Background: Developmental assets foster positive health outcomes among adolescents, but have not been studied in adolescents with chronic illness or depression, two conditions that impact behaviors in school. We examined parent-reported assets in a national sample of adolescents and compared the number and types of assets by health statuses.…

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: Social-emotional learning (SEL) and physical activity (PA) are beneficial for adolescent development. This review aims to describe educational programs that promote SEL and PA simultaneously among adolescents. Methods: A search was conducted using electronic databases in 2023 (eg, PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO, ERIC) eliciting 5226…

Background: Although positive youth development (PYD) programs have demonstrated effectiveness in improving adolescent reproductive health outcomes, there is a lack of evidence on effective school-based interventions designed especially for high school settings. This study examined the efficacy of Peer Group Connection (PGC-HS), a school-based PYD…

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: Concerns have been raised over teachers' mental health literacy in low-income countries and lower- and middle-income countries wherein pediatric mental health resources are limited. This study aims to investigate adolescent depression literacy among teachers in Eswatini and to explore the role of urbanicity. Methods: We conducted a…

Background: Adolescent alcohol use continues to be a critical public health problem with both short- and long-term negative health consequences. Defining oneself in terms of alcohol, a drinking-related identity, has been shown to predict high levels of alcohol use. Because adolescence is the developmental period during which identity development…

Background: The values, perspectives, and behavior patterns that begin in adolescence can continue throughout one's life. Because of these lifetime effects, much research has focused on adolescent risk and prevention, but a new body of knowledge investigates protective factors and strengths. Positive youth development (PYD) increases internal and…

Background: Many school-based abstinence-only sex education curricula state that sexual activity outside of marriage is likely to have harmful psychological effects. Recent advances in neuroscience have expanded our understanding of the neural underpinnings of romantic love, marriage, sexual desire, and sexual behavior and improved our…

Background: Adolescence is a time of great change. For most young people, this is a healthy and happy experience; however, for some it is characterized by many health, social, and academic challenges. A student's feeling of connectedness to school helps meet these challenges. Little is known, however, about the school characteristics that promote…

Unhealthy coping mechanisms become more widely available to young people during their teenage years. Students frequently choose these unhealthy activities as avenues for dealing with the stress of physical and social changes that confront them during adolescence. For these reasons, a need exists for intervention programs that teach adolescents to…

Background: Sleep duration affects the health of children and adolescents. Shorter sleep durations have been associated with poorer academic performance, unintentional injuries, and obesity in adolescents. This study extends our understanding of how adolescents perceive and deal with their sleep issues. Methods: General education classes were…

Background: Protective factors associated with positive youth development predict health and education outcomes. This study explored trends in these protective factors and in physical activity among low-income students, and determined the impact of a school-based youth development program on these trends. Methods: This study used a…

Research on the effects of education on adolescents' contraceptive behaviors is summarized and 27 teaching strategies, each related to a particular contraceptive problem adolescents encounter, are outlined. (JMF)

This paper presents the authors' experience in designing and teaching a parenting class for adolescent parents who returned to the high school setting after having a child. A detailed discussion relates the salient developmental characteristics of adolescence and early parenthood to the use of specific classroom strategies. (Author/CJB)