Mexican High School Students Research Articles

Adolescents' Comprehension about Sustainable Development as a Device to Study Socio-Economic Knowledge Related to Citizenship

Environmental education has been included in the school curricula of many countries in the last 15 years. Implementation has been not as successful as expected due to various constraints reported in several research projects. Its achievement remains uncertain and more research is required in all areas of education. In order to propose a curriculum change, research is needed on how and what students really understand and know concerning sustainable development. An exploratory study was undertaken to study levels of comprehension of certain themes of sustainable development in adolescents. Interviews were conducted with 40 Spanish and Mexican high school students in aspects relating to waste and recycling, several forms of pollution and contamination, ideas on scarcity of natural resources, and population increase. Data illustrate that students are aware of environmental issues, but lack knowledge of how ecological, social and economic aspects are related in sustainable development, showing that information provided in school has not been enough for students to consider these aspects and use them for the fostering of citizenship participation. Knowing the concepts that adolescents use to explain sustainable development, as well as knowledge and information gaps, can allow us to improve environmental education.

Food choices of Mexican high‐school students deviate from their perceptions of food healthiness

School interventions should consider food sensory, availability, financial, and nutrition perceptions to successfully promote healthy food choices. This study identified Mexican high‐school students' food choices and perceptions about food healthiness. A 7‐day food‐frequency dietary survey (n=660) and 20 focus groups (n=180) were conducted with 15–19 year‐old male and female students of 20 Mexico City public high schools. Half of daily energy intake was provided by sweetened and natural beverages (17.3%, 95% CI: 15.5–18.2), salty and sweet snacks (13.6%, 12.8–14.3), whole‐milk dairy products (13.5%, 12.8–14.1), fruit (6.9%, 6.5–7.3), and vegetables (2.5%, 2.3–2.7). Unhealthy foods were perceived as high sugar/fat or low nutritious foods that contain “chemicals”, such as soda, fast food, snacks, fried food, and diet products. Reasons for consumption were good taste, low price, availability, readiness to eat, and filling capacity. Healthy foods were nutritious and hygienic foods such as home‐made food, natural fruit/vegetable, whole milk/yogurt, juice, plain water, and cereal bars. Reasons for consumption were high vitamin, fiber, and protein content; low fat content; weight control; and parental recommendation. Students consumed unhealthy foods despite considering other foods as healthy, and also misperceived nutritional properties of foods. Funding: Mexico's Ministry of Education.

Factors associated with illegal substance use initiation among young students in Mexico City

To assess risk factors for illegal substances use initiation in a cohort of Mexican high-school teenage students. Longitudinal study of a cohort of 10th grade students, with follow up at the time of their enrolment in college (3-4 year follow up). The associations of parental educational level, alcohol abuse in the family, employment status, experiences of physical and sexual aggression, sexual initiation, emotional distress and previous legal substance use at the baseline measurement, with the initiation of illegal substance use were explored. The follow-up analysis was carried out in 21,616 at-risk students. The incidence of substance use initiation was 7%. Male gender (odds ratio 3.86, 95% confidence interval 3.45, 4.32), a higher father's education level, sexual initiation for women (odds ratio 2.67, 95% confidence interval 1.49, 4.79] and use of legal substances at baseline were associated with risk of substance use initiation. The social circumstances surrounding adolescents influence their risk of illegal substance consumption. Although the complex network of factors affecting substance use requires further exploring, young people at risk can be identified and should receive preventive attention.

Prevalence and impact of primary dysmenorrhea among Mexican high school students

Objective To evaluate factors affecting the prevalence of dysmenorrhea in a group of Mexican students. Method A questionnaire was administered to 1152 high school students and the obtained data about severity, symptoms, and medications used were analyzed. Results Dysmenorrhea had a prevalence of 48.4% and was the cause of school absences for 24% of the affected students. It was mild in 32.9%, moderate in 49.7%, and severe in 17.4% of these students, of whom 28% consulted a physician and 60.9% self-medicated. The most common over-the-counter drugs used were a combination of paracetamol, pamabrom and pyrilamine maleate; metamizol (a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug) plus butylhioscine; and naproxen. We found a significant correlation between the presence of dysmenorrhea and smoking, cycle pattern, cycle duration, flow duration, and amount of flow. Conclusion The prevalence of dysmenorrhea was high in our sample. The condition caused short-term school absences and the students commonly addressed it by self-medicating.

