Exposure to tobacco websites: Associations with cigarette and e-cigarette use and susceptibility among adolescents.

INTRODUCTION: Exposure to tobacco advertising is a risk factor for tobacco use and susceptibility among adolescents. Although tobacco company websites are ostensibly targeted to adults, some youth access these websites and are exposed to tobacco-related content. METHODS: This study analyzed data from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) survey to estimate the prevalence of exposure to tobacco websites and the associations between website exposure and tobacco product use and susceptibility among adolescents in the United States. RESULTS: Although only 2.3% of youth had ever visited a tobacco company website, youth who visited tobacco company websites were 3.2 times more likely to have used cigarettes and 3.0 times more likely to have used e-cigarettes in the past month, relative to those who had not visited a tobacco website. Among never-users, those who had visited tobacco company websites were 2.4 times more likely to be susceptible to cigarettes and 2.9 times more likely to be susceptible to e-cigarettes. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate that more effective regulations are needed to prevent youth from accessing tobacco websites. Stricter age verification procedures on websites could minimize exposure to tobacco websites by youth.

Tailored and Adaptive Computerized Cognitive Training in Older Adults at Risk for Dementia: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: Computerized Cognitive Training (CCT) has been shown to improve cognitive function in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or mood-related neuropsychiatric symptoms (MrNPS), but many questions remain unresolved. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the extent to which CCT benefits older adults with both MCI and MrNPS, and its effects on meta-cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes, as well as establish whether adapting difficulty levels and tailoring to individuals' profile is superior to generic training. METHODS: Older adults with MCI (n = 9), MrNPS (n = 11), or both (MCI+, n = 25) were randomized into a home-based individually-tailored and adaptive CCT (n = 21) or an active control condition (AC; n = 23) in a double-blind design. Interventions lasted 8-12 weeks and outcomes were assessed after the intervention, and at a 3-month follow-up. RESULTS: Participants in both conditions reported greater satisfaction with their everyday memory following intervention and at follow-up. However, participants in the CCT condition showed greater improvement on composite measures of memory, learning, and global cognition at follow-up. Participants with MrNPS in the CCT condition were also found to have improved mood at 3-month follow-up and reported using fewer memory strategies at the post-intervention and follow-up assessments. There was no evidence that participants with MCI+ were disadvantaged relative to the other diagnostic conditions. Finally, informant-rated caregiver burden declined at follow-up assessment in the CCT condition relative to the AC condition. CONCLUSIONS: Home-based CCT with adaptive difficulty and personal tailoring appears superior to more generic CCT in relation to both cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes. Mechanisms of treatment effect and future directions are discussed.

Psychosocial Factors Associated with Alcohol Use Among Hispanic Youth.

This study examined whether authoritarian parenting, school experiences, depression, legal involvement and social norms predicted recent alcohol use and binge drinking among a national sample of Hispanic youth. A secondary data analysis of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health was performed (N = 3457). Unadjusted odds ratios were computed via univariate logistic regression analyses and significant variables were retained and included in the multivariable logistic regression analyses. Results indicated that in the past 30 days, 13.8 % of Hispanic youth drank alcohol and 8.0 % binge drank. Hispanic youth at highest risk for alcohol use were 16-17 years of age, experienced authoritarian parenting, lacked positive school experiences, had legal problems, and felt that most students at their school drank alcohol. Results should be considered when developing and implementing alcohol prevention efforts for Hispanic youth. Multiple approaches integrating family, school, and peers are needed to reduce use.

Predictors of Recent Marijuana Use and Past Year Marijuana Use Among a National Sample of Hispanic Youth.

BACKGROUND: Marijuana use rates remain higher among Hispanic youth compared to youth from other ethnic groups. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the study was to examine if sex, age, authoritarian parenting, perceived school experiences, lifetime depression, legal involvement, and perceived social norms of marijuana use predicted recent marijuana use and past year marijuana use among Hispanic youth. METHODS: The participants of this study were a nationwide sample of Hispanic youth (n = 3,457) in the United States. A secondary data analysis of the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health was performed. Unadjusted odds ratios were computed via univariate logistic regression analyses and all statistically significant variables were retained and included in the final multiple logistic regression analyses. Recent marijuana use was operationally defined as use within the past 30 days, and marijuana use in the past year was defined as use within the past year. RESULTS: Results indicated that 7.5% of Hispanic youth used within the past month and 14.5% of Hispanic youth used within the past year. Results revealed that significant predictors for recent use were age, authoritarian parenting, perceived school experiences, legal involvement, and perceived social norms of youth marijuana use. Predictors for past year were age, perceived school experiences, legal involvement, and perceived social norms of youth marijuana use. CONCLUSIONS/IMPORTANCE: Findings from this study can be used to address the public health problem of marijuana use among Hispanic youth that is ultimately contributing to health disparities among this ethnic group nationwide. Recommendations for future studies are included.

Examining the SF-36 in an older population: analysis of data and presentation of Australian adult reference scores from the Dynamic Analyses to Optimise Ageing (DYNOPTA) project.

PURPOSE: To examine the psychometric properties of, and present reference scores for the SF-36 using data from a large community sample of older adults. METHODS: Data are from the DYNOPTA project. We focus on data from five studies that included the SF-36, providing a sample of 41,338 participants aged 45-97 years. We examine the factor structure of the SF-36 and item-internal consistency. RESULTS: The psychometric properties of the eight scales of the SF-36 were largely consistent with previous research based on younger and/or smaller samples. However, the assumption of orthogonality between the second-order factors was not supported. In terms of age-related effects, most scales demonstrated a nonlinear effect with markedly poorer health evident for the oldest respondents. In addition, the scales measuring aspects of physical health (PH, BP, RP, GH) showed an overall linear decline in health with increasing age. There were, however, no consistent linear age-related differences in health evident for those scales most strongly associated with mental health (MH, RE, SF, VT). CONCLUSIONS: The results confirm the structural validity and internal consistency of the eight scales from the SF-36 with an older population and support its use to assess the health of older Australian adults.