Background: Intrapersonal and external factors, including social pressures and the desire for acceptance from peers, influence sexual activity among adolescents. This study examined how personal characteristics, risky behaviors, normative beliefs, household factors, and engagement in extracurricular activities were related to high school freshman…

Background: Schools can promote healthy eating in adolescents. This study used a qualitative approach to examine barriers and facilitators to healthy eating in schools. Methods: Case studies were conducted with 8 low-income Michigan middle schools. Interviews were conducted with 1 administrator, the food service director, and 1 member of the…

Background: Seattle Public Schools has implemented policies and programs to increase safety, family involvement, and student achievement for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth. This case study examines students' perceptions of bullying and harassment in the school environment, and teacher intervention when…

Background: This study fills a gap in the literature by examining how school staff members view bullying and sexual harassment and their role in preventing both. Given recent legislation, increasingly more attention is paid to bully prevention; however, student-on-student sexual harassment is less addressed. Methods: Four focus groups were…

Background: Exposure to community violence compromises teacher effectiveness, student learning, and socioemotional well-being. This study examined the challenges, strategies, and support needs of teachers in urban schools affected by high levels of community violence. Methods: Twenty teachers from 3 urban middle schools with predominantly…

Background: This study examined the relationships among cyberbullying, school bullying, and mental health in adolescents. Methods: In 2010, a total of 2992 10th grade students recruited from 26 high schools in Taipei, Taiwan completed questionnaires. Results: More than one third of students had either engaged in cyberbullying or had been the…

Background: This study integrated criminological and public health perspectives to examine the influence of bullying victimization and the school environment on physical activity (PA). Methods: We used a weighted sample of 7786 US middle school students surveyed as part of the Health Behavior in School-Aged Children study to conduct a multilevel…

Background: School environment and policy changes have increased healthy eating and physical activity; however, there has been modest success in translating research ?ndings to practice. The School Environment Project tested whether an adapted version of Intervention Mapping (AIM) resulted in school change. Methods: Using a pair randomized design,…

Background: The ways in which adolescents define and view sex, abstinence, and virginity impact the efforts of sexuality educators and sexual health professionals. This study examined terminology used by nonsexually active high school students to define abstinence and virginity and identified words students associate with these terms. Purposes…

Background: This article examines results and lessons learned from a collaborative project involving a large urban school district, its county health department, multiple community partners, and the local university to establish an effective system for data sharing to inform monitoring and evaluation of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools (CMS)…

Background: School-based interventions hold promise for child obesity prevention. Implemented as a part of the "Winning with Wellness" obesity prevention project, the "Go Slow Whoa" meal pattern (GSW) was designed to promote healthier foods in school cafeterias. This investigation determined perceived program effectiveness and…

Background: Adolescent tobacco use has been a serious public health issue, resulting in longer duration of tobacco use and higher nicotine dependence in adulthood. This study identified the current status of tobacco use among middle schools students in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and the factors leading to tobacco use, to provide information on how to…

Background: Two risk behaviors, alcohol consumption and early initiation of sexual intercourse (ISI), can have devastating consequences for youth. The purpose of this study was to determine the association of school connectedness and school-related behaviors (eg, academic performance, skipping school, getting into trouble at school) with these 2…

Background: This study examined the correlates of gambling behavior among eighth-grade students. Methods: Children (n = 15,865) enrolled in publicly funded schools in Oregon completed the 2008 Oregon Healthy Teens survey. Multivariate logistic regression analyses assessed the combined and independent associations between risk and protective…

Background: This study explored school personnel's perceptions of school refusal, as it has been described as a "common educational and public health problem" that is less tolerated due to increasing awareness of the potential socioeconomic consequences of this phenomenon. Methods: In-depth interviews were conducted with school personnel at the…