Development, theoretical framework, and evaluation of a parent and teacher-delivered intervention on adolescent vaccination.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended immunization schedule for adolescents includes three vaccines (tetanus, diphtheria, and acellular pertussis [Tdap]; human papillomavirus [HPV] vaccine; and meningococcal conjugate vaccine [MCV4]) and an annual influenza vaccination. Given the increasing number of recommended vaccines for adolescents and health and economic costs associated with nonvaccination, it is imperative that effective strategies for increasing vaccination rates among adolescents are developed. This article describes the development, theoretical framework, and initial first-year evaluation of an intervention designed to promote vaccine acceptance among a middle and high school-based sample of adolescents and their parents in eastern Georgia.

Impact of a physician recommendation and parental immunization attitudes on receipt or intention to receive adolescent vaccines.

Four vaccines are recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices for adolescents. Parental attitudes may play a key role in vaccination uptake in this age group. In 2011, we conducted a cross-sectional survey among parents of adolescents in one county in Georgia to identify parental attitudes toward adolescent vaccination, reasons for vaccine acceptance or refusal, and impact of a physician recommendation for vaccination.

Understanding reasons for participating in a school-based influenza vaccination program and decision-making dynamics among adolescents and parents.

Influenza remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. Vaccinating school-aged children has been demonstrated to be beneficial to the child and in reducing viral transmission to vulnerable groups such as the elderly. This qualitative study sought to identify reasons parents and students participated in a school-based influenza vaccination clinic and to characterize the decision-making process for vaccination.

"I like the way you move": how hormonal changes across the menstrual cycle affect female perceptions of gait.

Background: Variations in hormone concentrations across the menstrual cycle affect human female mate preferences. It has been shown that around the time of ovulation human females prefer more masculine male voices, faces, and bodies while simultaneously preferring less faces that are more feminine. They prefer also displays of male dominance, males with more symmetrical faces, and the scent of males with high levels of body symmetry.