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To investigate whether laser acupuncture is efficacious in children with headache and if active laser treatment is superior to placebo laser treatment in a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of low level laser acupuncture in 43 children (mean age [SD] 12.3 [+/–2.6] years) with headache (either migraine [22 patients] or tension type headache [21 patients]). Patients were randomized to receive a course of 4 treatments over 4 weeks with either active or placebo laser. The treatment was highly individualised based on criteria of Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). The primary outcome measure was a difference in numbers of headache days between baseline and the 4 months after randomization. Secondary outcome measures included a change in headache severity using a 10 cm Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for pain and a change in monthly hours with headache. Measurements were taken during 4 weeks before randomization (baseline), at weeks 1–4, 5–8, 9–12 and 13–16 from baseline. The mean number of headaches per month decreased significantly by 6.4 days in the treated group (p ≤ 0.001) and by 1.0 days in the placebo group (p = 0.22). Secondary outcome measures headache severity and monthly hours with headache decreased as well significantly at all time points compared to baseline (p ≤ 0.001) and were as well significantly lower than those of the placebo group at all time points (p ≤ 0.001). We conclude that laser acupuncture can provide a significant benefit for children with headache with active laser treatment being clearly more effective than placebo laser treatment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to assess the prevalence of pornography use and its association with a range of perceived gender norms among adolescents aged 10-14 years across five urban poor settings globally., Methods: The study includes 9,250 adolescents aged 10-14 years from Belgium, China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, and Indonesia, as part of the Global Early Adolescent Study. We examined the percentage of pornography use by sex and site and conducted multivariate logistic regressions to examine the relation between gender norm perceptions and pornography use, adjusting for individual, family, peer, and media exposures., Results: Ever-use of pornography ranged from 14.5% in Ecuador to 33.0% in Belgium and was more common among boys than girls. Overall, boys who perceived greater permissiveness about romantic relations, adolescents who engaged in such relations, and adolescents who assumed that their friends were sexually active had greater pornography exposure. Pornography use did not systematically correlate with unequal gender norms. Such correlations only exist among boys in two Asian sites, where a supportive school environment, more caregiver awareness, and/or neighborhood cohesion were related to less pornography use., Conclusions: Pornography use is a gendered experience that begins in early adolescence. Although factors of pornography use vary across the social context, the exposure to pornography has become a normative part of adolescent sexuality development. Young people, especially those from where sexuality remains taboo, need the ability to critically process information and avoid potential risks associated with pornographic gendered and sexual stereotypes, calling for comprehensive sexuality education programs to help them build the knowledge and confidence they need., (Copyright © 2021 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: This paper used data from the Global Early Adolescent Study (GEAS) to provide a descriptive analysis of how early adolescents' social environments vary by sex across diverse cultural settings., Methods: The analyses were based on baseline data among 10-14-year old adolescents living in disadvantaged urban areas in seven sites: Kinshasa (DRC), Shanghai (China), Cuenca (Ecuador), Lampung, Semarang and Denpasar (Indonesia), and Flanders (Belgium). Except in Kinshasa where face-to face interviews were used, data were collected using self-administered surveys on mobile tablets. Social environments were measured by examining factors within five main domains, including the household and family, school, peers, neighborhoods, and the media. Site-specific descriptive analyses were performed, using Chi square tests and Student T-tests to identify sex-differences in each site., Results: The majority of early adolescents lived in two-parent households, perceived their parents/guardians cared and monitored them, had at least one friend, reported high educational aspirations, and perceived their neighborhoods as safe, socially cohesive, with a high level of social control. Yet, large gender and site differences were also observed. More girls reported same-sex friends and high levels of parental monitoring, while boys were more likely to have mixed-sex friends and spend greater amounts of time with friends. Adolescents in Kinshasa and Semarang watched the most TV per day, while higher proportions of adolescents in Flanders used social media on a daily basis. Significant gender differences in media use were also observed but varied according to site., Conclusions: Understanding how social contexts differ between boys and girls across sites has relevance for how we might examine gender attitude formations and subsequent health behaviors. Given the increased attention on the importance of early adolescence for shaping gender attitudes and norms, implementing approaches that consider the differences in boys' and girls' lives may hold the most promise for creating sustained and improve change., (Copyright © 2021 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

This analysis is based on data from the Global Early Adolescent Study, which aims to understand the factors that predispose young people aged 10-14 years to positive or negative health trajectories. Specifically, interview transcripts from 202 adolescents and 191 parents across six diverse urban sites (Baltimore, Ghent, Nairobi, Ile Ife, Assuit and Shanghai) were analysed to compare the perceived risks associated with entering adolescence and how these risks differed by gender. Findings reveal that in all sites except Ghent, both young people and their parents perceived that girls face greater risks related to their sexual and reproductive health, and because of their sexual development, were perceived to require more protection. In contrast, when boys grow up, they and their parents recognised that their independence broadened, and parents felt that boys were strong enough to protect themselves. This has negative consequences as well, as boys were perceived to be more prone to risks associated with street violence and peer pressure. These differences in perceptions of vulnerability and related mobility are markers of a gender system that separates young women and men's roles, responsibilities and behaviours in ways that widen gender power imbalance with lifelong social and health consequences for people of both sexes.