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Objective Health education interventions during pregnancy can influence maternal oral health (OH), maternal OH-behaviors and children’s OH. Interventions that can be delivered at anytime and anywhere, for example mobile-health (mHealth) provides an opportunity to address challenges of health education and support activation of women in underserved and rural communities to modify their health behavior. This pilot study was undertaken as a part of a mHealth initiative to determine knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to pregnancy and ECC prevention among women attending obstetrics/gynecology (OB/GYN) practices at a large rurally-based clinic. Methods A cross-sectional survey study was voluntarily engaged by women (n = 191) aged 18 to 59 years attending OB/GYN visits, over a 3-week period from 12/2019 to 1/2020. Survey results were analyzed applying descriptive statistics, X2 and Fisher’s Exact tests. The significance level was set at P Results Approximately half of respondents were between 18 and 29 years (53%), had a college degree (55%), and 100% reported cell phone use. Whereas 53% and 31%, respectively, indicated that they were “somewhat” or “very” sure of how to prevent ECC in their children, only 9% recognized evidence of early decay and 30% did not know the purpose of fluoride. Overall, only 27% of participants correctly answered the knowledge-based questions. Further, only 57% reported their provider explained things in a way that was easy to understand. Only 24% reported seeing a dentist during their current pregnancy. Conclusions Study results suggested potential gaps in knowledge and behaviors related to ECC prevention and provided baseline data to inform future interventions to improve ECC prevention practices. Notably, majority of participants used their cell phones for making medical/dental appointments and reported using their phones to look up health-related information. This demographic represents a potentially receptive target for mHealth approaches to improve understanding of oral health maintenance during pregnancy and ECC prevention.

Objective: Promoting smoking cessation through effective health messaging among African American smokers is of great urgency as African Americans suffer disproportionally more from smoking-related diseases compared to White smokers. This research examines the potential impact of self-affirmation on reducing defensive processing of graphic cigarette warning labels among African American smokers. Method: We conducted an experimental study in which participants were instructed to self-affirm (or not) prior to viewing graphic cigarette warning labels. Results: We found that although self-affirmation had no main effect on defensive processing, it interacted with initial/preexisting attitudes towards smoking to influence defensive responses such as message derogation and perceived message manipulation. For participants with more positive initial attitudes towards smoking, self-affirmation led to reduced message derogation and perceived message manipulation. For these individuals, we also found an indirect effect of self-affirmation on intentions to quit smoking through perceived message manipulation. Self-affirmation had largely no effects on participants with less positive initial attitudes towards smoking. Conclusion: The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

This study explores the associations between teen dating violence (TDV) perpetration, victimization, sexual risk behaviors, and pregnancy among a sample of low-income, urban, and predominately African–American and Latino youth age 15 to 21 years ( N = 513). Findings suggest that youth who experienced TDV victimization were more likely to report inconsistent condom use in the past 12 months ( OR = 1.6) and pregnancy ( OR = 2.2) compared with nonvictimized youth. Youth who reported perpetrating dating violence were more likely to be female ( OR = 3.8) and to report multiple sex partners ( OR = 2.0), inconsistent condom use ( OR = 2.6), and prostitution in the past 12 months ( OR = 6.7). TDV perpetration and victimization were highly associated (χ2 = 127.00, p

The present study examined the relationship between religious capital and depressive symptoms and the moderating role of the Big Five personality constructs in a national sample of African American adults. Data were collected from a national probability sample of 803 African American men and women using a telephone survey including measures of the Big Five personality traits, religious capital, and depressive symptomology. Most interestingly, there was evidence for Personality × Religious Capital interactions on depressive symptomology. Higher religious capital was related to lower depressive symptomology among persons with low conscientiousness or low openness to experience. However, religious capital was less related to depressive symptoms among those with high conscientiousness or high openness. This study reinforces the importance of examining the moderating effects of personality and perceived religious capital in understanding mental health outcomes. This information can be of use to practitioners in designing culturally appropriate interventions, including the use of capital from faith-based organizations.

This study provides 10-year trend data on the psychosocial correlates of physical dating violence victimization (PDV) among male participants ( N = 7,949 in 2009) in the national Youth Risk Behavior Surveys from 1999–2009. Unadjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were examined followed by multivariate logistic regression analyses, which included all significant independent variables from the univariate analyses. Adjusted OR and 95% CI assessed the significance of the relationships. PDV was significantly and consistently associated with feelings of sadness or hopelessness, repeated engagement in physical fighting, current and multiple sex partners, and lack of condom use. A less consistent but noteworthy pattern was found for PDV and gun carrying and cocaine use among adolescent males. PDV is an important public health issue for adolescent males, not just females. There appears to be a set of stable correlates of dating violence victimization among high school males in the United States.

