Susceptibility to smoking has been widely measured in an effort to detect those teens who lack of a firm commitment to not smoke. This measure, however, has not been applied to Chinese-Canadian adolescents. The overall goal of this study was to understand susceptibility to smoking among Chinese-Canadian non-smoking teens. The dissertation includes three papers, each of which has addressed one of the three primary aims of this study. The first paper aims to document the prevalence of susceptibility to smoking among a sample of non-smoking teens in British Columbia, Canada, and to examine the factors that explain the variation in susceptibility to smoking. I employed a quantitative secondary analysis of data from the BC Youth Survey of Smoking and Health. More than one quarter of the respondents were found to be susceptible. The Chinese-Canadian adolescents appeared to have a similar rate of susceptibility to smoking as their White/Caucasian counterparts, even though the smoking prevalence was lower among Chinese-Canadian group than in White/Caucasian group. In the second paper, I explored non-smoking Chinese-Canadian adolescents’ views about the protective factors and the risk factors that might lead them to be susceptible to smoking. In this paper I report an analysis of four qualitative focus groups which included 24 Chinese-Canadian participants. Negative attitudes toward smoking, befriending non-smoking teens, being peer pressured not to smoke and a collectivist cultural perspective were identified as protectors that helped Chinese Canadian teens remain tobacco free in their adolescence. The teens argued that authoritarian parenting had both positive and negative effects on Chinese teens’ susceptibility to smoking. These findings enhanced our understanding of the role that an ethnic group’s culture might play in adolescent smoking. In the third paper, I use Chinese-Canadian teens’ perspectives to reconsider the operationalization of the measure of susceptibility to smoking. Avoiding absolute answers was viewed by the participants as a unique cultural style among Chinese-Canadian teens. They also commented on the ambiguity of using the term “smoking” in the smoking susceptibility measure. Further research is needed to gain a better understanding of the operationalization of the measure in this cultural group.

While numerous studies have linked family routines to pediatric asthma outcomes, it remains unclear how family routines come to be associated with these outcomes on a biological level. The current study investigated whether longitudinal trajectories of inflammatory markers of asthma could be predicted by levels of family routines in youth with asthma. Family routines were assessed at baseline through parent questionnaires and peripheral blood samples obtained from youth every 6 months (total number of assessments = 4) over the course of an 18 month study period. Youth with more family routines in their home environment showed decreases in mitogen-stimulated production of a cytokine implicated in asthma, IL-13, over the course of the study period. In turn, within-person analyses indicated that at times when stimulated production of IL-13 was high, asthma symptoms were also high, pointing to the clinical relevance of changes in IL-13 over time. A variety of potential explanations for this effect were probed. Parental depression, stress, and general family functioning could not explain these effects, suggesting that family routines are not just a proxy for parent psychological traits or family relationship quality. However, medication use eliminated the relationship between family routines and stimulated production of IL-13. This suggests that family routines do impact asthma outcomes at the biological level, possibly through influencing medication adherence. Considering daily family behaviors when treating asthma may help improve both biological and clinical profiles in youth with asthma.

