Understanding the YouTube generation : how preschoolers process television and YouTube advertising

Preschool children are generally assumed to lack the skills to critically respond to advertising despite being exposed to a high number of advertising messages while watching videos on YouTube. However, research on how preschool children process YouTube advertising is scarce. This study conducts an experiment to examine how preschool children's (4-5 years old, N = 62) responses to video advertising (20-second toy commercial) vary between YouTube and television viewing. The results suggest that almost half of the children were able to distinguish advertising from regular media content, and almost 70% of the children could correctly identify that the video was advertising. No differences were found between the two media. Children were not skeptical toward the video advertisement. With regard to ad effects, the results show low brand and product recall, whereas aided recall was higher (around 40% of the children could correctly recognize the product and brand shown in the advertisement). These findings suggest that 4-5-year-old children already have a proper understanding of advertising, but lack a critical attitude. Furthermore, children's advertising literacy does not vary between YouTube and television advertising

Parent-child communication about internet use and acceptance of parental authority

Structural equation modeling is applied to investigate how parents' communication with their child about his or her Internet use is linked to the child's acceptance of parental authority in the context of Internet use, and how this in turn is linked to the child's social media behavior. This study surveyed children aged 13 to 18 and their mothers and fathers (N = 357 families) and found that acceptance of parental authority is a key factor in the effectiveness of parental mediation. It is recommended that parental mediation is studied as a dynamic process shaped by both parents and children

Endurance Running in the United States: A History of the 20th and Early 21st Century

Endurance running is a unique niche of American culture, with its own components and history. It has significantly increased in participation over the last half century, which is what sparked my curiosity and interest. I investigate the history of endurance running through three chapters. In order for the reader to get acquainted with the sport and running community, I first focus on the history of three races. The first is the Boston Marathon due to its importance of being the first endurance running contest of the last century that continues to capture the minds and hearts of endurance runners. The second race I discuss is the New York Marathon, the marathon with the highest participation in the world. The New York Marathon arose during the running boom of the 1970s. Thanks to market-savvy people like Fred Lebow, this race merged passion with finances. The third race analyzed in this thesis is the Western States Endurance Run. This 100-mile race through Northern California was one of the first ultra-marathon races and continues to draw many long-distance runners from around the world. After discussing these histories, I next analyze how humans have been able to accomplish such feats of endurance by looking into the developments of nutrition, the integration of science, and the growth of medical knowledge. Finally, I describe the history of endurance running’s greatest tool, the running shoe, and argue that it is through the rise of athletic shoe companies that money entered the sport. This dramatically altered the sport through promotions, sponsorships, and research as well as through a wider inclusion of runners. Endurance running continues to fascinate millions and continually expands the limits of what dedicated human beings can accomplish

A Drug Dosage Table is a Useful Tool to Facilitate Prescriptions of Antiretroviral Drugs for Children in Thailand.

Scaling up of antiretroviral treatment (ART) for children in countries like Thailand will require decentralization and management by non-specialist doctors. We describe (a) the formulation of a standardized drug dosage table to facilitate antiretroviral drug (ARV) prescriptions for children, (b) the acceptability of such a table among doctors and (c) the safety and efficacy of drug doses in the table. Acceptability was assessed using a questionnaire. Safety and efficacy were assessed on the basis of incidence of adverse effects and virological response to treatment, respectively. Of all doctors (n=18), 17 (94%) found that the table was practical to use, avoided miscalculations and made them more confident with prescriptions. Of 49 children prescribed ARVs, less than 5% had adverse side-effects. All ARV-naïve children achieved undetectable viral loads within six months of ART. In our setting, a standardized drug dosage table provided a simple and reliable tool that facilitated ARV prescriptions for children

Decisional Balance Inventory (DBI) adolescent form for smoking : psychometric properties of the Persian version

