Given the COVID-19 pandemic's disproportionate impact on Hispanic individuals in the United States, research examining modifiable psychosocial correlates of COVID-19 preventive behaviors in this population is warranted. Prior research highlights health literacy and health consciousness as integral for the establishment of health-promoting…

Coronavirus disease 2019 exacerbated health inequities in Bronx Communities. This study explored vaccine hesitancy among a random sample of faculty and students from Hebert Lehman College. Findings suggest faculty are largely vaccinated (87%), while 59% of students are unvaccinated. Significant gaps in information were found related to safety and…

Aims: Examine intervention effects among mothers involved in a healthy eating randomized controlled trial. Furthermore, examine the mediating roles of individual and familial influences on observed outcomes. Methods: Between 2009 and 2011, 361 families were recruited; half were assigned to an 11-session community health worker-delivered…

Objectives: To assess hookah use among youth for prevalence, associations, and changes over time. Methods: Data from the 2008 and 2010 New Jersey Youth Tobacco Survey were analyzed to examine hookah smoking by gender, race/ethnicity, and grade level. Results: Prevalence of hookah use increased significantly among black and Hispanic students.…

This report presents a rich and nuanced statistical portrait of America's Latino children, drawn from the latest nationally-representative data. It is a complex picture. Some facets will be familiar, while others are less well known. All have important economic and social implications, particularly with respect to education as the pathway to…

A survey of the literature indicates that reported advantages of the Immigrant and Hispanic Paradox are inconsistent and equivocal. The "healthy migrant hypothesis" also suggests that current research approaches consider only "healthy" groups. Other methodological concerns include the simple underreporting of deaths, and that…

Using prospect theory and the extended parallel process model, this study examined the effect of gain/loss message framing on perceptions of severity, susceptibility, response efficacy, and self efficacy (derived from the extended parallel process model), as well as perception of message effectiveness and behavioral intention in a community based…

Objective: To gain opinions from low-income, limited-English-speaking Hispanic and Asian immigrants for formative research in a social marketing campaign. Design: Nineteen questions on obesity prevention-related topics were embedded into a larger random digit-dial survey investigating the effects of language and cultural barriers on health care…

Background: Consumption of folic acid prior to conception can prevent up to 70% of neural tube defect (NTD)-affected pregnancies. In 1992, the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) issued a recommendation that all women of childbearing age capable of becoming pregnant consume 400 [mu]g of folic acid daily to reduce their risk for a NTD-affected…

Public health research has been dominated by the biomedical model, which does not appear to be appropriate for studying public health variables across different populations. For example, when comparing the Hispanic American (HA) and African American (AA) population in the U.S., there are similarities on several demographic and public health…

The incidence of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in the United States is among the highest in the western industrialized world. Nearly 19 million new STDs are diagnosed each year, and more than 65 million Americans live with an incurable STD, such as herpes and human papillomavirus (HPV). Young people, in particular, are at a heightened risk…

In order to address evolving risk factors among youth in Washington, DC (District of Columbia), with respect to HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), substance abuse, and hepatitis, a targeted, community-needs assessment was conducted through a partnership between the Department of Prevention and Community Health at George Washington…

Background: Age-adjusted cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality rates for Hispanics are lower than for non-Hispanics. However, CVD is the leading cause of death among Hispanics, and there is an increasing heart health problem among this population. One strategy for preventing CVD is the use of community health workers (CHWs). A CHW is a member of…

Understanding the prevalence and demographic correlates of physical activity is important for public health and epidemiological research. This analysis examines the association between acculturation and physical activity in a large (similar to 5,000) sample of Hispanic adults from the 2000 National Health Interview Survey. Scores for eight…

In the Screening Older Minority Women project, the authors applied a community capacity-enhancement approach to promoting breast and cervical cancer screening among older women of color. Members of informal support networks were recruited for this health promotion intervention to empower Latina and African American women to engage in positive…