PURPOSE Seventy-five percent of adolescent morbidity and mortality is a result of risky behaviors. The Rapid Assessment for Adolescent Preventive Services (RAAPS) is a 21-question adolescent risk screening tool developed to identify the behaviors contributing most to adolescent morbidity, mortality, and social problems. The aim of this study was to evaluate the validity and reliability of the R...

28 Janet Creaser and Michael Manser, Department of Mechanical Engineering Development and Evaluation of a Second Generation In-Vehicle Driver Assistance for Teenagers to Facilitate a Reduction in Crash Rates Status: In progress Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers, with speeding, seat belt noncompliance, alcohol, and distractions serving as the primary contributors...

Offline Effects of Online Connecting: The Impact of Broadband Diffusion on Teen Fertility Decisions Broadband (high-speed) internet access expanded rapidly from 1999 to 2007. This expansion is associated with higher economic growth and labor market activity. In this paper, we examine whether the rollout also affected the social connections teens make. Specifically, we look at the relationship b...

STUDY OBJECTIVES Early high school start times may contribute to insufficient sleep leading to increased teen crash rate. Virginia Beach (VB) and Chesapeake are adjacent, demographically similar cities. VB high schools start 75-80 minutes earlier than Chesapeake's. We hypothesized that VB teens would manifest a higher crash rate than Chesapeake teens. METHODS The Virginia Department of Motor ...

On May 29, 2005, the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) was notified of suspected measles in a female Indiana resident aged 6 years who was hospitalized in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she had been visiting relatives. Serologic analyses performed by the Ohio State Department of Health Laboratory and a private reference laboratory confirmed the diagnosis of measles. The hospital in Cincinnati ...

Few studies have examined disparities in adverse birth outcomes and compared contributing socioeconomic factors specifically between African-American and White teen mothers. This study examined intersections between neighborhood socioeconomic status (as defined by census-tract median household income), maternal age, and racial disparities in preterm birth (PTB) outcomes between African-American...

The present study used data from several sources to 1) present information on mothers and births in a single state (Delaware); 2) present cost data to estimate health-related birth real costs; and 3) use the data to estimate the costs and impact on mothers, health care providers, and taxpayers. In addition, this study explicitly examined costs of births through the lens of unplanned/unintended ...

This study examines what neighborhood conditions experienced at age 15 and after are associated with teen childbearing and fathering among Latino and African American youth and whether these neighborhood effects vary by gender and/or ethnicity. Administrative and survey data from a natural experiment are used for a sample of 517 Latino and African American youth whose families were quasi-random...

About half of the almost 1 million US teenagers who become pregnant each year carry their pregnancies to term and give birth. However, after years of steady increases, teen birthrates in the US are lower and pregnancy rates have fallen to their lowest level in 20 years. Teenage sexual activity is also declining. Over the period 1991-96, the birthrate in the US among teens declined from the 2...