Explaining Substance Use among Puerto Rican Older Adults: Impact of Perceived Discrimination, Perceived Stress, and Social Activities.

Background: Despite Puerto Ricans having one of the highest rates of substance use among Hispanic groups in the United States, limited research has focused on the impact of perceived discrimination and stress on substance use among older adults. Individuals who experience stressful events are inclined to engage in harmful behaviors as a coping mechanism. Objectives: Based on the propositions of the General Strain Theory, the current study explores the relationship between perceived discrimination, perceived stress, social activities, and the use of alcohol and cigarettes. Methods: Baseline data from the Boston Puerto Rican Health Study collected in 2014 was used to conduct a logistic regression analysis. Results: The findings reveal that while perceived discrimination is significantly linked to both types of substance use, social activities may serve as a protective factor for cigarette use. Conclusion/Importance: Our study findings emphasize the need to examine perceived discrimination as a stressor impacting the health and well-being of Puerto Ricans in later adulthood. Policy implications for reducing substance use and directions for future research are discussed.

Association between body mass index and health outcomes among adolescents: the mediating role of traditional and cyber bullying victimization.

BACKGROUND: It is well-documented that obese children and adolescents tend to experience a variety of negative physical and psychological health consequences. Despite the association between obesity and physical and psychological well-being, few studies have examined the role of off-line and on-line forms of bullying victimization in this link. The main objective of the current study is to investigate the direct and mediating effects of traditional and cyber bullying victimization in explaining the relationship between the body mass index (BMI) and physical/psychological distress. METHODS: A nationally representative sample of 10,160 school children (mean age = 12.95 ± 1.75) were collected from the 2009 Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) study. Data were collected on body mass index, physical and psychological health, bullying victimization experience, and demographic information. A seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) was employed to assess and compare the indirect effects in multiple mediation models. RESULTS: While a significant direct association was found between BMI and both physical and psychological health, the indirect effect of BMI on physical distress was significant only via traditional bullying victimization. Both forms of bullying victimization had a mediating impact between BMI and psychological distress. However, the indirect effect on psychological distress was manifested through a negative mediating role of cyberbullying victimization. The negative relation between cyberbullying victimization and psychological distress warrants further exploration. CONCLUSIONS: Obesity represents a serious risk to adolescent health and well-being, both physically and psychologically. If becoming a victim of traditional bullying mediates (specifically exacerbates) the level of physical and psychological distress among obese and overweight adolescents, health professionals need to focus on raising awareness of the importance of weight-based victimization for children and adolescents with obesity. School administrators and teachers could increase the efforts to identify school-age children who are stigmatized for their weight and recommend coping strategies for distressed victims of traditional and cyberbullying.

Three-dimensional evaluation of dentofacial transverse widths of adults with various vertical facial patterns.

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to investigate maxillomandibular transverse widths and molar inclinations of adults with hypodivergent, normodivergent, and hyperdivergent facial patterns using cone-beam computed tomography. METHODS: We evaluated Class I subjects (55 men, 66 women) who were divided into hypodivergent (<27°), normodivergent (28°-37°), and hyperdivergent (>38°) groups by their mandibular plane angles. Frontal and coronal views of the images were analyzed. Sex differences, vertical facial pattern differences, and related factors were assessed with independent 2-sample t tests, 1-way analysis of variance followed by post hoc Tukey tests, and Pearson correlation analysis. RESULTS: The hypodivergent group had greater maxillary alveolar widths 7 mm apically from the alveolar crest. The intermolar widths and molar inclinations showed no significant differences among the groups. As the mandibular plane angles increased, interjugular widths, transverse mandibular widths, and buccolingual maxillary alveolar widths at the midroot level decreased, whereas the maxillomandibular width differences and palatal heights increased im both sexes. CONCLUSIONS: An increase in the mandibular plane angle is associated with tendencies of narrow mandibular arches, thinner maxillary alveolar bones at the midroot level, and higher palatal arches in both sexes. Intermolar widths and molar inclinations were not significantly affected by vertical facial patterns.

What Makes Them More Vulnerable Than Others? Obesity, Negative Emotions, and Peer Bullying Victimization.

