PROBLEM Motor vehicle crashes kill more adolescents in the United States than any other cause, and often the teen is not wearing a seat belt. METHODS Using data from the 2011 Youth Risk Behavior Surveys from 38 states, we examined teens' self-reported seat belt use while riding as a passenger and identified individual characteristics and environmental factors associated with always wearing a ...

INTRODUCTION Stress can have a significant effect on an adolescent's long-term physical and mental well-being. An understanding of the role of unmanaged stress during early adolescence is critical for the prevention of chronic diseases such as depression. The purpose of the Shifting the Lens study was to explore perceptions of stress, sources of social support, and use of coping strategies amon...

BACKGROUND Low-income African-American adolescents use preventive medical services less frequently than their White counterparts, indicating a need for effective interventions targeting this group. Puff City is a Web-based, asthma management program for urban adolescents that has been evaluated in high school settings with promising results. The objective of this pilot was to assess the feasibi...

The majority of teens are having sex, however, we know little about the patterns of nonromantic sexual activity and the factors associated with non-romantic sexual experiences. In fact, prior work indicates that contraceptive use depends on the relationship context of sexual intercourse. Yet, research on the characteristics of teens who engage in non-romantic sex is limited. We use the National...

BACKGROUND There are indications that marijuana is increasingly used to alleviate symptoms and for the treatment of a variety of medical conditions both physical and psychological. The purpose of this study was to describe the health concerns and problems that prompt some adolescents to use marijuana for therapeutic reasons, and their beliefs about the risks and benefits of the therapeutic use ...

BACKGROUND Indoor tanning (IT) before the age of 35 increases melanoma risk by 75%. Nevertheless, IT and sunless tanning product (STP) use have gained popularity among youth. However, there are limited data on the prevalence and sociodemographic correlates of both IT and STP use in a representative sample of American teens. METHODS Teenage females (N=778) aged 12-18 years were recruited as pa...

In ruling on the over-the-counter status (OTC) of the emergency contraceptive, "Plan B", the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) questioned whether younger adolescent females could adequately self-select and self-medicate. That determination requires a judgment of fact, regarding how increased emergency contraceptive availability would affect adolescents' behavior, and a judgment of values, r...

Using a unique microsimulation tool, Teen FamilyScape, the present study explores how changes in the mix of contraceptive methods used by teens contributed to the decline in the U.S. teen pregnancy rate between 2002 and 2010. Results indicate that changes in contraceptive use contributed to approximately half of the decline in the teen pregnancy rate during this time period (48%) and that a lit...