Behavior Of Young People Research Articles

Social inequalities in health‐related use of time in Australian adolescents

Objective: Young people's socioeconomic position and time use behaviours - including physical activity, sedentary behaviours, social engagement, sleep and cognitive activities - have been associated with health outcomes. This study aimed to describe how time use varies with household income in a representative sample of 9-16 year old Australians. Methods: A random sample of 2, 071 9-16 year old Australian children provided household income data and four days' use-of-time data. Average daily minutes spent in various types of activities were calculated. Kruskal-Wallis and Mann Whitney U tests were used to compare time use across the income bands. Results: Higher income participants spent significantly more time playing sport (p<0.0001), including team sports (p=0.0005) and in cognitively demanding behaviours such as school routine (p<0.0001), doing homework (p<0.0001) and playing music (p=0.001) than their low-income counterparts. Conversely, low-income participants spent significantly more time watching television (p<0.001) and playing videogames (p< 0.0002). There were no differences in sleep or social interaction. Screen time and school-related activities were the major locations of differences. Conclusions: Time use differences in the areas of sport school-related and screen activities may be associated with various health and wellbeing outcomes, and thus be a source of health inequalities. Implications: Socioeconomic-related time use behaviour differences could be used to develop specific interventions to address health inequalities via interventions addressing time use or income inequalities.

Changing lives? Critical evaluation of a school-based athlete role model intervention

There would appear to be an enduring belief that successful sportsmen and women can act as powerful motivational role models for young people, especially disaffected, disadvantaged or disengaged youth. In the UK, for example, this belief has been expressed recently in the development of programmes, such as changingLIVES, the Respect Athlete Mentor Programme and Playing For Success. There are further examples around the world of programmes based on similar beliefs including Sporting Partnerships, Athlete Development Australia, Active Girls Breakfast and the Whitelion Sports and Recreation program. This paper reports an evaluation of the changingLIVES ‘athlete mentor’ programme in the UK. This was a school-based programme using successful sports people to deliver a series of motivational activities to young people who were identified as being disengaged or disaffected in some way. Conceptual confusion in the terms ‘mentor’ and ‘role model’ evident in the literature was mirrored in the programme design. The design of an appropriate evaluation strategy was constrained by the scale of the programme aims and the comparatively low evaluation budget. Nonetheless, detailed data were collected on individual pupils. Evaluation data suggested that although the teachers and young people did report an immediate positive reaction to the activities, there was limited evidence of a wider impact on young people's behaviour, school attendance or self-esteem. It is argued that there should be greater conceptual clarity and a stronger evidence base supporting the design and delivery of interventions in schools that seek to use sports people as role models (or mentors) for young people.

Evolving Tools for Information Literacy from Models of Information Behavior

Although models are often assumed to constitute the end product of a research project, it is not unusual for them to be refined after subsequent study or thought. Having presented a model of young people's information behavior in a previous paper elsewhere, the authors here offer a more compact version and explore the possibilities for its application in a teaching context with pupils. Use of models in this way can play an important part in reducing the longstanding gap between information-seeking research and information literacy instruction. Drawing inspiration from earlier work undertaken by Shenton with Masters students at Northumbria University, the authors demonstrate how it is possible to evolve from such models pro formas that can be completed by pupils to help them in relation to their own information-seeking activity. Shenton and Hay-Gibson feature here one such pro forma, intended for use by secondary schoolers. They discuss its value in promoting metacognition and indicate how this type of tool may be introduced at one of various points in an assignment task: in advance (as a pupil planning aid), while the activity is taking place (so as to guide information-seeking as it happens) or at the end (to aid summative reflection).

