The Resource Mothers Program for Maternal Phenylketonuria.
(9/1946)
OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to measure the effectiveness of resource mothers in reducing adverse consequences of maternal phenylketonuria. METHODS: Nineteen pregnancies in the resource mothers group were compared with 64 pregnancies in phenylketonuric women without resource mothers. Weeks to metabolic control and offspring outcome were measured. RESULTS: Mean number of weeks to metabolic control was 8.5 (SE = 2.2) in the resource mothers group, as compared with 16.1 (SE = 1.7) in the comparison group. Infants of women in the resource mothers group had larger birth head circumferences and higher developmental quotients. CONCLUSIONS: The resource mothers program described here improves metabolic control in pregnant women with phenylketonuria. (+info)
The impact of after-school peer contact on early adolescent externalizing problems is moderated by parental monitoring, perceived neighborhood safety, and prior adjustment.
(10/1946)
Unsupervised peer contact in the after-school hours was examined as a risk factor in the development of externalizing problems in a longitudinal sample of early adolescents. Parental monitoring, neighborhood safety, and adolescents' preexisting behavioral problems were considered as possible moderators of the risk relation. Interviews with mothers provided information on monitoring, neighborhood safety, and demographics. Early adolescent (ages 12-13 years) after-school time use was assessed via a telephone interview in grade 6 (N = 438); amount of time spent with peers when no adult was present was tabulated. Teacher ratings of externalizing behavior problems were collected in grades 6 and 7. Unsupervised peer contact, lack of neighborhood safety, and low monitoring incrementally predicted grade 7 externalizing problems, after controlling for family background factors and grade 6 problems. The greatest risk was for those unsupervised adolescents living in low-monitoring homes and comparatively unsafe neighborhoods. The significant relation between unsupervised peer contact and problem behavior in grade 7 held only for those adolescents who already were high in problem behavior in grade 6. These findings point to the need to consider individual, family, and neighborhood factors in evaluating risks associated with young adolescents' after-school care experiences. (+info)
Peer consultation reflection exercise.
(11/1946)
OBJECTIVE: To explore participants' overall perception of the value of the Peer Consultation Reflection Exercise (PCRE); of barriers and facilitators to participation and learning during a PCRE; and of the transferability of the experience to participants' own settings. DESIGN: This study used the qualitative techniques of key informant interviews and a focus group. SETTING: Focus group and key informant interviews at the 1996 Annual Meeting of the College of Family Physicians of Canada's Section of Teachers. PARTICIPANTS: Family medicine teachers attending a PCRE. METHOD: Five key informant interviews and one focus group composed of five participants were conducted to explore participants' experience of participating and learning during a PCRE. MAIN FINDINGS: Participants viewed the PCRE as a valuable opportunity to interact and learn from colleagues a were especially impressed with the opportunity to listen. Confidentiality and the important role of the facilitator were identified as key components. The greatest perceived barrier was the formal structure of the PCRE. CONCLUSIONS: The PCRE is an innovative strategy for personal and professional development. It could be used in other settings. (+info)
A method in search of a theory: peer education and health promotion.
(12/1946)
Peer education has grown in popularity and practice in recent years in the field of health promotion. However, advocates of peer education rarely make reference to theories in their rationale for particular projects. In this paper the authors review a selection of commonly cited theories, and examine to what extent they have value and relevance to peer education in health promotion. Beginning from an identification of 10 claims made for peer education, each theory is examined in terms of the scope of the theory and evidence to support it in practice. The authors conclude that, whilst most theories have something to offer towards an explanation of why peer education might be effective, most theories are limited in scope and there is little empirical evidence in health promotion practice to support them. Peer education would seem to be a method in search of a theory rather than the application of theory to practice. (+info)
Psychosocial adjustment of pediatric patients after allogeneic stem cell transplantation.
