Prevalence of Paid Sex and Associated Factors Among Women and Men Attending HIV Voluntary Counseling and Testing in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo: A Prospective Cohort.

Paid sex is associated with HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, which are highly prevalent in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, few data exist on this sexual practice among the general population in SSA, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where data on paid sex mainly comes from sex workers. In the DRC, most HIV Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) centers do not discuss paid sex as a risk factor.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder as a risk factor for being involved in intimate partner violence and sexual violence: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual violence (SV) are significant problems world-wide, and they affect women disproportionally. Whether individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at an increased risk of being involved in these types of violence is unclear.

Methods: We carried out a systematic review and meta-analysis (PROSPERO registration CRD42022348165) of the associations between ADHD and being the victim or perpetrator of IPV and SV.

Leisure time activities in adolescents predict problematic technology use.

The problematic use of technology of children and adolescents is becoming a growing problem. Research has shown that excessive technology use predicts a variety of psychological and physical health problems. The aim of this study was to analyze the role of leisure time activities (structured and unstructured) in adolescents as a predictor of problematic technology use.

Matched and Fully Private? A New Self-Generated Identification Code for School-Based Cohort Studies to Increase Perceived Anonymity.

Anonymous questionnaires are frequently used in research with adolescents in order to obtain sincere answers about sensitive topics. Most longitudinal studies include self-generated identification codes (SGICs) to match information. Typical elements include a combination of letters and digits from personal data.

Religiosity and Sexual Initiation Among Hispanic Adolescents: The Role of Sexual Attitudes.

Religiosity and sexuality present numerous interconnections. Little is known regarding the specific causal pathways between each religiosity dimension and sexual behavior. The objectives of this study were (1) to explore the relationship between religiosity (measured through attendance at religious services, salience, and prayer) and sexual initiation in adolescents and (2) to establish the role of sexual permissiveness as mediator of the impact produced by religiosity in sexual initiation.

Activities and relationships with parents as key ecological assets that encourage personal positive youth development.

Scientific literature has shown contextual factors that predict youth development, and family variables are the most important ones. In this study, we propose a model that explains the relation between family variables (relationship with parents and family activities) and Personal Positive Youth Development (assessed through Life satisfaction, Interiority, and Self-control), across different cultures. We recruited 2867 adolescents aged 12-18 years (52% female) from three countries: Spain, Mexico, and Peru.

Assessing Adolescent Dating Violence in the YourLife Project: Proposal of an Instrument for Spanish-Speaking Countries.

Background: Several instruments have been developed to assess adolescent dating violence but only few have been validated in Spanish-speaking settings. Some instruments are too long and may not be feasible to include them in a multipurpose questionnaire. We developed an instrument to be used in the YourLife project, an international project about young people lifestyles.

Analysis of Media Outlets on Women's Health: Thematic and Quantitative Analyses Using Twitter.

Media outlets influence social attitudes toward health habits. The analysis of tweets has become a tool for health researchers. The objective of this study was to investigate the distribution of tweets about women's health and the interest generated among Twitter users.

Continuation of Unintended Pregnancy.

Background: Forty-four percent of all pregnancies worldwide are unintended. Induced abortion has drawn a lot of attention from clinicians and policy makers, and the care for women requesting it has been covered in many publications. However, abortion challenges the values of many women, is associated with negative emotions, and has its own medical complications.

Association of the Dietary-Based Diabetes-Risk Score (DDS) with the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus in the Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra (SUN) project.

It is crucial to identify people at risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) to implement preventive interventions in order to address these pandemics. A simple score exclusively based on dietary components, the Dietary-Based Diabetes-Risk Score (DDS) showed a strong inverse association with incident T2DM. The objective was to assess the association between DDS and the risk of GDM in a cohort of Spanish university graduates.

Leisure activities and alcohol consumption among adolescents from Peru and El Salvador.

Introduction: Structured and unstructured leisure are known protective and risk factors, respectively, for alcohol consumption during adolescence. However, little is known about the interaction between the two leisure types and alcohol consumption.

Method: A cross-sectional study was performed among high-school students in El Salvador and Peru.