Is concern about young people's anti-social behaviour associated with poor health? cross-sectional evidence from residents of deprived urban neighbourhoods

BackgroundYoung people in disadvantaged neighbourhoods are often the focus of concerns about anti-social behaviour (ASB). There is inconsistent evidence to support the hypothesis that perceptions of ASB (PASB) are associated with poor health. We ask whether perceptions of young people's ASB are associated with poor health; and whether health, demographic and (psycho)social characteristics can help explain why PASB varies within disadvantaged neighbourhoods (Glasgow, UK).MethodsRegression analysis of survey data exploring associations between perceiving teenagers hanging around to be a serious neighbourhood problem and SF-12v2 mental and physical health scores (higher = better), including adjustment for demographic characteristics. Further analysis explored associations with self-reported measures of health service use, psychosocial characteristics of homes and neighbourhoods and social contacts.Results6008 adults participated (50% response) and 22% (n = 1,332) said teenagers were a serious neighbourhood problem (the most frequently reported local problem). Demographic characteristics associated with perceiving serious teenager problems included regular health service use, age (inverse relationship), financial problems and living with children. Lower SF-12v2 physical health scores were associated with perceiving teenager problems after adjustment for demographic variables (OR 0.98; 95%CI 0.97,0.99; p = < 0.001), whilst adjusted findings for mental health scores were less conclusive (OR 0.99; 95%CI 0.98,1.00; p = 0.103). Further analysis suggested that perceiving teenager problems was more strongly associated with a number of self-reported psychosocial factors: e.g. lacking social support, < weekly family contacts, poor neighbourhood safety, low trust in neighbours, neighbourhood perceived to be a barrier to self-esteem, and neighbourhood decline.ConclusionsGiven the evidence we found of weak and small associations between PASB and health, we caution against assuming that tackling concern about teenagers' ASB will lead to substantial public health gains in disadvantaged areas. Although the findings do not present a compelling case for making PASB a public health priority, it is still important to address concerns about young people's ASB. Reasons for doing so may include improving social cohesion, reducing fear and isolation, and improving the general quality of people's lives - particularly in neighbourhoods burdened by multiple disadvantages. Future research should evaluate interventions that attempt to reduce PASB in disadvantaged areas. Findings from this study could help inform the targeting of such interventions.

Prevalence and socio-demographic distribution of eating, physical activity and sedentary behaviours among Australian adolescents

To examine the prevalence and socio-demographic distribution of adherence to national dietary and physical activity recommendations among Australian secondary school students. Cross-sectional survey of 12,188 students in Years 8 to 11 (aged 12-17 years). Students' self-reported eating, physical activity and sedentary behaviours were assessed using validated instruments administered via an online questionnaire. Less than one-quarter of students (24%) reported meeting the daily requirement of at least four serves of vegetables, while 41% reported consuming the recommended three or more daily serves of fruit. Just 15% of students reported engaging in at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity every day, and only one in five students met the recommendation of spending no more than two hours per day in small screen recreation. Males were performing better than females in terms of fruit intake and physical activity, but worse in relation to frequency of consumption of sugary drinks and fast food, and time spent using electronic media. The proportion of students meeting fruit and vegetable recommendations declined with advancing year level, while lower socio-economic position (SEP) students were faring less well than those from high SEP neighbourhoods, particularly with regards to healthy eating. There is considerable scope for improving young people's health behaviours in line with national dietary and physical activity recommendations.

Understanding the online information‐seeking behaviours of young people: the role of networks of support

AbstractInformation seeking is one of the most popular online activities for young people and can provide an additional information channel, which may enhance learning. In this study, we propose and test a model that adds to the existing literature by examining the ways in which parents, schools, and friends (what we call networks of support) effect young people's online information behaviours, while at the same time taking into account young people's individual characteristics, confidence, and skills to use the Internet. Using path analysis, we demonstrate the significance of networks of support in understanding the uptake of online information seeking both directly and indirectly (through enhancing self‐concept for learning and online skills). Young people who have better networks of support, particularly friends who are engaged in technology, are more likely to engage in online information seeking. While quantitative models of this nature cannot capture the complexity of individual online search practices, these findings may assist in the development of policy and practice to support young people to make the most effective use of the Internet for information seeking.

