Despite increasing rates of HIV infection among young men who have sex with men (YMSM), only a minority participate in formal HIV prevention efforts. Semi-structured mixed-methods interviews were conducted with a diverse sample of YMSM (N = 100, M[subscript age] = 25.0 years) in Los Angeles, California, to identify facilitators and barriers to…

This study examined Chinese female college students' multiple health behaviors, their quality of life, and mental and psychological well-being and compared that with American counterparts. A convenience sample of 293 female undergraduates participated in the study during spring 2010, in Eastern China. A traditional self-report paper-pencil…

This study examined the protective nature of youth reports of family interactions in relation to perceived exposure to violence and anger regulation in 84 children and early adolescents (mean age of 10.5; 7-15 years old) primarily from ethnic minority groups and living in high-risk communities in a large southwestern city. Path analysis and…

This study examined child and parental factors in infancy and toddlerhood predicting subclinical or clinical levels of internalizing and externalizing problems at 5 years of age. Ninety-six children and their families participated. They were assessed when the children were 4-10 weeks old (T1), 2 years (T2) and 5 years old (T3). Child risks…

Background: The family context has proven to be a useful target in which to apply prevention efforts aimed at child and adolescent health risk behaviors. There are currently a variety of cultural adaptation models that serve to guide the international adaptation of intervention programs. Objective: The cultural adaptation process and program…

The purpose of this study is to identify individual-level characteristics of foster care adolescents who are more likely to not participate in, and drop out of, a life-skills HIV prevention program delivered over 8 months. Structured interviews were conducted with 320 foster care adolescents (15-18 years). Logistic regression and survival analyses…

This study aimed to understand the nature of the relationships between three forms of past victimizations (exposure to interparental violence in childhood, sexual harassment by peers since beginning high school, prior experience of dating violence), physical dating violence perpetration by adolescents, and anger-hostility and emotional distress.…

Background: Schools experience a wide range of crime and disorder, victimizing students and staff, and undermining attempts to create a safe and orderly environment for student learning. Police have long established programs with schools, but there has been no systematic review of evaluations of these programs, outside of police-led prevention…

Purpose: With the aim of contributing to the evidence base on school-based health promotion, the authors discuss the outcomes and processes of a European intervention project aiming to prevent obesity among children (4-16 years) and promote their health and well-being, titled "Shape Up: a school-community approach to influencing determinants…

Neighborhood characteristics have been linked to healthy behavior, including effective parenting behaviors. This may be partially explained through the neighborhood's relation to parents' access to social support from friends and family. The current study examined associations of neighborhood characteristics with parenting behaviors indirectly…

The present study provides an implementation fidelity, process, and immediate outcomes evaluation of Project Towards No Drug Abuse (TND), a drug prevention program targeting continuation high school youth (n = 1426) at risk for drug abuse. A total of 24 schools participated in three randomized conditions: TND Only, TND and motivational…

Disordered eating behaviors and substance use are two risk factors for the development of serious psychopathology and health concerns in adulthood. Despite the negative outcomes associated with these risky behaviors, few studies have examined potential associations between these risk factors as they occur during adolescence. The importance of…

The current study examines longitudinal associations between light and heavy sexual experiences and psychiatric symptoms in African American adolescent girls receiving mental health care. Research supports bidirectional associations between adolescent romantic and sexual behaviors and depression and other mental health problems, but this finding…

This study explored whether adolescents with elevated symptoms of mania (ESM+) engage in more HIV risk behaviors than those with other psychiatric disorders and examined factors associated with HIV risk behavior among ESM+ adolescents. Eight hundred forty adolescents (56% female, 58% African American, "M" age = 14.9 years) who received mental…

Nearly all children receive abduction prevention training. Most traditional education programs increase the learner's knowledge, but often fail to produce concomitant behavior change. Behavioral Skills Training (BST) is a multi-component, behavior-based training strategy with empirical support demonstrating its effectiveness in teaching children…