Predictors of Prosocial Behavior: Differences in Middle Aged and Older Adults.

Generativity, contributing to the next generation, is important for well-being throughout middle and late life. Therefore, it is crucial to understand what contributes to generativity during these life stages. Parenting and work are common, but not the only, ways people engage generatively; prosocial behavior is another. A community connection may encourage generative contributions in adults. However, older adults may face obstacles to being generative, and may need an additional drive to engage in these behaviors. Given this, it was expected that community cohesion would predict prosocial behavior despite age, and that grit would provide motivation for older adults, so the current study examined whether age moderated the relation between grit and prosocial behavior. Data were used from 188 upper-Midwest adults (aged 37-89). Multiple regression analyses showed that age moderated the relation between grit and prosocial behavior such that grit predicted prosocial behavior in older adults but not middle age adults. A sense of community cohesion was predictive of prosocial behavior despite age. While grit may promote generative acts in different ways depending on age, a sense of community cohesion may foster community contributions despite age. The discussion focuses on future directions and ways to promote generativity using this research.

Associations Between Sleep and Health-Risk Behaviors in a Rural Adolescent Population.

INTRODUCTION: Insufficient sleep has been associated with engagement in a number of health-risk behaviors in adolescents, including substance use and sexual activity. Associations between sleep and health-risk behaviors in adolescents living in rural areas of the United States are not well investigated. In rural settings, adolescents' sleep patterns, lifestyle factors, and health-risk opportunities may differ from those of urban adolescents, making the independent study of sleep and health behavior associations necessary. METHOD: This study examined data from the Rural Adolescent Health Survey (N = 322) administered in rural North Dakota. RESULTS: Rural adolescents who reported engaging in smoking, alcohol use, or drug use slept significantly less than adolescents who did not report engaging in these activities. DISCUSSION: Sleep was not associated with chewing tobacco use or risky sexual activity, which may reflect an effect of rural cultural values on sleep and health-risk behavior associations.

Barriers and Facilitators of Adolescent Health in Rural Kenya.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this research was to identify perceived barriers and facilitators of health from the perspective of rural Kenyan adolescents and to characterize the cultural context that shapes these barriers and facilitators. DESIGN: Following a semistructured interview guide, qualitative focus group interviews were conducted at day schools with 64 upper-primary and secondary students in rural central Kenya. Participants provided written parental consent and individual assent for study participation. RESULTS: Findings were organized into seven categories (individual, family, peer, school, community, institutional, and cultural) according to a social-ecological framework to highlight the multiple social and environmental contexts that shape health the experiences rural Kenyan youth. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence and complexity of factors that shape the health experiences of young people in rural Kenya displayed in these findings adds context to the importance of utilizing multipronged approaches to improving adolescent health by focusing on the social contextual determinants of health behaviors and outcomes.

Rural adolescents' access to adolescent friendly health services.

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to assess rural North Dakota adolescents' experiences in accessing adolescent-friendly health services and to examine the relationship between rural adolescents' communication with health care providers and risk behaviors. METHODS: Data are from the Rural Adolescent Health Survey (RAHS), an anonymous survey of 14- to 19-year-olds (n = 322) attending secondary schools in four frontier counties of North Dakota. Descriptive statistics were used to assess participants' access to adolescent-friendly health services characterized as accessible, acceptable, and appropriate. Logistic regressions were used to examine whether participant-reported risk behaviors predicted communication with health care providers about individual health risk behaviors. RESULTS: Rural adolescents reported high access to acceptable primary health care services but low levels of effective health care services. Participant report of engaging in high-risk behaviors was associated with having received information from health care providers about the leading causes of morbidity and mortality. DISCUSSIONS: These findings reveal missed opportunities for primary care providers in rural settings to provide fundamental health promotion to adolescents.

Intergenerational transmission of gambling: links between young adult and perceived grandparent gambling attitudes and behavior.

This study examined associations between the gambling attitudes and behavior of 213 young adults and their perceptions of the gambling attitudes and behavior of their closest grandparent. Regression analyses showed that young adult gambling attitudes mediated the relations between perceived grandparent gambling attitudes and behavior and young adult gambling behavior. Grandparent-grandchild relationship quality experienced while growing up did not moderate the relations between young adult and perceived grandparent gambling attitudes and behavior. Men experienced gambling at a younger age and reported more positive gambling attitudes, more frequent gambling activity, higher levels of gambling pathology, and higher levels of gambling affinity than women. Implications of results and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Psychological profiles and adolescent adjustment: a person-centered approach.

The association between young adolescents' psychological profiles and their subsequent adjustment was examined in a sample of 606 adolescents (ages 12-13) drawn from the mother-child data set of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Cluster analysis was used to identify distinct groups of youth based on self-regulation, proneness to risk, self-worth, and perceived academic competence. Five replicable clusters were identified corresponding to optimal, average, behavioral risk, low self-regulation, and emotional risk groups. These clusters were associated with distinct patterns of adjustment 4 years later. At ages 16-17, youth in the optimal group tended to report better academic performance, less problem behavior, and less depression than youth in the three risk groups; however, their functioning did not differ significantly from youth in the average group. The three risk groups differed in self-reported depression symptoms and academic performance but not in levels of problem behavior. Differences among the five groups persisted when demographic and contextual variables were controlled. These results support the existence of different groups of youth who follow distinct developmental trajectories and may experience different patterns of adjustment.

Measurement equivalence of the center for epidemiological studies depression scale for Latino and Anglo adolescents: a national study.

The cross-ethnic measurement equivalence of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D; L. S. Radloff, 1977) was examined using a subsample of adolescents (N=10,691) from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Configural and metric invariance, as well as functional and scalar equivalence, were examined for Anglo American, Mexican American, Cuban American, and Puerto Rican American youths age 12-18 years. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in each group provided evidence of configural invariance for European and Mexican American adolescents but not for Cuban and Puerto Rican youths. A 2-group CFA for Anglo and Mexican Americans demonstrated partial metric invariance for these groups. Multigroup structural equation modeling indicated similar relations between CES-D scores and self-esteem for all 4 groups, supporting cross-ethnic functional and scalar equivalence. The results have implications for using the CES-D in cross-ethnic research and, more broadly, for the assessment and treatment of depression in Latinos.