Sexual activity prior to coital initiation: a comparison between males and females.

The sexual activities college students reported engaging in prior to their first coital experience were investigated. A volunteer sample of 311 students (120 male and 191 female) completed a self-report anonymous questionnaire. Both males and females reported considerable precoital sexual experience. Although males reported more frequent activity than females on all items of assessment, the difference between groups, with the exception of masturbation, was not significant. The majority of both males and females reported at least one experience, and a sizable minority reported considerably more experience, with cunnilingus and fellatio, risk behaviors for the transmission of STDs, prior to their first coitus. Attention is drawn to the dearth of information on sexual activity prior to coital initiation. Given the potential risks of some of these activities, recommendations to further explore and address the precoital sexual behavior of adolescents are suggested.

The scaling of premarital sexual permissiveness revisited: test results of Reiss's new short form version.

A new four-item version of the widely used Reiss Premarital Sexual Permissiveness (PSP) Scale is described and analyzed. The purpose of our research was to see if this much quicker to answer format will equal the high scaling attributes of the earlier and longer versions. Samples of students from the United States (N = 217) and Sweden (N = 186) were administered the short form. The analysis and data are presented and compared with the results of the original, longer versions of the scale. Results indicated that the four-item version met all Guttman scale requirements. Comparisons among scales indicated that criteria measurement scores were higher for the four-item version than they were for Reiss's earlier versions. The ways in which the new scale may be used are discussed, including the possible use of only one or two items from this new format as a quick and accurate attitudinal assessment of premarital sexual permissiveness.

Infant mortality in Michigan's child welfare system.

This article reports findings from a study on infant mortality in Michigan's child welfare system. The findings indicate that postneonatal death rates for infants in foster care placement from 1980 to 1989 are substantially higher than those in the general population. Although infants in the child welfare system are likely to be at greater risk, this article suggests that some of these deaths were preventable. Recommendations are made to address this problem as well as other policy issues raised by the data.

Is child maltreatment a leading cause of delinquency?

This article explores the assumption that child maltreatment is a major cause of juvenile delinquency. Although this relationship is widely accepted as fact, the research that exists in the literature so far is inconclusive at best, and at worst, deeply flawed. For too long, juvenile justice resources have been channeled into the apprehension and processing of youthful offenders, while relatively few dollars have gone into the research necessary to formulate a coherent strategy for solving the juvenile crime problem. Without funding for this much-needed research, the money we do spend on the control and prevention of juvenile crime is blindly spent.

Access to insurance and length of psychiatric stay among adolescents and young adults discharged from general hospitals.

This study examines the characteristics of over 100,000 young people hospitalized in short-term, general hospitals throughout the United States between 1986 and 1988 for psychiatric and substance abuse diagnoses. Adolescent patients (ages 13-17) are compared with young adults (ages 18-22) in terms of demographic characteristics, diagnosis, source of payment, and length of stay. The study focuses on the relationship between the patients' access to private insurance and length of stay.

Hospitalization of adolescents for psychiatric and substance abuse treatment. Legal and ethical issues.

It has been estimated that as many as 12%-15% of the nations 63 million children are in need of mental health treatment. We have a responsibility to do everything we can to see to it that these children receive the services they need. Unfortunately, there is mounting evidence that a significant proportion of our health care resources are being misspent on the unnecessary and inappropriate hospitalization of children and youths in psychiatric and substance abuse treatment programs. More alarming is the evidence of poor quality programs, abusive practices, and greed. The intense competition to capture a "share of the market" and turn a profit or keep a nonprofit hospital from closing its doors is contributing to unprofessional and unethical advertising and public relations practices. In the end these practices will reflect poorly on the broader mental health and health care community. Hopefully, the stakeholders in the system will recognize these problems and assume a leadership role in turning the situation around. If not, we can expect intervention from forces outside the system (e.g., courts, elected public officials, public interest groups, the business community, and child advocates).