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At least 937 records · Page 52Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Cigarette smoking by adolescent females: implications for health and behavior.

Cigarette smoking rates among teenage females have risen progressively since 1968 until surpassing teenage males in 1979. Psychosocial factors underlying the initiation of smoking include peer pressure, adult role modeling and prosmoking messages in advertising, with smoking potentially representing a desired set of personality characteristics. Regular smoking leads to the development of a dependence process, with cessation often difficult to achieve and maintain. Preventing smoking onset is a responsibility of health professionals and educators. Social psychological approaches teaching social skills and techniques for resisting smoking have been effective in reducing rates of initiation in JHS experimental programs.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Land settlement policies and population redistribution in developing countries: performance, problems and prospects.

The author describes and compares land settlement in various developing countries, focusing on the movement of people to underutilized agricultural areas. "The purpose of this article is fourfold: first, to discuss the performance of settlement programmes, concentrating on the extent to which they have achieved their population redistribution and other objectives; second, to analyse major economic and social problems confronting them; third, to identify factors that have contributed to their success or failure; and, fourth, to assess alternative policy options." This analysis of land settlement programs "suggests that so far they have made no more than a modest contribution to the solution of the problems of population distribution, unemployment and poverty."

Agriculture↗
PubMed1987

Effects of social supports on attitudes and health behaviors of pregnant adolescents.

The influence of social support on maternal attitudes and behaviors was assessed in 57 third-trimester adolescent women attending an urban prenatal clinic. Sociodemographic characteristics, social support, self-esteem, and feelings about pregnancy were measured by questionnaire. The support and influence of the adolescent father was emphasized. Social support was measured as a multidimensional construct derived by a priori and empirical procedures. The outcomes measured were the amount of prenatal care, attendance at scheduled postpartum appointments, and pleasure with the pregnancy. Stepwise multiple-regression analyses were used to assess the contributions of the predictor to criterion variables. Pleasure with pregnancy was positively associated with the receipt of assistance from the adolescent's mother, favorable opinions of friends, and satisfaction with living arrangements. Attendance at postpartum visits was associated with high self-esteem. Notably absent as significant contributors were sociodemographic characteristics, receipt of emotional and tangible support from the adolescent father, and expectation of aid from social-assistance programs.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

OOPSE: an object-oriented parallel simulation engine for molecular dynamics.

OOPSE is a new molecular dynamics simulation program that is capable of efficiently integrating equations of motion for atom types with orientational degrees of freedom (e.g. "sticky" atoms and point dipoles). Transition metals can also be simulated using the embedded atom method (EAM) potential included in the code. Parallel simulations are carried out using the force-based decomposition method. Simulations are specified using a very simple C-based meta-data language. A number of advanced integrators are included, and the basic integrator for orientational dynamics provides substantial improvements over older quaternion-based schemes.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2003

Integer/linear mathematical programming models: a tool for allocating healthcare resources.

In today's environment, the demand for efficient healthcare resource allocation is increasing. As new technologies become available, allocation decisions become more complex and tools to assist decision makers in determining efficient allocations of healthcare resources are encouraged. Mathematical programs have multiple properties that are desirable for healthcare decision makers such as the simultaneous consideration of multiple constraints and a built-in sensitivity analysis. These models have been well researched and are considered invaluable in other industries. Mathematical programming has also become increasingly visible in facilitating the allocation of healthcare resources in the health services research sector. However, the use of mathematical programming tools has been limited in economic evaluations of new technologies. Budget allocations, such as formulary, drug development, and pricing decisions may benefit greatly from the use of mathematical programs. As an increasing number of expensive new technologies become available and pressure grows to contain healthcare costs, these tools may help guide a more efficient allocation of resources for technologies under budgetary and other constraints.

Decision Making↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The Africentric Transtheoretical model in a school-based pregnancy prevention program.

This article describes the use of a socio-culturally specific framework for a pregnancy prevention program for low income 10 to 12 year old African American middle school girls. The framework expands earlier (Johnson, 1995) conceptualizations by combining African and African American frames of reference with behavior change processes to influence sexual decision-making among young adolescents.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Calculation of survival curves and statistical comparison of two censored populations: a computer program in BASIC.

In experimental aging research the handling of censored data imposes a serious problem in the calculation of survival curves of partly censored populations and the statistical comparison of such populations. The presented computer program combines a method to calculate a corrected survival curve and a test to compare two censored populations. In both methods, the proportion of the animals that survive or die during an interval and the number at risk at the start of that interval is used in the calculation of relative survival or death during that interval. The program is written in an elementary BASIC and will run on practically every computer programmable in BASIC. The presented method can be used for testing the difference between survival characteristics of two animal populations but might also be employed in evaluating the effect of a medical treatment.

Aging↗
PubMed1996

Do school-based health centers improve adolescents' access to health care, health status, and risk-taking behavior?