Obstacles to creating an environment conducive to HIV prevention for young people

The external environment of an organisation influences the desired goals and interventions of that organisation in many ways. However, strategies for influencing the external context to create a more enabling environment for the interventions of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are often inadequately addressed. This article draws on an empirical multiple-case study conducted in 2007/08 of four NGOs providing HIV-prevention services to young people in several low-resource, high-HIV-prevalence communities in Cape Town, South Africa. In an earlier study, young people reported that the external environment hampered their ability to institutionalise HIV-prevention messages. The current study explored how the NGOs endeavoured to influence the external environment, and the challenges they faced. The findings show that the NGOs practised a combination of strategies, encompassing inter-organisational relationships, influencing policy, and championing by example. Key constraints to their influencing practices included fear of losing legitimacy as a service provider; inadequate knowledge, skills and opportunity; perceived deviation from their usual work; inadequate funding; conflicts over values and messages; and a habit of focusing more on young people's individual behaviours and less on context. The development management task of influencing the external environment to create an environment more conducive to HIV prevention seemed constrained mainly because: 1) donors focused on funding and monitoring the activities they were interested in and conceptualised as HIV-prevention services; 2) NGO efforts were restricted to programme implementation based on agreed deliverables, thus influencing was mainly confined to championing by example; consequently, 3) ‘influencing efforts’ to create an environment more conducive to HIV prevention were left mainly to young people themselves, who can affect their peers only to a narrow, albeit crucial extent. The external environment thus remains adverse to HIV prevention.

P1-129 The importance of reproductive health and HIV/AIDS education program for young people in Papua and West Papua Provinces, Indonesia

IntroductionPapua and West Papua Provinces have the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence in Indonesia. In 2009, 94.4% HIV/AIDS cases in Papua Province were transmitted through heterosexual intercourse and the cases among 15–19...

Challenging Behaviour in Looked after Young People, Feelings of Parental Self-Efficacy and Psychological Well-Being in Foster Carers

Previous research into the parenting task has demonstrated that behavioural difficulties in children are associated with poorer psychological well-being and less sensitive parenting on the part of birth parents. However, there has been little research examining whether this situation applies to foster carers. This study by Kate Morgan and Rachel Baron explores the relationship between looked after young people's behavioural difficulties and the stress, anxiety and depression experienced by their carers. In addition, parental self-efficacy is considered as a mediator between young people's challenging behaviour and foster carer well-being. Fifty-eight foster carers completed a series of quantitative self-report measures; subsequent hierarchical regression analyses demonstrated that levels of challenging behaviour in the young people were significantly associated with increases in the stress, anxiety and depression experienced by their foster carers. Mediational analysis showed that parenting efficacy partially mediated these relationships, reducing the negative effect of challenging behaviour on carers' psychological well-being. The results are important in considering effective support for foster carers and promoting stability for looked after young people, and the clinical and theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.

Fetching Water in the Unholy Hours of the Night: The Impacts of a Water Crisis on Girls' Sexual Health in Semi-urban Cameroon

In sub-Saharan Africa, girls' daily household chores often involve fetching water for their households. This article addresses the impact of uncertain water access in semi-urban Cameroon given the problems of rapid urbanization and increasing demands for water. A school competition engaged youth and key water sector actors in a dialogue about the water crisis in Buea town, and this resulted in the publication of the water distribution schedule. The event also drew attention to the gendered implications of the crisis in relation to girls' sexual health. Our analysis suggests that girls fetching water face multiple layers of risk that include gender-based violence and blame resulting from the gendered stigma attached to young people's behavior—particularly that of girls. All this serves to increase the moral panic surrounding youth sexualities. We explicitly use the term sexualities (plural) here to recognize the multiple ways in which sexualities may be expressed, constructed and experienced (Arnfred 2005). This research points to the dire need to better understand and consider within water management strategies how girls cope with and confront these risks.

