Emotion-Driven Eating and Overeating Among Fourth Graders: The Roles of Body Image, Academic Achievement, and Peer and School Factors.

BACKGROUND: Eating patterns such as breakfast consumption and fruit and vegetable intake have been associated with academic achievement and cognitive function. METHOD: The purpose of this study was to learn more about psychological (emotion-driven eating) and behavioral (over-eating) eating patterns and motives, and the roles of body image, academic achievement (reading and math), and social supports (peer acceptance and school attachment), among 378 fourth-grade students (55% boys) from 14 classrooms across 6 schools within a large Midwestern urban area. RESULTS: Results were analyzed through a 2-group (male and female) path analysis. Boys' overeating (R2 = 9%) was not significantly predicted. Their emotional eating (R2 = 22.2%) was negatively, significantly predicted by peer acceptance and interaction of peer acceptance and school attachment. Girls' overeating (R2 = 13.6%) was negatively, significantly predicted by positive body image. Girls' emotional eating (R2 = 24.1%) was negatively significantly predicted by positive body image, math scores, and peer acceptance. CONCLUSIONS: Boys' and girls' eating patterns are differentially affected by their school experiences.

Effects of a Comprehensive School Health Program on Elementary Student Academic Achievement.

BACKGROUND: Improving the academic achievement of youth in the United States is an area of interest and a critical indicator of the future success of the youth. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a comprehensive school physical activity and healthy eating program on 5th-grade students' academic achievement, specifically reading and math. METHODS: Overall, 628 (intervention: 377, 54% girls; comparison: 251, 49% girls) 5th-grade children participated across the 6 schools in a year-long comprehensive health intervention, completing curriculum-based academic achievement measures at 2 time-points. RESULTS: Results showed that even after controlling for class clustering, age, sex, race, and T1 reading and math variables, students' T2 reading and math achievement were significantly higher in the intervention group than the comparison group. CONCLUSIONS: Comprehensive health programming can enhance the health and academic achievement of youth.

Academic Achievement Among a Sample of Youth in Foster Care: The Role of School Connectedness.

Research shows that youth in foster care experience poor academic performance and disciplinary actions in school more frequently than do non-foster care youth. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to further examine youth in foster care and the relationship between individual/intrapersonal factors (future orientation and school connectedness) and exosystem factors (number of placement and school moves) and academic performance (grades) and disciplinary referrals among 363 youth (9-11 years of age; males=52.9%). Controlling for key variables, hierarchical linear regression analysis was utilized to understand how well students' school connectedness, future outlook, number of placement changes, and number of school moves predicted academic and disciplinary outcomes. Beyond the variance explained by control variables, school connectedness made a significant contribution to this model. Results are discussed in the context of implementing interventions that foster school connectedness among this vulnerable population.

Knowledge, Attitudes, Self-Efficacy, and Healthy Eating Behavior Among Children: Results From the Building Healthy Communities Trial.

Background/Aim. Increased knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about a topic and behavioral capability and self-efficacy for healthy eating are often a precursor to behavior change. The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of the multicomponent school-based program on children's healthy eating knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy for healthy eating, and on their eating habits over time. Method. Quasi-experimental (4 treatment, 2 comparison) in a metropolitan area using a pretest-posttest method. Participants were 628 fifth-grade youth (377 treatment, 251 comparison) with a mean age of 9.9 years. The Building Healthy Communities (BHC) program is an 8-month school-wide healthy school transformation program and includes six main components. Outcome measures include children's healthy eating knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy, and behavior. Missing data were imputed, confirmatory factor analysis tested scale factor structure, and path analysis determined a parsimonious path explaining behavior change. Results. The Student Attitudes and Self-Efficacy (SASE) scale had good measurement model fit. BHC group's healthy eating knowledge and behaviors increased significantly, while SASE remained moderate. For both groups, the students' knowledge and SASE significantly predicted their healthy eating behaviors; however, the intervention group accounted for a greater amount of variance (35% vs. 26%). Discussion. The BHC program was effective in improving healthy eating knowledge and behavior among youth, and the relationship between variables did not vary by group. Healthy eating knowledge is a significant predictor of both future knowledge and behavior.

Parental social support, perceived competence and enjoyment in school physical activity.

