Experimenting with Cigarettes and Physical Activity Among Mexican Origin Youth: A Cross Sectional Analysis of the Interdependent Associations Among Sensation Seeking, Acculturation, and Gender

Sensation seeking tendencies tend to manifest during adolescence and are associated with both health-compromising behaviors and health-enhancing behaviors. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationship between sensation seeking and physical activity, a health-enhancing behavior, and between sensation seeking and experimenting with cigarettes, a health compromising-behavior, among a cohort of Mexican origin adolescents residing in the United States with different levels of acculturation. Methods: In 2009, 1,154 Mexican origin youth (50.5% girls, mean age 14.3 years (SD = 1.04)) provided data on smoking behavior, physical activity, linguistic acculturation, and sensation seeking. We conducted Pearson's chi(2) tests to examine the associations between categorical demographic characteristics (i.e. gender, age, country of birth and parental educational attainment) and both cigarette experimentation and physical activity and Student's t-tests to examine mean differences on the continuous variables (i.e. sensation seeking subscale) by the behaviors. We examined mean differences in the demographic characteristics, acculturation, and both behaviors for each of the sensation seeking subscales using analysis of variance (ANOVA). To examine relationships between the sensation seeking subscales, gender, and both behaviors, at different levels of acculturation we completed unconditional logistic regression analyses stratified by level of acculturation. Results: Overall, 23.3% had experimented with cigarettes and 29.0% reported being physically active for at least 60 minutes/day on at least 5 days/week. Experimenting with cigarettes and being physically active were more prevalent among boys than girls. Among girls, higher levels of sensation seeking tendencies were associated with higher levels of acculturation and experimentation with cigarettes, but not with physical activity. Among boys, higher levels of sensation seeking tendencies were associated with higher levels of acculturation, experimenting with cigarettes and being physically active. Conclusions: Our results suggest that interventions designed to prevent smoking among Mexican origin youth may need to address social aspects associated with acculturation, paying close attention to gendered manifestations of sensation seeking.National Cancer Institute CA105203, CA126988Caroline W. Law Fund for Cancer PreventionDan Duncan Family Institute for Cancer Prevention and Risk AssessmentCenter for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research in Underserved Population

Predictors of adolescent truancy: The importance of cyberbullying, peer behavior, and parenting style

This study extends the truancy literature by exploring correlates of both committing truancy and the numbers of days truant among Spanish secondary school students. The study incorporates cyberbullying, peer truancy and parenting style as key predictors. Several count data regression models are estimated using a nationally representative survey of Spanish students (N = 37,476; Mage = 15.73; 50.9 % females). The results suggest that cyberbullying and parenting style play a significant role in a student’s decision to commit truancy, while peer truancy plays a significant role in both the decision of whether or not to commit truancy (OR = 1.61) and the number of days truant (IRR = 1.41). These results suggest that reducing cyberbullying and promoting specific parenting styles may serve to reduce truancy, and that this direct effect or reduction could be further increased indirectly via peer or social multipliers

Are variations in rates of attending cultural activities associated with population health in the United States?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Population studies conducted in Sweden have revealed an association between attendance at cultural activities and health. Using data from US residents, we examined whether the association could be observed in the US.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Participants in the current study included 1,244 individuals who participated in the 1998 General Social Survey.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A significant association between cultural activities and self-reported health (SRH) was observed, even after controlling for age, gender, marital status, race, number of children, subjective social class, employment status, household income, and educational attainment. Specifically, the more cultural activities people reported attending, the better was their SRH.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The data confirm that an association between cultural activity and health is present in a US sample. The data do not mean that the association is causal, but they suggest that further longitudinal research is warranted.</p

Sitting time and health outcomes among Mexican origin adults: obesity as a mediator

Background: Sitting time and sedentary behaviors have been associated with adverse health outcomes including obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD) within non- Hispanic White populations. Similar associations have not been described within Hispanic populations despite their high CVD risk profile. This study aimed to assess the association between sitting time and obesity, self-reported diagnosed diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol among a large cohort (N=11,268) of Mexican origin adults and to assess whether obesity mediated these associations. Methods: Using a cross-sectional design, data collected between 2004 and 2010 were analyzed in late 2010. Regression analyses evaluated associations between self-reported daily sitting hours and disease outcomes, controlling for demographics, employment status, family disease history, and light, moderate and strenuous physical activity. Results: Participants were mostly female (81.1%) Mexican origin adults. Sitting time was associated with increased odds of being obese, having diabetes and having hypertension, but not high cholesterol. Adjusted odds ratios of participants who reported sitting > 4 hours/day compared to those sitting 1-2 hours/day were for obesity OR=1.55 (95% CI 1.39, 1.73), p<.001, for diabetes OR=1.29 (95% CI, 1.09, 1.52), p=.003, for hypertension OR=1.17 (95% CI, 1.01, 1.37), p=.041. Associations controlled for physical activity and employment status. Effects on hypertension and diabetes were mediated by obesity. Conclusions: Sitting time was significantly associated with detrimental health outcomes, independent of physical activity. Obesity mediated these relationships for diabetes and hypertension. Future research should assess whether interventions addressing sitting time are feasible and effective among Mexican origin populations

Socioeconomic inequalities in children’s diet: the role of the home food environment

