Biomedical subjects

S Ashbrook

Publications and source records attributed to S Ashbrook.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1989

Developing a strategy for understanding adolescent nutrition concerns.

Disseminating nutrition information that adolescents will incorporate into their lives has been a difficult challenge for nutrition educators. The communication of such information has often been a "one-way street"; adolescents are given information that educators feel they need to have. Researchers contend that a more effective way to communicate is for adolescents to describe what they need to know in order to relate nutrition messages to their own worlds. A research model based on Brenda Dervin's work with the "sense-making" theory of communication was used to better determine adolescents' perceived nutrition concerns. Adolescents aged 14 to 16 across six states were interviewed to record personal situations they experienced concerning food, nutrition, and/or eating. Situation "movement states" were identified to determine the qualitative ways in which the adolescents perceived themselves as dealing with the situations they described. Data indicate that this theoretical base may be used by nutrition educators to identify adolescents' nutrition needs and to design appropriate education materials.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1989

The sense-making approach for audience assessment of adolescents.

The purpose of the research was to test the methodology used to identify how adolescents approach their nutrition concerns and questions. The methodology was based on Dervin's sense-making theory. Using a time-line interview technique, 305 adolescents 14 to 16 years of age detailed a situation involving their most important nutrition concerns. Other pertinent information was obtained. Cluster analysis was chosen as the appropriate analysis to identify groups of adolescents who responded similarly to the technique. Discriminant analysis was then used to determine which variables maximally separated the groups. Four groups were identified, two of which described action-oriented approaches to dealing with nutrition situations and differed in terms of how much outside help they wanted. The remaining two groups perceived barriers to dealing with situations and also differed in how much help they wanted. A fifth group indicated no nutrition concerns or questions. The results will be used to develop and test the effectiveness of nutrition education when it is focused on the different approaches.

Adolescent↗