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Data from an online community sample of young men were analyzed to test predictors of sexual assault perpetration. We used structural equation modeling to test the relative contributions of specific sub-types of childhood adversity to subsequent sexual aggression. Mediators included hostile masculinity, impersonal sexual behavior and attitudes, and substance use variables. Findings suggested that childhood sexual abuse had direct and mediated effects on sexual assault perpetration, but hostile masculinity was the only proximal factor significantly related to aggression. Childhood polytrauma was also associated with increased perpetration risk, suggesting that prevention efforts may be aided by increased attention to childhood maltreatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Factors associated with the well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth were qualitatively examined to better understand how these factors are experienced from the youths’ perspectives. Largely recruited from LGBTQ youth groups, 68 youth participated in focus groups (n = 63) or individual interviews (n = 5). The sample included 50% male, 47% female, and 3% transgender participants. Researchers used a consensual methods approach to identify negative and positive factors across 8 domains. Negative factors were associated with families, schools, religious institutions, and community or neighborhood; positive factors were associated with the youth’s own identity development, peer networks, and involvement in the LGBTQ community. These findings suggest a pervasiveness of negative experiences in multiple contexts, and the importance of fostering a positive LGBTQ identity and supportive peer/community networks. Efforts should work towards reducing and eliminating the prejudicial sentiments often present in the institutions and situations that LGBTQ youth encounter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Six items were administered to a multiethnic sample of 435 middle school-age participants in a group-delivered safer sex intervention to determine their reliability and validity. Method: Exploratory analyses were followed by confirmatory factor analyses, and then correlations of scale scores with theoretically related variables were computed. Results: Findings favored a unidimensional scale with high internal consistency (with as few as two and as many as five items). Scale scores were generally related to other constructs as expected. Conclusions: The items show evidence of reliability and validity. In addition to the items 'use in peer group research, the findings have implications for practice in terms of group leader training and facilitation, and the items' use as assessment tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article compares two methods of collecting daily data: self-administered diaries and telephone interviews. Study participants included 44 men and 56 women between the ages of 16 and 35 who participated in a larger study of drinking, drug use, and sexual activity. Participants were randomly assigned to either the written diary or the telephone interview conditions; question wording and format were identical in both conditions. Daily data were collected for a period of 8 weeks. Results indicate that although telephone interviews resulted in slightly more missed days of data collection, they generally yielded less item-level missing data, produced cleaner data and therefore were less costly to process, and were as palatable to participants as self-administered diaries. Except for reports of drinking and vegetable consumption, telephone and diary conditions did not differ in the amount of behavior reported; more drinking and vegetable consumption were reported with telephone interviews, however. Telephone interviews also imposed considerably higher overall personnel costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the use of focus groups for gathering sensitive information from children. Case study involving the Children's Health Awareness Program (CHAP); General focus group techniques; Benefits and limitations of focus group methodology for social science applications; Recommendations for using focus groups with children.

Focus groups were used as a qualitative technique to elicit knowledge and attitudes of children in Grades 3 to 6 about acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Twenty-seven small groups of children responded to open-ended questions about general AIDS knowledge; transmission, causation, consequences, and prevention of AIDS; emotional response to AIDS; and susceptibility. Results indicate that children have a high level of awareness about AIDS and correct knowledge about the modes of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission. They understand that AIDS is a serious illness that cannot be cured and know the main ways of preventing HIV infection. Participants had more difficulty explaining causation and greatly overestimated the number of people their age and in high school that might be infected. They also had difficulty applying accurate knowledge to the hypothetical situation of encountering a child with AIDS in school. Misconceptions about AIDS exist at all grade levels, but appear more prevalent in lower grades, whereas increased complexity seems to characterize responses of older children. Recommendations for health educators are made. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]