Biomedical subjects

K A Burklow

Publications and source records attributed to K A Burklow.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1999

Relationship between perceived parental monitoring and young adolescent girls' sexual and substance use behaviors.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study was to examine the independent effects of perceived parental monitoring on sexual experience, contraceptive, and substance use. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Adolescent females at an urban-based adolescent clinic (N = 174; 41% sexually experienced) rated the extent to which they were directly and indirectly monitored by their parents. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: These perceptions were compared with reported contraceptive use as well as substance use. Direct parental monitoring was best described using two dimensions: direct monitoring and direct monitoring when with peers. RESULTS: Direct monitoring was found to be associated with the use of hormonal birth control methods at last intercourse. Direct parental monitoring when with peers was found to be associated with less use of alcohol and cigarettes. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that parental monitoring is a relevant factor for primary care physicians to explore during treatment.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1999

Adolescents' views regarding sexual history taking.

To address the health needs of adolescents, health care providers need to understand adolescent perceptions of the sexual history taking process. Adolescents (n = 113) were recruited from two sources of health care to complete a questionnaire regarding sexual history taking issues. The results revealed that there were differences in demographics, practice characteristics, and communication strategies between the private office and the hospital clinic. Attitudes and beliefs related to the discussion of sensitive issues were similar. Most adolescents would like health care providers to discuss sensitive topics directly. It is important for health care providers to feel comfortable initiating discussion of sensitive issues directly.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1998

Maternal feeding practices and childhood obesity: a focus group study of low-income mothers.

OBJECTIVE: To identify maternal beliefs and practices about child feeding that are associated with the development of childhood obesity. DESIGN: Four focus groups. One group of dietitians from the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) in the Northern Kentucky Health District and 3 groups of mothers with children enrolled in WIC. SETTING: The WIC program in the Northern Kentucky Health District. PARTICIPANTS: Fifteen WIC dietitians and 14 mothers (14 to 34 years of age) with young children (12 to 36 months of age) enrolled in WIC. RESULTS: The mothers in this study (1) believed that it was better to have a heavy infant because infant weight was the best marker of child health and successful parenting, (2) feared that their infants were not getting enough to eat, which led them to introduce rice cereal and other solid food to the diets before the recommended ages, and (3) used food to shape their children's behaviors (eg, to reward good behavior or to calm fussiness). The mothers acknowledged that some of their child-feeding practices went against the advice of their WIC nutritionists and physicians. Instead, the participants relied on their mothers as their main source of information about child feeding. CONCLUSIONS: Physicians and allied health professionals discussing childhood growth with mothers should avoid implying that infant weight is necessarily a measure of child health or parental competence. Parents who use food to satisfy their children's emotional needs or to promote good behavior in their children may promote obesity by interfering with their children's ability to regulate their own food intake. Interventions to alter child-feeding practices should include education of grandmothers.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1998

Classifying complex pediatric feeding disorders.

BACKGROUND: This study defines the multiple characteristics associated with complex pediatric feeding problems and determines the relative frequency of each classification in a population referred to an interdisciplinary feeding team. METHODS: The written reports from team evaluations on 103 children (64 males, 39 females; age range 4 months to 17 years) were reviewed. Prematurity and/or presence of developmental delay was coded. Identified factors related to current feeding problems were coded according to five categories: structural abnormalities, neurological conditions, behavioral issues, cardiorespiratory problems, metabolic dysfunction. RESULTS: Interrater reliability for the classification coding was 88%. Thirty-eight percent of the children had a history of pre- maturity and 74% were reported to have evidence of developmental delay. The following five categories or combinations were coded most frequently: structural-neurological-behavioral (30%), neurological-behavioral (27%), behavioral (12%), structural-behavioral (9%), and structural-neurological (8%). Overall, behavioral issues were coded more often (85%) than neurological conditions (73%), structural abnormalities (57%), cardiorespiratory problems (7%), or metabolic dysfunction (5%). CONCLUSIONS: Data analysis using this classification system revealed that the majority of children in this sample had a behavioral component to their complex feeding problem, regardless of concurrent physical factors. These findings suggest that complex pediatric feeding problems are biobehavioral conditions in which biological and behavioral aspects mutually interact, and both need to be addressed to achieve normal feeding.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1997

Heterosexual romantic relationships and sexual behaviors of young adolescent girls.

