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Background: We examined the differential impact of a well-established human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/sexually transmitted infections (STIs) curriculum, Be Proud! Be Responsible!, when taught by school nurses and health education classroom teachers within a high school curricula. Methods: Group-randomized intervention study of 1357 ninth and tenth grade students in 10 schools. Twenty-seven facilitators (6 nurses, 21 teachers) provided programming; nurse-led classrooms were randomly assigned. Results: Students taught by teachers were more likely to report their instructor to be prepared, comfortable with the material, and challenged them to think about their health than students taught by a school nurse. Both groups reported significant improvements in HIV/STI/condom knowledge immediately following the intervention, compared to controls. Yet, those taught by school nurses reported significant and sustained changes (up to 12 months after intervention) in attitudes, beliefs, and efficacy, whereas those taught by health education teachers reported far fewer changes, with sustained improvement in condom knowledge only. Conclusions: Both classroom teachers and school nurses are effective in conveying reproductive health information to high school students; however, teaching the technical (eg, condom use) and interpersonal (eg, negotiation) skills needed to reduce high-risk sexual behavior may require a unique set of skills and experiences that health education teachers may not typically have.

Objectives: To examine effectiveness of abstinence-until-marriage curriculum on knowledge, beliefs, efficacy, intentions, and behavior. Methods: Nonrandomized control trial involving 2069 middle school students with a 5-month follow-up. Results: Intervention students reported increases in knowledge and abstinence beliefs, but decreases in intentions to have sex and to use condoms. Intervention did not influence sexual initiation or condom use; however, intervention students who had sex during the evaluation period reported fewer sexual episodes and fewer partners than did controls. Conclusions: Abstinence-until-marriage interventions can influence knowledge, beliefs, and intentions, and among sexually experienced students, may reduce the prevalence of casual sex. Reduction in condom use intentions merits further study to determine long-term implications.

Objective. Information on the mental health of very low birth weight (VLBW; Methods. We compared a cohort of 241 survivors among VLBW infants who were born between 1977 and 1979 (mean birth weight: 1180 g; mean gestational age at birth: 29.7 weeks), 116 of whom were men and 125 of whom were women, with 233 control subjects from the same population in Cleveland who had normal birth weights (108 men and 124 women). Young adult behavior was assessed at 20 years of age with the Achenbach Young Adult Self-Report and the Young Adult Behavior Checklist for parents. In addition, the young adults and parents completed the ADHD Rating Scale for Adults. Gender-specific outcomes were adjusted for sociodemographic status. Results. VLBW men reported having significantly fewer delinquent behaviors than normal birth weight (NBW) control subjects, but there were no differences on the Internalizing, Externalizing, or Total Problem Behavior scales. Parents of VLBW men reported significantly more thought problems for their sons than did parents of control subjects. VLBW women reported significantly more withdrawn behaviors and fewer delinquent behavior problems than control subjects. Their rates of internalizing behaviors (which includes anxious/depressed and withdrawn behaviors) above the borderline clinical cutoff were 30% versus 16% (odds ratio: 2.2; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.2-4.1). Parents of VLBW women reported significantly higher scores for their daughters on the anxious/depressed, withdrawn, and attention problem subscales compared with control parents. The odds ratios for parent-reported rates above the borderline-clinical cutoff among women for the anxious/depressed subscale was 4.4 (95% CI: 1.4-13.5), for thought problems was 3.7 (95% CI: 1.2-11.6), and for attention problems was 2.4 (95% CI: 1.0-5.5). There were no differences in the young adult self-report of attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Parents of VLBW men reported higher mean scores on the attention subtype of ADHD but not higher rates of ADHD. Conclusion. The increase in psychopathology among VLBW survivors in young adulthood indicates a need for anticipatory guidance and early intervention that might help to prevent or ameliorate potential psychopathology. Pediatrics 2004;114:932-940; very low birth weight, psychopathology, behavior., ABBREVIATIONS. VLBW, very low birth weight; NBW, normal birth weight; YASR, Young Adult Self-Report; YABCL, Young Adult Behavior Checklist; CBCL, Child Behavior Checklist; ADHD, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder; DSM, Diagnostic and Statistical [...]

Adults who had very low birth weights may have intellectual defects that prevent them from graduating from high school and attaining a college education. This was the conclusion of a study of 242 adults with very low birth weights and 233 adults with normal birth weights who were born between 1977 and 1979.

Middle-aged people who have no health insurance are more likely to experience a decline in overall health and physical function than those who do. This was the conclusion of a five-year study of 7,577 people who had continuous coverage, intermittent coverage, or no coverage between 1992 and 1996.

