5 and second-generation migrant adolescents' mental health and risk behaviors. Participants included 448 seventh to tenth grade Israeli students (mean age 14.50, 53% boys): 128 non-Jewish 1.5 generation migrant adolescents (children…

The 2013 North Carolina Youth Risk Behavior Survey (NCYRBS) was developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and adapted by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) to monitor health-risk behaviors and to measure progress toward achieving Healthy North Carolina 2020 objectives. The survey, administered in…

Background: Research finds a strong association between substance use and risky sexual behavior but more needs to be known about this relationship. Few studies have examined this relationship among rural sixth- to eighth-grade students. As such, the purposes of this study were to provide a descriptive profile of rural sixth- to eighth-grade…

The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System is an epidemiologic surveillance system that was established by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to help monitor the prevalence of behaviors that not only influence youth health, but also put youth at risk for the most significant health and social problems that can occur during…