Aplinka ir asmenybė keičiasi, todėl reikia ieškoti būdų, kaip įvairiomis sąlygomis (grupėje, visuomenėje) pažinti žmogų, kaip jį paveikti, jam padėti, kaip mokyti asmenybę pažinti aplinką, prie jos prisitaikyti netgi ją pakeisti. Socialinis darbuotojas dirbdamas grupėje gali sėkmingai taikyti socialinių įgūdžių metodą ir kartu su paaugliais ugdyti prosocialų jų elgesį. Tam, kad socialinių įgūdžių lavinimo programos būtų pradėtos diegti Lietuvos bendrojo lavinimo mokyklose svarbu išanalizuoti tokių programų veiksmingumą. Tyrimo tikslas – įvertinti socialinių įgūdžių lavinimo programos, taikytos paauglių grupėje, veiksmingumą. Tyrimo uždaviniai: 1. Atskleisti socialinių įgūdžių lavinimo programos reikšmingumą paauglių grupėje bendrojo lavinimo švietimo įstaigoje. 2. Nustatyti, kaip keičiasi paauglių empatijos, bendravimo, bendradarbiavimo bei savikontrolės įgūdžiai, taikant socialinių įgūdžių lavinimo programą grupėje. 3. Įvertinti ar klasės, kaip socialinės grupės, mikroklimatas keičiasi priklausomai nuo paauglių socialinių įgūdžių lavinimo. Tyrimas buvo atliekamas vienoje Kauno vidurinėje mokykloje keliais etapais: I etapas: socialinių įgūdžių lavinimo programos pradžioje paauglių įgūdžiams bei poreikiams įvertinti buvo atliekamas Socialinių gebėjimų įvertinimo sistemos klausimynas bei pusiau struktūruotas interviu su klasės auklėtoja. II etapas: socialinių įgūdžių lavinimo programos taikymas paauglių grupėje. III etapas: socialinių įgūdžių lavinimo programos pabaigoje... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Environment and personality is changing, so it is important to find out the ways how to recognize a person in different conditions (in a group, society and etc.), how to impact, support or teach him to recognize and adapt to the environment or even to change it. Working in a group social worker can successfully apply the method of social skills training and together with adolescents develop their positive behaviour. In order to start applying social skills training programs in Lithuanian secondary schools it is very important to analyze the effectiveness of these programs. The aim of this research – to assess the effectiveness of the social skills training program applied in adolescents group. Tasks of this research: 1. To educe the importance of social skills training program applied to adolescents group in Secondary Schools. 2. To set how changes adolescents assertiveness, empathy, collaboration and self-control skills accomplishing social skills training program in the group. 3. To evaluate whether the class as a social group, microclimate changes depending on the adolescent social skills. The research was being done in one Kaunas secondary school according to three steps: I step: in the begining of social skills program to assess the skills and needs of adolescents was made social skills raiting system questionaire and semi-structured interview with teacher. II step: accomplishment of social skills training program in adolescents group. III step: in the end of social... [to full text]

The present study examined developmental changes in the prevalence, stability, and developmental pathways associated with Bully/Victim status in order to increase our understanding of this high-risk group. In addition, this study investigated changes within individuals and their social context that are associated with moving into, or out of, the Bully/Victim group. This study was guided by the theory of developmental contextualism, which suggests that bullying involvement is likely to change over the course of development and that these changes are likely related to changes within individuals and their social contexts. One thousand six hundred seventy-seven elementary school students and 1402 high school students participated in this longitudinal study. Data were collected three times from each sample. Developmental changes in Bully/Victim status were assessed through a series of log-linear analyses and changes in individual and their peer relationships associated with transitions in bullying status were assessed through a series of multinomial logistic regression analyses. The results supported developmental contextual theory. Bully/Victim status became less prevalent over the course of development and was particularly unstable over three points of time in both elementary and high school. Individuals who became part of the Bully/Victim group were likely to have a history of involvement in bullying, and those who recovered from the Bully/Victim group usually maintained some sort of bullying involvement. When youth transitioned between types of bullying, they became more similar to the bullying status group that they entered in terms of individual characteristics. In addition, changes in bullying status were associated with changing peer groups. / Thesis (Master, Psychology) -- Queen's University, 2007-09-27 16:38:24.52

