Dieting is common among adolescent girls and may place them at risk of using unhealthy weight-control behaviors (UWCBs), such as self-induced vomiting, laxatives, diet pills, or fasting. Research has suggested that social factors, including friends and broader cultural norms, may be associated with UWCBs. The present study examines the relationship between the school-wide prevalence of current weight loss efforts among adolescent girls, friends’ dieting behavior, and UWCBs, and investigates differences in these associations across weight categories. Survey data were collected in 31 middle and high schools in ethnically and socio-economically diverse communities in Minnesota, USA. The response rate was 81.5%. Rates of UWCBs were compared across the spectrum of prevalence of trying to lose weight and friends’ involvement with dieting, using χ2 analysis and multivariate logistic regression, controlling for demographic factors and clustering by school. Girls with higher body mass index (BMI) were more likely to engage in UWCBs than those of lower BMI. Multivariate models indicated that friends’ dieting behavior was significantly associated with UWCBs for average weight girls (OR=1.57, CI=1.40–1.77) and moderately overweight girls (OR=1.47, CI=1.19–1.82). The school-wide prevalence of trying to lose weight was significantly, albeit modestly, related to UWCBs for average weight girls (15th–85th percentile; OR=1.17, CI=1.01–1.36), and marginally associated for modestly overweight girls (85th–95th percentile; OR=1.21, CI=.97–1.50), even after controlling for friends’ dieting behaviors. The social influences examined here were not associated with UWCBs among underweight (<15th percentile) or overweight (>95th percentile) girls. Findings suggest that social norms, particularly from within one's peer group, but also at the larger school level may influence UWCBs, particularly for average weight girls. Implications for school-based interventions to reduce UWCBs are discussed.

Individuals with high body mass index (BMI), negative body image, and unhealthy weight control behaviors may be more likely to engage in high-risk sexual behaviors than others. Researchers have not fully investigated these relationships in a sample of college students. The authors collected data regarding several weight-related issues and high-risk sexual behaviors (response rate = 39%) from 1,168 college students. Over half reported at least 1 high-risk sexual behavior. After the authors controlled for several demographic characteristics, they found that higher BMIs were associated with increased odds of having a casual sexual partner (odds ratio [OR] = 2.70) and being intoxicated at last intercourse (OR = 2.25). Among women, unhealthy weight control behaviors were associated with having a casual partner (OR = 2.12), using no or unreliable contraception (OR = 1.98), and being intoxicated at last intercourse (OR = 2.31). Weight-related issues were not associated with sexual behaviors among college men. Th...

<h3>Objective</h3><p>To determine the association between frequency of family meals and multiple indicators of adolescent health and well-being (tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use; academic performance; self-esteem; depressive symptoms; and suicide involvement) after controlling for family connectedness.</p><h3>Methods</h3><p>Data come from a 1998-1999 school-based survey of 4746 adolescents from ethnically and socioeconomically diverse communities in the Minneapolis/St Paul, Minn, metropolitan area. Logistic regression, controlling for family connectedness and sociodemographic variables, was used to identify relationships between family meals and adolescent health behaviors.</p><h3>Results</h3><p>Approximately one quarter (26.8%) of respondents ate 7 or more family meals in the past week, and approximately one quarter (23.1%) ate family meals 2 times or less. Frequency of family meals was inversely associated with tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use; low grade point average; depressive symptoms; and suicide involvement after controlling for family connectedness (odds ratios, 0.76-0.93).</p><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>Findings suggest that eating family meals may enhance the health and well-being of adolescents. Public education on the benefits of family mealtime is recommended.</p>

Purpose.Few studies have investigated the efficacy of e-mail for promoting behavior change. This study evaluates the participation in and outcomes associated with an e-mail-based health promotion program.Methods.Adolescent girls aged 15 to 17 years were recruited at a shopping mall. Participants with an e-mail address were assigned to the interactive e-mail magazine (Ezine) group (n = 37), whereas those not reporting an e-mail address were assigned to the non-Ezine group (n = 33). Participants in the Ezine group received the health Ezine, which included a quiz and an advice column, on a weekly basis.Results.Results indicate that among the Ezine group, there was a high recall of the Ezine (81.1%), and more than one third of the participants replied to Ezine volumes with quiz answers or an advice question (36.6%). Differences in health behavior change between the Ezine and non-Ezine groups were not significant.Conclusions.E-mails on health-related matters can generate moderate levels of involvement in adole...

