Thesis (Ed. D.)--West Virginia University, 2001. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains xiii, 178 p. : ill. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 124-136).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1981. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 43-46).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Oct. 22, 2007). Directed by H. Svi Shapiro; submitted to the School of Education. Includes bibliographical references (p. 165-169).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--York University, 2005. Graduate Programme in Sociology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 235-244). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pNR11582

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a deadly and costly cancer, especially among African Americans. The purpose of this quantitative, retrospective, cross-sectional study was to examine African Americans' health behaviors that may have an association with CRC. The Health Belief Model was used to guide this study. The study addressed whether there is a statistical association between fruit intake, vegetable intake, and physical activity, and the occurrence of CRC while controlling for confounders, such as body mass index, smoking status, and income level. After conducting an overall analysis, the final research question examined if the association varied by race. In this study, data from 14,451 people in the Health Information National Trends Survey database were analyzed using binary logistic regression analysis. There was no association between the intake of fruits and vegetables and the occurrence of CRC in this population. Physical activity had a statistically significant association with CRC, with physical activity being protective against the occurrence of CRC among the whole sample population (adjusted OR = .671, 95% CI = [.458-983], p = .040). When stratified by race the association between Physical activity and CRC was only significant among Whites. The findings of this study have positive social change implications for practitioners designing CRC prevention programs, who should focus on increasing physical activity levels yielding healthier living in general. Future research should focus on addressing other possible risk factors in the African American population including genetic predispositions and gene-environment interactions.

Menthol is added to cigarettes to make smoking more convenient. Menthol is considered a contributing factor that makes smoking appealing to youths and their continuous smoking initiation, which progresses to regular cigarette smoking and addiction, especially among youths ages 12 to 19. Menthol encourages approximately 4,000 youths to experiment with smoking daily in the United States, of which approximately 1,000 become active smokers. Not enough is known regarding the influence of menthol on youth smoking initiation/smoking behavior. A quantitative analysis of data from the 2014 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) was used to explore the association between age, race/ethnicity, gender, grade (education level), and menthol cigarette smoking among youth ages 12 to 19. The sample size for this study consisted of 115 adolescents aged 12 to 19 years, in the United States taken from the 2014 NYTS data. The theoretical framework for this study was the theory of planned behavior (TPB). The independent variables were ethnicity/race, gender, age, and grades (education level), while the dependent variable is the type of smoking: menthol versus nonmenthol. Bivariate analysis revealed that there was a statistically significant relationship between age (p = <.001), race/ethnicity (p = <.001), gender (p = <.001), grade (education level) (p = <.001), and menthol cigarette smoking; however, no statistically significant results were obtained in the multivariate regression analysis. Future research is needed to better determine and understand the factors associated with youth smoking initiation and behavior. The potential positive social change impact of this study is a better understanding of youth smoking behavior and the development of more effective prevention interventions to protect the health of this vulnerable population.

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a chronic and lifelong condition, often diagnosed in childhood. Patients with T1D are at elevated risks of associated health complications, comorbidities, and mortality. Occurrence, clinical presentation, and complications related to T1D differ by age of onset, ethnicity, and gender. The last reported population-based estimates regarding the burden of T1D in children using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) were published in 2008, and these estimates were not well stratified by age of onset, ethnicity, and gender. The purpose of this study was to examine these demographics within the conceptual framework of the hygiene hypothesis using data from NHANES from 1999 to 2012. A cross-sectional study design was used to determine the average age of onset of T1D with respect to ethnicity and gender and to assess if age of onset is associated with ethnicity and gender. The average age of onset was 10.5 years for males and 11.8 years for females. The average age of onset was 13.0 years for Hispanics, 12.7 years for Non-Hispanic Blacks, and 10.6 years for Non-Hispanic Whites. Regression analysis indicated that there was no significant association between age of onset and gender (β = 1.1, p = 0.386) and between age of onset and ethnicity (β= 2.1, p = 0.070 for Hispanic White; β = 1.9, p = 0.101 for Non-Hispanic Black) having considered the Non-Hispanic White as the reference population. The result of this study may contribute to positive social change by providing better insight on demographic determinants of the risk of T1D, which is crucially important in the planning and implementation of prevention measures in highly susceptible populations.

