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OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship of driver dispositions with traffic safety behaviors and beliefs. METHODS: A random digit-dial telephone survey was conducted of 796 licensed drivers. RESULTS: Binary and multivariate logistic regression analyses compared hurried and nonhurried drivers and found that hurried drivers were more likely to admit to a variety of risky behaviors. They were also less likely to believe they would be ticketed for speeding and to report wearing their seat belt than were nonhurried drivers. CONCLUSIONS: More research is needed into identifying the underlying motivational factors of hurried drivers and what countermeasures will be most effective for them. Language: en

OBJECTIVE To examine the relationship between parental monitoring and adolescent drinking over time. METHODS Adolescents completed a baseline survey regarding their involvement with alcohol and parental monitoring. They were interviewed 12 months later, to obtain follow-up measures of drinking and involvement in alcohol-risk situations. RESULTS Highly monitored adolescents were less likely to report that they were drinking 12 months later. This relationship remained when controlling for age, gender, drinking at baseline, and being in various high-risk situations. CONCLUSIONS The longer term protective relationship between parental monitoring and alcohol involvement was demonstrated. The need to establish frequent parental monitoring is indicated.

Objective: To explore the relations between familial factors and behavioral outcomes in Latino adolescents using a youth development framework. Methods: A convenience sample of Latino youth (n=446) completed an anonymous survey. Multiple linear regression was used to examine the associations between levels of family involvement and problem and prosocial behavior outcomes. Results: Higher levels of parental monitoring and familial connectedness were consistently associated with less problem-behavior involvement. Sociocultural encouragement was consistently associated with more prosocial-behavior involvement. Conclusion: The family context is critical the prevention of problem behaviors and the promotion of prosocial behaviors among Latino adolescents. (authors)

OBJECTIVES To assess the association between parental monitoring and adolescent alcohol risk. METHODS Adolescent managed-care patients completed a survey of their involvement with alcohol and their perceptions of monitoring and other forms of parental influence. RESULTS Frequent monitoring was associated with less likelihood that adolescents had engaged in a variety of alcohol-risk behaviors or had been in a variety of risk situations. Choosing to share alcohol-related concerns with other adults and placing importance on parents' opinions were not as consistently related to alcohol risk. CONCLUSIONS The need to enhance parental monitoring as a proactive protective parental response is indicated.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the physical, social and temporal contexts of physical activity, as well as sex variations of the associations among 314 urban adolescents. METHODS: Three-day physical activity recall measured contextual information of physical activities. Logistic regressions and generalized estimating equation models examined associations among physical activity types and contexts, and sex differences. RESULTS: Active transportation was the most common physical activity. Home/neighborhood and school were the most common physical activity locations. School was the main location for organized physical activity. Boys spent more time on recreational physical activity, regardless of the social context, compared to girls. The average physical activity level was significantly lower for girls than for boys after school. CONCLUSIONS: Physical activity promotion interventions need to target physical activity environments and social contexts in a sex-specific manner. Language: en

OBJECTIVES: To determine the nature and prevalence of parental involvement with teen driving and its relationship to teen driving risk. METHODS: A statewide sample of 424 Maryland parents and their provisionally licensed teenagers were interviewed. RESULTS: Parents were unaware of the extent to which their teens had engaged in high-risk traffic events, such as being distracted by friends or driving too fast. Teens who were allowed unsupervised access to a car at least several times a week were 3 times as likely to have driven too fast than were those who had access once a month or less. The frequency of parental teaching of driving skills was not strongly related to teen risk taking. CONCLUSION: The need to increase parents' capacity to impose and enforce driving restrictions on provisionally licensed teen drivers is indicated. Language: en

OBJECTIVES To establish reliability/validity of the Glover-Nilsson Smoking Behavioral Questionnaire (GN-SBQ). METHODS The GN-SBQ and the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) were completed by 100 smokers. The number of cigarettes smoked, smoking duration, and craving were obtained. RESULTS The GN-SBQ was internally consistent (Cronbach α = .82), temporally stable (r = .86), and uncorrelated with FTND. There was a significant main effect for craving, F(3, 73) = 14.68, p < .001; and the GN-SBQ was a significant predictor of craving levels (β = .476, p < .001). CONCLUSIONS The GN-SBQ shows promise as a tool for distinguishing behavioral from physical nicotine dependence.

To determine the pathways to alcohol use among adolescents.A cross-sectional study of risk and protective factors among a sample of Latino youth (aged 11-13) was conducted.Peer norms and school connectedness had direct pathways to alcohol use. Self-concept was related to peer norms. Youth who were less acculturated were more likely to believe that their peers drank. Family monitoring, connectedness, and academic support did not have direct pathways to alcohol use.Peer norms appear critical in shaping adolescent involvement with alcohol. The protective influence of family and academic support appear to be indirect.

To determine the relations among parent-teen discordance for restrictions on driving conditions, driving rules, and consequences for rule violations at licensure and subsequent risky teen driving.Parents and teens completed telephone interviews at 1, 4, and 9 months after teens became licensed.At each time interval, the degree of disagreement with parent restrictions on driving conditions was positively associated with teen risky driving.These results demonstrate a positive association between parent-teen discordance for driving conditions and teen risky driving. Initial establishment of restrictions and agreement with them may have longer term protective effects against teen driving risk.

To determine if the type of exposure to roadside sobriety checkpoints is related to vulnerability of being stopped by the police for drinking and driving.Random household telephone surveys were conducted over 3 years.Personally exposed drivers had lower perceptions of vulnerability than did drivers who knew a family member who had been stopped. Exposed drivers who also had a family member and an acquaintance that had been stopped had higher perceptions of vulnerability.Direct exposure to a checkpoint appears to lower perceptions of risk than if one has had only indirect exposure (ie, family or friends).

To establish and disseminate the position of the American Academy of Health Behavior (The Academy) on doctoral research training.A collaborative process involving the Work Group on Doctoral Research Training with input from The Academy membership led to the development of the guidelines described herein.A set of guidelines is provided that describe the process of learning to be a scholar/researcher and the outcomes of learning the practice of health behavior research.The doctoral students who are to become the stewards of our field should be prepared to engage in scholarship that creates new knowledge, uses research to transform practice, and effectively communicates research findings.

OBJECTIVES: To compare associations between teen and parent reports of parental driving influence to teen-reported high-risk driving. METHODS: A statewide sample of 424 Maryland parents and their provisionally licensed teenagers were interviewed. RESULTS: Reports of parental involvement with their driving to that of their parents indicated low levels of concordance. Teens who reported their parents had specific rules restricting who could ride with them as well as how many passengers were allowed to ride with them were less likely to report being distracted by friends, getting a ticket, driving too fast, or driving aggressively. CONCLUSION: Programs that enable parents to restrict and supervise their teen's driving, especially during the first 6 months of provisional licensure, are indicated. Language: en