This report explores the level of detailed knowledge about the Tuskegee Syphilis Study (TSS) among 848 Blacks and Whites in three U.S. cities across an array of demographic variables. The Tuskegee Legacy Project (TLP) Questionnaire was used, which was designed to explore the willingness of minorities to participate in biomedical studies. A component of the TLP Questionnaire, the TSS Facts & Myths Quiz, consisting of seven yes/no factual questions, was used to establish respondents’ level of detailed knowledge on the TSS. Both Blacks and Whites had similar very low mean quiz score on the 7-point scale, with Blacks’ scores being slightly higher than Whites (1.2 vs. 0.9, p = .003). When analyzing the level of knowledge between racial groups by various demographic variables, several patterns emerged: (a) higher education levels were associated with higher levels of detailed knowledge and (b) for both Blacks and Whites, 30 to 59 years old knew the most about TSS compared with younger and older adult age groups. The findings show that much of the information that circulates in the Black and White communities about the TSS is false, often minimizing or understating the most egregious injustices that occurred. Health promotion and educational implications of these findings are offered and conclude that the findings should be used as a catalyst to explore local realities and sentiments regarding participation in biomedical research within the research philosophy and framework of community-based participatory research.

Background: This analysis was conducted to determine whether there is a difference among blacks, Hispanics, and whites in their perception of risks associated with participating in either a biomedical study or a cancer screening. Methods: The Tuskegee Legacy Project Questionnaire, which focused on research subject participation, was administered in two different surveys (1999-2000 and 2003) in seven cities. The Cancer Screening Questionnaire was administered in 2003 in three cities. Results: The study sample across the three surveys consisted of 1,064 blacks, 781 Hispanics, and 1,598 non-Hispanic whites. Response rates ranged from 44% to 70% by city. Logistic regression analyses, adjusted for age, sex, education, income, and city, revealed that blacks and Hispanics each self-reported that minorities, compared with whites, are more likely to be "taken advantage of" in biomedical studies and much less likely to get a "thorough and careful examination" in a cancer screening (odds ratios ranged from 3.6 to 14.2). Conclusions: Blacks and Hispanics perceive equally high levels of risk for participating in cancer screening examinations and for volunteering to become research subjects in biomedical studies. This perception provides a strong message about the need to overtly address this critical health disparities issue.

Background: In the United States, blacks and Hispanics have lower cancer screening rates than whites have. Studies on the screening behaviors of minorities are increasing, but few focus on the factors that contribute to this discrepancy. This study presents the self-reported willingness by blacks, Puerto Rican Hispanics, and non-Hispanic whites to participate in cancer screenings in differing cancer screening situations. Methods: The Cancer Screening Questionnaire (CSQ), a 60-item questionnaire, was administered via random-digit-dial telephone interviews to adults in three cities: Baltimore, Maryland; New York, New York; and, San Juan, Puerto Rico. Results: The 1,148 participants in the CSQ study sample consisted of 355 blacks, 311 Puerto Rican Hispanics, and 482 non-Hispanic whites. Response rates ranged from 45% to 58% by city. Multivariable logistic regression analyses revealed that blacks and Puerto Ricans were often more likely (OR 2.0‐3.0) and never less likely than whites to self-report willingness to participate in cancer screenings regardless of who conducted the cancer screening, what one was asked to do in the cancer screening, or what type of cancer was involved (with the exception of skin cancer where blacks, compared with whites, had an OR of 0.5). Conclusions: The findings from this study provide evidence that blacks and Hispanics self-report that they are either as willing or more willing than whites to participate in cancer screening programs.

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that individuals reporting healthy lifestyle behaviors would also report better self-rated mental health. Logistic regression analyses were conducted utilizing SUDAAN on the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey data set. This descriptive analysis suggests that persons reporting poor mental health were more likely to report unhealthy lifestyle behaviors. This set of findings encourages careful design of experimental studies of empirically based associations of mental health and life style, using psychometrically sound measures. Then public health programs focused on change of health-related behaviors might be more suitably devised.

This study assessed psychometrics of an HIV/AIDS knowledge scale and the relation of scores to HIV risk behaviors among African-American women 17 to 44 years of age ( N = 405). Data were collected from five communities located in Atlanta, Georgia. The HIV/AIDS risk-behavior knowledge scale and the HIV risk-behavior factors were collected. Analysis indicated reliability coefficients of the HIV/AIDS knowledge scale were virtually identical for high- and low-risk groups. The high-risk group scored statistically significantly better (76% correct answers) than the low-risk group (67% correct answers) The KR-20 coefficients were identical for both risk groups (.73), suggesting that the AIDS knowledge scale has suitable reliability.