BACKGROUND Relatively little research has focused on the social norms of teen smoking. This study examined social norms regarding adolescent smoking and their relationship with smoking behavior. METHODS Data were collected in 1998 as part of the follow-up for a randomized trial in 14 rural Minnesota communities. Four aspects of perceived social norms of smoking were measured, and students were classified as nonsmokers, daily smokers, past-week smokers, or past-month smokers. Social norms were compared across four levels of smoking behavior, and multivariate models controlled for personal characteristics and family and peer smoking. RESULTS The sample comprised a total of 3128 girls and 3146 boys in grades 8 to 10. For all four measures, nonsmokers had the most antismoking perceptions of social norms around smoking (p <0.001). In multivariate models, noticing other teens smoking and the perception that adults care about and disapprove of teen smoking remained significantly related to past-month smoking. Using more frequent smoking as the dependent variable, noticing smoking remained significantly associated with smoking in the anticipated direction. Perceived prevalence of smoking did not perform consistently across models. CONCLUSIONS Noticing teens smoking is associated with smoking behavior across three different levels of smoking frequency. The perception that adults care about and disapprove of teen smoking was associated with past-month and past-week smoking. Although perceived prevalence is often used to measure social norms of teen smoking, this measure may have limited utility. Strategies for health promotion and intervention on the issue of youth smoking are discussed.

<h3>Background</h3><p>Verbal harassment, such as bullying and hate speech, has received considerable attention recently, but less is known about weight-based teasing and its potential harmful effects on young people's psychosocial well-being.</p><h3>Objective</h3><p>To determine the associations of weight-based teasing and body satisfaction, self-esteem, depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation and suicide attempts using a large sample of adolescents.</p><h3>Design</h3><p>Secondary analysis of survey and anthropometric data.</p><h3>Setting</h3><p>Ethnically and socioeconomically diverse communities in the urban and suburban school districts of the Minneapolis/St Paul metropolitan area.</p><h3>Participants</h3><p>A school-based sample of 4746 adolescents in grades 7 to 12 at 31 public middle schools and high schools.</p><h3>Main Outcome Measures</h3><p>Weight-based teasing from peers or family members, body satisfaction, self-esteem, depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation and suicide attempts.</p><h3>Results</h3><p>Of the eligible students, 81.5% participated; 30.0% of adolescent girls and 24.7% of adolescent boys were teased by peers, and 28.7% of adolescent girls and 16.1% of adolescent boys were teased by family members. Approximately 14.6% of adolescent girls and 9.6% of adolescent boys reported teasing from both of these sources. Teasing about body weight was consistently associated with low body satisfaction, low self-esteem, high depressive symptoms, and thinking about and attempting suicide, even after controlling for actual body weight. These associations held for adolescent boys and girls, across racial, ethnic, and weight groups. Furthermore, teasing from 2 sources was associated with a higher prevalence of emotional health problems than either teasing from a single source or no teasing.</p><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>Physicians and other health care providers should recognize the importance of weight-based teasing for young patients. Policy, programs, and education should focus on increasing awareness of what constitutes weight-based teasing, its potentially harmful effects on adolescents' emotional well-being, and reduction of this behavior.</p>

This paper examines self-efficacy to avoid cigarette smoking and its association with smoking and quitting behavior, peer and worksite influences, nicotine dependence, and socio-demographic variables among employed adolescents. A cross-sectional survey was used to collect data from employed adolescents ages 15–18 who worked in 10 participating grocery stores in Massachusetts. Eighty-three percent of workers (n=379) completed the survey. Results from the multivariate model indicate that daily smokers were less confident in their ability to avoid smoking than those who smoked less frequently. As nicotine dependence increased, self-efficacy beliefs decreased. In addition, as friends' encouragement to quit increased, self-efficacy beliefs also increased. Work-related variables were not associated with self-efficacy beliefs among smokers. This study suggests that smoking frequency, nicotine dependence, and friends' encouragement to quit are associated with self-efficacy to avoid smoking. Researchers may tailor interventions for daily and less-than-daily smokers, build on peer networks that encourage quitting and help smokers resist pressures to smoke, and enhance strategies for coping with nicotine dependence in high-risk situations.