BACKGROUND: Beginning in the elementary school years, there are differences among children on how they perceive their competence in physical activity (PA). Children's competence perceptions may influence their affective reactions to PA. A crucial question is how to motivate children who hold low competence perceptions to enhance their enjoyment and PA involvement. Because parents play critical roles in children's development and socialization, social support from parents can be an important factor to complement teachers' effort to enhance children's enjoyment and PA involvement. In this research we identified the associations among children's beliefs about parental social support, perceived competence, and enjoyment in school PA. METHODS: Three hundred and twenty children (9-11 years old) participated in a two-wave study. At the first wave, children completed questionnaires measuring their beliefs about parental social support, perceived competence, and enjoyment in school PA; they reported their enjoyment again 8 months later at the second wave. RESULTS: Both concurrent and longitudinal analyses revealed that beliefs about parental social support were important factors associated with children's enjoyment in school PA, especially among girls with low competence perceptions. CONCLUSION: Family socialization factors should be taken into consideration. The efficacy of individual and community-level strategies should be included and evaluated when designing effective intervention strategies that enhance children's PA in school.

Sexting Rates and Predictors From an Urban Midwest High School.

BACKGROUND: Risks associated with teen sexting draw increasing concern from teachers and communities as developments in communication software and devices make sharing private content faster and simpler each year. We examined rates, recipients, and predictors of teen sexting to better plan education and preventative policies and strategies. A comprehensive literature review was conducted to determine the most likely predictors of teen sexting using prior survey studies and theoretical conceptions. METHODS: We surveyed 314 high school students in an urban area of a large Midwestern city. RESULTS: Males were found to more frequently report sexting. Impulsivity, frequency of electronic communication, peer pressure, peer sexting, and social learning significantly predicted sexting beyond age, race, and sex. Self-esteem did not moderate the effect of peer pressure to sext. Structural predictive models attained good fit to the data, and neither were moderated by sex. CONCLUSIONS: Sexting was highly associated with reported peer pressure, perceived norms, and impulsive decision making. Adolescents in relationships may be at particular risk of sexting. These findings will help parents, teens, and educators take appropriate measures to inform about and encourage the safe use of technology.

Building healthy communities: A comprehensive school health program to prevent obesity in elementary schools.

Obesity among children is highly prevalent and can lead to risk factors for chronic disease in adulthood. Key organizations have called on schools to play a larger role by increasing children's physical activity and nutrition by adopting an overall culture of health. This study examined the impact of a socioecological theory driven school-wide nutrition and physical activity intervention on 5th graders' central adiposity and obesity level. In 2015-2016, in the Midwest region of U.S., four treatment and two control schools, including 628 (377 treatment) 5th grade children participated in an eight-month intervention. Children in the treatment schools participated in a comprehensive healthy school transformation program consisting of six components. Waist-to-Height Ratio (WHtR) and Body Mass Index (BMI) was calculated and used as the measure of obesity. ANCOVA revealed a significant difference in WHtR among treatment and control groups at time two (T2) FMI(1,6148.14) = 4.43, p = .035, R2 = 0.64, R2Treament = 0.01, with no significant differences based on age, sex, and race. Additionally, the ANCOVA for BMI revealed a marginally significant lower BMI among the treatment than comparison group students FMI(1, 614) = 3.575, p = .059, R2 = 0.01 (Mdiff = -0.23, 95%CI upper boundary: -0.03). The healthy school intervention led to significant differences in obesity levels, regardless of age, sex, or race, across the 8-month program between 5th grade children in treatment and non-treatment schools. This supports the ability of schoolwide programs to significantly and positively impact student health and chronic disease prevention.

A Reciprocal Effects Model of Children's Body Fat Self-Concept: Relations With Physical Self-Concept and Physical Activity.

This study investigated a reciprocal effects model (REM) of children's body fat self-concept and physical self-concept, and objectively measured school physical activity at different intensities. Grade four students (N = 376; M age = 9.07, SD = .61; 55% boys) from the midwest region of the United States completed measures of physical self-concept and body fat self-concept, and wore accelerometers for three consecutive school days at the beginning and end of one school year. Findings from structural equation modeling analyses did not support reciprocal effects. However, children's body fat self-concept predicted future physical self-concept and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Multigroup analyses explored the moderating role of weight status, sex, ethnicity, and sex*ethnicity within the REM. Findings supported invariance, suggesting that the observed relations were generalizable for these children across demographic groups. Links between body fat self-concept and future physical self-concept and MVPA highlight self-enhancing effects that can promote children's health and well-being.

School staff perspectives on the challenges and solutions to working with court-involved students.

BACKGROUND: Court-involved students, such as those in foster care and the juvenile justice system, generally experience high incidences of both acute and chronic trauma, adversely impacting their educational well-being and overall academic trajectory. Utilizing perceptions of teachers and other school staff, this study explores the challenges and needs of school personnel working with this student population. METHODS: Participants were school personnel employed at a Midwest, urban, public charter school during the 2012-2013 academic year. Focus groups explored the perceptions of school staff members working with court-involved students to develop a staff training curriculum. Focus groups also were conducted after the training intervention to get feedback from participants and identify remaining challenges. Focus group data were analyzed and results were member-checked with study participants. RESULTS: Findings included 7 major themes (14 subthemes) regarding student behaviors that were challenging for school staff to manage. Themes included trauma-related behaviors, attachment-related behaviors, staff preintervention needs, intervention feedback, and staff postintervention needs. CONCLUSIONS: Teachers and school staff can play a role in the educational well-being of court-involved youth. However, they need trauma-specific knowledge and resources to be effective.