A selected number of lifestyle and risk behaviors of adolescents in relation to their smoking were studied using both longitudinal and cross-sectional analyses. Data of a national sample of 4,431 nonsmoking adolescents who participated in the 1989 Teenage Attitudes and Practices Survey and were re-interviewed in 1993 were analyzed. Adolescents who engaged in physical fights, engaged in drunk driving, and were risk-takers were more likely to be regular experimental smokers than adolescents who did not exhibit these behaviors. The data suggest that high-risk behaviors may cluster. Interventions may be necessary to target multiple risk behaviors and be more effective in changing adolescents' risk behaviors associated with smoking.

The study examined and contrasted the extent that peer influence and self-selection for smoking peers may affect acquisition of smoking by adolescents. Data for a U.S. national cohort sample of adolescents ( N = 4,444) who were nonsmokers in the 1989 Teenage Attitudes and Practices Surveys and were re-interviewed in 1993 were included. The information included measures of smoking behavior and smoking status of both boys’ and girls’ best friends. Analysis demonstrated that, although the effects of both peer influence and self-selection of smoking friends occurred, self-selection may play a greater role in adolescents’ beginning to smoke. This implies that, while teaching adolescents to resist peer pressure may be necessary, it is perhaps more important to identify factors that influence adolescents’ decisions in choosing friends who smoke. This could lead to more effective preventive strategies.

This study examined the association of depressive symptoms of adolescents and their smoking behavior. A national cohort sample of school adolescents ( N = 5,855) who participated in the 1989 and 1993 Teenage Attitudes and Practices Survey was obtained. The information from this survey included measures of smoking behavior and a series of factors related to depressive symptoms during a 3-yr. span. A cross-lagged analysis with Kendall tau b correlations was used. Judging from the magnitude of the cross-lagged correlations, the direction of causation cannot be ascertained. Rather, a reciprocal relationship between depression and smoking may be suggested.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between alcohol use and recreational boating activities. Two hundred eleven ( n = 211) boaters were surveyed at three boating access locations in Beaufort County, North Carolina. The survey questionnaire consisted of fifteen questions designed to obtain information on boat operators and their use of alcoholic beverages while engaging in boating activities. Prevalence and amount of alcohol use while boating were significantly associated ( p < .05) with the type of activity engaged in. Among those boaters who had received some type of boating safety education, a higher prevalence of alcohol use while boating was observed. The prevalence and amount of alcohol use while boating were found to be significantly ( p < .05) associated with the location (public versus private) of boating access. In light of the findings, it is apparent that boating alcohol education and legislation for the North Carolina boating population need assessment and revision. The implications of the findings could have far-reaching effects upon education and prevention among the recreational boating population, particularly if further research in this area supports these findings.

This study examined developmental influences of beliefs and attitudes on adolescents' smoking. A national sample ( N = 6,900) of adolescents ages 14 to 18 was selected. Data included measures of smoking behavior, beliefs, and attitudes. Although odds ratios show that attitudes and beliefs are predictive of adolescents' smoking status across the ages of 14 to 18 years, no systematic change of the prediction is evident, which contrasts with the psychological developmental model.

This study examined the predictive relationships between adolescents' smoking and symptoms of depression. A national sample of 6,900 adolescents, ages 14 to 18 years, were selected for analysis. Variables of interest included measures for smoking status and symptoms of depression. Odds ratio and adjusted odds ratio from logistic regression analyses indicated that more of the 885 smokers than of the 6,015 nonsmokers reported feelings of unhappiness, sadness, or depression, hopelessness about the future, and having trouble going to sleep.

The effects of family migration and family life cycle on the employment status of college-educated wives were examined using log-linear analysis. The best-fit model selected shows that both family life cycle and family migration significantly affected wives' employment status. When these two factors were examined simultaneously, they were about equally important; no significant family migration and family life cycle interaction effects were found on women's employment status. These findings indicate that the negative effects of family migration on wives' employment may be modified by the effects of family life cycle. The results also indicate that only extremely highly educated women initiate family migration.

An examination of the heights and weights of members of the Parade Magazine's High School All-American Football Teams from 1963–1971 indicates no significant changes in the Body Mass Index of these elite athletes whereas an increased pattern in Body Mass Index was noted within this group from 1972–1989. The large increases in Body Mass Index after 1971 among the All-American high school football players raise interesting research questions; in particular, what portion of these gains can be attributed to improved nutrition and training techniques and what portion is the result of use of performance enhancing drugs such as anabolic steroids?

The purpose of this study was to examine the association of beliefs and attitude related to smoking and smoking behavior among school dropouts in a national sample (weighted N = 492,352). The self-reported smoking rate for school dropouts was 58.3%. Those who were most positive about smoking (such as smoking helps people reduce stress and relax, reduce boredom) were more likely to be smokers ( p < .05). Smoking programs targeting this population should provide coping skills and an environment with options for relaxing, managing stress, and safe weight control.