Social normative perceptions of alcohol use and episodic heavy drinking among Central and Eastern European adolescents.

This study examined alcohol use and related social normative perceptions among a sample of 1,886 Central-Eastern European high school students. The youth represented in the study averaged 16.5 years of age and were from several localities in the countries of Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, and Romania.

Cigarette smoking and indicators of psychosocial distress in Southeast Asian and Central-Eastern European adolescents.

The purpose of this study was to examine the association of cigarette smoking and 2 indicators of psychosocial distress (hopelessness and loneliness) among adolescents from 2 distinctly different regions of the world: Central-Eastern Europe (Hungary, Ukraine, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Romania, Poland) and Southeast Asia (Thailand, Taiwan, and the Philippines). Among Southeast Asian boys and girls, smokers had elevated hopelessness in comparison to nonsmokers but among Central-Eastern European students, this relationship was true only for girls and there was no relationship for boys. Across the country samples, there was only association of smoking with loneliness among Southeast Asian girls and Central-Eastern European girls.

Self-perception of body weight, weight management practices and goals, and other weight-related factors in central and eastern European adolescents.

Self-perception of body weight, management practices and goals, and other weight-related factors were assessed among a sample of 2,566 adolescents from 30 high schools in Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Romania, Ukraine, and Poland. Students who perceived themselves as much too fat were more likely than those with other weight perceptions to engage in weight management practices to lose weight, have higher body mass index, rate themselves lower on physical attractiveness, and estimate higher percentages of their same-sex friends as trying to lose weight. Similar to other research, boys and girls differed on self-perception of weight and other weight-related factors.

Friendships and physical activity: investigating the connection in Central-Eastern European adolescents.

Studies investigating physical activity among adolescents living in post-communistic Central-European countries are sparse, particularly in light of the fact that some research has identified that adults in these countries exercise less frequently than western counterparts. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether physical activity participation is associated with certain friendship factors, the ability to make friends, level of involvement with friends, and perceived friends' involvement in physical activity, among 1,886 Central-Eastern European high schools students. The results of this study corroborated previous research in other adolescent populations in which it has been found that overall participation in physical activity was lowest among adolescents who said that making friends was difficult, who were less involved with friends, and who reported that making friends was difficult.

Cigarette smoking, friendship factors, and social norm perceptions among central and Eastern European high school students.

Studies investigating smoking behavior among adolescents living in post-communistic Central-European countries are sparse. This study focused on the relationship between cigarette smoking, certain friendship factors, and social norm perceptions among 1,886 Central-Eastern European adolescents from high schools in Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, and Romania. Smoking behavior was related to having friends who smoke, ease or difficulty making new friends, time spent with friends after school and during evenings, and estimations of the prevalence of smoking by schoolmates.