Contraceptive attitudes and knowledge of female adolescents

Despite the recent decline in adolescent pregnancy rates, adolescent pregnancy continues to be a significant public health issue in the United States. The United States consistently reports the highest rate of adolescent pregnancy among developed countries. Adolescent mothers are more likely to have multiple pregnancies, to access welfare and other social services, and to be unmarried. Teen mothers are less likely to complete high school, enter college, and typically command much less earning power throughout their lifetime as compared to women who delay childbirth until later. Moreover, the United States spends approximately $9.1 billion annually on teen pregnancies. ^ Additionally disconcerting is recent data which demonstrates that the decline in teen pregnancy rates is leveling off and that the rate of adolescent pregnancy has increased for the first time since 1993. Contraceptive use is a key component to the prevention of adolescent pregnancy. Contraceptive nonuse and failure result in unintended pregnancies among adolescents. This review sought to assess the levels of knowledge and attitudes toward contraception among adolescent females.^ Levels of knowledge of contraception among adolescents are tolerable; however, there is substantial room for improvement. Misperceptions about the side effects and mechanisms of action of contraception are pervasive among this population. Adolescents who have low levels of knowledge regarding contraception tend to discontinue usage or use inconsistently. Attitudes toward contraception are greatly influenced by levels of knowledge. As a result, adolescents tend to develop more positive attitudes as misperceptions are abated. Moreover, clear disparities persist among adolescents with minority and young adolescents being at increased risk of pregnancy, poor contraceptive use, and insufficient knowledge about contraception.^ Understanding the level of knowledge of and attitudes toward contraceptives among adolescents is essential to the development of effective pregnancy prevention programs. In order to effectively reduce adolescent pregnancy, prevention initiatives must target the vulnerable populations and incorporate the necessary cultural components.^

The role of social support in HIV prevention among young Latino men who have sex with men

The purpose of this formative study was to determine and prioritize the HIV-prevention needs of Latino young men who have sex with men (YMSM) in Chihuahua (Mexico), Texas, and California, based on YMSM and service provider perceptions of the factors affecting the assimilation and implementation of HIV-preventive behaviors. These factors included: perceived social support, identification of the modes of HIV transmission, perceived risk of HIV, perceived norms and attitudes of peers.^ The study, drawn from a secondary data set, was a convenience sample of providers (n=8) and clients (n=15). Participants completed face-to face interviews and a survey instrument. Interviews were analyzed to identify common themes and congruence among client groups, and among clients and providers. Providers’ understanding of theoretical constructs of interventions was also assessed. Survey data were analyzed to determine variable frequencies and their congruence to the qualitative analysis. ^ The results revealed several differences and many commonalities in the assimilation of protective messages. Client and provider perceptions were congruent across all domains. Providers demonstrated intuitive command of theoretical concepts but inconsistently verbalized their application. Both clients and providers recognized Latinos possessed high HIV-knowledge levels, despite inconsistent protective behaviors. Clients and providers consistently identified important reasons leading to inconsistent protective behaviors, such as: lack of access to targeted information and condoms, self-esteem, sexual identification, situational factors, decreased perceived HIV-risk, and concerns about homophobia, stigma, and rejection. Other factors included: poverty, failure to reach disenfranchised populations, and lack of role models/positive parental figures. The principal conclusion of the study was that there is a need for further study to understand the interrelationship between larger socioeconomic issues and consistent protective behaviors.^

SOCIAL, ATTITUDINAL AND BEHAVIORAL CORRELATES OF WEIGHT CHANGE AMONG MEXICAN AMERICAN WOMEN (OBESITY, DIET, TEXAS)

In industrialized countries the prevalence of obesity among women decreases with increasing socioeconomic status. While this relation has been amply documented, its explanation and implications for other causal factors of obesity has received much less attention. Differences in childbearing patterns, norms and attitudes about fatness, dietary behaviors and physical activity are some of the factors that have been proposed to explain the inverse relation.^ The objectives of this investigation were to (1) examine the associations among social characteristics and weight-related attitudes and behaviors, and (2) examine the relations of these factors to weight change and obesity. Information on social characteristics, weight-related attitudes, dietary behaviors, physical activity and childbearing were collected from 304 Mexican American women aged 19 to 50 living in Starr County, Texas, who were at high risk for developing diabetes. Their weights were recorded both at an initial physical examination and at a follow-up interview one to two and one-half years later, permitting the computation of current Body Mass Index (weight/height('2)) and weight change during the interval for each subject. Path analysis was used to examine direct and indirect relations among the variables.^ The major findings were: (1) After controlling for age, childbearing was not an independent predictor of weight change or Body Mass Index. (2) Neither planned exercise nor total daily physical activity were independent predictors of weight change. (3) Women with higher social characteristics scores reported less frequent meals and less use of calorically dense foods, factors associated with lower risk for weight gain. (4) Dietary intake measures were not significantly related to Body Mass Index. However, dietary behaviors (frequency of meals and snacks, use of high and low caloric density foods, eating restraint and disinhibition of restraint) did explain a significant portion (17.4 percent) of the variance in weight change, indicating the importance of using dynamic measures of weight status in studies of the development of obesity. This study highlights factors amenable to intervention to reverse or to prevent weight gain in this population, and thereby reduce the prevalence of diabetes and its sequelae. ^