Abnormal eating attitudes in Mexican female students: A study of prevalence and sociodemographicclinical associated factors

The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence of abnormal eating attitudes (AEA) in Mexican high school and university students in the city of San Luis Potosí, Mexico. By means of a transversal study with a weighted, random and multistage sampling process, we analyzed a representative sample of female students (N= 2006). The instrument was the Eating Disorder Inventory-2 (EDI-2), validated in Mexican population and a questionnaire of sociodemographic data. The prevalence of AEA was 12.6% and its frequency was significantly higher in high school than in university students. AEA cases were uniformly distributed among public and private institutions and a highly significant relationship between substances consumption and AEA was observed. A logistic regression model for AEA was obtained. Therefore, a profile of highly AEA was built based on sociodemographic data and a solid instrument validated in Mexican population, which can be employed as a screening and secondary prevention tool to design public health programs.

Longitudinal study of a School based HIV/AIDS early prevention program for Mexican Adolescents

A quasi-experimental study is reported with four measurement occasions to evaluate longer-term effects of a life-skills and HIV/AIDS school-based prevention program. Trained teachers administered the program promoting precursors of safer sex behavior to 2064 Mexican high-school students at an age before most were sexually active. The variables included in the study (knowledge about HIV/AIDS prevention, attitudes towards use of condoms, subjective norms, intentions to use condoms and life skills as decision-making skills, partner communication and individual responsibility) have been reported as precursors of protective sexual behavior. The results demonstrate the stability of training effects and a positive impact on these precursors over 1 year of follow-up.

An Exploratory Study Examining Teen Dating Violence, Acculturation and Acculturative Stress in Mexican-American Adolescents

Little is known about dating violence in Mexican-American adolescents. This exploratory study examines 82 Mexican and Mexican-American high school students' experiences with and attitudes about dating violence, and the relationship of these experiences and attitudes to acculturation and acculturative stress. Medium acculturated adolescents (as measured by language preference), compared with high and low acculturated adolescents, had less tolerant attitudes towards dating violence. In addition, acculturative stressors (e.g., conflicted ethnic identity, family acculturation conflict) generally related to more tolerant attitudes and higher rates of perpetration of dating violence. The pattern of results suggest that dating violence is a problem among Mexican-American adolescents and that acculturation and acculturative stress are important factors to consider in the context of dating violence.

Identifying faking bad on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory—Adolescent with Mexican Adolescents

This study examined the extent to which the validity scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent identified Mexican adolescents who were instructed to fake bad. Validity scales data were used to differentiate between nonclinical adolescents instructed to fake bad and both clinical and nonclinical adolescents who received standard instructions. Participants were 59 male and 87 female Mexican high school students and 59 male and 87 female Mexican adolescents from clinical settings. This is the first study onfaking with adolescents in Mexico. The F, Fl, and F2 Scales and the F-K index discriminated adequately between the three different groups. Results were similar to those previously reportedfor adults and adolescents in Mexico and the United States. High positive and negative predictive powers and overall hit rates were obtained in this study. Higher cut scores were needed to discriminate between the groups of girls than between the groups of boys.

Computer-Mediated Communication: Linguistic, Social, and Cross-Cultural Perspectives

1. Foreword 2. Introduction 3. I. Linguistic Perspectives 4. Electronic Language: A new variety of English (by Collot, Milena) 5. Oral and written linguistic aspects of computer conferencing (by Yates, Simeon J.) 6. Linguistic and interactional features of Internet Relay Chat (by Werry, Christopher C.) 7. Functional comparisons of face-to-face and computer-mediated decision making interactions (by Condon, Sherri L.) 8. Two variants of an electronic message schema (by Herring, Susan C.) 9. II. Social and Ethical Perspectives 10. Managing the virtual commons: Cooperation and conflict in computer communities (by Kollock, Peter) 11. Our passionate response to virtual reality (by Deuel, Nancy R.) 12. Cyberfeminism (by Hall, Kira) 13. III. Cross-Cultural Perspectives 14. Computer-mediated conversations as a new dimension of intercultural communication between East Asian and North American college students (by Ma, Ringo) 15. Perceptions of American culture: The impact of an electronically-mediated cultural exchange program on Mexican high school students (by Meagher, Mary Elaine) 16. Visible conversation and academic inquiry: CMC in a culturally diverse classroom (by Golomb, Gregory G.) 17. IV. CMC and group Interaction 18. Group dynamics in an e-mail forum (by Korenman, Joan) 19. Writing to work: How using e-mail can reflect technological and organizational change (by Ziv, Oren) 20. The rhetorical dynamics of a community protest in cyberspace: What happened with Lotus Marketplace (by Gurak, Laura J.) 21. References 22. Index of names 23. Index of subjects