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

Sexual abuse and the life course: An analysis of factors linking child sexual abuse to adult sexual revictimization and perpetration

This project examined the associations between childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and both adult sexual victimization (ASV) and perpetration (ASP), with a particular focus on the moderating and mediating factors that explained these relationships. Additionally, the reliability of retrospective CSA measures was assessed, with a particular focus on the impact of gender and problem avoidance on the stability of CSA reporting. For the first paper, I conducted a systematic review of peer-reviewed primary research on United States (US) populations. Thirty studies examining the CSA-ASV relationship and 9 exploring the CSA-ASP relationship were assessed. Overwhelmingly, the included studies confirmed the association between CSA and ASV. Previous sexual victimization, mental and emotional distress, substance abuse, and risky sexual behavior emerged as possible explanatory factors. The findings for the CSA-ASP relationship were mixed. Due in part to the paucity of studies examining explanatory factors in this relationship, there was no evidence of mediating or moderating factors. The purpose of the second paper was to 1) test the reliability of retrospective CSA measurement in a nationally representative sample of adults, 2) assess sex differences in reliability patterns, and 3) examine the extent to which reporting reliability is associated with problem avoidance. Reporting reliability was examined among 12,438 adults in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), over two data collection periods. Nearly 3 in 4 of the CSA cases in the former wave were not again reported, and two-thirds of the CSA cases in the latter wave were not previously reported. Regarding problem avoidance, participants who reported CSA in the former wave, but not in the latter, were more avoidant than those who were consistent in reporting. This pattern held for both females and males. Our findings suggest that of those who may have experienced CSA, females report the experience more consistently than males. Furthermore, inconsistent reporting may be a symptom of general problem avoidance. Focusing on the context of romantic partnerships, the final paper assessed the mediating influence of depression, self-esteem, problem avoidance, and gender roles in the CSA-ASV/ASP relationships. A similar set of associations was examined for child physical abuse (CPA) and ASV/ASP. Analyses were based on 3,278 Add Health participants, and focused on the last two waves of data collection (2001-2002 and 2007-2008). For females, there was evidence of mediation for depression in the CSA-ASV association, and for both depression and self-esteem in the CPA-ASV relationship. Depression also mediated the relationships between both forms of child abuse and ASP. For males, there were no direct or indirect associations between CSA and ASV/ASP. Child physical abuse showed associations with ASV, both directly and through self-esteem and problem avoidance. We also found evidence of the mediational effect of problem avoidance in the relationship between CPA and recent ASP. Gender roles did not play a mediational role in any of the models

Experimenting with cigarettes and physical activity among Mexican origin youth: a cross sectional analysis of the interdependent associations among sensation seeking, acculturation, and gender

Abstract Background 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 χ2 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.</p