Knowledge and Attitudes of Young People in Nigeria about HIV/AIDS---A systematic review

Background: HIV/AIDS has remained one of Nigeria's biggest health and social issues for decades. People aged between 10 and 24 are the most affected. Research into why this population subset is affected is very pertinent. We therefore conducted a systematic review of the Knowledge and Attitudes of young people in Nigeria about HIV/AIDS to understand where the gaps between knowledge and attitudes can be bridged. ^ Methods: We conducted searches in Medline, PubMed, African Index Medicus, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health. WHO and UNAIDS documents were also searched. Other journals were hand searched. Searches were for studies between 1986 (when HIV/AIDS was first reported in Nigeria) till date. In addition, data abstraction and quality assessment were done. ^ Results: 279 titles and abstracts were found and 33 articles in full text were appraised critically and 17 articles were selected based on our criteria. This revealed a dearth of well conducted studies in the literature despite the enormity of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Constructs for Knowledge and attitudes were itemized on two tables for each article based on the Health Belief Model. Even though many of the studies showed high level of knowledge about HIV/AIDS, it did not impact attitudes about the disease. Also fear and anxiety prevented participants from acquiring knowledge. These recurring themes arguably were not limited to any region or area, background or group. ^ Conclusion: There is a need for future research to be culturally sensitive with a focus on attitudes and correction of misconceptions about HIV/AIDS among our youth.^

Shaping Attitudes in Public Child Welfare: An Innovative MSW Training Program

Children investigated by child welfare are at significant risk for poor cognitive, emotional, social, behavioral and economic outcomes. In 2000, California formed the Child Welfare Services Group to propose changes in how child welfare services are delivered, the CWS Redesign. California State University, Long Beach’s child welfare training program developed its complement. Fundamentally, Redesign calls for partnering with families and communities to strengthen families, prevent unnecessary placements or re-unite families successfully. These changes are a paradigm shift in attitudes toward birth families and communities. In a qualitative study, interns logged their observations and subsequent impressions of CWS-Client encounters to explore how attitudes are learned. Majority of interns observed positive, collaborative encounters and perceived birth parents as motivated. Their impressions support introducing interns to birth families on the front-end of CWS training.

Something real: A social marketing approach to smoking prevention among Montevideo youth

Uruguay has some of the strictest tobacco-control laws in Latin America. Despite this, youth smoking rates in Uruguay are amongst the highest in South America. Thus, it is important to identify strategies to prevent youth smoking in Uruguay. The current qualitative research study sought to identify intrapersonal and socioenvironmental factors that are associated with smoking among middle school youth in Uruguay. It also sought to develop potential prevention strategies and media messages that would resonate with youth for a social media campaign. The study was grounded in social cognitive theory and the theory of reasoned action/planned behavior, among other behavioral science theories; anthropological perspectives were also considered. To achieve these goals, 29 group and individual structured interviews were conducted in two private middle schools catering to lower and higher SES youth in Montevideo, Uruguay during the summer of 2012. One hundred and three study participants, including students, parents, and teachers, were interviewed. The structured interviews were recorded, transcribed, translated, back translated, coded and analyzed. The study findings show that positive attitudes towards smoking (i.e. to be seen, to increase status, to ensure women's equality, to looking old, and to service as a rite of passage), delinquent behavior (i.e. transgression/deviant behavior), social norms that support smoking (i.e. peer pressure and modeling, group membership/sense of belonging, parental modeling, and family support), easy access and availability to tobacco (i.e. retails stores) were factors associated with youth smoking. Potential protective factors may include parental support, negative attitudes towards smoking, sports/music, and smoke-free environments. Because study participants are accustomed to government-sponsored strong countermarketing graphic imaging, study participants selected even stronger images and messages as the preferred way to receive tobacco prevention messages. Something Real ("Algo Real") was a theme that resonated with the participants and chosen as the name for the proposed campaign. This campaign was designed as a multiple component intervention that included mass, school base, and family based strategies to prevent tobacco use. Some intervention materials specific to these intervention components were developed to target relevant intrapersonal and socioenvironmental factors identified above. These materials will be tested in future pilot studies and larger scale evaluation with this population, outside the scope of this dissertation. ^

