Analysis of Reported Health Care Use by Sexual Orientation Among Youth.

Importance: In the United States, adolescents who are lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) face disparities across physical and mental health outcomes compared with non-LGB youth, yet few studies have looked at patterns of health care utilization by sexual orientation.

Objective: To compare health care utilization indicators for LGB and non-LGB youth.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cohort study analyzed wave 3 data from Healthy Passages, a longitudinal observational study of diverse public school students in Birmingham, Alabama; Houston, Texas; and Los Angeles County, California.

Soft Drink Consumption and Mental Health in Adolescents: A Longitudinal Examination.

Purpose: Previous studies showed associations between soft drink consumption and mental health problems in adolescents, but the direction of these effects is unknown. This study examines the hypotheses that soft drink consumption predicts aggression and depressive symptoms over time and that these mental health problems predict soft drink consumption.

Methods: Interviews were conducted with 5,147 children and their caregivers from three sites at child ages 11, 13, and 16.

Negative life experiences contribute to racial differences in the neural response to threat.

Threat-related emotional function is supported by a neural circuit that includes the prefrontal cortex (PFC), hippocampus, and amygdala. The function of this neural circuit is altered by negative life experiences, which can potentially affect threat-related emotional processes. Notably, Black-American individuals disproportionately endure negative life experiences compared to White-American individuals.

Racial disparities in fifth-grade sun protection: Evidence from the Healthy Passages study.

Background/objectives: Despite rising skin cancer rates in children, multiple studies reveal inadequate youth sun-protective behavior (eg, sunscreen use). Using Healthy Passages data for fifth-graders, we set out to determine sunscreen adherence in these children and investigated factors related to sunscreen performance.

Methods: Survey data were collected from 5119 fifth-graders and their primary caregivers.

Unequal interactions: Examining the role of patient-centered care in reducing inequitable diffusion of a medical innovation, the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine.

Rationale: Studies of inequities in diffusion of medical innovations rarely consider the role of patient-centered care.

Objective: We used uptake of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine shortly after its licensing to explore the role of patient-centered care.

Methods: Using a longitudinal multi-site survey of US parents and adolescents, we assessed whether patient-centered care ratings might shape racial/ethnic and socioeconomic gaps at two decision points in the HPV vaccination process: (1) Whether a medical provider recommends the vaccine and (2) whether a parent decides to vaccinate.

Chronic Physical Health Conditions and Emotional Problems From Early Adolescence Through Midadolescence.

Objective: Chronic physical health conditions are highly prevalent in youth, frequently persisting into adulthood and contributing to the current and future health care burden in the United States. Our study evaluated associations of chronic physical health conditions with depressive and physiological anxiety symptoms in a community sample of youth and examined how those associations changed from early to midadolescence.

Methods: In this longitudinal study of 5147 youth, students and their caregivers were interviewed when youth were in grades 5 (mean age = 11), 7 (mean age = 13), and 10 (mean age = 16).

Firearm Ownership and Acquisition Among Parents With Risk Factors for Self-Harm or Other Violence.

Objective: Recent policy initiatives aiming to reduce firearm morbidity focus on mental health and illness. However, few studies have simultaneously examined mental health and behavioral predictors within families, or their longitudinal association with newly acquiring a firearm.

Methods: Population-based, longitudinal survey of 4251 parents of fifth-grade students in 3 US metropolitan areas; 2004 to 2011.

Relationship Between Adolescent Report of Patient-Centered Care and of Quality of Primary Care.

Objective: Few studies have examined adolescent self-report of patient-centered care (PCC). We investigated whether adolescent self-report of PCC varied by patient characteristics and whether receipt of PCC is associated with measures of adolescent primary care quality.

Methods: We analyzed cross-sectional data from Healthy Passages, a population-based survey of 4105 10th graders and their parents.

NATIVE-It's Your Game: Adapting a Technology-Based Sexual Health Curriculum for American Indian and Alaska Native youth.

Sexually transmitted infection (STI) and birth rates among American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth indicate a need for effective middle school HIV/STI and pregnancy prevention curricula to delay, or mitigate, the consequences of early sexual activity. While effective curricula exist, there is a dearth of curricula with content salient to AI/AN youth. Further, there is a lack of sexual health curricula that take advantage of the motivational appeal, reach, and fidelity of communication technology for this population, who are sophisticated technology users.

Relationship of Age for Grade and Pubertal Stage to Early Initiation of Substance Use.

Introduction: Studies suggest students who are substantially older than the average age for their grade engage in risky health behaviors, including substance use. However, most studies do not account for the distinct reasons why students are old for their grade (ie, grade retention vs delayed school entry) or for their pubertal stage. Thus, whether the association between age for grade and substance use is confounded by these factors is unknown.

Associations between parental deployment, relocation, and risky sexual behaviors among a clinic-based sample of military-dependent youth.

