Substance use is increasing among youth in South Africa, and may be contributing to transmission of HIV. As parental death often leaves youth with altered emotional and physical resources, substance use may be greater among orphaned adolescents. Utilizing data from a household survey of 15-24 year old South Africans (n = 11,904), multivariable…

Background: This study investigated the relationship between school connectedness and health risk behaviors, specifically, substance abuse, violence-related behaviors, sexual risk behaviors, and suicidal ideation among school-going adolescents. School connectedness was understood to encompass a range of aspects pertaining to a learner's sense of…

People with disabilities are at increased risk of exposure to HIV, yet they lack access to HIV prevention, treatment care and support including sexuality education. Lack of knowledge, skills and confidence of educators teaching sexuality education to learners with disabilities is related to this increased vulnerability. This study identifies…

Sexuality education forms part of the national school curricula of most sub-Saharan African countries, yet risk-related sexual behaviour among young people continues to fuel the HIV pandemic in this part of the world. One of the arguments put forward to explain why sexuality education seems to have had little impact on sexual risk-taking is that…

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility, fidelity, and effect of a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) risk reduction intervention delivered to HIV-infected patients by lay counsellors during routine HIV counselling and testing (HCT) public service in Mpumalanga, South Africa. Methods: A total of 488 HIV-infected patients, aged 18 years and older,…

Heavy drinking and associated negative consequences remain a serious problem among college students. In a secondary analysis of data from two published study, the authors examine the correlation between minimum legal age to purchase and/or consume alcohol and rates of heavy drinking among college students in 22 countries. The published studies use…

Objective: This comparative study evaluated the readability and test-retest reliability of a questionnaire designed to assess the attitudes, beliefs behaviours and sources of information about HIV/AIDS among young adults recruited from universities in the United States of America (USA), Turkey and South Africa. Design/Setting: The instrument was…

Reduced HIV risk behavior and increased use of care and support services have been demonstrated among adults accessing HIV voluntary counseling and testing (VCT). The impact of VCT on adolescents is, however, not known. Focus group discussions were held with adolescents and parents in two South African townships to establish the perceptions of and…

This study examines whether parental investment and membership in social clubs are associated with safer sexual behaviors among South African youth. Participants comprised 4,800 randomly selected adolescents age 14 to 22 living in the Cape Town area in 2002. Logistic regression was used to examine associations between measures of parental…

This paper examines how young people living in a violent neighbourhood construct understandings about danger, violence and safety. Reporting findings from a qualitative study that investigated these issues with 8-14 year olds in a South African neighbourhood, the paper identifies how young people attempted to stay safe through reliance on adult…

In recent years, schools have been increasingly involved in youth's health-related behavior, particularly risky health behaviors (e.g., HIV/AIDS and pregnancy prevention programs). This study examined how acculturation processes among adolescent girls who are recent immigrants from the former Soviet Union (FSU) affect their practices of risky…

There is a paucity of test-retest reliability data for adolescent self-reports of a wide range of risk behaviours. Grade 8 and 11 Students (N=358) completed a questionnaire on two occasions between 10 and 14 days apart. It included items about use of various substances, violent behaviour, suicidality, and sexuality. Cohen's kappa was almost…

This paper takes up the concern that sexual health programs targeting adolescents may actually increase HIV risk among youth by reinforcing dominant versions of masculinity that portray males as sexually irresponsible and unconcerned about their health. If a key aim in HIV prevention education is a renegotiation of high-risk behavioral norms, an…

This article examines the potential for open, distance, and flexible learning (ODFL) to mitigate the impact of HIV and AIDS on young people. Based on experience from a field study in Mozambique and South Africa, the authors show how ODFL can support and extend the work of existing infrastructures supporting vulnerable youth. As neighboring…

We assessed the usefulness of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and protection motivation theory (PMT) to predict intended condom use among 201 adolescents from Venda, South Africa. Results indicated that both the TPB and the PMT could significantly predict intended condom use, although the level of explained variance was limited. Hierarchical…