Joseph Donnelly

Adolescent Dating Violence

SUMMARY Until recently, mental health professionals have given little attention to the growing phenomenon of adolescent dating violence (ADV). Although society has given increased attention to the problem of domestic violence, it has been reluctant to acknowledge that adolescents are the fastest growing population at risk. The sad truth is that 1 in 8 high school students and 1 in 5 college students will become involved in violent relationships (Jersey Battered Womans Service, 1995). It is also horrifying that ADV often leads to murder. In 1993, 600 teenage girls were murdered by their partners (Wertheimer, 1994). According to FBI reports, 20% of all female homicide victims are between the ages of 15 and 24 and 1 out of 3 female homicides is committed by the victims husband or boyfriend (Levy, 1993). This article explores the subject of Adolescent Dating Violence and examines the elements which distinguish ADV from domestic violence, the three forms of ADV, the cycles of abuse involved in ADV, the reasons for the occurrence of ADV, useful intervention and prevention methods and different social policies which should be implemented to combat Adolescent Dating Violence.

Area specific self-esteem, values, and adolescent substance use.

The use of illicit and licit drugs continues to be a major public health concern. Many prevention and drug education programs address this issue by attempting to enhance self-esteem. The idea is that increased levels of self-esteem will serve as a protective factor in decreasing the motivation and increasing the resistance to use drugs. This study explored the relationship between area specific self-esteem and adolescent substance use. Participants (n = 700) completed a self-report questionnaire which included items measuring the use and expected use of selected substances. Results indicated significant differences in home and school self-esteem scores between users/expected users and non-users of a given substance for all 14 behavioral measures. Additionally, the peer, home, and school sub-scales as a set were found to distinguish between users and non-users for all 14 behavioral measures. Results should be of value to those designing prevention programming.

ASSESSING SEXUALITY ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIORS AND CORRELATES OF ALCOHOL AND DRUGS

The association between sexual abstinence and use of alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana was examined in data from questionnaires completed by 874 students in Grades 6 through 8 at six urban schools. These students participated in a program that implemented and evaluated an educational program on abstinence sexuality. It focused on raising self-esteem, improving communication skills, and learning to set life goals. The evaluation instrument contained items assessing sexuality and attitudes toward behaviors related to drug use. Use of each drug (alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana) was significantly (p<.00001) and positively associated with self-report of having experienced sexual intercourse and expectation of having intercourse during the next year.

Lessons from the trenches: Meeting evaluation challenges in school health education

BACKGROUND Those involved in school health education programs generally believe that health-education programs can play an important role in helping young people make positive health decisions. Thus, it is to document the effects of such programs through rigorous evaluations published in peer-reviewed journals. METHODS This paper helps the reader understand the context of school health program evaluation, examines several problems and challenges, shows how problems can often be fixed, or prevented, and demonstrates ways in which challenges can be met. A number of topics are addressed, including distinguishing between curricula evaluation and evaluation of outcomes, types of evaluation, identifying stakeholders in school health evaluation, selection of a program evaluator, recruiting participants, design issues, staff training, parental consent, instrumentation, program implementation and treatment fidelity, participant retention, data collection, data analysis and interpretation, presentation of results, and manuscript preparation and submission. RESULTS Although there is a lack of health-education program evaluation, rigorous evaluations that have been conducted have, at least in some cases, led to wider dissemination of effective programs. CONCLUSIONS These suggestions will help those interested in school health education understand the importance of evaluation and will provide important guidelines for those conducting evaluations of school health-education programs.

Meanings of Abstinence and Sexual Activity for Rural Youth

Abstract The purpose of the study was to examine adolescent perceptions of the terms abstinence and sexual activity and also to determine if age, gender, virginity status, attendance at religious services, and perceived religiosity were associated with any particular perception of these terms. Current federal efforts to prevent teen pregnancy have emphasized abstinence education. The legislation that authorizes funding for these programs requires that educators teach students that they should abstain from sexual activity until marriage. The terms abstinence and sexual activity, however, are not defined. Participants in this study (311 students in grades 7–12 in a southern, rural school district) completed a questionnaire that included two open-ended questions asking them to define the terms abstinence and sexual activity. The most frequent definition of sexual activity (34.4%) identified it as “having,” “participating,” or “engaging” in “sex.” Thus, the definitions given by students were not more precise than the terms they were asked to define. Analyses (chi-square) that examined the independence of age, gender, virginity status, attendance at religious services, and perceived religiosity with perceptions of abstinence or sexual activity found only age and perception of abstinence to be statistically significant. These findings have implications for programs that encourage young people to abstain from sexual activity.

Area Specific Self-Esteem and Sexual Behavior among Hispanic Middle School Students.

Abstract This study examined the relationship between self-esteem and the sexual behavior and intended sexual behavior of Hispanic middle school students. Students in grades 6–8 (n=1,077) from a predominately Hispanic school district completed a questionnaire designed to elicit information regarding self-esteem, sexual knowledge, attitudes, intended behavior, and behavior. Results for behavior variables were as follows: (1) “sexual intercourse ever”—those who had never participated in sexual intercourse scored higher on both home and school self-esteem; (2) “sexual intercourse last month”—those who had not participated in sexual intercourse in the last month scored higher on school self-esteem; and (3) “intent to have sexual intercourse”—those who scored higher on home and school self-esteem had lower levels of intent to participate in sexual intercourse, those who scored higher on peer self-esteem had higher levels of intent to intend to participate in sexual intercourse. Our results highlight the important positive role of the home and school in influencing sexual behavior of Hispanic adolescents. The results also seem to indicate that for many Hispanic students, sexual experience may be viewed as a means of being accepted by peers.

Religiosity and unsafe and distracted driving behaviors

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between religiosity and high-risk motor vehicle driving behaviors. METHODS: College students completed a questionnaire that included religiosity measures and questions about seatbelt use and unsafe and distracted driving. RESULTS: Substantial numbers of students did not always wear seatbelts and frequently engaged in unsafe and distracted driving. Religiosity was significantly (p CONCLUSIONS: Although weak in magnitude, statistically significant relationships existed between religiosity measures and driving behaviors. The more important finding may be the numbers of students engaging in unsafe and distracted driving and the implications this has for public policy. Language: en