When the party for some becomes a problem for others: the effect of perceived secondhand consequences of drinking behavior on drinking norms.

The authors examined the influence of fraternity men's expectancies regarding secondhand consequences of excessive drinking behavior on normative standards regarding alcohol use and consumption levels. Participants were 381 men from 26 chapters of 2 national fraternities. One organization participated in a brief intervention involving discussion of secondhand consequences of excessive drinking. Immediate influence of the intervention on perceived secondhand consequences of alcohol use was assessed using a posttest-only, randomized groups design. Results supported a hypothesized measurement model with 1 overall secondhand consequence expectancy construct and 4 subfactors: (a) Noise Disruptive of Sleep and Study, (b) Violence, (c) Sexual Assault, and (d) Property Damage. Cross-sectional analysis at the chapter and individual levels demonstrated that secondhand expectancies had an indirect effect on alcohol consumption, mediated by personal consumption standards for limiting alcohol consumption. The intervention had an effect on secondhand expectancies. Findings suggest that interventions with intact groups can increase secondhand expectancies regarding excessive drinking and may lead to a reduction in excessive alcohol consumption.

Medicare beneficiary knowledge of and experience with prescription drug cards.

Medicare beneficiaries used prescription drug discount cards, both Medicare and non-Medicare cards, to assist them in paying for the cost of prescription drugs. This article describes the beneficiary's awareness and understanding, sources of information, and experience with drug discount cards a year prior and during the implementation of the Medicare-Approved Prescription Drug Discount Card program. Also, it explores beneficiary characteristics that contribute to card ownership and knowledge about drug discount cards. Understanding these experiences and factors can inform future outreach and education campaigns for the Medicare Drug Coverage program.

Considerations for more effective social norms based alcohol education on campus: an analysis of different theoretical conceptualizations in predicting drinking among fraternity men.

OBJECTIVE: Recent alcohol education campaigns targeting college students have focused on correcting the erroneous perception students have of the amount of alcohol their peers consume. This strategy is based on assumptions that college students overestimate the amount of alcohol their peers consume and that correcting that misperception will lessen the pressure they feel to consume heavily. However, other theoretical constructs of normative influence may be as or more valuable in improving effectiveness of social norms based education for high-risk college students. This study evaluates the effects of three social normative influence factors on alcohol consumption among fraternity men. METHOD: Participants were 379 members of randomly selected chapters from two large student fraternity organizations. We used hierarchical linear models to analyze the predictive value of normative influence variables in explaining alcohol consumption differences, both across individuals within chapters and across chapters. RESULTS: Perceived consumption norms and perceived subjective norms were significant predictors of alcohol consumption levels. Both normative influence variables are significant in predicting differences in consumption within chapters and across chapters of fraternity men. General approval of alcohol use did not account for significant variance within chapters in consumption or any unique variance in consumption between chapters. CONCLUSIONS: Perceived subjective norms as defined by long-standing behavior theory may provide an alternative and potentially more promising intervention target for this high-risk student population than does the current focus on correcting students' errors in estimating the amount of alcohol their peers consume.

Social distance in response to psychiatric labels.

Several factors contribute to the amount of social distance individuals desire from each other, including the presence of a psychiatric label. This study examines aspects of the relationship between four specific psychiatric labels and social distance. A social distance scale was developed for this purpose and used in a pilot study. Three-hundred-and-thirteen participants answered questions about their willingness to be involved in relationships of varying degrees of closeness with people who have psychiatric diagnoses. We found that individuals who have a close friend or family member with a mental illness, in contrast to those who have no such relationship, desire less social distance from people with mental illness. Those who were given some information about specific diagnoses desired greater social distance from people who have mental illness than participants who were given only diagnostic labels. These findings highlight the need to evaluate how people who are not in the helping professions learn about psychiatric conditions and how this knowledge impacts beliefs and behaviors.

Sexual relationships, condom use, and concerns about pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, and other sexually transmitted diseases.

As we move further into the 21st century, there are increasing numbers of teenagers and young adults infected with sexually transmitted diseases and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Aside from sexual abstinence, condom use is the best way to protect oneself from sexually transmitted diseases, including human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Participants in this study were predominantly female, predominantly Caucasian psychology students who experienced sexual intercourse with an opposite sex partner in the past year. Slightly fewer than half of these participants reported condom use at their last episode of vaginal intercourse and type of partner did not affect their condom use, nor did concern about human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and sexually transmitted diseases. Findings such as these challenge advanced practice nurses to generate innovative strategies to promote condom use in all types of relationships. We propose that teaching about the link between cervical cancer and lack of condom use could be one of these new strategies.

Differences among consumer segments with regard to perceptions of comparative effectiveness research.

AIM: To examine differences among health-related decision-making consumer segments with regard to knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors pertinent to comparative effectiveness research. METHODS: Data were collected via an online survey from 603 adults with chronic conditions. Consumer segment was determined using a two-item tool. RESULTS: Active consumers (high skills and motivation) reported the highest levels of engagement in various behaviors. Passive consumers (low skills and motivation) reported the lowest levels of engagement in various behaviors. High-effort consumers (low skills, high motivation) reported more positive attitudes and opinions and more engagement in various behaviors than did complacent consumers (high skills, low motivation). CONCLUSION: Effective translation and dissemination of comparative effectiveness research will require the development of approaches tailored to consumers with varying levels of skills and motivation.

