Teen dating violence is more prevalent among African Americans than any other racial group in the United States leading to serious health consequences for victims. However, limited data exists on how African American adolescents' attitudes and perceptions regarding dating violence are formed, and whether they are influenced by family members. The purpose of this nonexperimental correlational study was to determine whether nonverbal or verbal communication from family members predicted adolescents' attitudes and perceptions toward dating violence. Survey data from 84 African American men and women ages 18 to 24 were collected using the Normative Beliefs About Aggression Scale, the Acceptance of Couple Violence Scale, the Revised Family Communication Patterns Questionnaire, and a demographic questionnaire. Although past studies have shown that communication related to dating violence is important because it is essential to adolescents understanding and finding ways of coping with violence, this study could not confirm that conversation orientation, conformity orientation, discussion of dating violence, conversation types, facial expressions, hand gestures, and direct verbal communication were significant predictors of approval of aggression. In future research, conducting a mixed methods study or using a larger age range could provide more understanding about adolescents' attitudes and perceptions related to dating violence. Additionally, research on behaviors outside of the modes of communication measured in this study, is warranted. This study contributes to social change by helping to fill a gap in the research literature pertaining to African American teen dating violence and attitudes toward approval of aggression. Future researchers can use the results of this study to help formulate new research on this topic.

Childhood obesity is a major national and worldwide public health crisis. The occurrence of childhood obesity, caused to large extent by an imbalance between caloric intake and caloric expenditure, has increased in the last 30 years. Although the prevalence of obesity has stabilized in recent years, it remains a top public health concern in the United States, especially in urban centers. The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between diet, physical activity, and the built environment in relation to the mean body mass index (BMI) of adolescents aged 12 to 17 years living in South Los Angeles, California. The research design, methods, and data analysis were based on the California Health Interview Survey 2007-2013 dataset. This database was mined for the independent variables: physical security, food insecurity, parental education and income, and availability of recreational facilities necessary for a healthy lifestyle; the dependent variable was BMI. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis were used in analyzing for the association between the dependent variable and the independent variables. The outcomes of this study showed no associations between neighborhood physical security, recreational facilities, adolescent's physical activity, parents' education level, parents' income level, and BMI. However, the results did show a significant correlation between adolescent's dietary intake, food security, and BMI. This study will contribute to positive social change by informing public health officials and policy makers of the benefits of food security to healthier eating habits and BMI among the adolescents studied. Resulting actions could result in collaborative efforts toward reduction and prevention of childhood obesity.