School Violent Victimization Among Youth: Is There an Association With Perceived School Safety?

Violent victimization and school safety continues to be a major health concern in the United States. This study examines whether there is an association between school violent victimization and perceived school safety among youth. The PRIDE Questionnaire for 6th-through 12th-grade students, which assesses violent victimization and perceived school safety, was completed voluntarily by students (N = 54,938) in a large Midwestern city. Results indicated that a sizeable percentage of youth felt unsafe at school. Perceived school safety differed based on gender, grade, and race. Students experiencing violent victimization reported lower levels of school safety than their counterparts did. Such findings have important implications for school health professionals and prevention specialists interested in protecting youth from violent victimization and enhancing student safety at school.

Children with chronic illnesses: factors influencing family hardiness.

The current study assessed factors related to family hardiness in families of children coping with medical procedures related to a chronic illness. Participants were 68 parents of children with chronic illnesses, who were receiving complex medical treatment at a local hospital. Parents completed a scale assessing family hardiness and a semi-structured interview assessing their positive and negative coping strategies and those of their child. A linear regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between several predictors, including child age, number of medical conditions for the child, family income, number of positive and negative parent and child coping strategies, and family hardiness (outcome variable). Results indicated that parents of older children and children who exhibited negative coping strategies reported lower family hardiness. Older children may have had their chronic illness for a longer period of time, which could be wearing for the children and their families. Results of this study suggested that negative child coping may have deleterious effects on the family, and nurses and other health professionals should provide ideas for positive child coping and consider collaboration with mental health providers when they identify children facing emotional problems.

Implementation of an after-school obesity prevention program: helping young children toward improved health.

Obesity prevention programs that are delivered in after-school programs are needed as a focus on curriculum can make it difficult to include this health programming during the school day. The current study examined the implementation of 2 pilot programs in different after-school programs for young children. There were 36 children in the intervention groups and 18 children in comparison groups. Children learned about healthy eating and increasing involvement in physical activity. Lessons were based on the Traffic Light Diet. Results indicated improvement in children's reports of their eating habits. Activity levels improved in 1 school, but not in the other. Parents and children were satisfied with the program and children demonstrated good knowledge of the interventions to promote healthy eating. Future studies should include larger sample sizes and evaluation of the effectiveness of different components of the intervention. Nurses can play a key role in disseminating information and designing and leading after-school programs to improve child knowledge about healthy eating and exercise. Nursing students may also benefit from assisting with conducting these types of programs to improve their experience in health prevention programming.