(13/1946)
The purpose of this study was to assess the psychosocial adjustment of patients who had been treated with allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT) in our clinic. Selection criteria for patients were to be aged 14-30 years at the time of the follow-up, to be at least 2 years post-SCT and to have a very good knowledge of German. Among 31 eligible patients, 26 participated (84% response rate). The patients were between 15 and 27 years old and were on average 7 years (range 2-13) post-SCT. Research instruments consisted of a demographic questionnaire and various subscales of established psychological measures for which data from a sample of bone cancer survivors and population norms were available. About 35% of patients showed high levels of anxiety, 62% appeared to be extremely sensitive and vulnerable, and 35% showed strong, unfulfilled needs in their love lives. In the other domains tested (self-esteem, family and peer relationships, school/vocational performance, etc), no noticeable differences were found between the subjects and comparable populations. There was no significant association between psychosocial outcome and demographic features or clinical data. Our results suggest that patients who underwent SCT in their childhood or adolescence are at risk of developing long-term emotional or social problems. Due to the retrospective design of our study and the small sample size, no predictive factors for psychosocial distress could be identified. (+info)
Early behavior problems as a predictor of later peer group victimization: moderators and mediators in the pathways of social risk.
(14/1946)
This study is a prospective investigation of the predictive association between early behavior problems (internalizing, externalizing, hyperactivity-impulsiveness, immaturity-dependency) and later victimization in the peer group. Teacher ratings of the behavioral adjustment of 389 kindergarten and 1st-grade children (approximate age range of 5 to 6 years-old) were obtained, using standardized behavior problem checklists. These ratings predicted peer nomination scores for victimization, obtained 3 years later, even after the prediction associated with concurrent behavior problems was statistically controlled. Further analyses suggested that the relation between early behavior problems and later victimization is mediated by peer rejection and moderated by children's dyadic friendships. Behavior problems appear to play an important role in determining victimization within the peer group, although the relevant pathways are complex and influenced by other aspects of children's social adjustment. (+info)
A comparison of correlates of cigarette smoking behavior between Jiangxi province, China and Japanese high school students.
(15/1946)
We conducted surveys on cigarette smoking among junior and senior high school students in Jiangxi province, China and throughout Japan using the same anonymous, self-administered questionnaire in order to compare correlates of adolescent smoking between the two areas. Cross-sectional surveys were used to measure smoking behavior and correlates in two samples of 57,566 Japanese students and 11,836 Jiangxi students. The correlate on smoking with the highest relative risk was friend's smoking in both sexes in each area. The magnitude of the relative risk was bigger for Japanese students. The relative risk of the variable that a student doesn't think cigarette smoking harms his/her health was higher among Jiangxi students than among Japanese students. Mother's smoking and sister's smoking were significantly related to smoking experiment of Japanese students. In Japan, important measures are to support students getting coping techniques against peer pressure and to elevate concern toward adolescent smoking among family members and society. In Jiangxi, the anti-smoking education to teach students to correctly recognize the harm of smoking to their health is more important. (+info)
The risks for late adolescence of early adolescent marijuana use.
(16/1946)
OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to assess the relation of early adolescent marijuana use to late adolescent problem behaviors, drug-related attitudes, drug problems, and sibling and peer problem behavior. METHODS: African American (n = 627) and Puerto Rican (n = 555) youths completed questionnaires in their classrooms initially and were individually interviewed 5 years later. Logistic regression analysis estimated increases in the risk of behaviors or attitudes in late adolescence associated with more frequent marijuana use in early adolescence. RESULTS: Early adolescent marijuana use increased the risk in late adolescence of not graduating from high school; delinquency; having multiple sexual partners; not always using condoms; perceiving drugs as not harmful; having problems with cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana; and having more friends who exhibit deviant behavior. These relations were maintained with controls for age, sex, ethnicity, and, when available, earlier psychosocial measures. CONCLUSIONS: Early adolescent marijuana use is related to later adolescent problems that limit the acquisition of skills necessary for employment and heighten the risks of contracting HIV and abusing legal and illegal substances. Hence, assessments of and treatments for adolescent marijuana use need to be incorporated in clinical practice. (+info)