Attitudes of health-care workers toward pregnant, HIV -positive women

The management of HIV infection with antiretroviral drugs has succeeded in increasing survival rates, but the subject of pregnancy in HIV-positive women continues to garner debate. Discrimination and stigma have been identified as barriers to health care, suggesting that women with HIV may be disinclined to seek prenatal care if health-care workers exhibit negative attitudes toward the women's pregnancies. To optimize prenatal and medical care for women with HIV infection, it is important to understand the general social conditions and cultural context in which these women have children. Goffman's treatise on stigma, Foucault's discussion of the knowledge/power matrix, and Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory offer theoretical perspectives by which we can evaluate the gender, race, and class issues that are inherent in pregnancy decision-making for women with HIV infection. It is also necessary to evaluate prevailing attitudes on childbearing toward HIV-positive women and to review the historical background of prejudice in which HIV-positive women make decisions regarding childbearing. ^ This qualitative study used a survey instrument and one-on-one interviews with HIV-infected women to elicit their perceptions of how they were treated by care providers when they became pregnant. It also included interviews with health-care workers to determine what their feelings are about pregnancy within the context of HIV infection. Results of the ethnographic inquiry reveal that most of the women had negative experiences at some point during a pregnancy, but that the situation improved when they sought care from a provider who was familiar with HIV infection. The health-care providers interviewed were firm in their belief that HIV-positive women deserved optimal care and treated the women with respect, but these are individuals who are also experts in providing care to HIV-positive patients. The question remains as to what kind of care HIV-positive women are receiving generally and what types of attitudes they are being subjected to if they see less experienced providers. Further research is also needed to determine whether HIV-positive women from a broader ethnic representation and higher socioeconomic status experience similar negative attitudes. ^

Perspectives on guidance and social inclusion in a global society

The world is changing rapidly. People today face numerous challenges in achieving a meaningful and fulfilling life. In many countries, there are enormous systemic barriers to address, such as: massive unemployment, HIV/AIDS, social disintegration, and inadequate infrastructure. One job for life is over. For many it never existed. Old metaphors and old models of career development no longer apply. New ways of thinking about careers are necessary, that take into account the context in which people are living, the reality of today's labour market, and the fact people's career-life journey contains many branching paths, barriers, and obstacles, but also allies and sources of assistance. Flexibility is important, as is keeping options open and making sure the journey is meaningful. Guidance professionals need to begin early, working with other professionals and those seeking assistance to develop attitudes that facilitate people taking charge of their own career-life paths. People need a vision for their life that will drive a purposeful approach to career-life planning and avoid floundering. Helping people achieve that direction can be most effectively accomplished when policy makers and practitioners work together to ensure that effective and accessible services are available for those who need them and when a large part of focus in on addressing the context in which marginalized people work and live.

Perspectives on guidance and social inclusion in a global society

The world is changing rapidly. People today face numerous challenges in achieving a meaningful and fulfilling life. In many countries, there are enormous systemic barriers to address, such as: massive unemployment, HIV/AIDS, social disintegration, and inadequate infrastructure. One job for life is over. For many it never existed. Old metaphors and old models of career development no longer apply. New ways of thinking about careers are necessary, that take into account the context in which people are living, the reality of today's labour market, and the fact people's career-life journey contains many branching paths, barriers, and obstacles, but also allies and sources of assistance. Flexibility is important, as is keeping options open and making sure the journey is meaningful. Guidance professionals need to begin early, working with other professionals and those seeking assistance to develop attitudes that facilitate people taking charge of their own career-life paths. People need a vision for their life that will drive a purposeful approach to career-life planning and avoid floundering. Helping people achieve that direction can be most effectively accomplished when policy makers and practitioners work together to ensure that effective and accessible services are available for those who need them and when a large part of focus in on addressing the context in which marginalized people work and live.

