Dongqing Terry Wang

Social-Cognitive Predictors of Fruit and Vegetable Intake in Children

Social-cognitive theory (SCT) was used to explain the fruit and vegetable intake of 1,398 3rd graders. SCT variables assessed included self-efficacy, outcome expectations, preferences, social norms, asking skills, and knowledge. Fruit and vegetable intake was assessed with 7-day records. Bivariate correlations with fruit and vegetable intake ranged from .17 for asking skills to .29 for fruit and vegetable preferences. In analyses controlling for school-level clustering, only preferences and positive outcome expectations remained significantly associated with fruit and vegetable intake, accounting for approximately 10%-11% of the variance. Limitations in the conceptualization, scope, and measurement of the variables assessed may have contributed to the weak associations observed. Models incorporating factors other than individual-level social-cognitive variables may be required to more fully explain childrens dietary behavior.

Go Girls!: Results from a Nutrition and Physical Activity Program for Low-Income, Overweight African American Adolescent Females

This article describes the development, implementation, and results of an intervention designed for inner-city, overweight African American adolescent women. Fifty-seven participants were recruited from four public housing developments. Participants were administered physiologic, dietary, and cognitive assessments at baseline and immediately postintervention. Each session comprised three elements: (1) an educational/behavioral activity, (2) 30 to 60 minutes of physical activity, and (3) preparation and tasting of low-fat meals. In the absence of a control group, results were compared for high and low attenders, the former defined as attending at least 50% of the sessions. High attenders (n = 26) showed more favorable 6-month posttest values for most outcomes compared with low attenders (n = 31). These effects achieved statistical significance for nutrition knowledge, low-fat practices, perceived changes in low-fat practices, and social support.

Gimme 5 Fruit and Vegetables for Fun and Health: Process Evaluation

Gimme 5 (Georgia) was a school-based nutrition education effectiveness trial to help fourth- and fifth-grade students eat more fruit, 100% juice, and vegetables (FJV). Process evaluation assessed fidelity of implementation, reach, and use of intervention materials and environmental mediators: teacher training, curriculum delivery, participation in family activities, attendance at evening point-of-purchase grocery store activities, and availability and accessibility of FJV at home. Approximately half of the curriculum activities were implemented in fourth and fifth grades. The lowest proportion completed were those most pertinent to behavior change. Eighty-seven percent of parents reported participating in homework activities with their fourth grader, 66% with fifth graders. Sixty-five percent of parents reported viewing a video with their child in both grades. Ten percent attended evening point-of-purchase grocery store activities. The low level of implementation and modest level of participation in family activities suggest that higher levels of behavior change may have occurred if exposure to the intervention had been higher.

Keepin' it R.E.A.L.!: results of a mother-adolescent HIV prevention program.

Background: The concern that adolescents may be placing themselves at risk for contracting HIV has led to widespread public and parental support for HIV prevention programs. Several programs on increasing communication between parents and teenagers have been tested, but the study of the impact of these programs on resulting sexual behavior is lacking. Objective: To test the efficacy of two interventions for mothers and their adolescents in delaying initiation of sexual intercourse for youth who are not sexually active and encouraging the use of condoms among sexually active youth. Methods: Employed were a control group and two treatment groups: one based on social cognitive theory (SCT) and the other a life skills program (LSK) based on problem behavior theory. Assessments were conducted before the intervention (baseline) and at 4, 12, and 24 months after the baseline assessment. Results: Adolescents and their mothers (total N = 582) enrolled in the trial. At baseline, the adolescents ranged in age 11-14 years and were mostly male and African American. The mean age of the mothers was 37.9 years, and most were African American and single. The primary analyses showed no difference among groups in abstinence rates for adolescents. However, adolescents in the LSK group demonstrated an increase in the condom use rate, and those in the SCT and control groups scored higher on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) knowledge than those in the LSK group. Mothers showed substantial increases over time in comfort talking about sex and self-efficacy. For HIV knowledge, mothers in the SCT group scored significantly higher than those in the LSK and control groups. Conclusion: The results of this study are comparable to previous studies that have included mothers in the HIV education of their adolescents. Although the program did not demonstrate a substantial effect on abstinence rates, increases were observed in condom use among adolescents and in mothers sex-based discussions and comfort in talking about sexual issues.

Social cognitive factors associated with mother-adolescent communication about sex.

To better understand why some mothers talk to their children about sex and others do not, we examined the role of two social cognitive variables--self-efficacy and outcome expectancies--in explaining sex-based communication. The present study was part of a larger study to test the efficacy of two HIV prevention programs for mothers and their adolescents. Mothers and their adolescents were recruited from a large community organization that serves youth who live in disadvantaged circumstances. The sample for the present study included 486 mothers who averaged 38.4 years of age (SD = 6.73). The majority were African American (97.7%), not married (66.7%), and had a high school degree (89.5%). Their adolescents ranged in age from 11 through 14 years of age and most were male (61.3%). The results of the analysis revealed that mothers who expressed higher levels of self-efficacy and more favorable outcomes associated with talking to their children about sex were more likely to do so. In a regression analysis, we learned that the mothers degree of efficacy beliefs, along with her expected outcomes associated with talking about sex, the importance of religious beliefs to her, and the age and sex of her adolescents were important factors associated with talking with them about sex.

Keepin’ It R.E.A.L.!: Program Description and Results of Baseline Assessment

In this article, the authors present the results of the analysis of the baseline data from Keepin’it R.E.A.L.!, an HIV prevention project developed for mothers and their adolescents. Six hundred twelve mostly male (60.6%) and African American (98.2%) adolescents completed baseline assessments. Eleven percent of the adolescent participants reported initiating sexual intercourse. Adolescent participants expressing higher levels of self-efficacy to resist peer pressure, more favorable outcome expectancies, less communication about sex with their mothers, higherlevels of self-concept related to theirbehavior, lowerlevels of self-concept related to popularity, and less stress reported fewer types of intimate sexual behaviors. Adolescent participants who reported higher self-efficacy to resist peer pressure to have sex and lower levels of stress were less likely to have initiated sexual inter-course. Selected characteristics of mothers did not contribute to understanding factors associated with intimate sexual behaviors or initiation of sexual intercourse among adolescent participants.

Toward reliable estimation of servings of fruit and vegetables and fat practices from adults' 7-day food records

Abstract The objective of this study was to assess the assumption of compound symmetry and draw implications for reliably assessing among adults the number of servings of fruit and vegetables consumed and high-fat practices per day using daily food records. A cross-sectional sample of 153 female elementary school teachers (3rd to 5th grades) completed a 7 consecutive day food record. The main outcome measures included number of servings of fruit and vegetables, low-fat practices, and high-fat practices per day. Three models were tested for between-day correlations (compound symmetric, heterogenous compound symmetric, and unstructured); an intraclass correlation was calculated across days for reliability; the number of days of recording necessary to achieve a reliability of .7, .8, or .9 was estimated; and implications of separate covariance structures for weekdays versus weekend days were explored. The compound symmetry model characterized weekdays for fruit and vegetables and the number of high-fat practices when a square root transformation was employed. Five days are adequate for assessing servings of fruit and vegetables for weekdays at a reliability of .8 but 4 weekend days are necessary for the same reliability on weekends. Seven days of recording are necessary to assess high-fat practices at a reliability of .8. To attain a reliability of .8 or higher, 7 days of recording are necessary for estimating high-fat practices; 9 consecutive days, beginning on a Saturday, are necessary for fruit and vegetables. Because of the large proportion of days with zero values, caution must be used to estimate number of days needed to reliably estimate number of low-fat practices per day.