Multiple peer group self-identification and adolescent tobacco use.

Associations between peer group self-identification and smoking were examined among 2,698 ethnically diverse middle school students in Los Angeles who self-identified with groups such as Rockers, Skaters, and Gamers. The sample was 47.1% male, 54.

Correlates of overweight status in Chinese youth: an East-West paradox.

Objective: To examine the odds of overweight and related correlates in Chinese adolescents.

Method: Cross-sectional study in 9023 adolescents.

Results: Chinese youth were more likely to be overweight if they spent more time being sedentary; slept <7 hours/night; were male; were younger; participated more in vigorous physical activity; and had higher levels of parental education, a higher frequency of vegetable intake, and a lower frequency of sweet/fast food intake.

Association of the calcyon neuron-specific vesicular protein gene (CALY) with adolescent smoking initiation in China and California.

Although previous investigations have indicated a role for genetic factors in smoking initiation, the underlying genetic mechanisms are still unknown. In 2,339 adolescents from a Chinese Han population in the Wuhan Smoking Prevention Trial (Wuhan, China, 1998-1999), the authors explored the association of 57 genes in the dopamine pathway with smoking initiation. Using a conservative approach for declaring significance, positive findings were further examined in an independent sample of 603 Caucasian adolescents followed for up to 10 years as part of the Children's Health Study (Southern California, 1993-2009).

Longitudinal analysis of weight perception and psychological factors in Chinese adolescents.

Objectives: To investigate associations of overweight status and perception with trajectories of psychological distress in adolescents.

Methods: Longitudinal data for 6970 Chinese adolescents were included. The multivariate curve-of-factor latent growth curve models were adopted to examine trajectories of psychological distress symptoms and associations with overweight status and perception.

Family and personal protective factors moderate the effects of adversity and negative disposition on smoking among Chinese adolescents.

Tobacco use among Chinese adolescents is increasing at approximately 80,000 new smokers per day. Assessing the causes for initiating tobacco use in China will be important in developing effective interventions and policies to stem rising prevalence rates. This study tested predictors of Resilience Theory in a sample of 602 Chinese adolescents.

Heritability of smoking, alcohol use, and psychological characteristics among adolescent twins in Qingdao, China.

Background: Previous studies of genetic and environmental influences on adolescent substance use have been limited to Western samples.

Methods: This study assesses genetic and environmental contributions to cigarette smoking, alcohol use, and psychological variables (depression, anxiety, aggression, hostility) among 602 pairs of adolescent twins, 11 to 19 years old, in Qingdao, China.

Results: Heritable influences were more pronounced for alcohol use than cigarette smoking.

Overweight, body image, and depression in Asian and Hispanic adolescents.

Objectives: To prospectively investigate associations between overweight and depressive symptoms in Asian and Hispanic adolescents.

Methods: Data included 780 Hispanic and 375 Asian students. Structural equation model was used to prospectively explore moderation effects of gender, ethnicity, and acculturation on associations of overweight, body image dissatisfaction, and depressive symptoms.

Understanding the effect of social capital on the depression of urban Chinese adolescents: an integrative framework.

Using data from an ongoing longitudinal study of 5,164 adolescents and their parents from seven cities in mainland China, this study investigated how social capital embedded in the family and the community, together with family human capital and financial capital, influenced the depressive symptoms of urban Chinese adolescents within an integrative framework. The structural equation modeling results suggested that higher community social capital was associated with lower level of adolescent depressive symptoms and was the strongest predictor among all these contextual factors. Family social capital played a significant role in mediating the effects of all other contextual factors on adolescent depressive symptoms.

Affective decision-making deficits, linked to a dysfunctional ventromedial prefrontal cortex, revealed in 10th-grade Chinese adolescent smokers.

This study addressed the question of whether poor decision making would be associated with adolescent past 7-day smoking. We conducted a cross-sectional study of 208 10th-grade adolescents in Chengdu City, China. We used the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) to assess decision-making, and the Self-ordered Pointing Task (SOPT) to assess working memory capacity.

Risk factors for adolescent smoking in urban and rural China: findings from the China seven cities study.

Cigarette smoking is rising among urban Chinese adolescents and poses a significant public health concern. The majority of Chinese youth live in rural areas, but most research on the risk factors for smoking has been conducted in urban areas of China. This study examined the associations between parental smoking, peer smoking, and low refusal self-efficacy and smoking among urban and rural Chinese youth.

SAS and SPSS macros to calculate standardized Cronbach's alpha using the upper bound of the phi coefficient for dichotomous items.

Cronbach's a is widely used in social science research to estimate the internal consistency of reliability of a measurement scale. However, when items are not strictly parallel, the Cronbach's a coefficient provides a lower-bound estimate of true reliability, and this estimate may be further biased downward when items are dichotomous. The estimation of standardized Cronbach's a for a scale with dichotomous items can be improved by using the upper bound of coefficient phi.

Why smoking prevention programs sometimes fail. Does effectiveness depend on sociocultural context and individual characteristics?

Background: School-based smoking prevention programs sometimes fail in unexpected ways. This study tests the hypotheses that both social/cultural contexts and individual dispositional characteristics may interact with program content to produce effects that are variable in potentially predictable ways.

Methods: Students in 24 culturally heterogeneous or primarily Hispanic/Latino middle schools (N = 3,157 6th graders) received a multicultural collectivist-framed social influences (SI) program, an individualist-framed SI program, or a control condition.

