In this paper we explore how 15-16-year-old Norwegians experience social and cultural norms that shape their relationship with health and physical activity (PA) in a country where participation in PA is normative, in the sense that it is not only a widely shared practice but, in having significant cultural traction, is commonly understood as a…

Aims: The current study aims to examine the role of energy drink and energy shot consumption in school disengagement, low academic performance, and academic expectations, and investigates the robustness of these associations across sex, grade, race, and substance use history. Method: This study employs a pooled cross-sectional design and uses a…

Many prosocial behaviors involve social risks such as speaking out against a popular opinion, bias, group norm, or authority. However, little is known about whether adolescents' prosocial tendencies develop over time with their perceptions of social risks. This accelerated longitudinal study used within-subject growth-curve analyses to test the…

Objective: Studies conducted with Latina/o populations suggest there are gendered norms surrounding drinking behavior, but research examining alcohol use among Latina college students in the context of traditional feminine gender role (TFGR) norms, is scarce. Participants and Methods: 405 Latina undergraduates completed a web-based study of…

We investigated class clustering patterns of four behaviors--physical activity, fruit and vegetable (F&V) intake, smoking, and alcohol use--in a faith-based African American cohort. Guided by socio-ecological models, we also examined the psychosocial and neighborhood social environmental factors associated with the clustering patterns.…

Research was conducted to determine if social capital influenced the norms of drinking and alcohol-related behavior amongst college students. A random sample survey was distributed to college students at a medium-sized regional university (N = 2600). A mixed-method design was used to examine the results, including correlation and regression…

This study examined the relationship between medical marijuana laws and student utilization rates, perceptions, and experiences. Participants were students in 37 states attending institutions of higher education. Students who went to college in states that adopted medical marijuana laws were more likely to use marijuana and experience academic and…

Evidence suggests that Hispanic and non-Hispanic White men (NHW) have comparable prevalence rates of alcohol use. However, Hispanic men consistently have higher prevalence rates of alcohol misuse compared with NHW men. Consequently, Hispanic men experience disproportionate levels of adverse health consequences of alcohol misuse when compared with…

Drinking games and prepartying (i.e., drinking before going to a social gathering/event) have emerged as high-risk drinking behaviors in high school students. The present study examines the current prepartying behaviors of high school students who report current participation in extreme-consumption games (e.g., chugging) with those who do not.…

The social norms approach is an increasingly widely used strategy of behaviour and attitude change that is based on challenging misperceptions individuals hold about their peers. Research to date has been carried out predominately in the US college system, with a focus on substance use behaviours. The aim of the current study was to explore peer…

Background: Text messaging is an increasingly common mode of communication, especially among adolescents, and frequency of texting may be a measure of one's sociability. This study examined how text messaging ("texting") frequency and academic performance are associated with adolescent sexual behaviors. Methods: A cross-sectional survey…

Background: African Americans have one of the lowest smoking rates as teens yet have one of the highest smoking rates as adults. Approximately 40% of African Americans who have ever smoked started smoking between the ages of 18 and 21. Purpose: This study aimed to identify why African American young adults began smoking in young adulthood and what…

Previous research has found that religiosity may protect against risky alcohol and drug use behaviors among adolescents, but the social mechanics underpinning the relationship are not well understood. This study examined the relationship between religiosity, heavy drinking, and social norms among U.S. adolescents aged 12 to 17 years, using the…

Although drinking motives have been largely studied, research taking into account the Mediterranean drinking culture and focusing on motives specifically associated to adolescents' developmental tasks is lacking. For these reasons the study investigates drinking motives in a group of Italian adolescents and their relationships with drunkenness and…

Sun protection is not commonly perceived as an important issue by adolescents yet this behaviour would, if adopted, confer significant lifelong protection against skin cancer. Despite the world's highest skin cancer rates, Australia remains a culture which values sun seeking, tanning and outdoor activities. This qualitative study used ethnographic…