Background: Food insecurity is characterized by limited access to adequate food due to a lack of money or resources (eg, lack of transportation to obtain food). School aged children who are experiencing food insecurity are at greater risk for poor academic outcomes, but previous studies have not examined the effects of food insecurity on specific…

Background: We examined the relationship between exposure to electronic bullying and absenteeism as a result of being afraid. Methods: This multivariate, multinomial regression analysis of the 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Survey data assessed the association between experiencing electronic bullying in the past year and how often students were absent…

Background: Developing and implementing policies to curb and prevent youth tobacco use is of the utmost importance. In Florida, public school districts were authorized to develop tobacco-free school policies through an amendment to the Florida Clean Indoor Air Act in 2011. The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of tobacco-free school…

Background: School factors play important roles in adolescent suicide. However, little is known about how school climate is associated with adolescent suicide. This study examined the relationship between perceived school climate and adolescent suicidal ideation and suicide attempts, and whether these relations were explained by adolescent sleep…

Background: This study integrated criminological and public health perspectives to examine the influence of bullying victimization and the school environment on physical activity (PA). Methods: We used a weighted sample of 7786 US middle school students surveyed as part of the Health Behavior in School-Aged Children study to conduct a multilevel…

Background: Adolescent tobacco use has been a serious public health issue, resulting in longer duration of tobacco use and higher nicotine dependence in adulthood. This study identified the current status of tobacco use among middle schools students in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and the factors leading to tobacco use, to provide information on how to…

Background: Physical education (PE) plays a critical role in the healthy development of youth; however, the influence of PE classes in helping to provide students with health-related behavior patterns is not clear. This study aims to analyze whether participation in PE classes is associated with health-related behavior among high school students.…

Describes the development and testing of the School Functioning Index (SFI) for middle schools to use in predicting students' violent behavior. The final SFI included nine items and demonstrated good internal consistency and variability. It was modestly correlated in expected directions with violence and other health behavior. Results support the…

Investigated whether school violence among high school students related to substance use and availability of illegal drugs at school, examining the associations of tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana and availability of illegal drugs with five school violence indicators. Data from the 1995 Youth Risk Behavior Survey indicated that school violence…

Explored sixth graders' sexual behavior and behavior intentions, analyzing health-related risk behaviors and constructs from social support and social cognitive theories based on race and gender regarding their predictive value for students having sexual intercourse. Survey data indicated that very few students had sexual intercourse or other high…

Data from a 1992 statewide survey of students in grades 5-12 were analyzed to determine the extent to which cigarette smoking predicted alcohol and other drug use and acted as a gateway drug. Results indicated smoking was a powerful predictor for alcohol and drug use, and the relationship was dose responsive. (SM)

Determined predictors of and prevalence rates for U.S. high school students who carried weapons, were threatened or injured with weapons, or were involved in fighting on school property from 1993 to 1995. Youth Risk Behavior Survey data indicated that gender, race, and grade predicted school-related violence. Males, minorities, and younger…

Presents findings from food frequency questionnaires and surveys of 138 Midwestern eighth-grade student-parent pairs. The study examined the incidence of modifiable and nonmodifiable osteoporosis risk factors and compared gender differences. Data analysis indicated that many adolescents possessed several modifiable and nonmodifiable risk factors…

This study explored stages of alcohol acquisition and risk factors associated with stages based on the Multi-Component Motivational Stages model. Subjects were 254 urban middle schoolers (90% black, 62% female). Questionnaire results indicated that most students were in a precontemplation stage for alcohol use. Alcohol use was found to be the best…

This study examined cross-sectional correlates of smoking during early and late adolescence to compare patterns of prediction of smoking at both stages. Intention to smoke was the strongest predictor of smoking during both stages, particularly in late adolescence, as well as being the strongest predictor of changes in smoking. (SM)