PURPOSE: The purpose of this investigation was to assess the School-Based Adolescent Health Care Program, which provided comprehensive health-related services in 24 school-based health centers. METHODS: The outcomes evaluation compared a cohort of students attending 19 participating schools and a national sample of urban youths, using logit models to control for observed differences between the two groups of youths. Outcome measures included self-reports concerning health center utilization, use of other health care providers, knowledge of key health facts, substance use, sexual activity, contraceptive use, pregnancies and births, and health status. RESULTS: The health centers increased students' access to health care and improved their health knowledge. However, the estimated impacts on health status and risky behaviors were inconsistent, and most were small and not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: School-based health centers can increase students' health knowledge and access to health-related services, but more intensive or different services are needed if they are to significantly reduce risk-taking behaviors.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Factors influencing child mortality levels in rural Bangladesh: evidence from a micro study.

"This paper examines the factors that affect child mortality [in rural Bangladesh] by using a multivariate technique. The results suggest that mother's access to education and health care facilities are important determinants of child mortality. The access to maternal and child health programs and visit by the health workers were also related to low childhood mortality...." (SUMMARY IN FRE AND ITA)

Asia↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Enhancing the validity of foster care follow-up studies through multiple alumni location strategies.

While family-based placement prevention services, family reunification programs, subsidized guardianship, and aggressive adoption programs are reducing the numbers of children spending long periods of time in substitute care, a significant number of America's children will come of age in foster care. Agencies and policymakers should use research and evaluation to assess the effectiveness of foster care in nurturing healthy adults and to explore ways to improve services. Outcome studies that have focused on locating and interviewing young or middle-aged adults emancipated from foster care have been hampered by modest response rates, limiting the field's ability to evaluate the efficacy of foster care programs. This article describes a set of strategies that were used to achieve higher response rates in two recent follow-up studies.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

The demographic impact of the contraceptive distribution project in Matlab, Bangladesh.

This paper evaluates a study fielded in Bangladesh in 1975 to test the hypothesis that ubiquitous availability of pills and condoms in a rural, traditional, noncontracepting population would increase contraceptive use and reduce fertility. Treatment and comparison areas were designated in Matlab, an area with accurate and complete demographic data. Use prevalence peaked at 18 percent in the first three months of the project and declined thereafter. Project activities continued until 1977. Results show that between-treatment fertility differentials were 10 percent in the first year of program impact, but that effects dissipated with time.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Evaluation in prevention: implications from a general model.

Evaluation is a many faceted, rapidly developing process which is held together by a common theme: A practical orientation toward using social programs. That practical orientation can be understood in three ways: as a total evaluation system, as a technological endeavor, or as a social research effort that has the intent of being useful as evaluation. There are three basic elements to good evaluation: validity, utility, and theory. Validity and utility must be understood in terms of specific threats to their integrity. The salience of those threats shifts with the context of evaluation activity. Theory is important because powerful evaluation designs cannot be developed, nor can results be interpreted, without an understanding of the dynamics of program action. Each aspect of evaluation--validity, utility and theory--must be considered relative to four aspects of prevention which pose particular impediments to the conduct of evaluation. Those special characteristics are: the need to mass target prevention programs, the problem of treating people who have not yet manifested symptoms, difficulties in ascertaining when prevention will be most useful, and the need to evaluate prevention programs with long term observation.

Evaluation Studies as Topic↗
PubMed1991

[Fertility trends in Indonesia: an analysis of preferences].

"This analysis begins with a presentation of a summary of levels and trends of fertility. Selected factors affecting fertility are also addressed. Then data from the National Indonesia Contraceptive Prevalence Survey (NICPS) carried out as part of the Demographic and Health Surveys program in 1987 are used to investigate the extent of fertility planning among Indonesian women, and the extent to which the plan is being implemented. Differentials in fertility intentions are also studied." (SUMMARY IN ENG)

Asia↗
PubMed1995

Fatal attraction: do high-technology treatments for end-stage renal disease benefit aboriginal patients in central Australia?

The health problems of Aboriginal Australians, like those of many indigenous peoples, resemble those of the developing world, yet they are dealt with using the tools, techniques, and high-technology medical solutions of first-world health. Such approaches ignore the social components of health and illness, including the need for preventive and educative programs at the primary health care level. The example of endstage renal disease provides a poignant example of the inadequacies of this approach. Central Australian Aboriginal people suffer from a high incidence of kidney disease from numerous causes including non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and glomerulonephritis. The high incidence has led to numbers of people developing end-stage renal disease and moving into the Northern Territory-South Australia renal failure program for dialysis and/or transplantation. In requiring patients to leave their lands, communities and families, this program removes people from the religious and social support network that could ensure a reasonable quality of life in their final years, while offering only marginal extensions of those years. Expensive technology programs are of little benefit and of considerable cost to Aboriginal patients and draw attention away from efforts to reduce the exposure of at-risk Aboriginal people to the factors that facilitate the development of end-stage renal disease.

Adult↗