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Describes development of theory of solidarity among parents and children during adult family life course. Reports on four stages in theory's development: taxonomy of six dimensions of intergenerational family cohesion; revision of theory informed by empirical tests; translation of elements of revised theory into structural equation model; and discussion of results and suggestions for future work. (Author/NB)

Of 490 middle and high school students attending alternative schools who participated in this study, 18.2% of females and 6.7% of males reported a past unwanted sexual experience. Relative to nonabused subjects, female and male adolescents who reported a forced sexual experience were more likely to exhibit externalizing problems such as sexual risk behaviors and internalizing problems such as depression and suicidal thoughts in the past two weeks. Females with a history of a coercive sexual experience also had increased odds of drug and alcohol use, and violence-related behaviors. The magnitude of these associations ranged from a twofold increase to a tenfold increase. Controlling for ethnicity, family income, and family support had less impact on the strength of associations between a forced sexual experience and sexual risk behaviors for females than for males. A forced sexual experience remained significantly associated with depression for females and suicidal thoughts for males. Alcohol use in the past 30 days was the only substance use-related problem that remained significant for females. Violence-related behaviors did not remain significant in the presence of control variables for females. Interventions focusing on adolescents with a history of a coercive sexual experience in general, and in alternative schools in particular, are suggested by these results. More research focusing on the differential impact of a coercive sexual experience on males and females is crucial., An estimated 7% to 53% of American women, and 3% to 37% of American men, have been victims of a coercive sexual experience during childhood or adolescence. (1) Estimates of [...]

Purpose: This study explored the extent to which trait aggression is associated with suicidal behavior in a nationwide school-based sample of adolescents. Methods: A nationwide sample of 14,537 high school students in urban areas of China was recruited. Information concerning suicide ideation, plans, attempts, trait aggression and other risk factors was collected by a self-reported questionnaire. Multivariate regression analyses were employed to predict suicidal behavior. Results: Approximately 18.5% of students reported suicide ideation, 8.7% reported suicide plans, and 4.1% reported attempts during the past one year. Hostility and trait anger had a significant positive association with suicidal ideation. Hostility and physical aggression were positively related to suicide plans. Hostility had a positive correlation with suicide attempts, while trait anger was inversely associated with suicide attempts. Conclusions: This study suggests that hostility, physical aggression and trait anger may be able to be used to predict suicidal behavior among adolescents. Suicide prevention programs should target at attenuating the severity of hostility, anger and physical aggression. But teachers and parents should also give close attention to students with low trait anger. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Do relations with parents during the transition from adolescence to adulthood have long-term consequences for self-esteem? We addressed this question with 20-year panel data from 273 youths (age 16-26 at baseline) who participated in the University of Southern California Longitudinal Study of Generations. We found that youths who reported stronger affective ties to parents reported greater self-esteem at baseline and at 17- and 20-year follow-ups. We also found, however, that the long-term association between baseline affection and subsequent self-esteem was due primarily to moderate stability in self-esteem across the transition to adulthood. Our findings support the view that the quality of affective ties to parents during the transition to adulthood has long-term significance for self-esteem among offspring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This 1982 national survey of all operational health maintenance organizations (HMOs) provides information on the current status of mental health services, benefits, costs, and utilization within HMOs, updating and augmenting a 1978 study. Approximately 94 per cent of the responding HMOs offered mental health service coverage: over one-half (54 per cent) offered alcohol and drug abuse service coverage. The present coverage benefits and utilization of mental health services within HMOs continue to reflect greater variability vis-a-vis other health services within HMOs. Over one half (57 per cent) of the HMOs, provided for 30 days of inpatient mental health coverage (per member per year). Three out of four (77 per cent) of the health plans provided for 20 ambulatory visits (per member per year). The mean mental health hospital utilization rate was 32 days (per 1,000 members per year). The mean mental health ambulatory utilization rate was 0.33 encounters (per member per year). Further studies should investigate the combined influence of organization characteristics, mental health service organization characteristics, and service benefits on the costs and utilization of HMO mental health services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study elucidates differences in the pattern of hospital use by three ethnic groups in the Southwest (Anglos, Chicanos, blacks). Findings are presented and discussed in terms of several factors (socio-environmental, medical care system, social and ethnic status). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information about the project of the King County and Seattle City Councils on AIDS assessment in Seattle, Washington. The project aims to monitor the number of AIDS cases and AIDs-like illness that occurs in the county. The project includes educational activities, where its goal is to share information about AIDS to the general population and AIDS assessment clinic to help individuals in assessing the risk of acquiring AIDS, as well as clinic appointments for risk factors that are associated with AIDS. The project also includes research about AIDS prevention and determination. Furthermore, the U.S. Department of Public Health protects the confidentiality of the gathered information.

Introduction: Disturbed sleep is a public health problem, but few studies describe the prevalence of sleep problems among Hispanic adolescents. We estimated the prevalence of disturbed sleep and associated factors among ninth graders living on the Texas-Mexico border., Methods: We used probabilistic sampling to conduct 2 cross-sectional, school-based surveys: 1 during the 2000-2001 school year in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas (n = 4,901), and 1 during the 2002-2003 school year in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico (n = 669). We assessed disturbed sleep during the 4 weeks before the survey., Results: The prevalence of disturbed sleep in Matamoros was 36% and in the Lower Rio Grande Valley was 28%. Factors associated with disturbed sleep in both populations were smoking cigarettes, having ever used cocaine, having been forced to have sex, considering attempting suicide, feeling sad, and going without eating for 24 hours or more., Conclusion: This study revealed a high prevalence of disturbed sleep in high school students living on the Texas-Mexico border. This public health issue should be further investigated in both communities.