Background: To reduce the number of sports-related concussions, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with the support of partners and experts in the field, has developed a tool kit for high school coaches with practical, easy-to-use concussion-related information. This study explores the success of the tool kit in changing…

The Research and Engineering Apprenticeship Program of the Academy of Applied Science has funded several high school student summer internships to work within the Department of Chemistry at the University of Texas at El Paso. Over the last nine years, young Mexican-American scholars have been recruited into STEM-specific (science, technology,…

Deaf adolescents who use American Sign Language (ASL) as their main communication mode are, like their hearing age peers, at risk for acquiring HIV. Many sources of HIV information (radio and television) are not accessible to these adolescents. Little is known about HIV knowledge base and risk behaviors of this group. The objective of this study…

Combining substance use and sex compounds the risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV. However, the association between substance use and sexual behaviors may vary by substance and sexual behavior. The current study sought to examine the relationship between alcohol and marijuana use frequency and specific sexual…

Objectives: To outline the prevalence and disparities of teen pregnancy among school-aged urban minority youth, causal pathways through which nonmarital teen births adversely affects academic achievement, and proven or promising approaches for schools to address this problem. Methods: Literature review. Results: In 2006, the birth rate among 15-…

Students of exercise science are well positioned to facilitate a shift of the nation's attitude on health care from disease treatment to disease prevention. This report chronicles our efforts toward transforming the exercise physiology core course from a lecture-based, instructor-centered class to a student-centered environment in which…

An instrument developed in the United States by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to assess HIV/AIDS knowledge and four attitudinal dimensions (Peer Pressure, Abstinence, Drug Use, and Threat of HIV Infection) and an instrument developed by Basen-Engquist et al. (1999) to measure abstinence and condom use were translated,…

Objectives: To determine the trends in sexual activity and unprotected sex among substance-using youth, we examined data from the 1991-2005 Youth Risk Behavior Surveys on drug and alcohol use and sexual risk behaviors. Method: We examined the association of alcohol and illicit drug use with recent sexual activity and unprotected sex. We assessed…

To monitor priority health-risk behaviors among youth and young adults, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) developed the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS). The YRBSS includes national, state, territorial, and local school-based surveys of high school students in grades 9-12. In addition, some states, territories,…

The present study analyzes decision-making and argumentation by high school students in a debate situation on a socioscientific issue, the use of embryonic stem cells in research and therapy. We tested the influence on the debates of two different contexts. Adolescent students at the high school level in the same grade (mean age 16.4 years) from…

Background: This study examined the prevalence of oral sexual activity in rural Midwestern adolescents. We also examined the correlates of a series of risk behaviors with oral sexual activity. Methods: A questionnaire based on the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System was distributed to 2121 rural middle and high school students in grades 6-12…

Context: Asthma affects over 15% of Australian Aboriginal people. Compliance in asthma management is poor. Interventions that will increase compliance are required. Purpose: The purpose of the study was to determine whether Aboriginal children, adolescents and adults would engage in music lessons to increase their knowledge of asthma and support…

The well-being of a community is only as good as the well-being of the individuals who reside in the community. A group of citizens, concerned about the welfare of their community, recognized the high rates of HIV/AIDS and teenage pregnancy in their south Florida county and decided to take action. Supported by community leaders and using available…

Problem: Sexual minority youths are youths who identify themselves as gay or lesbian, bisexual, or unsure of their sexual identity or youths who have only had sexual contact with persons of the same sex or with both sexes. Population-based data on the health-risk behaviors practiced by sexual minority youths are needed at the state and local…

Assessments of knowledge and perceptions about influenza were developed for high school students, and used to determine how knowledge, perceptions, and demographic variables relate to students taking precautions and their odds of getting sick. Assessments were piloted with 205 students and validated using the Rasch model. Data were then collected…