Background: Evidence show that school connectedness is important to youth wellness. However, considerable inconsistency in the concepts and measures of school connectedness exists across studies. In addition, many measures do not capture the multifaceted dimensions of the school connectedness construct. This study examined the psychometric…

Background: Around 10% of adolescent students under 18 years have current asthma. Asthmatic adolescents smoke as much or more than non-asthmatic adolescents. We explored the association between exposure to mass media and social networks' influence with asthmatic student smoking, and variations of these exposures by sex. Methods: This study…

Background: Associations of lower school connectedness have been seen with adolescent sexual risk behaviors, but little is known about gender differences with respect to these relationships. Understanding any such differences could contribute to better supporting the school environment to promote youth sexual health. Methods: We used provincially…

Background: Hookah tobacco smoking has increased in prevalence among Florida adolescents and is often viewed as a safer alternative to cigarette smoking by young adults. Asthmatic adolescents are at increased risk of the negative health effects of hookah smoking. The purpose of this study is to examine if hookah use and harm perception vary by…

Background: This study assessed associations between selective school-level factors and students' consumption of fruits and vegetables at school. Better understanding of school factors associated with increased produce consumption is especially important, as students are served more produce items at school. Methods: This cross-sectional study…

Background: Many programs emphasize subsequent pregnancy prevention and high school graduation among teenage mothers; however, less is known about their ability to increase financial earnings from employment opportunities while concurrently enrolled in school. This study evaluates factors influencing employment status among teenage mothers after…

Background: The aim of this study was to determine the association between the school nutrition climate and students' eating behaviors and body mass index (BMI). Methods: Data were collected as part of Youth'07, a nationally representative health survey of high school students in New Zealand. Overall, 9107 randomly selected students from…

Background: We describe the prevalence of behaviors that put American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) high school students at risk for teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and the relationships among race/ethnicity and these behaviors. Methods: We analyzed merged 2007 and 2009 data from the national Youth Risk Behavior…

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…

Background: Violence-exposed youth rarely receive mental health services, even though exposure increases risk for academic and psychosocial problems. This study examines the association between violence exposure and mental health service contact. The 4 forms of violence exposure were peer, family, sexual, and witnessing. Methods: Data are from…

Background: Media literacy programs have shown potential for reduction of adolescent tobacco use. We aimed to determine if an anti-smoking media literacy curriculum improves students' media literacy and affects factors related to adolescent smoking. Methods: We recruited 1170 9th-grade students from 64 classrooms in 3 public urban high…

Background: Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) are the largest source of added sugar in the US diet. In adolescents aged 12-19, these drinks account for 13% to 28% of total daily calories. Compared with other adolescents, those residing in Appalachia have the highest consumption rates of SSBs. Methods: Using a Teen Advisory Council (TAC), a…

Background: The school environment is an important context for understanding risk factors for teen dating violence. This study seeks to add to the growing literature base linking adolescent experiences with bullying and involvement with teen dating violence. Methods: Data were collected from 27,074 adolescents at 58 high schools via a Web-based…

Background: While demand for youth violence prevention programs increases, the ability of the school-day schedule to accommodate their time requirements has diminished. Viable school-based prevention programs must strike a balance between brevity and effectiveness. This article reports results from an effectiveness trial of a 12-session…

Background: Adolescents with asthma are at risk for psychological and behavioral problems. The aim of this study was to determine whether high school students with asthma are at increased risk for bullying in school and cyberspace, and to explore the role of depressive symptoms in moderating this association. Methods: A secondary data analysis was…