Types of Self-Hurt Behavior Among Chinese Adolescents in Malaysia

Self-hurt among young people has raised a concern internationally (Burns, Dudley, Hazell & Patton, 2005). Many research suggested that self-hurt is growing significantly among young people and is becoming a public health problem in the west. Surveys revealed that adolescents and young adults are at higher risk of engaging in self-hurt behavior (Hoyt, 2002). It is believed that the onset of puberty was an associated factor of self-hurt (Cleaver, 2007) and it usually lasts five to ten years. Malaysia, as a developing country, with a population of 28.25 millions in 2010 has a relatively young population (Department of Statistics, Malaysia, 2010). Relatively little self-hurt research has been done in Malaysia. Although there were some counseling records found, there is virtually no study that has been designed to identify young people's self-hurt behavior. Thus, this study aims to identify the types of self-hurt behavior that are prevalent among the Chinese adolescents in Malaysia, the categories of severity, the association between age groups and gender in relation to types of self-hurt behavior, and the duration of premeditation before a self-hurt act is committed.

Hong Kong young people′s blood donation behavior

Introduction:Similar to other developed countries, only 3% of the total population in Hong Kong donate blood (Hong Kong Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service 2003). More than 20% of annual donations come from youngsters aged 18-25. However, this category of donors has decreased gradually from 24.6% in 2004 to 22.9% in 2008. This study aims to examine the characteristics and intention of young blood donors versus nondonors in Hong Kong; and to explore the factors that may influence Hong Kong young people’s donation behavior.Materials and Methods:This is a cross-sectional study using questionnaire to solicit information from young people including both blood donors and non-donors.Results:It showed that more non-donors were underweight (26%) than blood donors (16.9%). Blood donors demonstrated to have more knowledge on the usage of donated blood (87.2%). Nearly half of youngster admitted that they made use of donation as a means for blood testing (53.1%) or free physical check-up (47.3%).Conclusions:Recruitment strategies should focus on the enhancement of health education programs related to blood and blood donation for young people to increase their awareness of blood and alleviate their misconceptions about blood donation.

What Happens to Physical Activity Behavior, Motivation, Self-Concept, and Flow After Completing School? A Longitudinal Study

With particular focus on the year following completion of high school, the present study sought to establish the status of young people's physical activity behavior, physical activity motivation, physical activity flow, and physical self-concept. Among a sample of 213 Australian participants assessed in their final year of school and then one year later, findings suggested a significant increase in physical activity behavior and a significant reduction in maladaptive behavioral motivation. On other physical measures, females demonstrated significant improvements in their general physical self-concepts and males demonstrated significant improvements in their health self-concepts. Implications for gender-specific and developmentally targeted interventions are discussed.

Test-retest reliability of selected items of Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey questionnaire in Beijing, China

BackgroundChildren's health and health behaviour are essential for their development and it is important to obtain abundant and accurate information to understand young people's health and health behaviour. The Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study is among the first large-scale international surveys on adolescent health through self-report questionnaires. So far, more than 40 countries in Europe and North America have been involved in the HBSC study. The purpose of this study is to assess the test-retest reliability of selected items in the Chinese version of the HBSC survey questionnaire in a sample of adolescents in Beijing, China.MethodsA sample of 95 male and female students aged 11 or 15 years old participated in a test and retest with a three weeks interval. Student Identity numbers of respondents were utilized to permit matching of test-retest questionnaires. 23 items concerning physical activity, sedentary behaviour, sleep and substance use were evaluated by using the percentage of response shifts and the single measure Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICC) with 95% confidence interval (CI) for all respondents and stratified by gender and age. Items on substance use were only evaluated for school children aged 15 years old.ResultsThe percentage of no response shift between test and retest varied from 32% for the item on computer use at weekends to 92% for the three items on smoking. Of all the 23 items evaluated, 6 items (26%) showed a moderate reliability, 12 items (52%) displayed a substantial reliability and 4 items (17%) indicated almost perfect reliability. No gender and age group difference of the test-retest reliability was found except for a few items on sedentary behaviour.ConclusionsThe overall findings of this study suggest that most selected indicators in the HBSC survey questionnaire have satisfactory test-retest reliability for the students in Beijing. Further test-retest studies in a large and diverse sample, as well as validity studies, should be considered for the future Chinese HBSC study.