Negative impacts resulting from peer bullying victimization include psychological stress, emotional and academic maladjustment, decreased self-esteem, relational problems with peers, and may also lead to suicidal ideation and behavior. Therefore, efforts have been concentrated toward identifying characteristics of victims and perpetrators of bullying to allocate resources for preventive strategies. The current study adds to this ongoing research by using a nationally representative sample of adolescents to identify health-related correlates (obesity and negative emotions) of students vulnerable to peer bullying victimization, as well as exploring individual and school-related characteristics. Findings suggest that negative emotions are related to peer bully victimization, but a relationship between obesity and victimization is not clear. In addition, students attending schools with bullying prevention programs were more likely to report physical victimization. Discussion is offered regarding these findings and suggestions for future research in this area.

Gender Differences in the Routine Activities Associated With Risks for Larceny in South Korea.

The present research uses data from the 2010 Korean National Criminal Victimization Survey to examine gender differences in larceny victimization and in predictors of victimization (i.e., target attractiveness, exposure to potential offenders, target hardening, guardianship, and proximity to crime and social disorder) identified by routine activity theory. The findings show no significant gender difference in general larceny victimization, suggesting that Korean females are just as likely to be victims of theft of personal belongings as males. Consistent with the theory, physical proximity to crime and social disorder are significant predictors of larceny victimization for both males and females. However, public transportation appears to have unexpected protective influences for both gender groups, showing the importance of differences in national context. Overall, the current research provides partial support for routine activity theory's applicability in explaining larceny victimization across gender groups outside of the Western context. It also raises questions about reasons for women's increasing larceny victimization rates in Korea.

Violence against teachers in South Korea: negative consequences and factors leading to emotional distress.

Empirical studies indicate that violence against teachers is a globally prevalent phenomenon and has damaging negative effects on victimized teachers' physical and emotional well-being and teaching effectiveness. Nevertheless, limited empirical research has been conducted to identify factors affecting emotional distress among victimized teachers. This research contributes to the literature by exploring negative consequence of victimization and factors associated with victimized teachers' emotional distress in a South Korean context. The results indicate that students' verbal and noncontact physical aggression are highly correlated with teachers' emotional distress. Teachers' gender, student-oriented approach, and several incident characteristics (number of offending students, direct settlement with offending students) are significant predictors of emotional distress caused by either students' verbal threat or noncontact aggressive behaviors. Directions for future research and policy implications are discussed.

Who becomes more violent among Korean adolescents? Consequences of victimisation in school.

BACKGROUND: Mainly Western studies suggest that bullying increases risk of subsequent offending. Less is known about risk of violence specifically. Very little such research is from Asia - none from Korea. AIM: This study aimed to answer three research questions: Is being a victim of bullying in Korean schools associated with later perpetration of violent behaviour? Does type of bullying influence type of offending? Does school climate or parental control mediate this relationship? METHOD: Juvenile justice intake officers identified 606 young offenders who were asked to complete questionnaires about their school experience, school climate and parental supervision. We used multinomial logit model with maximum likelihood estimation to evaluate relationships between the variables of interest. RESULTS: Over half (310) of these young people had committed at least one violent offence. Seventy-six (13%) reported having experienced emotional bullying at school and 31 (5%) physical bullying. Violent offending was over twice as likely as property offending to be associated with emotional bullying history (OR 2.38, CI 1.13-5.01), but three times less likely with physical bullying (OR 0.31, CI 0.11-0.87). In addition, parental control (but not school climate) increased the likelihood of violent offending or other delinquency by 15% (OR 1.14, CI 1.02-1.26; OR 1.16, CI 1.01-1.32, respectively). CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS: Our overarching finding of a relationship between childhood experience of bullying and later delinquency is in line with Western findings. Where, however, the latter are equivocal on risk of later violence perpetration, we found that being emotionally bullied raises the risk of becoming violent. Our findings also underscore the importance of having studies from a range of cultures. Predictions from Western studies would be that parental control would be protective and school climate a potential risk factor for later violence, but, in Korea, where parenting styles tend to be highly authoritarian, we found differently.

Evaluating the effectiveness of a special needs diversionary program in reducing reoffending among mentally ill youthful offenders.

The goal of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a mental health intervention for youthful offenders, specifically the Special Needs Diversionary Program (SNDP) by comparing the treatment group with the control group. The sample consisted of 328 mentally ill youths: 168 youths participated in the SNDP and 160 youths in other court-ordered programs. To examine the empirical relationships among the covariates, the current study uses a two-step approach: (a) logistic regression; and (b) Cox Proportional-Hazards Regression. The findings reveal that participation in the SNDP was strongly associated with reduced recidivism compared with nonparticipation in the SNDP among mentally ill youthful offenders throughout the 12-month follow-up. Study limitations and implications for future research are discussed.