Forced sexual intercourse and its association with HIV status among people attending HIV Voluntary Counseling and Testing in a healthcare center in Kinshasa (DRC).

Introduction: Sexual violence, an HIV determinant, is an integrated behavior in the D.R.Congo.

Pre-pregnancy adherences to empirically derived dietary patterns and gestational diabetes risk in a Mediterranean cohort: the Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra (SUN) project.

The aim of this study was to investigate the association between the adherence to empirically derived dietary patterns and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) risk and of healthy lifestyles with the prevention of GDM defining an overall healthy score. The Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra project is a Mediterranean cohort of university graduates started in 1999. We included 3455 pregnant women.

The Sooner, the Worse? Association between Earlier Age of Sexual Initiation and Worse Adolescent Health and Well-being Outcomes.

This cross-sectional study assesses the association between age of sexual initiation during adolescence and a selection of well-being outcomes regarding that first relationship. High-school adolescents from El Salvador (2,686) and from Peru (3,399) replied to a paper-pencil questionnaire. Those who were sexually initiated replied to several questions regarding their age at sexual initiation, condom use, satisfaction and reasons/circumstances for that sexual relationship.

Soft drink consumption and gestational diabetes risk in the SUN project.

Background & Aims: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) prevalence is increasing worldwide. To the best of our knowledge the specific evaluation of soft drink consumption as a risk factor for developing GDM has only been conducted in the Nurses' Health Study II.

Objective: To investigate the incidence of GDM according to soft drink consumption in the SUN project.

Primary prevention of gestational diabetes mellitus through nutritional factors: a systematic review.

Background: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), defined as any degree of glucose intolerance with onset during pregnancy, is increasing worldwide, mostly because obesity among women of reproductive age is continuously escalating. GDM is associated with adverse maternal and fetal outcomes. The aim of this article was to systematically review literature on the effectiveness of nutritional factors before or during pregnancy to prevent GDM.

Male condom use, multiple sexual partners and HIV: a prospective case-control study in Kinshasa (DRC).

In the Democratic Republic of Congo no previous studies have assessed the factors associated with different patterns of condom use and with multiple sexual partners, and the association between condom use simultaneously taking into account multiple sexual partnerships, and HIV infection. We carried out a prospective case-control study. From December 2010 until June 2012, 1630 participants aged 15-49 getting HIV Voluntary Counseling and Testing in a hospital in Kinshasa were selected.

Parental knowledge and adolescents' risk behaviors.

In this paper we study whether parental knowledge of adolescents' activities varies according to socio-demographic variables, and we analyze the possible association between parental knowledge patterns and certain risk behaviors among adolescents. A cross-sectional study was performed with representative samples of high-school students in Peru and El Salvador. A questionnaire assessed risk behaviors, as well as possible determinants, including parental knowledge.

Factors that lead to changes in sexual behaviours after a negative HIV test: protocol for a prospective cohort study in Kinshasa.

Background: Considering the high percentage of couples in which one or both members are HIV negative, the frequency of transmission among non-regular partners and the probabilities of non-disclosure, attention should be paid to people getting a negative HIV test at the Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT). Research has shown that a negative HIV test may be followed by a change in sexual behaviours. In Sub-Saharan Africa, where most HIV infections occur, there are few studies that have analysed the factors associated with changes in sexual risk behaviours after a negative HIV test at the VCT clinic.

Project YOURLIFE (What Young People Think and Feel about Relationships, Love, Sexuality, and Related Risk Behavior): Cross-sectional and Longitudinal Protocol.

Introduction: Sexually transmitted infections and unplanned pregnancies affect adolescent sexual health and are serious public health concerns. They result from sexual intercourse in adolescence, which is usually associated with multiple partners, unprotected sex, and condom misuse. This behavior is related to socio-ecological factors that influence lifestyles.

Alcohol and Difficulty Conceiving in the SUN Cohort: A Nested Case-Control Study.

The role of alcohol on fertility remains unclear. We aimed to investigate the association between alcohol and specific alcoholic beverages consumption and the risk of difficulty getting pregnant. We used a case-control study nested within the Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra (SUN) cohort, a prospective, dynamic and multipurpose cohort of 21,705 Spanish university graduates, followed biennially with mailed questionnaires.