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Objective: The cross-cultural applicability of the concept of posttraumatic stress was investigated by assessing symptom frequency and levels of comorbid psychopathology in adolescents from the united States and Russia. Method: A self-report survey was conducted in representative samples of 2,157 adolescents 14 to 17 years old from urban communities of the united States (N=1,212) and Russia (N=945). Results: In both countries, the levels of all three major clusters of posttraumatic symptoms (reexperiencing, avoidance, and arousal), as well as of internalizing psychopathology, increased along with the level of posttraumatic stress. Expectations about the future had a tendency to decrease with increasing posttraumatic stress. No differences between countries in significant interaction effects for symptom levels were found. Conclusions: The current findings suggest that posttraumatic symptoms and their associations with other adolescent mental health problems are not culture bound and that the psychological consequences of trauma follow similar dynamics cross-culturally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we address the points raised by groups of scientists who were invited to respond to our initial critique of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) research in this special issue. In that article, we applied six objective criteria to more than two decades of published PCB research and concluded that much of the research was badly flawed. The PCB researchers responded to our criticisms by stating that our criteria are either irrelevant or require major revision to be applicable to health areas of research. In response, we know of no methodologic criteria or laws of probability that apply solely to toxicology research. Although we support strong environmental regulations, such should be based upon solid scientific evidence rather than upon methodologically flawed research and false belief systems. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 41: 715–723, 2004. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: Risk behaviors established during childhood including tobacco use, sunning, and eating habits contribute to most adult cancers. This project pilot-tested a developmentally appropriate cancer prevention curriculum for grades K-6, using a treatment group only design with pretesting and posttesting using a standardized, semistructured interview and involving 67 students (77% of eligible students) attending mixed grade classes. A seven-unit curriculum based on cognitive development, social cognitive, and social influence theories was taught by classroom teachers. Students showed a significant (p<.0001) gain in conceptual understanding for causality and prevention of cancer; the gain for causality of cancer was comparable to the baseline difference between kindergarten and the highest (5-6) grade. Significant gains in factual knowledge and decreases in misconceptions about casual contact also were documented. A developmentally based elementary school cancer prevention curriculum can enhance young children's conceptual understanding and factual knowledge of common contributors to adult cancers. (J Sch Health. 2001;71(2):61-65) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: In low- and middle-income countries, methods for clinicians to address difficulties in language, social-emotional, cognitive, behavioral, or neuromotor development during early childhood are lacking. To fill this gap, we designed, in Turkey, the Guide for Monitoring Child Development, which aims to aid clinicians in monitoring and supporting child development and the early detection and management of developmental difficulties. The Guide for Monitoring Child Development monitoring component is a practical, open-ended interview that catalyzes communication between clinicians and caregivers and obtains a portrayal of the child's development. We report on the development and psychometric properties of the Guide for Monitoring Child Development monitoring component for children aged 0 to 24 months., Methods: We examined the ages of attainment of Guide for Monitoring Child Development milestones and internal consistency in a cross-sectional study of healthy children receiving well-child care (study 1). In 2 clinical samples, we studied the interrater reliability between medical students and a child development specialist administering the guide (study 2), as well as the concurrent validity of the guide administered during a health visit and a comprehensive developmental assessment (study 3)., Results: In study 1 (N = 510), item-total scale correlations ranged from 0.28 to 0.91. An age-dependent attainment pattern was seen in all of the milestones. In study 2 (N = 92), interrater reliability between medical-student pairs and between the child development specialist and students was high (kappa scores were 0.83-0.88). In study 3 (N = 79), the sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were 0.88, 0.93, 0.84, and 0.94, respectively., Conclusions: The Guide for Monitoring Child Development is an innovative method for monitoring child development that is designed specifically for use by health care providers in low- and middle-income countries. Studies in Turkey provide preliminary evidence for its reliability and validity.

Purpose: To compare three methods of data collection on case ascertainment of past chlamydia or gonorrhea diagnoses., Methods: Data collection for 361 adolescent females between 1998 and 2000 included: 1) face-to-face interviews; 2) computerized and paper medical record reviews; and 3) chlamydia and gonorrhea reports to the state health department. Statistical methods include latent class and composite reference standard analyses., Results: The estimated prevalence of past diagnoses did not differ significantly by data collection method for chlamydia (20.5%, 23.0%, and 19.7% by self-report, medical record reviews, and state health department reports, respectively) or gonorrhea (4.7%, 6.9%, and 5.5%, respectively) during the 2-year study period. The estimated latent class and composite reference standard prevalences for chlamydia were 23.5% and 26.9%, respectively (p=.04 and p < .01 for differences from self-report alone, respectively). For gonorrhea, the estimated latent class and composite reference standard prevalences were 7.8% and 6.9%, respectively (p < .01 for both differences from self-report alone). Kappa scores for self-report compared with the latent class and composite reference standard prevalences ranged from .67 to .80, and the magnitude of under-reporting ranged from 21% to 47%., Conclusions: The similar case ascertainment from the three sources separately and high reliability of self-report, coupled with its feasibility and low cost, suggest that self-report is a viable data collection method for STD diagnoses. However, using multiple sources may be preferable when time and resources permit given that under-reporting by self-report is likely to occur (particularly for gonorrhea) and that greater case ascertainment can be achieved.