In the military, excessive weight could put members at risk for training injuries, loss of potential career opportunities, and possible discharge from military service. This could increase cost to United States' national defense through increased injuries, decreased retention due to early discharge, cost of retraining, and lifelong chronic health conditions. The purpose of the study was to determine if there was a correlation or predictive value between active duty Navy members' perception of care provided for weight management and the active duty Navy member's motivation for weight management interventions. The social capital theory served as the theoretical framework for this cross-sectional survey design quantitative study. Data were collected from 241 active duty Navy members using a survey that included questions about clinical practice guidelines and motivation to change. Data were analyzed using Pearson chi-square and multiple linear regression to determine if individual demographics (body mass index [BMI], age, gender, ethnicity, military rank, and marital status) had a correlation or predictive value between reported care received and motivation to change. The results demonstrated a correlation between BMI, age, ethnicity, and care reported (p < 0.01); between BMI and motivation to change (p < 0.01) and between reported care and motivation to change (p <0.01). The potential positive social change implications from the findings of this study could lead to knowledge of individual factors and social factors that support a fit Navy force, lower cost to the nation for national defense through increased retention of highly trained members, decreased chronic health conditions, and lower cost of military health care.

Type 2 diabetes is a complex metabolic disorder characterized by hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia that affects fat, protein, and carbohydrate metabolism. Researchers have identified that for individuals with Type 2 diabetes, staying on interventions for diabetes self-management is sometimes difficult and challenging. It is an increasing public health concern, especially in certain minority populations and in many developing and developed nations. This is especially true for the population of women 40 years and older in Mgbidi, Nigeria. In the Enugu State of Nigeria, women bear most of the burden of Type 2 diabetes when compared to the males in the state. This study explored and evaluated the impediments to self-managed Type 2 diabetes among Mgbidi women in the Enugu State of Nigeria, West Africa, using a qualitative phenomenological approach. The concept of impediments influencing cultural behavior was used as the guiding framework. The participants were a group of 9 women 40 years and older who live with Type 2 diabetes. Face-to-face in-depth structured and unstructured interviews were used for the data collection. The responses of the participants were recorded using a tape recorder with their consent. Their responses were analyzed using aspects of Hycner's and Colaizzi's approach for analyzing phenomenological data. The result of this study supported and expanded on the findings of the current literature review. Individual and social challenges and barriers came to light; such as lack of or non-functioning care centers, lack of diabetes related education, and misconceptions like ignorance, social support and medications behaviors. The use of the concept of impediments influencing culturally sensitive self-management behavior of type 2 Diabetes strengthened the study. The findings could help to enhance cultural sensitive diabetes education for this population and other populations who have diabetes in this community.

In 1964, the Surgeon General issued the first report that linked smoking cigarettes as a direct cause of emphysema, heart disease, and lung cancer. Despite this landmark publication, the primary cause of preventable deaths each year in the United States continues to be related to the use of tobacco. Regardless of decades of health education and resources available to inform society that the use of tobacco products can have deleterious effects on health, adolescents continue to experiment with them. The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the influences of adolescent tobacco use. Based on the social cognitive theory, this qualitative study involved adolescent individual interviews and community adult focus groups to compare the perceptions of what influences adolescents to use tobacco. Responses of both the adolescents and community adults were coded, categorized into themes, and ranked based on their similarities and differences. The most notable findings in the adolescent group was their indifference to smoking, whereas the community adults had strong negative perceptions of smoking. Moreover, the media was not felt to be a strong influence; however; adolescents thought it was somewhat of an influence. Tobacco use of peers was not determined to be a strong influence in the perceptions of either groups. The impact for positive social change is a better understanding among both adolescents and adults of the perceptions of adolescent smoking. This enhanced understanding indicates a need to denormalize smoking behavior to subsequently decrease the number of adult smokers and tobacco-related deaths.