A variety of social factors are expected to contribute to health behaviors among college students. The goal of this paper is to describe the relationships of two different aspects of the campus social environment, namely the campus resources for gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) students and the campus-wide behavioral norms of substance use, to the individual substance-use behaviors of college students with same-sex experiences. Individual-level data come from 630 college students reporting same-sex experience, who were part of a national random sample returning questionnaires. Current cigarette smoking and binge drinking were examined. College-level data regarding the campus resources designed for GLB students were collected and used with campus-wide substance-use norms to predict individual substance use in logistic regression analyses. One-third to one-half of students reported current smoking and binge drinking, by sex and sex-partner category. The presence of GLB resources was inversely associated with women's smoking and directly associated with men's binge drinking behaviors. The proportion of students reporting same-sex behavior on campus was directly associated with these same outcomes, and behavioral norms were not associated with either outcome. Findings provide a glimpse into the influence of the social environment on the use of two of the most widely used substances at American colleges, and suggest that contextual approaches to explaining and controlling substance use may be important.

Objectives: This study seeks to describe the population of college students with same-sex sexual experience and determine if these students report more substance use than their peers with only opposite-sex experience. Methods: Questionnaires were completed by a national random sample of college students on 119 campuses in 1999. A total of 10,301 sexually active students were categorized as having only opposite-sex, only same-sex, or both-sex partners, and their smoking, binge drinking, and marijuana use behaviors were compared. Results: Students who report same-sex sexual experiences comprise 6.1% of respondent. Women with both-sex partners were approximately twice as likely to smoke, binge drink, and use marijuana as women with only opposite-sex partners (OR=1.41–2.78), but women with only same-sex partners were not at increased risk for these behaviors. Men with both-sex partners were less likely to binge drink (OR=0.54) than men with only opposite-sex partners. Conclusions: Students with same-sex experience are present at every type of college. College women with both-sex partners appear to be an appropriate target for health interventions; outreach to these students and further study of related behaviors are warranted.

Abstract The author and colleagues examined campus resources for gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) students at 119 US colleges to determine how the presence of such resources affected sexually active students' condom use. A random sample of unmarried, sexually active college students surveyed in 1999 completed questionnaires. Condom use was compared across schools with different levels of GLB resources. Condom use rates, analyzed by sex and sex-partner groups, ranged from 32% to 52%. With additional college variables controlled for, GLB resources were positively associated with the proportion of sexually active students who used condoms (p < .001). This association existed primarily for students with only opposite-sex partners. The author's findings suggest that campus resources for GLB students may be associated with college students' condom use.

PURPOSE To examine the relationships between worksite interpersonal influences and smoking and quitting behavior among adolescent workers. DESIGN The cross-sectional survey assessed factors influencing tobacco use behavior. SETTING During the fall of 1998, data were collected from 10 grocery stores in Massachusetts that were owned and managed by the same company. SUBJECTS Eligible participants included 474 working adolescents ages 15 to 18. Eighty-three percent of workers (n = 379) completed the survey. MEASURES The self-report questionnaire assessed social influences, social norms, social support, friendship networks, stage of smoking and quitting behavior, employment patterns, and demographic factors. RESULTS Thirty-five percent of respondents were never smokers, 21% experimental, 5% occasional, 18% regular, and 23% former smokers. Using analysis of variance (ANOVA), results indicate that regular smokers were 30% more likely than experimental or occasional smokers to report coworker encouragement to quit (p = .0002). Compared with regular smokers, never smokers were 15% more likely to report greater nonacceptability of smoking (p = .01). chi 2 tests of association revealed no differences in friendship networks by stage of smoking. CONCLUSIONS These data provide evidence for the need to further explore social factors inside and outside the work environment that influence smoking and quitting behavior among working teens. Interpretations of the data are limited because of cross-sectional and self-report data collection methods used in one segment of the retail sector.

Background: Yoga may be benecial for young people at risk for body dissatisfaction and unhealthy behaviors aimed