Although sexual behaviors have been extensively studied among youth in general, they have been relatively understudied among military-dependent youth (MDY). Furthermore, the impact of unique military stressors, such as parental deployment and multiple relocations, on the sexual behaviors of MDY has not been assessed. In this pilot study, we estimated the prevalence of sexual behaviors among MDY, and examined the association between these behaviors and parental deployment and multiple relocations.

Promoting Parent-Child Sexual Health Dialogue with an Intergenerational Game: Parent and Youth Perspectives.

Objectives: Sexual health discussions between parents and their preadolescent youth can delay sexual debut and increase condom and contraceptive use. However, parents frequently report being uncomfortable talking with their youth about sex, often reporting a lack of self-efficacy and skills to inform and motivate responsible decision making by youth. Intergenerational games may support parent-youth sexual health communication.

It's Your Game-Tech: Toward Sexual Health in the Digital Age.

Adolescent sexually transmitted infection (STI) and birth rates indicate a need for effective middle school HIV/STI, and pregnancy prevention curricula to delay, or mitigate consequences of, early sexual activity. Individual and organizational barriers to adoption, implementation, and maintenance, however, can hamper dissemination of evidence-based sexual health curricula, adversely impacting fidelity and reach. Internet-based approaches may help mitigate these barriers.

Gender role orientation is associated with health-related quality of life differently among African-American, Hispanic, and White youth.

Purpose: This study examined the association between gender role orientation (GRO) and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in youth, and how this relationship may differ between males and females as well as among African-American, White, and Hispanic individuals. GRO has been reported to influence serious health outcomes including cancer, heart disease, mental illness, and mortality rates. However, few studies have examined the link between GRO and health outcomes for children, even though gender identity is formed in childhood.

Media violence exposure and physical aggression in fifth-grade children.

Objective: To examine the association of media violence exposure and physical aggression in fifth graders across 3 media types.

Methods: We analyzed data from a population-based, cross-sectional survey of 5,147 fifth graders and their parents in 3 US metropolitan areas. We used multivariable linear regression and report partial correlation coefficients to examine associations between children's exposure to violence in television/film, video games, and music (reported time spent consuming media and reported frequency of violent content: physical fighting, hurting, shooting, or killing) and the Problem Behavior Frequency Scale.

Common Versus Specific Correlates of Fifth-Grade Conduct Disorder and Oppositional Defiant Disorder Symptoms: Comparison of Three Racial/Ethnic Groups.

The extent to which risk profiles or correlates of conduct disorder (CD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) symptoms overlap among youth continues to be debated. Cross-sectional data from a large, representative community sample (N = 4,705) of African-American, Latino, and White fifth graders were used to examine overlap in correlates of CD and ODD symptoms. About 49 % of the children were boys.

Changes in obesity between fifth and tenth grades: a longitudinal study in three metropolitan areas.

Background: Despite epidemic childhood obesity levels, we know little about how BMI changes from preadolescence to adolescence and what factors influence changes.

Methods: We studied 3961 randomly selected public school students and 1 parent per student in 3 US metropolitan areas in fifth and again in tenth grades. In each grade, we measured child and parent height/weight and calculated BMI category.

Associations between socioeconomic status and obesity in diverse, young adolescents: variation across race/ethnicity and gender.

Objective: This study examined the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and obesity risk during early adolescence, ages 10-13 years, and whether this association is present in different racial/ethnic and gender groups during 2 time points in early adolescence.

Method: Data were from the Healthy Passages study, which enrolled 4,824 African American, Hispanic, and White 5th graders (ages 10-11) in a population-based, longitudinal study conducted in 3 U.S.

Daily violent video game playing and depression in preadolescent youth.

Most studies on the impact of playing violent video games on mental health have focused on aggression. Relatively few studies have examined the relationship between playing violent video games and depression, especially among preadolescent youth. In this study, we investigated whether daily violent video game playing over the past year is associated with a greater number of depressive symptoms among preadolescent youth, after controlling for several well-known correlates of depression among youth.

Effects of the It's Your Game . . . Keep It Real program on dating violence in ethnic-minority middle school youths: a group randomized trial.

Objectives: We examined whether It's Your Game . . .

Tobacco use and smoking intentions among U.S. fifth-grade students.

Purpose: To identify the risk and protective factors for cigarette smoking and future intentions among racially/ethnically diverse preadolescent children.

Methods: We analyzed data from 5,119 fifth-grade children and their parents living in three U.S.

Feasibility of providing sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment in off-campus, nonclinic settings for adolescents enrolled in a school-based research project.

Background: This study examined the acceptability and feasibility of using a biological outcome measure to evaluate a school-based sexuality education program. Confidential field-delivered sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing by nonmedical field staff and STI treatment by medically trained field staff was assessed in off-campus and off-clinic settings for adolescents enrolled in the trial.

Methods: After parental and adolescent consent were obtained, a convenient time and location was identified to collect urine to test for chlamydia (Chlamydia trachomatis, CT), gonorrhea (Neisseria gonorrheae, NG), and trichomonas (Trichomonas vaginalis, TV) infection and to treat students with positive results.