Denormalizing a historical problem: teen pregnancy, policy, and public health action.

Objective: To explore the impact of teen-adult sexual relationships as a public health threat and the effectiveness of statutory rape laws in protecting adolescent children.

Methods: A comprehensive review of current literature surrounding child abuse, teen pregnancy, and statutory rape was conducted.

Results: Of one million teen girls who become pregnant each year, two-thirds may be the victims of statutory rape.

Preservice teachers' perceived confidence in teaching school violence prevention.

Objective: To examine preservice teachers' perceived confidence in teaching violence prevention and the potential effect of violence-prevention training on preservice teachers' confidence in teaching violence prevention.

Methods: Six Ohio universities participated in the study. More than 800 undergraduate and graduate students completed surveys.

Mothers' perceptions of factors influencing violence in schools.

This study investigated mothers' perceptions of factors contributing to school violence. Of 345 mothers, 225 (65%) from urban public schools and 120 (35%) from suburban public schools, significant differences in perceptions of school violence were found on the enabling factors subscale for school location. Urban school mothers were significantly more likely than suburban mothers to attribute violence problems at their child's school to the lack of dress codes, violent messages in rap music, and poor parent/teacher communication.

Race-specific versus general stamps on African-American women's survey return rates.

This study examined cancer survey return rates in relation to race-specific versus general stamps used on self-addressed stamped return envelopes. Of the 104 race-specific stamps sent 41 (39%) were returned. Of the 108 general stamps sent 41 (38%) were returned.

Knowledge, beliefs, and use of prescribed antibiotic medications among low-socioeconomic African Americans.

This study examined knowledge, beliefs, and use of prescribed oral antibiotics of 163 low-socioeconomic African-American adults in a large midwestern city. The effects of age, education, and gender on knowledge and use of antibiotics were examined. Slightly more than 65% of the subjects in this study preferred using brand-name antibiotics.

African-American adults' perceptions of guns and violence.

This study examined African-American adults' perceptions of guns and violence. Through a mall intercept type study, 347 adults, ages 20 to 75, responded to a 54-item questionnaire. One third of the respondents claimed they owned one or more types of guns, three fourths had personally known someone who had been shot, more than one third had actually seen someone shot, and one third had a gun pulled on them.