Effects of infant simulators on urban, minority, middle school students.

An experiential approach to preventing teen pregnancy, "Baby Think It Over" is a popular option in schools. The current study used an experimental design and a 1-year longitudinal follow-up with 93 experimental group and 92 control group male and female, primarily African American and Mexican American, low-socioeconomic status students from two middle schools in a large, urban district in the Midwest (mean age = 13.24 years, range = 12-15 years). The program was evaluated for a wide array of outcomes, including sexual behavior, contraceptive use, realism about parenting responsibilities, personal intentions to avoid teenage pregnancy, self-efficacy to avoid sexual risk taking and pregnancy, sexual attitudes, plans for pregnancy, and actual pregnancy rates. The program successfully increased the Baby Think It Over group's sense of realism regarding lack of readiness to be a teenage parent, although no behaviors were changed. Differences emerged by demographic subgroup. All results are discussed in light of several contexts that must be considered, including the need to examine both costs and benefits of this type of program. This has direct implication for organizational policies regarding the intervention selection and application.

Paramedics as decision makers on the activation of the catheterization laboratory in the presence of acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: To minimize delays in time to reperfusion in an urban-suburban North Carolina County, Guilford County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Moses Cone Hospital, Greensboro, NC, have collaborated to use the acquisition of 12-lead electrocardiographs and their paramedic interpretation to initiate the catheterization laboratory team and cardiologist; independent of over read by a physician. The study population of 91 patients was divided into the catheterization laboratory activation by EMS and catheterization laboratory activation by the emergency department physician (ED-MD) groups, and also by EMS and self-transported groups. RESULTS: The EMS group had shorter median time intervals from hospital door to percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with balloon inflation than those patients who self-transported to the hospital. Also, patients who were treated during the EMS activation of the catheterization laboratory phase had shorter median hospital door to PCI times than those who were treated during ED-MD activation of the catheterization laboratory. CONCLUSION: The time from hospital arrival to PCI with balloon inflation was significantly shorter during the period in which EMS activated the catheterization laboratory than during the period the laboratory was activated by hospital staff. Thus, paramedics with quality electrocardiogram interpretation training and education can identify patients with acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction and properly activate the catheterization laboratory.

Consumption of sexual dialogue and content on television and adolescent sexual outcomes: multiethnic findings.

The purposes of this study were to examine group differences in sexual media consumption and to explore how well adolescents' sexual attitudes and behavior can be explained by viewing of sexually suggestive dialogue (SD) and explicit sexual content (SC) in television media. Participants were 473 male and female high school adolescents who were racially, economically, and age diverse. Television viewing was coded for SD and SC. Both length of time spent watching SD and SC and explicitness of the SD and SC to which adolescents were exposed were factored into the coding scheme. In this sample, SD and SC consumption varied by subgroup and explained variance in some sexual attitudes and behavior variables but not others, and in some demographic subgroups but not others.

The Sexual Communication Scale: a measure of frequency of sexual communication between parents and adolescents.

This study reports on the psychometric properties of a brief instrument that can be used in research or practice to measure the frequency of communication about sexual matters between parents and adolescents: The Sexual Communication Scale (SCS). The instrument was designed to assess communication between a mother/mother-figure and an adolescent and between a father/father-figure and an adolescent. The instrument, which contains 20 items for mothers and the same 20 for fathers, addresses sexual topics ranging from dating to sexual intercourse to homosexuality to HIV/AIDS. The sample used to establish reliability and validity of the SCS consisted of 158 males and females, who were primarily Caucasian, suburban, low to upper middle socioeconomic status, and in the 9th through 12th grades. Factor analyses revealed a strong unidimensional construct. Further, internal consistency was found to be very high. In sum, the SCS demonstrated adequate psychometric properties.

Aggressive content of high school students' TV viewing.

The purpose of this study was to examine high school students' exposure to television programming with aggressive content and to explore whether consumption of aggressive TV varied by sex and ethnicity. Participants were 472 boys and girls from two high schools, one urban and one suburban. Definitions of both direct and indirect aggression were used to rate TV programs, and the participants' exposure to both was assessed. Analysis yielded a statistically significant effect for sex but not ethnicity as girls watched more TV programs containing indirect aggression. Also, exposure to aggressive TV content peaked in Grade 10 and fell sharply thereafter. The importance of educating adolescents about the images they view is highlighted. Implications for research are discussed.