Drinking and driving is perhaps the most serious problem associated with heavy drinking among college students in the United States. In this study, the authors examined drinking locations prior to impaired driving in a college student sample. They administered the Impaired Driving Assessment to 91 college students identified as high risk for…

Despite the many clear benefits of an active lifestyle, lack of physical activity is a significant health problem in the college population. A key issue in physical activity research is developing an understanding of motivation. Although physical activity takes many forms, most research designed to enhance motivation for and adherence to physical…

This study examines college students' beliefs about health, prescriptions, doctors, and the influence those beliefs have on adherence to prescribed medication regimens. After a brief review of attitudinal factors that influence adherence to prescription medicine directions, the authors discuss measurement issues and explain the reasons for their…

Health promoting behaviors have become increasingly important as Americans attempt to retain their youth and health. This study collected self-reported data from 559 participants in the Southwest United States using the Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile II to compare the health promoting behaviors of older adults (60-92 years), middle-aged adults…

There is growing evidence that cannabis can have negative effects on health. While the ongoing debate about the nature and duration of these effects recognizes mild cognitive impairment, the evidence for irreversibility of cognitive impairment and causal links with psychiatric illness is not conclusive. There is undoubtedly potential for…

Objective: To determine the agreement between 2 measures (adult vs adolescent) of current cigarette smoking among young adults. Methods: We examined data from 1007 young adults from the New Jersey Adult Tobacco Survey. The adult measure incorporates lifetime and present use, whereas the adolescent measure assesses past 30-day use. The kappa…

Chronic disease is a public health issue that could be addressed, in part, by increasing the ability of individuals to better manage their condition and its consequences on a day-to-day basis. One intervention designed to facilitate this is the Chronic Disease Self Management Course (CDSMC) that is delivered by volunteer, lay tutors who themselves…

The incidence of skin cancer has risen rapidly in the UK over the last 20 years, prompting public health organizations to try and raise awareness of the dangers of sun exposure and the need to practice sun-safe behaviour. This study aimed to assess baseline levels of sun-safe knowledge and behaviour in a British population-representative sample,…

The primary objective of this study was to examine the combination of acculturation, family functioning, and parental smoking as predictors of smoking attitudes and behaviors among Asian-American adolescents. The participants were 106 Asian-American high school students whose ages ranged from 15 to 19 (51 male and 55 female, mean age = 16.30…

When measuring participant-reported attitudes and outcomes in the behavioral sciences, there are many instances when the common measurement assumption of unidimensionality does not hold. In these cases, the application of a multidimensional measurement model is both technically appropriate and potentially advantageous in substance. In this paper,…

Behaviour disorders represent a major concern in today's schools. One widely used method to address these problems has been social skills training. To date, the efficiency of this training is modest with respect to the transfer, maintenance and generalization of the newly learned skills. The goal of this study is to compare the profiles of…

Authors reviewed the theoretical history of the "motivation" construct, and its utilization within past/current health behavior research. Textbooks and review articles functioned as sources for the theoretical history review. Research published within a 10-year period (1993-2002) in four health promotion journals (all with impact factors greater…

A factor that affects university students' academic performance is the quantity and quality of their sleep. There is a high rate of insomnia in the general population, but the prevalence of sleep difficulties among university students has not been extensively studied. The current study found that 23 per cent of the researched student population…

The present research details test-retest reliability of a newly developed, telephone-administered TPA survey for adults. This instrument examines barriers, perceptions, and current travel behaviors to place of work/study and local convenience shops. Demonstrated test-retest reliability of the Active Friendly Environments-Transport-Related Physical…

Objective: Decades of research into smoking cessation have created a plethora of knowledge yet quit rates continue to be low and relapse rates high. In order to better understand this complex behaviour, this paper examines incentives and barriers to smoking cessation for a high risk group. Methods: The successful and unsuccessful quitting…