Self-reported drunkenness among adolescents in four sub-Saharan African countries: associations with adverse childhood experiences

BackgroundConsumption of alcohol is associated with acute and chronic adverse health outcomes. There is a paucity of studies that explore the determinants of alcohol use among adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa and, in particular, that examine the effects of adverse childhood experiences on alcohol use.MethodsThe paper draws on nationally-representative data from 9,819 adolescents aged 12-19 years from Burkina Faso, Ghana, Malawi, and Uganda. Logistic regression models were employed to identify correlates of self-reported past-year drunkenness. Exposure to four adverse childhood experiences comprised the primary independent variables: living in a food-insecure household, living with a problem drinker, having been physically abused, and having been coerced into having sex. We controlled for age, religiosity, current schooling status, the household head's sex, living arrangements, place of residence, marital status, and country of survey. All analyses were conducted separately for males and females.ResultsAt the bivariate level, all independent variables (except for coerced sex among males) were associated with the outcome variable. Overall, 9% of adolescents reported that they had been drunk in the 12 months preceding the survey. In general, respondents who had experienced an adverse event during childhood were more likely to report drunkenness. In the multivariate analysis, only two adverse childhood events emerged as significant predictors of self-reported past-year drunkenness among males: living in a household with a problem drinker before age 10, and being physically abused before age 10. For females, exposure to family-alcoholism, experience of physical abuse, and coerced sex increased the likelihood of reporting drunkenness in the last 12 months. The association between adverse events and reported drunkenness was more pronounced for females. For both males and females there was a graded relationship between the number of adverse events experienced and the proportion reporting drunkenness.ConclusionsWe find an association between experience of adverse childhood events and drunkenness among adolescents in four sub-Saharan African countries. The complex impacts of adverse childhood experiences on young people's development and behavior may have an important bearing on the effectiveness of interventions geared at reducing alcohol dependence among the youth.

Symposium 3: Diversity in interactive media use among Dutch youth

The intensive use of interactive media has led to assertions about the effect of these media on youth. An increasing number of studies refute these assertions. Despite the enrichment of the debate with empirical data, current research tends to focus on computer and Internet use and skills. Elsewhere we argued that research shouldn't look at the use per se, but rather at the ways interactive media function in young people's activities from the perspective of a changing society. This perspective allows describing possible consequences of societal tendencies for young people's everyday life; it allows describing the social and cultural functions of interactive media as part of young people's behaviour and systems of values and beliefs. This paper presents a quantitative study on the social and cultural functions of interactive media in young people's lives. Rather than following the assumption of a homogeneous generation, we investigate the existence of a diversity of user patterns. Results from a pilot-study show that contemporary youth can be divided into categories of interactive media use and of interactive media users. These results call for a better understanding of these categories and the characteristics of their members. The research question for this paper by result can be formulated as: Can patterns be found in the use of interactive media among youth? We answer this question by a survey among Dutch youngsters aged 9-to-23. The respondents were all students in education levels ranging from primary education to higher professional education. Four clusters of interactive media users, namely Traditionalists, Gamers, Networkers and Producers were identified using cluster analysis. Four clusters of interactive media use, namely browsing, performing, interchanging and authoring were identified as well. Behind these straightforward clusters, a complex whole of user activities can be found. Each cluster shows specific use of and opinions about interactive media. This allows for studying the intricate relationship between youth culture, interactive media and learning. With our analysis of both a) use and b) opinions and preferences, our study provided a deeper understanding of the social and cultural functions of interactive media. Furthermore this study revealed the existence of a diversity of interactive media users, rather than one uniform group, as is often assumed in the literature.

