Experiencing victimization, such as cyberbullying, discriminatory harassment, or bullying in adolescence is associated with health risk behaviours. However, inconsistent findings in the literature examining the associations between different types of victimization and binge drinking and smoking exist. This study investigated the association…

Ethnic identity is a consistent predictor of positive youth adjustment, whereas discrimination has been associated with negative outcomes among Latino/a youth. Scholars have proposed associations between ethnic identity and discrimination; however, directionality of effects remains unclear. Addressing this gap, the current study examined the…

The characteristics of and risk factors associated with binge drinking among South Korean and American adolescents were identified in this study. Data on adolescents in the 9th to 12th grades were extracted from two nationwide data sets: the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey System and the U.S. Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System.…

The purpose of the study was to describe adherence to screen time (ST) and physical activity (PA) recommendations among Canadian youth. The present study was based on a representative sample of Canadian students from Grades 7 through 12 (N = 47,203). ST and PA as well as demographic (gender, ethnicity, grade, and province of residence) and…

The Montana Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) is administered by the Montana Office of Public Instruction every two years to students in grades 7 through 12. The purpose of the survey is 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…

Introduction: Based on internal and external assets, the positive youth development approach aims to increase the capacity among adolescents to overcome challenges as they transition to adulthood. Developmental assets have been found to be positively associated with academic achievement, a variety of health promoting behaviors, and improved…

It is well established that many adolescents who smoke want to quit, but little is known about why adolescents want to quit and if reasons to quit differ across gender. The objective of this study was to determine if reasons to quit smoking differ in boys and girls. Data on the Adolescent Reasons for Quitting (ARFQ) scale were collected in mailed…

The Montana Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) is administered by the Montana Office of Public Instruction every two years to students in grades 7 through 12. The purpose of the survey is 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…

Survey data on the problem of drug abuse in Russia show a high level of awareness of the issue among young people. To reduce the level of drug use in Russia, a comprehensive, focused, and coordinated program involving representatives of official state and social institutions, as well as institutions of civil society, is needed. Combining their…

A multilevel analysis of cross-sectional data from a survey involving 1941 pupils (in grades 10 and 11) and policy indicators developed from interviews with staff from 45 secondary schools in Wales examined the hypotheses that pupil smoking prevalence would be associated with: restrictive staff and pupil smoking policies; dissemination of school…

Background: Understanding the cognitive attributions of smoking has the potential to advance youth smoking prevention efforts; however, research on this subject is limited in Asian countries. We attempted to determine the degree to which cognitive attributions of smoking differ among adolescents in 2 Asian countries, Thailand and South Korea.…

While many adolescents and young adults experiment with substances (e.g., alcohol, cigarette smoking, marijuana), recent research suggests that rural youth and young adults may be more at risk for substance use than their urban counterparts. This study was designed to examine the longitudinal relationships between rural adolescents' prosocial…

Using seven waves of data, collected twice a year from the 8th through the 11th grades in a low-resource community in Cape Town, South Africa, we aimed to describe the developmental trends in three specific leisure experiences (leisure boredom, new leisure interests, and healthy leisure) and substance use (cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana)…

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…

The Montana Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) is administered by the Montana Office of Public Instruction every two years to students in grades 7 through 12. The purpose of the survey is 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…