Background: Across North America, smoking prevalence is highest among young adults (YAs). Understanding the cessation behaviours of YAs is critical given their higher smoking rates; however, there is a paucity of prospective studies on YA cessation from a population-based sample of smokers. Objectives: This study characterizes younger and older adult smokers as well as identifies the rate of making a quit attempt (QA) and smoking cessation among a representative sample of younger and older adult smokers. Guided by the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), this study also examines the interpersonal predictors of moving toward smoking cessation among YAs. Methods: Self-report data on 592 YA and 2777 older adult smokers were compiled from the Ontario Tobacco Survey baseline and six-month follow-up interviews. Smoking cessation behaviour was measured as an ordinal variable: made no attempt to quit, made a QA that lasted for less than 30 days, and successfully quit for 30 days or longer. Design-based analyses examined the characteristics of young and older adult smokers. Making a QA and smoking cessation during a six-month follow-up period were modeled according to the SCT constructs while accounting for the complex study design. Results: Young adult smokers were more likely to be men with lower levels of addiction but greater self-efficacy and an intention to quit than their older counterparts. While YA smokers were more likely to make a QA than their older counterparts (25% vs. 17%, respectively), they were no more likely to succeed (14% vs. 10%, respectively). Having an intention to quit smoking and having made two or more lifetime number of QAs predicted making a QA; the use of smoking cessation aids or resources and having knowledge that stop smoking medications make quitting a lot easier also contributed to making an attempt to quit. Self-efficacy, use of smoking cessation aids or resources and having someone to support one‘s QA were positive predictors of quitting whereas having high levels of addiction was a negative predictor of cessation. Conclusions: Young and older adults are distinct types of smokers with different personal and smoking characteristics. Different factors predicted making a QA and smoking cessation among YAs. Smoking cessation interventions for YAs should provide social support and skills to build and maintain self-efficacy to quit. It is critical to ensure YA smokers have effective smoking cessation aids and services that are easily accessible and appropriate for this population. Future research is needed to understand long-term smoking cessation and relapse in this vulnerable population.

Social support has been recognized to impact positive health behaviours, including exercise participation. In the exercise domain, one conceptual framework that has been employed to examine social support is Weisss (1974) Model of Social Provisions. The main purpose of the present study was to utilize Weisss (1974) model to examine how the social provisions relate to university students energy expenditure while exercising with others. Specifically, this study was concerned with participants perceptions about the availability of social provisions, their preferences for the provisions in the exercise setting, and the congruence between social provision perceptions and preferences as they related to energy expenditure. Participants who had performed exercise with others in the past 4 weeks (N=201) completed the Modifiable Activity Questionnaire (MAQ; Kriska et al., 1990) to assess energy expenditure, as well as modified versions of the Social Provisions Scale (Cutrona & Russell, 1987) to assess social provision perceptions and preferences. Results from exploratory factor analyses revealed separate five-factor models for both the perceived provisions (i.e., attachment, reliable alliance, social integration, opportunity for nurturance, and reassurance of worth) and the preferred provisions (i.e., guidance, social integration, reliable alliance, reassurance of worth, and opportunity for nurturance). Discriminant function analyses were used to assess the unique contribution of these perceived and preferred provisions to participants energy expenditure. The results from the analyses indicated that none of the perceived provisions and none of the preferred provisions predicted high versus low expenditure, nor did the congruence relationship between the perceived and preferred variants of each provision predict high versus low energy expenditure. Potential explanations for the non-significant findings were highlighted with respect to study methodology. Directions for future research were also discussed.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Trinity International University, 2001. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 351-356).

Thesis (M.A.)--Central Connecticut State University, 2004. / Thesis advisor: Moises Salinas. " ... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 38-44). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Denver Seminary, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 333-343).

Master's thesis. / Format: PDF. Bibl.

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2001. Graduate Programme in Psychology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 76-98). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pMQ71619.

Thesis (D. Ed. Min.)--Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2002. / Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 119-131).

No description available.

In the United States, prominent racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in rates of unintended pregnancy, abortion, and unintended births exist. Recent analysis suggests that Latinas are three times more likely to experience an unintended pregnancy than non-Latina white women. More than half of pregnancies among Latinas (53%) in the United States are unintended and have higher unintended births as they are less likely than black women to have an abortion. In addition, in 2006 the unintended pregnancy rate was highest among women aged 20-24. Little research has 0been conducted to understand unintended pregnancy particularly among young adult Latina women. The purpose of the study is to determine and understand the meaning of unintended pregnancy among Latina subpopulations and examine the perceived consequences and management of unintended pregnancy among Latina subpopulations. Between May 2012 and October 2012, twenty in-depth-interviews were conducted with U. S. born- Latinas between 18-25 years of age seeking a confirmation pregnancy test at clinics in which some provided abortion services. Latinas in the study's meaning of pregnancy came from their complicated life situations, and were facilitated by Latino cultural beliefs, such as fatalism, religiosity and familismo. Many held favorable and positive meanings of their unintended pregnancy, particularly those who continued their pregnancies to term. Consistent with several other studies, the act of deliberately trying to plan a pregnancy was foreign to many of these women, particularly because a pregnancy was something that should was not in their control and left up to God. Most of the Latinas in the study felt that women should not plan their pregnancies and doing so was going against fate and natural life course. Public health research overwhelmingly highlights the negative maternal and child health consequences of unintended, while many women in this study perceived the negative consequences of unintended pregnancy to be primarily emotional and social. The inquiry found stigma surrounding unintended pregnancy among Latinas in this study. More than half of the women in the study resorted to termination of their pregnancy and cited fears of family reaction, fears their partner would deny paternity or responsibility, and/or desires to continue schooling, community and societal attitudes toward an unintended pregnancy and religiosity, as influencing this decision. In addition, contributing to the stigma were the stereotypes of Latinas. Latinas decision to continue their pregnancies to term or have an abortion was provoked by diverse and interrelated factors. Although a few Latinas in the study stated their partner's had an influence on the pregnancy resolution decision, all Latina stated that ultimately they were in control over their pregnancy resolution decision. Even when Latinas partners did not agree with their decision, women still performed their intended pregnancy resolution decision. . Family planning services might benefit from intervention designs with the following features that address the cultural needs of this population; a) highlight/stress the importance and benefits of delaying a pregnancy, not discuss pregnancy planning which was found to be irrelevant to these women, b) incorporate and address cultural constructs such as familismo and fatalism as protective factors rather than risk factors, and c) link and discuss issues such as poverty, education, insurance, stigma, and mental health issues. Many women reported these factors as perceived consequences and influencing the management of an unintended pregnancy. Interventions may be aimed at improving provider communication with Latinas about prevention of unintended pregnancy as well their pregnancy resolution options. Future public health campaigns might benefit from incorporating promotores de salud who had similar experiences in curriculums already discussing reproductive health. Support groups and mental health counseling was suggested as needed among participants that terminated their pregnancies. Future research should continue to focus on the multiple levels of influence and the contribution they make on the meaning and consequences of unintended pregnancy. In addition, the role of cultural protective factors in strengthening families and communities merits further exploration. This study increased our understanding of what unintended pregnancy means in the Latino community, and explored it from a comprehensive, multi-dimensional, and structural perspective. Understanding these factors are important and first steps to addressing an issue that affects Latinas, their families, communities, and the nation-at large.