The Off to a Good Start: Physical, Emotional, and Sexual Development of Youth Grades 5-8 (OTAGS) curriculum provides students with a foundation for future sex education. The curriculum consists of three modules covering puberty, healthful relationships, and HIV and sexually transmitted infections. University of Illinois Extension educators taught…

Scientific advocacy and outreach programs are encouraged to increase public understanding of scientific knowledge and generate interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers. However, evaluation of these events' effectiveness is difficult and somewhat rare. This study's purpose was to better understand how effective…

The COVID-19 virus brought on a public health emergency that massively disrupted school systems and learning nationwide. During the 2020-2021 school year, many local education agencies (LEAs) in Pennsylvania and other states adopted remote learning to help slow the virus's spread. However, remote learning came with challenges for students,…

Adolescents' attitudes predict sexual behavior; therefore, attitudes are targeted in sexually transmitted infection (STI) and pregnancy prevention programs. However, attitudes and behaviors do not always align. Young adolescents who have had penile vaginal intercourse (PVI) and have attitudes supportive of PVI have two risk factors for future…

This paper reports on findings from the first Western Australian Survey of Educators of Sexuality Education, which aimed to assess the state of relationships and sexuality education (RSE) in the state of Western Australia. Key findings show that secondary school teachers provided more hours of RSE instruction than the national average. However,…

The present study explores the extent and precision of evolutionary explanations for antibiotic resistance in communication directed toward the Swedish public. Bacterial resistance develops through evolutionary mechanisms and knowledge of these helps to explain causes underlying the growing prevalence of resistant strains, as well as important…

Background: Knowledge about the beneficial role of physical activity (PA) for health and school performance is growing. Studies investigating the link between PA and school absenteeism due to illness are lacking. Therefore, we investigated associations between habitual PA and school absenteeism due to illness in adolescents and explored whether…

Although early sexual initiation has been linked to negative outcomes, it is unknown whether these effects are causal. In this study, we use propensity score methods to estimate the causal effect of early sexual initiation on young adult sexual risk behaviors and health outcomes using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to…

Background: Dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever (DF/DHF) are epidemic and endemic in tropical and subtropical countries including Sri Lanka. Numerous structural and community interventions have been shown to be effective in interrupting the life cycle of mosquitoes that transmit DF/DHF; however, these interventions are not always implemented…

Background: There has been little evaluation of school-located vaccination programs that offer human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in US schools without health centers (ie, extramural programs). This article summarizes lessons learned from such programs. Methods: In July to August 2010, 5 programs were identi?ed. Semistructured, in-depth telephone…

Background: Asthma places a heavy burden on Chicago's schoolchildren, particularly in low-income, minority communities. Recently, our group developed a 10-week afterschool program, the Student Asthma Research Team (START), which successfully engaged high school youth in a Photovoice investigation of factors impacting their asthma at school and in…

Age and ethnic group differences in cold weather and contagion or germ theories of infectious disease were explored in two studies. A cold weather theory was frequently invoked to explain colds and to a lesser extent flu but became less prominent with age as children gained command of a germ theory of disease. Explanations of how contact with…

Background: Although males are often the initiators of teen sexual activity, pregnancy prevention programs generally target females. To address this deficiency, the Wise Guys Male Responsibility Curriculum was developed to be delivered to adolescent males in weekly classroom sessions. Methods: Seventh grade participants (n = 124) in the Wise Guys…

The purpose of this study was to describe and evaluate a promising program model, the Joven Nobel curriculum, for Latino male adolescents that promotes positive youth development and addresses prevention of a number of risk-related sexual behaviors within a cultural context. A quasi-experimental design was used that included a pre- and posttest…

This study investigated the relationship between health conditions suffered over time and student scores on the Stanford Achievement Test 9 in Yuma County, Arizona, public grade schools. The majority of children in Yuma County were of Hispanic origin. The poverty and low income status of most of these children placed them at greater risk for…