Abstract Background It is well documented in the literature that low socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with lower consumption of healthy foods and that these differences in consumption patterns are influenced by neighborhood food environments. Less understood is the role that SES differences in physical and social aspects of the home food environment play in consumption patterns. Methods Using data on 4th grade children from the 2009–2011 Texas School Physical Activity and Nutrition (SPAN) study, we used mixed-effects regression models to test the magnitude of differences in the SPAN Health Eating Index (SHEI) by parental education as an indicator of SES, and the extent to which adjusting for measures of the home food environment, and measures of the neighborhood environment accounted for these SES differences. Results Small but significant differences in children’s SHEI by SES strata exist (-1.33 between highest and lowest SES categories, p<0.01). However, incorporating home food environment and neighborhood environment measures in this model eliminates these differences (-0.7, p=0.145). Home food environment explains a greater portion of the difference. Both social (mealtime structure) and physical aspects (food availability) of the home food environment are strongly associated with consumption of healthy and unhealthy foods. Conclusions Our findings suggest that modifiable parent behaviors at home can improve children’s eating habits and that the neighborhood may impact diet in ways other than through access to healthy food

Anxiety, depression and smoking status among adults of Mexican heritage on the Texas-Mexico Border

The goal of the current analysis is to examine relationships between smoking status and anxiety and depression among adults of Mexican heritage to inform the development of culturally relevant smoking cessations efforts. Mexican heritage residents (N=1,791) of the city of Brownsville, TX, aged 18 years or older, enrolled in the Cameron County Hispanic Cohort, were selected through two stage cluster sampling of randomly selected census tracts from the first and third quartile of SES using Census 2000. Among current smokers, anxiety and depression scores were highest among women who had not completed high school (p\u3c0.05). Former smoking women, but not men, with at least a high school education and former smoking women born in the United States reported higher levels of anxiety and depression than never smoking women. Negative affective states may represent a greater barrier to smoking cessation among women than men

“We can all just get on a bus and go” : Rethinking independent mobility in the context of the universal provision of free bus travel to young Londoners

This paper uses qualitative data from interviews with 118 young Londoners (age 12-18) to examine how the universal provision of free bus travel has affected young people’s independent mobility. Drawing on Sen’s ‘capabilities approach’, we argue that free bus travel enhanced young Londoners’ capability to shape their daily mobility, both directly by increasing financial access and indirectly by facilitating the acquisition of the necessary skills, travelling companions and confidence. These capabilities in turn extended both opportunity freedoms (e.g. facilitating non-“necessary” recreational and social trips) and process freedoms (e.g. feeling more independent by decreasing reliance on parents). Moreover, the universal nature of the entitlement rendered buses a socially inclusive way for groups to travel and spend time together, thereby enhancing group-level capabilities. We believe this attention to individual and group capabilities for self-determination provides the basis for a broader and more child-centred view of ‘independent mobility’ than the typical research focus upon ‘travelling without an adult’ and acquiring parental permissions.Peer reviewe

The diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis in adults and adolescents: protocol for a systematic review and individual patient data meta-analysis to inform a multivariable prediction model.

Background: Tuberculous meningitis (TBM) is the most lethal and disabling form of tuberculosis. Delayed diagnosis and treatment, which is a risk factor for poor outcome, is caused in part by lack of availability of diagnostic tests that are both rapid and accurate. Several attempts have been made to develop clinical scoring systems to fill this gap, but none have performed sufficiently well to be broadly implemented. We aim to identify and validate a set of clinical predictors that accurately classify TBM using individual patient data (IPD) from published studies. Methods: We will perform a systematic review and obtain IPD from studies published from the year 1990 which undertook diagnostic testing for TBM in adolescents or adults using at least one of, microscopy for acid-fast bacilli, commercial nucleic acid amplification test for Mycobacterium tuberculosis or mycobacterial culture of cerebrospinal fluid.  Clinical data that have previously been shown to be associated with TBM, and can inform the final diagnosis, will be requested. The data-set will be divided into training and test/validation data-sets for model building. A predictive logistic model will be built using a training set with patients with definite TBM and no TBM. Should it be warranted, factor analysis may be employed, depending on evidence for multicollinearity or the case for including latent variables in the model. Discussion: We will systematically identify and extract key clinical parameters associated with TBM from published studies and use a 'big data' approach to develop and validate a clinical prediction model with enhanced generalisability. The final model will be made available through a smartphone application. Further work will be external validation of the model and test of efficacy in a randomised controlled trial

Scratching the surface: Elastic rotations beneath nanoscratch and nanoindentation tests

In this paper, we investigate the residual deformation field in the vicinity of nanoscratch tests using two orientations of a Berkovich tip on an (001) Cu single crystal. We compare the deformation with that from indentation, in an attempt to understand the mechanisms of deformation in tangential sliding. The lattice rotation fields are mapped experimentally using high-resolution electron backscatter diffraction (HR-EBSD) on cross-sections prepared using focused ion beam (FIB). A physically-based crystal plasticity finite element model (CPFEM) is used to simulate the lattice rotation fields, and provide insight into the 3D rotation field surrounding a nano-scratch experiment, as it transitions from an initial static indentation to a steady-state scratch. The CPFEM simulations capture the experimental rotation fields with good fidelity, and show how the rotations about the scratch direction are reversed as the indenter moves away from the initial indentation