Media influences on children and adolescents: violence and sex.

The portrayal of violence, sex, and drugs/alcohol in the media has been known to adversely affect the behavior of children and adolescents. There is a strong association between perceptions of media messages and observed behavior, especially with children. Lately, there has been more of a focus in the public health/medical field on media influences of youth and the role of the pediatrician and/or healthcare worker in addressing this area of growing concern. There is a need to explicitly explore the influences of media violence, sex, and drugs/alcohol on youth within the context of the Social Learning Theory. Implications of these influences are discussed, and recommendations for pediatricians and/or health care workers who interact with children and adolescents are described. Pediatricians and health care workers should incorporate media exposure probes into the developmental history of their patients and become knowledgeable about the effects of medial influences on youth.

Knowledge, attitudes, and behavior of homeless African-American adolescents: implications for HIV/AIDS prevention.

The purpose of this pilot study was to describe the knowledge of HIV/AIDS, attitudes about condom use, and the sexual behavior of African-American adolescents who reside in a children's emergency homeless shelter. The Attitudes Toward Condom Usage Questionnaire, the AIDS Knowledge and Attitude Survey, and a Perceived Risk of HIV/AIDS Scale were modified and administered to 37 African-American male and female adolescents who reside in an emergency shelter. HIV/AIDS knowledge and attitudes about condoms among these respondents were comparable to those of other adolescents described in the literature in that there was a strong knowledge of HIV/AIDS, although sexual behavior and attitudes toward condoms were not consistent with this knowledge. Significant differences between male and female respondents were only found on three items of the Attitudes Toward Condom Usage Questionnaire and on the Perceived Risk of HIV/AIDS Scale at the 0.05 level. The knowledge, attitudes, and sexual behavior of homeless, African-American adolescents should be examined to develop and implement appropriate programs to address the specific needs of this population. Further research should focus on this population and expand on this preliminary data.