Aria Davis Crump

Bullies, Victims, and Bully/Victims: Distinct Groups of At-Risk Youth

Bullying and victimization are prevalent problems in the area of adolescent peer relationships. Middle school students (N = 4,263) in one Maryland school district completed surveys covering a range of problem behaviors and psychosocial variables. Overall,30.9% of the students reported being victimized three or more times in the past year and 7.4% reported bullying three or more times over the past year. More than one half of the bullies also reported being victimized. Those bully/victims were found to score less favorably than either bullies or victims on all the measured psychosocial and behavioral variables. Results of a discriminant function analysis demonstrated that a group of psychosocial and behavioral predictors—including problem behaviors, attitudes toward deviance, peer influences, depressive symptoms, school-related functioning, and parenting—formed a linear separation between the comparison group (never bullied or victimized), the victim group, the bully group, and the bully/victim group.

Peer and Parent Influences on Smoking and Drinking among Early Adolescents

Social influences can promote or discourage adolescent substance use. The authors surveyed 4,263 sixth- to eighth-grade students to assess the effect of peer and parent influences on adolescent substance use. The authors conducted separate multiple logistic regression analyses for smoking and drinking, controlling for grade, sex, and race. Positive independent associations with smoking and drinking were found for direct peer pressure and associating with problem-behaving friends. Independent negative associations with smoking and drinking were also found for parent involvement, parent expectations, and parent regard. In an analysis of interactions, peer pressure was positively associated with drinking for girls but not for boys and problem-behaving friends was positively associated with drinking for both boys and girls. The findings are consistent with the hypothesis that associating with deviant peers promotes and that authoritative parenting protects against smoking and drinking.

Expectancies and other psychosocial factors associated with alcohol use among early adolescent boys and girls

Early experimentation with drinking increases the lifetime risk for substance abuse and other serious health and social problems. We studied factors associated with early alcohol experimentation by surveying 4,263 sixth- to eighth-grade students (67.1% White, 23.5% Black, 7.2% other races combined; 2.2% missing data) from seven schools in one suburban school district. The prevalence of drinking in the last 30 days was 12.1% for boys and 13.1% for girls (12.6% overall); 6.6% among sixth graders, 11.1% among seventh graders, and 19.5% among eighth graders. In multiple logistic regression analyses, controlling for grade, positive alcohol expectancies, perceived prevalence, and deviance acceptance were associated positively, self-control negatively, with drinking for both boys and girls. Among boys, grade point average was negatively associated with drinking. Among girls, propensity for risk-taking and problem-behaving friends were positively associated and high parental expectations were negatively associated with drinking. Alcohol use in our sample of early adolescent boys and girls was better explained by modifiable psychosocial factors such as alcohol expectancies, perceived prevalence, and self-control than by grade.

Health Communication in the Prevention of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Drug Use

Research on substance abuse prevention programs indicates that effectiveness is greater when multiple intervention approaches that address the specific vocabulary, perceptions, and values of the target population are employed. The field of health communication provides unique perspectives on media that can be applied to increase the salience and effectiveness of substance abuse prevention programs. Well-designed and well-delivered health communications have the capacity for reaching remote audiences, changing health attitudes and behavior, shaping social norms, changing the way health issues are portrayed by the popular media, and influencing decisions about legislation and policies. Health communication approaches are generally employed within the broad context of health promotion programs, along with education, community development, empowerment, and social change approaches. This article describes the role of health communication in substance abuse prevention, reviews major conceptualizations of health communication, and introduces the unique features of the four articles included in this special section of Health Education & Behavior.

Pregnancy Among Urban African-American Teens: Ambivalence About Prevention

The beliefs and influences that predispose African Americans to early pregnancy were investigated through focus group discussions with 37 nonparenting Black females 14-17 years old who were recruited from an urban hospital outpatient clinic. Of particular interest were the extent to which participants felt having a baby is problematic for a teenager expectations for the impact of pregnancy on ones social interactions and perceptions of contraceptive use. Participants believed that childbearing should be postponed until after the teenage years when there is greater emotional and financial stability. Child care was viewed as labor-intensive and disruptive of an adolescents freedom and ability to enjoy the teenage years. Nonetheless participants stated that teens who do become pregnant can negotiate this challenge successfully without needing to drop out of school or abandon other life plans. They did not express concerns about loss of peer acceptance after a pregnancy. In fact some participants noted that pregnancy can result in personal and social benefits such as helping a girl to get her life together or keeping a boyfriend. Although participants agreed it is important to be protected during sex they voiced serious concerns about the safety side effects and effectiveness of available contraceptive methods. Overall the discussions suggested considerable ambivalence about preventing teen pregnancy and childbearing. This finding is of concern since teens who have ambivalent feelings about pregnancy may not be motivated to use contraception consistently.

Empowerment: The Process and the Outcome

Empowerment has become a popular objective of health education programs targeting populations that are low income, alienated, or otherwise disadvantaged. Populations that have experienced a lifetime of inferior medical care, poor living conditions, and lack of economic opportunity may perceive themselves to be without power to alter the conditions of their lives. Empowerment education is one of a range of social change approaches that health educators may employ in facilitating people in their efforts to overcome structural and social disadvantage. The case study is an ideal method for studying empowerment education. A case study