Abstract Background One effective model for studying cigarette smoking cessation is the transtheoretical model (TTM). In order to assess to what degree interventions can make variations in individuals’ behavior, several questionnaires have been developed based on the TTM. This study aims to describe the development of the Persian version of the Decisional Balance Inventory (DBI) for smoking cessation in Iran and to evaluate its psychometric properties. Design and methods The forward-backward technique was used to translate the DBI from English into Persian. After linguistic validation and a pilot test among 30 male smoking young adults, a cross-sectional study was performed, and psychometric properties of the Persian version of the DBI were assessed. Using a convenience sampling method, 120 male smokers between 16 and 24 years of age were recruited from three factories in Nowshahr, Iran. In order to assess the reliability of the DBI, internal consistency and test–retest methods were performed. Additionally, face and content validity were assessed, and the construct validity of the DBI was calculated by performing both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Data were analyzed using SPSS and AMOS. Results The mean age of the sample (n = 120) was 20.19 (SD = 2.13) years. The mean scores for the content validity index (CVI) and the content validity ratio (CVR) were .94 and .89, respectively. The results of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) showed a three-factor solution for the DBI that accounted for 55.4% of observed variance. The results achieved from the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) displayed that the data fit the model: the relative chi-square (×2/df) = 1.733 (p < .001) and the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = .07 (90% CI = .05–.105). All comparative indices of the model including GFI, AGFI, CFI, NNFI, and NFI were more than .80 (.87, .83, .91, .89, and .81, respectively). The Cronbach’s alpha ranged from .78 to .83, indicating an acceptable reliability. Furthermore, the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) ranged from .72 to .89, confirming a satisfactory result. Conclusions The results from the present study indicate that the Persian version of the DBI has good psychometric properties and is suitable to measure smoking behaviors among Iranian adolescent and young adult smokers. Consequently, the instrument could be used in planning cigarette smoking cessation interventions among Iranian adolescents and young adults

Exploring breast cancer preventive lifestyle and social support of Iranian women : a study protocol for a mixed-methods approach

Abstract Background It is widely accepted that a healthy lifestyle may decrease the probability of developing cancer. This study aimed to describe a study protocol that makes it possible to explore preventive health lifestyles of Iranian women and their received social support for the purpose of developing cultural strategies to increase breast cancer prevention. Methods A mixed-methods study will be accomplished in two sequential parts. First, a cross-sectional study will be conducted in which 2,250 Iranian women are recruited by using a random multistage cluster sampling of 20 health care centers. Structured face-to-face interviews will be conducted to obtain information on the participants’ health lifestyle and perceived social support. Data will be analyzed using both multivariate regression and structural equation modeling techniques. Then, a qualitative study will be conducted among employed women using a purposive sampling design. Data will be collected by means of focus groups and semi-structured interviews and will be analyzed using a conventional content analysis approach. The results of the quantitative and qualitative study will be used to develop breast cancer preventive strategies. Discussion Researchers need to acquire knowledge regarding the lifestyle and perceived social support of Iranian women that will foster culturally competent approaches to promote healthy lifestyles to develop breast cancer preventive strategies. Examining breast cancer preventive lifestyles provides valuable information for designing applicable intervention programs for improving women’s health

Adolescents’ perceptions of digital media’s potential to elicit jealousy, conflict and monitoring behaviors within romantic relationships

Understanding the role of digital media in adolescents’ romantic relationships is essential to the prevention of digital dating violence. This study focuses on adolescents’ perceptions of the impact of digital media on jealousy, conflict, and control within their romantic relationships. Twelve focus group interviews were conducted, among 55 secondary school students (ngirls = 28; 51% girls) between the ages of 15 and 18 years (Mage = 16.60 years; SD age = 1.21), in the Dutch-speaking community of Belgium. The respondents identified several sources of jealousy within their romantic relationships, such as online pictures of the romantic partner with others and online messaging with others. Adolescents identified several ways in which romantic partners would react when experiencing feelings of jealousy, such as contacting the person they saw as a threat or looking up the other person’s social media profiles. Along with feelings of jealousy, respondents described several monitoring behaviors, such as reading each other’s e-mails or accessing each other’s social media accounts. Adolescents also articulated several ways that they curated their social media to avoid conflict and jealousy within their romantic relationships. For instance, they adapted their social media behavior by avoiding the posting of certain pictures, or by ceasing to comment on certain content of others. The discussion section includes suggestions for future research and implications for practice, such as the need to incorporate information about e-safety into sexual and relational education and the need to have discussions with adolescents, about healthy boundaries for communication within their friendships and romantic relationships.</jats:p