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Background In China, there are approximately 70 million children, nearly 25% of the child population, who are left behind in the care of other family members when their parents migrate to urban areas, for increased economic opportunities. This paper presents a systematic review and a meta-analysis of studies that have examined the phenomenon of depression among these left-behind children (LBC). Methods Six hundred three papers published between 2000 and 2017 were retrieved from five databases (China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, Weipu, PubMed, and Web of Science). Results Twenty-one studies (18 in Chinese and 3 in English) met the criteria for inclusion in this meta-analysis. The pooled estimate of depression among LBC was 26.4%. A significant heterogeneity has been found in reported findings, and this heterogeneity was associated with three types of study characteristics, including using an unclear definition of LBC and using invalidated depression instruments, and the geographic location. Conclusions The risk of mental health problems among this large number of LBC suggests the need to quantify the extent and distribution of their mental health state. Implications for methodological improvements for future research have been discussed.

Objective We hypothesized that the drinking behavior of adolescents in China is influenced by expectancies and self-efficacy and that adolescents' cultural orientation towards western versus traditional Chinese values influences expectancies, self-efficacy and drinking behavior, with western values leading to more dysfunctional patterns of beliefs and drinking, and that these beliefs are influenced by students' gender and school environment. Methods A total of 1020 high school students from Beijing completed the Chinese Adolescent Alcohol Expectancy, the Chinese Cultural Orientation and the Chinese Self-regulation Self-efficacy questionnaires. Results Results generally confirmed our hypotheses. Higher negative expectancies and higher self-efficacy reduced the likelihood of drinking significantly. Higher positive expectancies increased the likelihood of regular drinking but not occasional drinking. Having western cultural orientation increased the likelihood of drinking. Higher levels of western cultural orientation also increased positive expectancies, lowered negative expectancies and lowered self-efficacy. Having more western (less traditional) views towards traditional Chinese values decreased positive and negative expectancies. Gender influenced beliefs, with males having higher positive and lower negative expectancies, lower self-efficacy and more traditional cultural orientation. Students in key and general schools had less traditional cultural orientation and key school students had higher self-efficacy. Conclusions Results indicate that cultural orientation influences adolescent drinking and this influence is mediated partially through cultural orientation influences on adolescent drinking expectancies and self-efficacy. Having more western and less traditional Chinese cultural orientation leads to more drinking, lower self-efficacy for regulating drinking and more risk-promoting alcohol expectancies. Language: en

This paper describes an empirically based method for defining the role of attitudes in health education planning. An explicit assumption underlying this method is that the professional health educator is an agent for behavior change who works, primarily via other health professionals, to enhance the health of the target population. To effect change, the health educator must be skilled in (a) problem definition, (b) program development or the treatment of the problem, (c) program implementation and (d) program evaluation. To illustrate this approach we present a model for measuring attitudes and social normative factors which seems useful in defining education need, illustrate its use in a cross-culture comparison of a sample of adolescent cigarette smokers in Australia and United States of America and suggest some further steps to aid in planning and evaluating health education activities. While this paper emphasizes the role of attitude, attitudes are but one of a number of factors to be considered in health education program development. Anderson1 and Green2 suggest that attitudes and knowledge contribute to a predisposition to a particular behavior but that the ultimate behavior is also influenced by a set of factors best described as enabling the behavior and a set of factors which reinforce the behavior.

Beliefs and social norms elicited from adolescents were employed in the theory of reasoned action to predict early adolescent males' intention to chew tobacco. About 50% of males had chewed tobacco. Responses of chewing intenders and nonintenders differed in response direction and in response strength. Response differences regarding physical effects (cancer, yellow teeth, habit forming) as well as psychosocial effects (look cool, relax, have a good time with friends) suggested specific educational strategies. Intenders and nonintenders both reported not believing chewing causes cancer, an erroneous belief. Nonintenders reported belief carry over from smoking: chewing will “make my clothes smelly” and chewing will “give me shortness of breath,” both unfounded. Nonintenders reported less referent support for chewing. Both groups reported a general unwillingness to comply with their significant others.

Data describing the utilization of school health services in a small rural elementary school were examined in terms of the costs of these services and the contributions of these to the school's educational mission. In the absence of health service personnel, teacher time needed to care for routine and emergency health services would equal almost one half of a teacher's time. When costs of health services wer compared to the value of the services provided by a health aide and part-time nurse, it was clear that health service costs were minimal compared to the contributions made to the school's educational mission.

The effects of peer pressure on smoking behavior were described by subjects in a longitudinal study in the ninth grade, the 11th grade and 10 years later. Peer pressure was reported in terms of meeting certain desirable image characteristics and not in terms of direct pressure to smoke. Smoking was just one of many ways to create this image. It is suggested that education can incorporate peer pressure in a positive way by considering ways to change the "images" that energize certain behaviors, by introducing the learner to alternative ways to achieve the image and by alerting (immunizing) young people to the manipulative functions of image and peer pressure.

A small group of individuals successfully helped a rural community deal with its adolescent drug problems and illustrated important roles for counselors and community leaders.