PURPOSE: To compare the heterosexual romantic relationships of a cohort sexually experienced and sexually inexperienced adolescent girls, to describe the perceptions of the appropriateness of the age of first intercourse, and to evaluate the reasons why sexually experienced girls chose to have sexual intercourse the first and the most recent times they had sexual intercourse. METHODS: Girls (n = 174) with a mean age of 14.5 years were recruited from an urban-based adolescent clinic to participate in a longitudinal study of psychosexual development. The subjects were interviewed regarding their views about relationships and sexual behaviors. For the purposes of this study, data were analyzed from the first wave of data collection. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study revealed that sexually experienced girls were more likely than sexually inexperienced ones to share unique information and spend time with their boyfriends, and to anticipate that their relationships would last longer. Regardless of sexual experience, 35% of their relationships were not mutually exclusive, which places the sexually experienced girls at risk for sexually transmitted infections. Most of the girls felt that they had been "too young" at the time of first intercourse. The reasons the adolescent girls gave for having intercourse the first time and the most recent time were correlated. It would be useful to incorporate the results of this study into subsequent research which identifies strategies to aid girls to postpone the initiation of intercourse, and maintain exclusive sexual relationships. Helping sexually experienced girls to consider why they have had intercourse in the past can aid future decision-making.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1997

Adolescent girls' perceived prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases and condom use.

Little is known concerning sexually experienced and inexperienced adolescent girls' perceptions of the prevalence of condom use and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Girls (n = 174; 41% sexually experienced) rated the prevalence of condom use among friends and STDs among male and female friends and adolescents in general. Girls perceive the prevalence of STDs similarly across both gender and level of familiarity. For the most part, however, the girls perceived the prevalence among boys and girls more similarly than among friends and adolescents in general. No significant differences were found between sexually experienced and inexperienced girls in perceptions of condom use prevalence, but girls with a history of STD perceived condoms as used less frequently. Girls with an STD history perceived STDs as the most prevalent, followed by sexually inexperienced girls and then sexually experienced girls without a history of an STD. After an adolescent girl initiates sexual intercourse, STD experience could be a key variable in affecting her perceptions. Prevention programs can incorporate an understanding of patients' perceptions of condom use and STDs.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

Family involvement in the gynecologic care of adolescents.

The purpose of this paper is to address the issues of family involvement in gynecologic care for adolescent girls. This is accomplished by reviewing pertinent literature and its implication for health-care delivery. Specific aspects of adolescent development including changes in cognitive development and relationships are reviewed. In addition, the implications of communication between parent and adolescent, degree of parental monitoring, and the type of parenting style are discussed. Using this information as a background, recommendations for family involvement in gynecologic care are given. Methods for handling appointments are addressed; including the structure and content of the appointment and also the follow-up appointment, especially for high-risk families. Issues of confidentiality for both adolescent and parent are discussed. This information should aid clinicians in supporting those features of families that promote positive growth in adolescent girls.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The reliability of high-risk adolescent girls' report of their sexual history.

The purposes of this study were to determine the consistency in sexually active adolescent girls' self-report of sexual history and to examine their perceptions of providing sexual history information in an interview. Twenty-two adolescent girls (86% black and 14% white) were recruited from an outpatient dysplasia clinic to be interviewed 2 weeks apart. The interview consisted of questions regarding sexual history and whether they viewed their age at first intercourse as too young, too old, or appropriate. After the second interview they were asked whether there were any questions for which they thought other teenagers would be tempted not to tell the truth and any questions that were too embarrassing. Significant correlations between visits were seen for each sexual history variable. Girls described number of sexual partners and sexually transmitted disease history as questions to which adolescents might not be truthful. As part of sexual history taking, health care providers should explore with adolescent girls their perceptions of their history and address any concerns the girls have that might lead to inaccuracies or prevent the girls from obtaining appropriate anticipatory guidance.

Adolescent↗