This paper evaluates a smoking prevention intervention aimed at vocational school students, consisting of an existing Dutch in-school program (three lessons each lasting 50 min) and a computer-based tailored out-of-school program (three tailored letters with smoking prevention messages mailed to students' homes). Nineteen schools that already…

The Alcohol-related Harm Prevention (AHP) program is a normative education and skill-acquisition program designed to reduce serious, long-term alcohol-related harm in college students. Without admonishing students not to drink, which is likely to fail in many student populations, the AHP program attempts to give students the necessary perceptions,…

This exploratory study examined the influence of residential background and gender on university student drinking patterns. A questionnaire was distributed to 255 kinesiology and physical education students. Rural students (n=104) were more likely than urban students (n=151) to drink at outdoor parties or in vehicles during their first experience…

This paper comments on a critical review of cohort studies on PCB-related neurodevelopmental deficit in young children by D.V. Cicchetti, A.S. Kaufman, and S.S. Sparrow (CKS). Major points of criticism of CKS, namely alleged violation of statistical principles, presumed lack of clinical significance of findings, and alleged insufficient control of…

The Attuned Representation Model of eating-disorder etiology and symptom maintenance is a comprehensive model that can effectively guide prevention and treatment efforts by addressing individual, cultural, and interactive issues. The model integrates the risk factors related to the onset of eating-disordered behaviors (i.e., biological,…

The study presented in this paper represents the first organized attempt to examine the population of individuals who are deaf-blind in Thailand. This study began as a master's thesis in a university rehabilitation program; in 2004, the results were concisely presented at a conference in Asia (Sukontharungsee, 2005). The research activities were…

Background: Parents of children and adolescents with both intellectual disabilities (ID) and psychopathology often experience high levels of parenting stress. To support these parents, information is required regarding the types of support they need and whether their needs are met. Method: In a sample of 745 youths (aged 10-24 years) with moderate…

This study examined the mental health needs, knowledge, and utilization of counseling services among graduate students at a large university in the western United States. Almost half of graduate student respondents reported having had an emotional or stress related problem over the past year, and over half reported knowing a colleague who had an…

Identifying students at risk for violating alcohol policies could help college administrators minimize many problems. In this study, 154 male college freshmen [mean age 18.01 (SD = 0.50); 63% (n = 54) Caucasian], 68 of whom had been adjudicated for violating alcohol policies, completed an initial questionnaire assessing demographic characteristics…

This study used a community-wide survey of adolescents to compare adolescent perceptions of parental support, knowledge, and authoritative decision making in samples of Hmong and European Americans. Additional analyses considered variation in parental influence on adolescent outcomes across these groups. The results suggested that Hmong American…

Over the past 5 years there has been increased attention given to mental health issues on college and university campuses across the country. However, few research efforts have been conducted to systematically investigate the mental health of college students. The College Student Mental Health Survey was undertaken as a first step towards gaining…

Children's internalizing problems are a concerning mental health issue, due to significant prevalence and continuity over time. This study tested a multivariate model predicting young children's internalizing behaviors from parenting practices, parents' anxiety-depression and family stressors. A community sample of 2 year old children (N=112) was…

In response to an open-ended question about the causes of New Zealand's high youth suicide rate, 384 young adults most commonly cited pressure to conform and perform, followed by financial worries, abuse and neglect, problems with alcohol or drugs, and boredom. Depression was cited by 5 percent and mental illness by only 1 percent. Recommended…

Exercise has an important role to play in the prevention of child and adolescent obesity. Recent school-based interventions have struggled to achieve meaningful and lasting changes to exercise levels. Theorists have suggested that this may, in part, be due to the failure to incorporate psychosocial mediators as they relate to behaviour change.…

Background: Both the professional and the general media have recently published concerns about an "epidemic" of child and adolescent depression. Reasons for this concern include (1) increases in antidepressant prescriptions, (2) retrospective recall by successive birth cohorts of adults, (3) rising adolescent suicide rates until 1990,…