Bianca L. Guzmán

Let's Talk About Sex: How Comfortable Discussions About Sex Impact Teen Sexual Behavior

A secondary analysis of data from 1,039 Latino adolescents who participated in a study of a sex education program was conducted to examine the impact of comfortable communication about sex on intended and actual sexual behavior. Results indicate that Latino adolescents have a broad communicative network, including friends, dating partners, and extended family members, with whom they talk about sex. Regression analyses suggest comfortable sexual communication is predictive of less likelihood of being sexually active, older at first intercourse, and increased intentions to delay intercourse.

Academic Underachievement in Children with Epilepsy

Academic achievement was studied in 78 children with epilepsy, ages 5 to 13 years, to determine how seizures, treatment of seizures, and sociocultural factors influence academic achievement. Cognitive abilities were assessed with either the McCarthy Scales of Childrens Abilities or the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised. Achievement was measured with the Peabody Individual Achievement Tests. Achievement scores were corrected for cognitive ability (IQ), and underachievement was defined as achievement score 1/2 standard deviation or more below IQ. Information regarding seizure history (severity, duration) and treatment with anticonvulsant drugs was obtained. In addition, the family was extensively interviewed regarding the childs environment, behavior, and demographic background. The Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) scale was completed on a home visit. Underachievement was frequent, ranging from 16% (Reading Recognition) to 50% (General Knowledge), but there was no relationship between severity or duration of seizure disorder or total exposure to anticonvulsant medications and achievement. Major determinants of achievement included subscales of the HOME scale, age (older children more likely to be underachieving), and parental education. An equal proportion of newly diagnosed and/or untreated subjects were underachieving compared to those with longstanding epilepsy and anticonvulsant drug treatment. (J Child Neurol 1991;6:65-72).

Reaction time, attention, and impulsivity in epilepsy ☆ ☆☆

Reaction time, attention, and impulsivity were studied in 112 children with epilepsy (4.5-13 years) using a computerized test. We measured simple reaction time (response with each hand separately to a single stimulus), forced choice reaction time (two stimuli presented in random order, one designated for each hand), and choice reaction time with distraction (two response stimuli, one for each hand, with two additional distracting stimuli randomly inserted). We also measured variability of speed of response and errors of omission and commission. Controls were unaffected children of similar age, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Children with epilepsy were significantly slower, more variable, and made more omission errors than control children, even when analysis was limited to epileptic patients with IQ greater than 90, but they did not make more commission (i.e., impulsive) errors. Reaction times were related to IQ, but in general were not related to seizure severity, duration of seizure disorder, or duration of medication use. Untreated patients (N = 13) did not differ from those with antiepileptic drug levels in the therapeutic range on the day of testing (N = 52), but differed significantly from normal patients. Epileptic patients demonstrated significant slowing of reaction time and inattention, but not significant impulsivity, compared to normal children; however, these deficits do not appear to be related specifically to seizure history or treatment.

Reaction Time, Impulsivity, and Attention in Hyperactive Children and Controls: A Video Game Technique

Maturation of sustained attention was studied in a group of 52 hyperactive elementary school children and 152 controls using a microcomputer-based test formatted to resemble a video game. In nonhyperactive children, both simple and complex reaction time decreased with age, as did variability of response time. Omission errors were extremely infrequent on simple reaction time and decreased with age on the more complex tasks. Commission errors had an inconsistent relationship with age. Hyperactive children were slower, more variable, and made more errors on all segments of the game than did controls. Both motor speed and calculated mental speed were slower in hyperactive children, with greater discrepancy for responses directed to the nondominant hand, suggesting that a selective right hemisphere deficit may be present in hyperactives. A summary score (number of individual game scores above the 95th percentile) of 4 or more detected 60% of hyperactive subjects with a false positive rate of 5%. Agreement with the Matching Familiar Figures Test was 75% in the hyperactive group. (J Child Neurol 1990;5:195-204).

Structure and stability of maternal support among pregnant and parenting adolescents.

In the US social scientists have been troubled by the dramatic increase in the pregnancy rate among women younger than 20 because of the negative sequelae that often result from adolescent pregnancy and motherhood. To reduce some of these sequelae many pregnant and parenting teens rely on their social support network especially on their own mothers. This study was conducted to examine the effects of positive support and conflict that pregnant/parenting adolescents received from their mothers. It was assessed whether the teens pattern of support and conflict with her mother changes from the prenatal to the postnatal period. A typology of maternal support and conflict was established using cluster analytic procedures from data collected prenatally among 175 mixed racial background participants from an alternative school for pregnant/parenting adolescents. An identifiable pattern of maternal support and conflict among pregnant adolescents was apparent both before and after childbirth. These patterns of support and conflict were meaningfully related to adolescents stress before childbirth but were not related to any of the outcome variables after birth. Both positive and negative changes in maternal support and conflict from the pre- to postnatal period were related to significantly higher levels of all measures of stress and lower levels of self-esteem. These findings have implications for the theoretical literature preventive interventions and public policy relevant to the relationships of teens with their mothers.