Background: While vaccines have reduced the incidence of vaccine-preventable diseases, vaccine hesitancy threatens the re-emergence of childhood infectious diseases. Purpose: This randomized controlled study evaluated an online vaccine education program to advance vaccine acceptance among middle-school students. Methodology: Study participants…

Sexual health education in the United States is seeing increased attention and is often viewed as a controversial topic. To better understand young adolescents' experiences within an LGBTQ+ inclusive sexual health education program ("Get Real"), we utilized Situated Expectancy-Value Theory to investigate 53 responses from 30 students…

The Sexual Health And Peer Education (SHAPE) program implemented in middle schools in Oklahoma County utilizes a hybrid adult and peer educator model to deliver sexual health programming. While peer educators have been incorporated into school-based sexual health programs in the past, this program is unique in its approach to preparing and…

Sexual health education should meet the needs of all students. One strategy educators can use to ensure instruction meets students' needs is to encourage the submission of anonymous questions, allowing students to gain information without fear of instructor or peer reactions. We investigated anonymous questions submitted by middle school…

A post-hoc study was conducted to ascertain the effect of comprehensive sex education on of 7th graders' knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes regarding sexual health and sexual identities in a small city school district in the Midwest USA. All five middle schools in the district participated, three of which used a comprehensive curriculum and two…

Background: A good classroom environment can promote students' learning motivation and affect their academic efficacy and adaptation. This study compares the perceptions of Taiwanese middle school students regarding actual and preferred classroom environments and explores the association with sex and grade level. Methods: Data were collected using…

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…

In 2010, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) was facing a dilemma--how to deliver a consistent sex education program in a complex and diverse school district. Four years earlier, the school board had adopted a policy calling for students in grades 5 through 12 to receive family life and comprehensive sex education. To help support schools in meeting this…

Drawing on the elaboration likelihood model of persuasive communication, the authors examine the impact of the perceptions of the instructor or source on students' receptivity to a new substance abuse prevention curriculum. Using survey data from a cohort of students participating in the Adolescent Substance Abuse Prevention Study, the authors use…

Background: Wizards of Motion is a program of curriculum delivery through which experts in Kinesiology introduce grade 7 students to applications of physics for human movement. The program is linked closely to Ministry of Education curriculum requirements but includes human movement applications and data analysis experiences. Purpose: The purpose…

The use of reliable and valid tools to evaluate theory-based health interventions is widely accepted as critical to the behavioral sciences. However, quite often the psychometric properties of survey instruments used to evaluate behavioral interventions are not published, limiting our understanding of how the theory works. The purpose of this…

The general concern over an Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) epidemic and the government's need to educate and protect its citizens from this disease seem to have softened resistance to sex education in schools. The only viable defense against AIDS seems to be education, since there are no vaccines or effective treatments. Still, some…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine Finnish seventh-graders' (13 to 14 years old) nutrition health attitudes, perceptions of skills, reported behaviour and perceptions of families' and friends' nutrition health-related behaviour. Design/methodology/approach: The research data were collected in a baseline situation through a…

Seventh grade students in two rural North Carolina school systems were subjects for a program designed to reduce health risks associated with alcohol and tobacco use. The results were that although knowledge increased, attitudes toward alcohol did not change, and attitudes toward smoking eroded. (Author/DF)

Using a model of behavior intention, a study attempted to identify attitudinal and social normative factors which might predict the behavioral intentions of preadolescents to alcohol abuse. Findings of the study indicate the importance of students' personal attitudes in their decision to drink alcoholic beverages. (JN)