Perspectives on guidance and social inclusion in a global society

The world is changing rapidly. People today face numerous challenges in achieving a meaningful and fulfilling life. In many countries, there are enormous systemic barriers to address, such as: massive unemployment, HIV/AIDS, social disintegration, and inadequate infrastructure. One job for life is over. For many it never existed. Old metaphors and old models of career development no longer apply. New ways of thinking about careers are necessary, that take into account the context in which people are living, the reality of today's labour market, and the fact people's career-life journey contains many branching paths, barriers, and obstacles, but also allies and sources of assistance. Flexibility is important, as is keeping options open and making sure the journey is meaningful. Guidance professionals need to begin early, working with other professionals and those seeking assistance to develop attitudes that facilitate people taking charge of their own career-life paths. People need a vision for their life that will drive a purposeful approach to career-life planning and avoid floundering. Helping people achieve that direction can be most effectively accomplished when policy makers and practitioners work together to ensure that effective and accessible services are available for those who need them and when a large part of focus in on addressing the context in which marginalized people work and live.

AFRICA BUILD Portal: developing a social network of African health researchers and educators

One of the main outputs of the project is a collaborative platform which integrates a myriad of research and learning resources. This article presents the first prototype of this platform: the AFRICA BUILD Portal (ABP 1.0). The ABP is a Web 2.0 platform which facilitates the access, in a collaborative manner, to these resources. Through a usable web interface, the ABP has been designed to avoid, as much as possible, the connectivity problems of African institutions. In this paper, we suggest that the access to complex systems does not imply slow response rates, and that their development model guides the project to a natural technological transfer, adaptation and user acceptance. Finally, this platform aims to motivate research attitudes during the learning process and stimulate user?s collaborations.

Exploring users inter-temporal preferences for measuring transport social equity effects

There exist different ways for defining a welfare function. Traditionally, welfare economic theory foundation is based on the Net Present Value (NPV) calculation where the time dependent preferences of considered agents are taken into account. However, the time preferences, remains a controversial subject. Currently, the traditional approach employs a unique discount rate for various agents. Nevertheless, this way of discounting appears inconsistent with sustainable development. New research work suggests that the discount rate may not be a homogeneous value. The discount rates may change following the individual’s preferences. A significant body of evidence suggests that people do not behave following a constant discount rate. In fact, UK Government has quickly recognized the power of the arguments for time-varying rates, as it has done in its official guidance to Ministries on the appraisal of investments and policies. Other authors deal with not just time preference but with uncertainty about future income (precautionary saving). In a situation in which economic growth rates are similar across time periods, the rationale for declining social optimal discount rates is driven by the preferences of the individuals in the economy, rather than expectations of growth. However, these approaches have been mainly focused on long-term policies where intergenerational risks may appear. The traditional cost-benefit analysis (CBA) uses a unique discount rate derived from market interest rates or investment rates of return for discounting the costs and benefits of all social agents included in the CBA. However, recent literature showed that a more adequate measure of social benefit is possible by using different discount rates including inter-temporal preferences rate of users, private investment discount rate and intertemporal preferences rate of government. Actually, the costs of opportunity may differ amongst individuals, firms, governments, or society in general, as do the returns on savings. In general, the firms or operators require an investment rate linked to the current return on savings, while the discount rate of consumers-users depends on their time preferences with respect of the current and the future consumption, as well as society can take into account the intergenerational well-being, adopting a lower discount rate for today’s generation. Time discount rate of social actors (users, operators, government and society) places a lower value in a future gain, but the uncertainty about future income strongly determines the individual preferences. These time and uncertainty depends on preferences and should be integrated into a transport policy formulation that may have significant social impacts. The discount rate of a user cannot be the same than the operator’s discount rate. The preferences of both are different. In addition, another school of thought suggests that people, such as a social group, may have different attitudes towards future costs and benefits. Particularly, the users have different discount rates related to their income. Some research work tried to modify user discount rates using a compensating weight which represents the inverse of household income level. The inter-temporal preferences are a proxy of the willingness to pay during the time. Its consideration is important in order to make acceptable or not a policy or investment

Comportamento social na adolescência: as normas e a rotina na regulação da conduta delituosa

