Examined the relationship between demographic, practice, and cultural variables and rural school nurses' attitudes about AIDS and homosexuality. Data from mailed surveys (N=69) indicated that attitudes about homosexuality were related to nurses' homosexual knowledge and religious beliefs. Attitudes about AIDS were related to nurses' willingness to…

Presents findings from nationwide surveys of early elementary educators (N=505) that examined training status on tobacco prevention, level of teaching about tobacco prevention, and perceived self-efficacy for teaching tobacco prevention. Most respondents had no formal tobacco prevention training but had high efficacy and outcome expectation…

Uses Safer Choices--a school-based program for preventing HIV, sexually transmitted diseases, and pregnancy--to examine methodological issues in large-scale school-based health promotion research, discussing randomization of small numbers of units; reasons for using a cohort or cross-sectional design; and analysis of data by appropriate…

Investigated tobacco use from 1976-1992 among urban and rural adolescents using data from Monitoring the Future, a project that examines high school seniors' risk behaviors and sociodemographics annually. Results suggest rural white males smoke most often and urban black females smoke least often when compared to other groups. Smoking rates…

Study used focus group interviews with ninth graders to help develop a nutrition education video and teacher's guide for Florida high schools. Students believed a video would be successful, expressed interest in 10 nutrition topics, recommended using teen actors with varying body types, and suggested no more than three or four topics per video.…

Investigated a possible cancer cluster among employees at one elementary school. Results of an industrial hygiene survey and health investigation found a marginally significant increase of risk for breast cancer among females who had worked for the school but no other excess in cancers. There were no significant employee exposures to carcinogens…

Used the National Pediatric Trauma Registry, which collects data on child injuries requiring hospitalization, to examine causes and outcomes of injuries occurring at school. Analysis of 1,558 cases indicated that most injuries were unintentional and occurred among students age 10-14 years. Nearly half occurred in recreational areas. Falls and…

Examined the relationship between junior high school students' participation in an alcohol prevention program and level of refusal skills (as measured by role plays), noting the relationship between refusal skills and alcohol misuse over three years. Regression analysis indicated that refusal skills were significant mediators of the effect of the…

This study documented the prevalence of exercise-induced asthma (EIA) in rural elementary schools, examining the use of a free-running asthma screening test and peak expiratory flow-rate measurement for school screening. Results indicated that 5.7% of the students had EIA. Absenteeism and poverty were related to EIA. (SM)

Describes development and evaluation of an interdisciplinary health team training program for school-based clinic staff in Minnesota elementary and secondary schools. The program included development in team training knowledge and skills and educational sessions on issues identified by participants. Evaluations indicated that participants gained…

Data from the health education component of the 1994 School Health Policies and Programs Study were analyzed. This report summarizes the findings, which indicate that although HIV prevention education has been widely implemented in U.S. schools, improvement in these programs is needed, particularly in numbers of teachers receiving inservice HIV…

This study compared secondary health teachers' beliefs concerning teaching about testicular cancer (TC) and self-examination (TSE) to actual instruction. TC and TSE education levels were low. Perceived barriers to teaching about TSE was the main predictor of TSE instruction. Teachers with previous preparation in TC and TSE provided the most…

Research has shown that adolescent tobacco users are much more likely to progress to illicit drugs than are nonusers. This article suggests potential psychosocial reasons for progression based on principles of learning theory, Theory of Reasoned Action, Health Belief Model, and Cognitive Dissonance. Also discusses neuropharmacologic components to…

This review determined how many drug prevention curricula available to schools have been shown in rigorous research studies to reduce substance use behavior. The review identified 47 curricula, only 10 of which had been evaluated in rigorous studies. The paper presents recommendations to increase the number of programs rigorously evaluated.…

Video and computer games have assumed a prominent role in the culture of U.S. children and adolescents. The paper examines the health effects of these games, suggests criteria upon which parents and teachers may evaluate the games, and notes some implications for health educators. (SM)