Background: Prevention of early age initiation of cannabis use is a national priority, highlighting the importance of identifying cannabis-specific attitudes, norms, and perceived behavioral control in relation to initiation age. Methods: Data were from the NEXT Generation Health Study, a national longitudinal sample of US adolescents followed…

Background: Adolescents often lack access to accurate and appropriate sexual health information and services. Providing information about local clinical services during sexual health education classes is one strategy to increase awareness, yet many programs miss this opportunity. This study aims to learn about adolescents' experiences with sexual…

Background: Adolescents are required to take increased responsibility for their health. Although health literacy is implicated in adults' health decision-making and health behaviors, little is known about adolescents' health literacy and its relationship to their health behaviors. Furthermore, adolescent health literacy research overlooks…

Background: Positive youth development emphasizes that adaptive features of adolescence may contribute to teenage pregnancy prevention. Methods: Using data from approximately 1300 seventh-ninth graders, we describe positive youth development assets (external and internal) and their association with sexual risk taking. School-, sex-, and…

Background: Social factors play an important role in adolescents' behaviors. This study aims to understand percentages of health risk behaviors across country in Europe, North America, and China; explore the associations between friendly school and family contexts and involvement for several health risk behaviors among adolescents. Methods: Data…

Background: Relationship abuse (RA) and sexual assault (SA) are major problems among high school students, and school personnel are an important part of preventing RA and SA among youth. Therefore, we examined the rates and correlates of bystander intentions among school personnel in situations of RA and SA. Methods: School personnel (N = 1150)…

Background: Adolescent girls are likely to be less active than adolescent boys. A range of factors including multiple psychosocial aspects are thought to influence their engagement in physical activity (PA). This study aimed to explore adolescent girls' perceptions and experiences of school-based PA to inform a subsequent intervention, the Girls…

Background: The Pennsylvania Youth Survey (PAYS) is administered biennially to adolescents; it covers knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors about risk and protective factors. Purpose: This study explored 8th, 10th, and 12th grade students' attitudes and beliefs about current trends regarding drugs, alcohol, and mental health. Methods: We asked…

Background: Research suggests that perceived weight poses separate risks from objective weight on adolescents' risks of being bullied. We examined if the prevalence of bullying victimization differed by perceived and objective weight status, and how these associations varied by sex. Methods: Data were analyzed for 6716 8th and 11th graders from…

Background: Bullying is a public health concern for the school-aged population, however, the health outcomes associated with the subtype of relational bullying are less understood. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between relational bullying and health-related quality of life (HRQL) among young people. Methods: This study…

Background: Significant proportions of young people experience body dissatisfaction, which has implications for psychological and physical well-being. Lesson content and perceived competence may be important variables for the experience of body dissatisfaction, yet these have been underexplored in physical education. The aim of this…

Background: Risky sexual behaviors put adolescents at increased risk of adverse outcomes. Parents, school-based adults, and peers play important roles in influencing these sex intentions. Methods: This work explored the influence of parent-child sex communication on adolescent attitudes, perceived norms, and intentions to have sex, including the…

Background: The purpose of the study was to (1) examine attitudes of adolescents toward peer models having sex or choosing abstinence, and (2) determine whether a "double standard" in perception existed concerning adolescent abstinence and sexual behavior. Methods: Adolescents (N = 173) completed questionnaires that included 1 of 6…

Background: We analyze trends in bullying victimization prevalence in a representative sample of Spanish adolescent schoolchildren in 2006, 2010, and 2014. Methods: We distinguish between reported bullying, which is assessed via the global question in the Revised Bully/Victim Questionnaire by Olweus, and observed bullying, which is a measure…

Background: This study investigates the extent to which friendship network, family relations, and school context are related to adolescent cigarette smoking. Friendship network is measured in terms of delinquent peers; family relations in terms of parental supervision; and school environment in terms of objective (eg, antismoking policy) and…