ABSTRACT Although sub-Saharan Africa continues to bear the brunt of the global HIV/AIDS pandemic and other sexually transmitted diseases (UNAIDS and WHO 2008; Fatusi and Wang 2009), very few studies in the region and for that matter Ghana have systematically and exclusively examined adolescent risky sexual behaviour in a manner that is theoretically consistent with the unique socio-cultural norms that govern sexuality in the society. Given that involvement in risky sexual behaviour constitutes sexual deviance in the Ghanaian context, and from the ontological position that behaviour is a product of structure and human agency (Sewell 1992), this study extends the theories of social control (Hirschi 1969), power control (Hagan et al. 1979, 1985,1987, 2002; McCarthy et al. 1999) and rational choice (Cornish and Clarke 1986) in examining the predictors of risky sexual behavior among Ghanaian adolescents. Using the 2004 Ghana National Adolescent Survey data (N=3985), the study employs descriptive statistics, measures of association and complementary log-log regression models in predicting the likelihood of being sexually active before marriage, having more than one lifetime sexual partner and condom use. Overall findings provide mixed support for the theoretical expectations. From the perspective of Hirschi’s control theory, the findings suggest among others that while some measures of conventional behaviour do not discourage premarital sex, they do so with respect to multiple sexual partnerships. A puzzle that needs further elaboration is the finding that highly educated adolescents who hold leadership positions have a higher significant taste for premarital sex and multiple sexual relations than their uneducated counterparts who are not leaders. Overall findings regarding the predictions of power control theory are consistent with the revised version offered by McCarthy and Colleagues (1999) and Hagan and colleagues (2002); that daughters in less patriarchal or matriarchal households are more likely than sons to have premarital sex and be in multiple sexual partnerships. Findings regarding the predictions of rational theory suggest a mixed rationality; condom use among adolescents in many instances is inconsistent with rational choice behaviour. General and specific policy implications of the findings and direction for future research are also discussed. / Thesis (Master, Sociology) -- Queen's University, 2010-07-31 02:18:09.013

Upstream social determinants of health (SDH) have become widely acknowledged as lying at the root of poor health outcomes in Canada and globally. Conditions of social disadvantage restrict access to both social and physical resources, limiting the opportunity to actively pursue a healthy lifestyle. The Commission on the Social Determinants of Health maintains that educating the public about the SDH is a key step towards population health equity. Educating adolescents may be the most efficient and effective route of SDH knowledge dissemination, as youth are in a stage of peak learning, and are also easily reached through health education curriculum delivered in secondary school. However, health curriculum in Ontario is lacking in SDH content, placing a much greater emphasis on individual, lifestyle behaviors, such as diet, physical activity, and sax sex practices. Identifying a gap in SDH knowledge within this population, and evaluating the benefits of SDH education, is required to advocate for health curriculum revision to include SDH material. This project is designed as both a research study and SDH educational intervention. Concept mapping exercises were used to determine students’ knowledge of the determinants of health and the SDH. The impact of short term SDH education on student retention of SDH material was also evaluated. Student concept maps indicated that students attributed their health primarily to physical determinants versus social determinants; 44% of maps contained no SDH content. Statistical analyses prior to delivering the SDH lessons indicated that students’ SDH knowledge varied by their relative socioeconomic status (SES). Post-lesson analyses indicated however that student SDH knowledge increased significantly, and final levels of SDH knowledge following the SDH lessons was unaffected by socio-demographic variables. Findings suggest that 1) there is an SDH knowledge gap in the adolescent population, 2) an inequity in adolescent SDH knowledge exists across socio-economic factors, and 3) that SDH education can potentially eliminate the inequity in SDH knowledge. Current Ontario health curriculum requires revision to include SDH material. Designing curricula to have an optimal influence on both student learning and adolescent health requires greater communication and collaboration from both educational institutions and health agencies in Canada / Thesis (Master, Kinesiology & Health Studies) -- Queen's University, 2012-09-27 08:49:09.739

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Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

The purpose of this study was to determine how and why students in grade six, in a suburban school division in Manitoba, make decisions regarding optional arts course choices for their grade seven year and their perceptions on these courses for grade seven. There was a particular focus on choice related to music courses. The researcher conducted interviews with students in grade seven who chose music as an option, students in grade seven who did not choose music as an option, and conducted focus group conversations with elementary music educators and middle years‟ music educators. The data indicated that the choice was difficult, that students felt that they should not have to choose and that, with parental support, students chose the option that expressed their passion.