Socio-demographic and economic correlates of overweight status in Chinese adolescents.

Objective: To investigate over-weight prevalence and socio-demographic and economic correlates in Chinese adolescents.

Methods: Weight, height, waist circumference, and socio-demo-graphic and economic variables of 6863 middle and high school students were measured.

Results: 10% of girls and 17% of boys were overweight.

Socio-demographic and cultural comparison of overweight and obesity risk and prevalence in adolescents in Southern California and Wuhan, China.

Purpose: This study performed parallel analyses on two large samples of seventh graders living in Los Angeles, California and in Wuhan, China to make direct comparisons of overweight and obesity risks in Western and Eastern cultural environments.

Methods: Two representative samples of 1772 and 1896 seventh grade students were randomly selected from the public or parochial middle schools in the greater Los Angeles area of Southern California in the United States, and public schools in Wuhan city of China. Two body mass index (BMI) references recently established by the U.

Tobacco use among youth and adults in Mainland China: the China Seven Cities Study.

Objective: The China Seven Cities Study (CSCS) monitors geographic and temporal trends in tobacco use among adolescents and adults in seven cities throughout Mainland China: Harbin, Shenyang, Wuhan, Chengdu, Kunming, Hangzhou, and Qingdao. This article presents the methodology and prevalence data from the baseline survey of the CSCS, conducted in 2002.

Methods: Stratified random samples of middle schools, high schools, and colleges were selected within each city.

Utility of the theory of reasoned action and theory of planned behavior for predicting Chinese adolescent smoking.

One third of smokers worldwide live in China. Identifying predictors of smoking is important for prevention program development. This study explored whether the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) and Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) predict adolescent smoking in China.

Influences affecting adolescent smoking behavior in China.

This study examined multiple influences on the use of tobacco by adolescents in China. Using the theory of triadic influences as a guide, we selected interpersonal, attitudinal/cultural, and intrapersonal constructs from baseline data to predict adolescent smoking 1 year later. We used prospective data from middle and high school students (N = 11,583) and their parents from the China Seven Cities Study, a longitudinal study that is evaluating the effects of changing economic and social factors on health behaviors including tobacco use.

Cultural/interpersonal values and smoking in an ethnically diverse sample of Southern California adolescents.

In ethnically diverse school contexts, values from multiple cultures might influence adolescents' attitudes and behaviors. This study developed scales to assess cultural values among Southern California 6'-grade adolescents (N=2281) and evaluated the associations between values and smoking. The scales assessed values salient in many Hispanic and Asian cultures: Respect for Adults (e.

Weight perception, academic performance, and psychological factors in Chinese adolescents.

Objective: To investigate weight perception and related psychological factors in Chinese adolescents.

Methods: A questionnaire on weight perception, academic performance, stress, hostility, and depression was completed by 6863 middle and high school students. Weight and height were measured.

A randomized intervention of smoking for adolescents in urban Wuhan, China.

Background: Tobacco use is a significant public health problem in China. Culturally specific smoking prevention programs are needed for Chinese adolescents. This study evaluated a school-based smoking prevention curriculum with a social normative approach developed in the United States for adolescents in urban Wuhan, China.

Weight perception and weight-related sociocultural and behavioral factors in Chinese adolescents.

Background: Rapid economic development accompanied by imported Western media, advertising, fashion, and lifestyle in mainland China has resulted in shifts in cultural beliefs and beauty ideals in adolescents. The present study focused on understanding relationships among weight perception and weight-related sociocultural and behavioral factors in Chinese adolescents.

Methods: Data collected in 2002 from 6863 middle and high school students and their parents from four large cities in mainland China were used.

Internet accessibility and usage among urban adolescents in Southern California: implications for web-based health research.

The World Wide Web (WWW) poses a distinct capability to offer interventions tailored to the individual's characteristics. To fine tune the tailoring process, studies are needed to explore how Internet accessibility and usage are related to demographic, psychosocial, behavioral, and other health related characteristics. This study was based on a cross-sectional survey conducted on 2373 7th grade students of various ethnic groups in Southern California.

Unique contributions of meanings of smoking and outcome expectancies to understanding smoking initiation in middle school.

Background: Previous research has shown that meanings of smoking are highly predictive of smoking in middle school children. Three factors of meanings of smoking have been suggested in the literature: personal meanings, functional meanings, and social meanings. These conceptually derived factors of meanings of smoking have not previously been empirically studied.

Smoking prevention for ethnically diverse adolescents: 2-year outcomes of a multicultural, school-based smoking prevention curriculum in Southern California.

Background: Effective school-based curricula are needed to prevent smoking among ethnically diverse adolescents. This study evaluated a multicultural smoking prevention curriculum in ethnically diverse Southern California middle schools.

Methods: Students in 24 middle schools (N = 3157 sixth graders) received the multicultural curriculum, a similar curriculum without references to cultural issues, or a control condition.

Hostility, depressive symptoms, and smoking in early adolescence.

Using logistic and multiple regression, we examined the association between hostility, level of depressive symptoms, and smoking in a sample of 1699 ethnically diverse students in California. Self-reports were collected twice from each student, at the beginning of the 6th and 7th grade years. Among 6th graders who had not smoked, depressive symptoms and hostility were associated with smoking initiation by the 7th grade.