Epoch Length and Its Effect on Physical Activity Intensity

Researchers have begun to investigate the issue of epoch length on children's physical activity using small sample sizes, and to date, no studies have been conducted in adolescents. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of different epoch lengths (5, 15, 30, and 60 s) on derived levels of physical activity in both a child and an adolescent sample. Three hundred and eleven children age 7-11 yr and 234 adolescents age 12-16 yr were asked to wear an accelerometer during waking hours for 7 d. The epoch was set at 5 s, and when data were downloaded, the activity counts were then reintegrated into 15-, 30-, and 60-s epochs. A significant epoch effect was seen for time spent in vigorous physical activity, light physical activity, and rest in the child and adolescent samples and moderate-to-vigorous and moderate physical activities in the child sample only. The Bland-Altman analysis showed reasonable agreement on moderate-to-vigorous, moderate, vigorous, and light physical activities and rest between 5- and 15-, 5- and 30-, and 30- and 60-s epochs in the child sample and between 5- and 15-, 5- and 30-, and 15- and 30-s epochs in the adolescent sample. A short epoch is strongly recommended for child and adolescent samples to obtain a "real" picture of young people's physical activity behavior and to prevent accumulation of counts reflecting the average activity level when longer epochs are used. Activity prevalence studies using epoch lengths of 5 and 60 s in a child or an adolescent sample should not be compared nor should 15- and 60- and 30- and 60-s epochs in an adolescent sample.

Computer Use and Attitudes Towards Computerised Therapy Amongst Young People and Parents Attending Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.

There has been little research examining attitudes towards computerised therapy in young people. A self-report survey of 37 young people and 31 parents using Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). Young people reported high levels of computer usage and online help-seeking behaviour. Young people were cautious about computerised therapy whereas parents were more positive, identifying more benefits than concerns. Mental health professionals need to be aware of young people's online help-seeking behaviour in order to correct inaccuracies and maximise uptake of computerised therapy.

Texting while driving: Psychosocial influences on young people's texting intentions and behaviour

Despite the dangers and illegality, there is a continued prevalence of texting while driving amongst young Australian drivers. The present study tested an extended theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to predict young drivers’ (17–24 years) intentions to [1] send and [2] read text messages while driving. Participants ( n = 169 university students) completed measures of attitudes, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, intentions, and the additional social influence measures of group norm and moral norm. One week later, participants reported on the number of texts sent and read while driving in the previous week. Attitude predicted intentions to both send and read texts while driving, and subjective norm and perceived behavioural control determined sending, but not reading, intentions. Further, intention, but not perceptions of control, predicted both texting behaviours 1 week later. In addition, both group norm and moral norm added predictive ability to the model. These findings provide support for the TPB in understanding students’ decisions to text while driving as well as the inclusion of additional normative influences within this context, suggesting that a multi-strategy approach is likely to be useful in attempts to reduce the incidence of these risky driving behaviours.

Uniting information behaviour research and the information professional

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to ascertain the key journals publishing on the topic of information behaviour.Design/methodology/approachThe study focusses on four key textbooks in the field to compile a list of key journals that were being cited.FindingsThe primary aim of the project discussed in this paper is to identify the serials that may be considered the core journals reporting research on young people's information behaviour, with a view to helping the information professional stay up‐to‐date with important work in this field. While the study is in progress, it emerges that the research may also be of value to practitioner researchers looking to publish their own investigations in this area since it may be assumed that the journals in the upper echelons of the ranking lists are particularly receptive to submissions relating to information behaviour.Practical implicationsThe paper should be of interest to practitioners involved in the support of information seeking in young people.Originality/valueThe paper offers a useful insight for researchers and others interest in information behaviour into the journals they should focus energy in consulting.