Low birth weight alone is not useful as a predictor of cerebral palsy or other neural impairment, although it is one factor to consider among others. A bacterial inflammation of the fetal membranes called chorioamnionitis is a definite indicator, but this may not be preventable in the foreseeable future. Other predictors such as severe cranial ultrasound abnormalities and septicemia might be more preventable., ABSTRACT. Background and Objective. The etiology of neurologic impairments among very low birth weight (VLBW, [is less than] 1.5 kg) children is poorly understood. We sought to investigate the perinatal predictors of major neurologic impairment, including cerebral palsy, among VLBW children. Methods. Antenatal, intrapartum, and neonatal events and therapies were compared between 72 singleton inborn VLBW children born between 1983 to 1991 who had neurologic impairment at 20 months corrected age (including 50 with cerebral palsy and 22 with other neurologic impairments) and 72 neurologically normal VLBW children matched by birth weight, gestational age, race, and sex via a retrospective case-control method. Multiple logistic regression was conducted, entering only those variables found to be significant at the bivariate level. Results. There were no significant differences in the rates of pregnancy-induced hypertension, maternal tocolytic use including magnesium, or antenatal steroid therapy. Higher rates of clinical chorioamnionitis were found among the mothers of the neurologically impaired children as compared with controls (31% vs 11%), but not among the subgroup of mothers of children with cerebral palsy (22% vs 12%). Significant differences in neonatal factors among the total neurologically-impaired group (n = 72) versus controls included oxygen dependence at 36 weeks (31% vs 15%), septicemia (53% vs 31%), severe cranial ultrasound abnormality (50% vs 17%), and hypothyroxinemia (43% vs 25%). In the subgroup with cerebral palsy (n = 50), significant differences included days on the ventilator (23 vs 14 days), septicemia (54% vs 33%), and severe cranial ultrasound abnormality (52% vs 12%). Multivariate analysis controlling for birth weight, gestational age, race, sex, and the birth period (before 1990 versus 1990 and after) revealed direct and independent effects of clinical chorioamnionitis [odds ratio (OR), 3.79; confidence interval (CI), 1.34-10.78], severe cranial ultrasound abnormality (OR, 9.97; CI, 3.84-25.87), and septicemia (OR, 2.46; CI, 1.10-5.52) on total neurologic impairment. Consideration of the 50 cases with cerebral palsy revealed direct and independent effects of severe cranial ultrasound abnormality only (OR, 15.01; CI, 4.34-51.93). Conclusions. Both antenatal and neonatal risk factors contribute to the development of severe neurologic impairment, including cerebral palsy among VLBW children. Because prevention of chorioamnionitis may not be feasible in the near future, attempts to decrease neonatal risk factors such as severe cranial ultrasound abnormalities and sepsis may be most feasible at this time. Pediatrics 1998;102:315-322; cerebral palsy, neurologic impairment, perinatal correlates, very low birth weight, magnesium., ABBREVIATIONS. VLBW, very low birth weight; OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval. More than 100 years have passed since Little[1] first suggested that cerebral palsy was associated with perinatal events; [...]

This study explored open-ended responses regarding attributions=underlying health appraisals made by older adults, resulting in five categories (physical health, attitudinal/behavioral, externally focused, health transcendence, nonrefiective). The older the respondents, the less likely they were to focus on physical aspects of their health. Health optimists were the most likely to make attitudinal/behavioral or health transcendent attributions, while poor-health realists were most likely to mention physical health aspects and least likely to make attitudinal or behavioral attributions. While poor-health realists were at the highest risk of dying within a three-year period, health optimists were significantly less likely to die than poor-health realists, in spite of sharing similar health status. Respondents who were unable to identify underlying attributions were significantly more likely to die than were those identifying any other attribution. In conclusion, health attributions provide unique insight into the complex relationship between older adults' health appraisals, health status, and mortality.

Infants born with very low birth weights often exhibit poor growth during their first year of life. A previous report by the authors showed that very-low-birth-weight infants with smaller heads than normal at eight months had lower IQ scores at three years than normal children. This study examined the cognitive abilities of eight-year-old children who had very low birth weights and smaller head sizes than normal at eight months of age. A number of cognitive tests were performed on 249 children, who had been continually monitored and measured since birth. Thirty-three of the children had subnormal head sizes at eight months. The average results of the IQ tests were 95.6 and 94.2 for verbal and performance components, respectively. Normal IQ scores were achieved by 74 percent of the children; 19 percent had borderline scores; and 6 percent tested as mentally retarded. Scores were significantly lower for the 33 children with subnormal head circumferences at eight months (84.1 verbal and 82.1 performance) than for the 216 children who had normal head sizes at eight months (97.5 verbal and 95.9 performance). These differences were consistent on tests of language and speech abilities, and school performance. The relation between head size at eight months and IQ at eight years remained even when all subjects with neurologic problems were excluded. These results indicate that very-low-birth-weight infants who exhibit poor growth during their first eight months, as evidenced by subnormal head size, are more likely to score poorly on tests of cognitive ability at eight years than infants who have normal head sizes at eight months of age. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Maintains that applied and academic orientations are not antithetical but rather complimentary components of a realistic and integrated view of society. Advocates that students take a pro-active position in seeking a broad range of opportunities which will provide skills and insights necessary to contribute to sociology's future. (Author/DH)

Introduction: Although the science of team science is no longer a new field, the measurement of team science and its standardization remain in relatively early stages of development. To describe the current state of team science assessment, we conducted an integrative review of measures of research collaboration quality and outcomes. Methods: Collaboration measures were identified using both a literature review based on specific keywords and an environmental scan. Raters abstracted details about the measures using a standard tool. Measures related to collaborations with clinical care, education, and program delivery were excluded from this review. Results: We identified 44 measures of research collaboration quality, which included 35 measures with reliability and some form of statistical validity reported. Most scales focused on group dynamics. We identified 89 measures of research collaboration outcomes; 16 had reliability and 15 had a validity statistic. Outcome measures often only included simple counts of products; publications rarely defined how counts were delimited, obtained, or assessed for reliability. Most measures were tested in only one venue. Conclusions: Although models of collaboration have been developed, in general, strong, reliable, and valid measurements of such collaborations have not been conducted or accepted into practice. This limitation makes it difficult to compare the characteristics and impacts of research teams across studies or to identify the most important areas for intervention. To advance the science of team science, we provide recommendations regarding the development and psychometric testing of measures of collaboration quality and outcomes that can be replicated and broadly applied across studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]