O envolvimento de adolescentes com a prática de atos infracionais, no Brasil, ocupa espaço significativo no debate público. No entanto, tal debate carece de profundidade, pois pouco se relaciona ao conhecimento cientificamente produzido sobre o fenômeno. De acordo com a literatura acadêmica especializada no tema, um melhor conhecimento dos fatores associados à pratica de atos infracionais permitiria não só auxiliar na proposição de políticas públicas voltadas à prevenção deste problema, mas também no desenvolvimento de formas mais eficientes de intervenção, baseadas nas necessidades específicas apresentadas pelos adolescentes em conflito com a lei. Em meio aos diferentes fatores que devem ser pesquisados, no presente trabalho focalizam-se especificamente aqueles subentendidos sob o conceito de Normas e de Rotina, no referencial da Teoria da Regulação Social e Pessoal da Conduta, cujo autor principal é Marc Le Blanc. Divide-se assim o presente trabalho em dois estudos. O Estudo 1 trata de regulação normativa que opera por meio do mecanismo de socialização, e se refere à internalização, pelo adolescente, das normas sociais de conduta tidas como convencionais, o que promoveria um nível de constrangimento interno capaz de atuar como barreira ao envolvimento em atividades delituosas. Nesse sentido, maior adesão às normas, menos atitudes favoráveis ao comportamento divergente, mais atitudes de respeito a figuras de autoridade, maior percepção de risco de apreensão e menor utilização de técnicas de neutralização das barreiras psicológicas à emissão do comportamento indicariam um maior índice de constrangimento interno e, portanto, uma probabilidade reduzida de se engajar persistentemente em atividades divergentes/infracionais. O objetivo geral deste Estudo foi caracterizar a regulação da conduta em adolescentes pelas normas, no contexto sociocultural brasileiro. Utilizou-se o questionário de Normas proposto por Le Blanc, um questionário de caracterização sociodemográfica e a Entrevista de Delinquência Autorrevelada. Os dados foram coletados junto a 48 adolescentes Infratores e a 102 Escolares. Os resultados reforçam a importância do aspecto normativo para o melhor entendimento acerca dos fatores que explicam a conduta divergente em adolescentes. No Estudo 2 focalizou-se as atividades de rotina que podem se associar ao comportamento delituoso por meio do mecanismo de aprendizagem, na medida em que as diversas atividades nas quais o adolescente investe seu tempo constituem-se em contexto onde o comportamento divergente/infracional pode ser adquirido e reforçado. De acordo com a literatura, as atividades sem objetivos específicos, acompanhadas por pares de idade e que ocorrem na ausência de alguma figura de autoridade são aquelas que melhor explicam o comportamento delituoso de um adolescente. O objetivo geral deste Estudo foi caracterizar a regulação da conduta pela rotina em adolescentes, no contexto sociocultural brasileiro. Foram utilizados 3 instrumentos: o questionário de Rotina proposto por Le Blanc, um questionário de caracterização sociodemográfica e a Entrevista de Delinquência Autorrevelada. As análises foram feitas com base nas respostas de 102 adolescentes recrutados em escolas públicas. Os resultados comprovam a relevância das Atividades de Rotina como fator explicativo para o comportamento delituoso, com ênfase para os efeitos provocados pelos Pares, pela Família e pela frequentação de Lugares destinados aos adultos. Em síntese, ambos estudos reforçam a importância dos sistemas de regulação estudados e colocam em pauta a necessidade de outros trabalhos, que possam avançar nas questões apontadas dentro da Regulação pela Rotina e pelas Normas.

Attitudes towards disability in education through the SSCI (2000-2011): a topical and bibliometric analysis

Introduction. The purpose of this study is to describe and characterize the international sci-entific output relating to “attitudes towards disability in education”, using a battery of bibliometric indicators that make it possible to analyze and monitor international scientific activity. Method. This ex post facto retrospective study analyzed 925 papers published in the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) database during the period 2000-2011. Results. The number of publications increased steadily between 2006 and 2010. The results reported here include the most productive authors, the journals that deal with this topic, and the articles cited most often. An analysis of research types showed a tendency toward empiri-cal studies. A total of 18 categories were identified when considering article content, and the distribution of the research studies across stages of education was found to be uneven. Discussion and Conclusion. The results reveal a topic that is highly current in today’s scien-tific community, and offer us a view of the traits that have characterized research on "attitudes towards disability in education" for the last eleven years.

Predictive Models of Alcohol Use Based on Attitudes and Individual Values

Two predictive models are developed in this article: the first is designed to predict people's attitudes to alcoholic drinks, while the second sets out to predict the use of alcohol in relation to selected individual values. University students (N = 1,500) were recruited through stratified sampling based on sex and academic discipline. The questionnaire used obtained information on participants' alcohol use, attitudes and personal values. The results show that the attitudes model correctly classifies 76.3% of cases. Likewise, the model for level of alcohol use correctly classifies 82% of cases. According to our results, we can conclude that there are a series of individual values that influence drinking and attitudes to alcohol use, which therefore provides us with a potentially powerful instrument for developing preventive intervention programs.