Understanding the food choice process of adolescents in the context of family and friends.

PURPOSE: To understand from the adolescents' own perspective the decision-making processes they use to make food choices on an everyday basis and how they resolve their need for personal control over food choices with the values of family and peers. METHODS: A sample of 108 adolescents, aged 11-18 years, were individually interviewed. They were asked in a simulated task to choose a lunch from a menu of offerings and give reasons for their choices. In addition, open-ended questions probed for meal structures, dinners, perceptions of degree of choice, role of family and peers. Interviews were audio-taped, transcribed, coded, and analyzed for emerging themes. RESULTS: Primary food choice criteria were taste, familiarity/habit, health, dieting, and fillingness. Lunches had a definite structure, and lunches differed from dinners. The food choice process involved personal food decision-making rules such as trade-offs among choice criteria within a meal (e.g., taste for core items and health for secondary items), and between lunches with peers (taste) and family dinners (health); negotiation patterns with the family (autonomy versus family needs); and interactions with peers. CONCLUSIONS: The food choice process for most adolescents seemed to involve cognitive self-regulation where conflicting values for food choices were integrated and brought into alignment with desired consequences. Educators and practitioners should recognize the dilemmas adolescents face in making food choices and help them develop strategies for balancing less healthful with more healthful food items, through: (a) personal food decision-making rules, (b) effective negotiations with family members; and (c) appropriate interaction patterns with peers.

Where public school students in Illinois get cigarettes and alcohol: characteristics of minors who use different sources.

The current study examined demographic, behavior, belief, and social influence characteristics of adolescents who use various means to get cigarettes and alcohol. Spring 1998 survey participants were 7302 6th, 8th, and 10th grade public school students from throughout Illinois, who self-identified as tobacco smokers and/or alcohol drinkers. The sample was not random, but closely matched the demographic composition of the state. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the effect of each independent variable on each of the cigarette sources and each of the alcohol sources. For both cigarettes and alcohol, adolescents used commercial sources far less than they did social sources such as family and friends. Also, older adolescents and those who are heavier and more entrenched smokers or drinkers were more likely to use both commercial and social sources. Other factors related to use of various sources included beliefs, social influences, and environmental influences. These findings have many implications for intervention, especially by parents and policymakers, and suggest an increased emphasis on social sources adolescents use to obtain cigarettes and alcohol.

Relationship of cognitive restraint of eating and disinhibition to the quality of food choices of Latina women and their young children.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have examined the association of methods to control eating such as dietary restraint and disinhibition with weight and quantity of foods eaten. The purpose of this study was to examine the association of these constructs with quality of food choices for women and for their young children. METHODS: One hundred and eighty-seven Latina women completed the Eating Inventory, which measures cognitive dietary restraint and disinhibition, and reported on the food intakes of themselves and their 5- to 7-year-old child using a food frequency questionnaire. BMIs were also calculated. RESULTS: Cognitive restraint in mothers was generally associated with more healthful food choices of themselves and, to a lesser degree, of their children. Mothers' dietary disinhibition was associated with less healthful choices of themselves and their children. Mothers' control variables were not related to children's BMIs, except disinhibition was positively correlated with boys' BMI. Cognitive restraint in this low-income Latina population is thus associated with higher quality diets of self and child with no negative impact on children's BMIs whereas disinhibition is associated with overeating by self and child of high-fat, high-sugar foods. With the rise of obesity and with dietary quality of most Americans needing improvement, restraint may be a form of necessary cognitive self-regulation; and disinhibition or overeating is of greater concern.

Perceptions of own sexual lies influenced by characteristics of liar, sex partner, and lie itself.

The current study examined perceptions of own sexual lies (lies to sex partners about sexual matters), in particular the perceived acceptability and seriousness of such lies, as well as potential determinants of such perceptions. Participants were 166 undergraduates who were asked to recall a recent event in which he or she had engaged in sexual lying and then respond to several questions regarding the event. Results showed that those who recalled relatively risk-relevant and self-protective sexual lies saw their lies as more serious and less acceptable. Moreover, those who told relatively risk-irrelevant and other-protective sexual lies reported less history of sexual lying or infidelity and more liking for the lie recipient in the event. These findings have implications both for safer-sex interventions and for interventions in intimate relationships.

Adolescents carrying handguns and taking them to school: psychosocial correlates among public school students in Illinois.

The current study sought to examine psychosocial correlates of adolescents carrying a handgun and taking a handgun to school. Survey participants were approximately 22,000 6th, 8th, and 10th grade public school students from throughout Illinois. Results showed that the strongest correlates of handgun carrying behaviours were variables directly associated with handguns and violence, both behaviours and beliefs, as well as delinquency variables. These findings have many implications for intervention by parents, schools, and policy makers to reduce the incidence of adolescent handgun carrying and taking a handgun to school.