Evaluation of a randomized intervention to delay sexual initiation among fifth-graders followed through the sixth grade

US adolescents initiate sex at increasingly younger ages, yet few pregnancy prevention interventions for children as young as 10-12 years old have been evaluated. Sixteen Washington, DC schools were randomly assigned to intervention versus control conditions. Beginning in 2001/02 with fifth-grade students and continuing during the sixth grade, students completed pre-intervention and post-intervention surveys each school year. Each year, the intervention included 10-13 classroom sessions related to delaying sexual initiation. Linear hierarchical models compared outcome changes between intervention and control groups by gender over time. Results show the intervention significantly decreased a rise over time in the anticipation of having sex in the next 12 months among intervention boys versus control boys, but it had no other outcome effects. Among girls, the intervention had no significant outcome effects. One exception is that for both genders, compared with control students, intervention students increased their pubertal knowledge. In conclusion, a school-based curriculum to delay sexual involvement among fifth-grade and sixth-grade high-risk youths had limited impact. Additional research is necessary to outline effective interventions, and more intensive, comprehensive interventions may be required to counteract adverse circumstances in students' lives and pervasive influences toward early sex.ClinicalTrials. gov identifier: NCT00341471.     

Cognitive development in a secondary science setting

Observations were made of the progressive change in the cognitive development of 141 students over the course of their secondary education in an Australian private school. Cognitive development was measured in years 8, 10 and 12 usingBond's Logical Orerations Test. Rasch analysis of each of the data sets provided ability estimates for students in the year groups of 1993 (year 8), 1995 (year 10) and 1997 (year 12). Twenty-nine students from the year group of 1993 were tested on all three occasions. We analysed data from these 29 students in order to investigate the children's cognitive development across years 8, 10 and 12. We also examined the influence of the Cognitive Acceleration through Science Education (CASE)Thinking Science program on the cognitive development and scholastic achievement of these students. We found increased mental growth between years 8 and 10 for most students in theThinking Science cohort, which could not be predicted from their starting levels. There was a significant correlation between cognitive development and the scholastic achievement of these students. Although boys as a group were more advanced in cognitive development than girls in years 8 and 10, no difference was found in the rate of cognitive change based on sex up to year 10. However girls showed cognitive gains across years 10–12 which were not found in boys. The students who were new to the school also showed increased cognitive development in years 11 and 12. Students who had experienced theThinking Science course were more cognitively developed than students who joined the school after the intervention had taken place. This study supports the claim of Adey and Shayer that there is a relationship between cognitive development and scholastic achievement, even though we used different measures of cognitive development and scholastic achievement.     

Effectiveness of Four Supplemental Reading Comprehension Interventions

Abstract

This article presents evidence from a large-scale randomized controlled trial of the effects of four supplemental reading comprehension curricula (Project CRISS, ReadAbout, Read for Real, and Reading for Knowledge) on students’ understanding of informational text. Across 2 school years, the study included 10 school districts, more than 200 schools, and more than 10,000 fifth-grade students. Schools interested in implementing 1 of the 4 supplemental curricula were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 treatment groups or to a control group. The impact analyses in the study's first year revealed a statistically significant negative impact of Reading for Knowledge on students’ reading comprehension scores and no other significant impacts. The impact of ReadAbout was positive and significant in the study's second year among teachers with 1 year of experience using the intervention.     

Comparison of Community College Students’ Sexual Health Dimensions

ABSTRACT

Sexually active college students in the United States have alarming rates of unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. Varying degrees of sexual health knowledge and attitudes among college students are an outcome of sexuality education in the K-12 school systems with abstinence-only or comprehensive focus. Community college students (n = 737) aged 18–24 years, 57% from a college in an abstinence-only sex education state and 43% from a college in a comprehensive sex education state, both in the Mid-Atlantic region, took the Sexual Health Survey in October 2016, which measures sexual health knowledge and attitudes. Gender and ethnicity differences, as well as other sources of sexuality information were evaluated. Students from the comprehensive sex education state, New Jersey had higher sexual health knowledge and attitude scores than the students from the abstinence-only sex education state, Pennsylvania. Male students in New Jersey scored significantly higher in sexual health knowledge compared to male students in Pennsylvania, while female students in New Jersey had higher sexual health knowledge scores compared to the male students. Analysis of ethnicity revealed the New Jersey college sample had healthier sexual attitudes as compared to the Pennsylvania college sample, with notable distinction among Black students. The Internet, friends, and personal experiences were chosen by 75% of all students across both colleges as the top reported sources of sexuality information. In addition to advocating for comprehensive sex education, recommendations are made for sexual health initiatives in community colleges to provide sexual health instruction and support.     

Accelerating the development of formal thinking in middle and high school students II: Postproject effects on science achievement

A one-year lag was found between the effect of an intervention intended to promote formal operational thinking in students initially 11 or 12 years of age and the appearance of substantial science achievement in the experimental groups. A one-year lag was also reported on cognitive development: Whereas at the end of the two-year intervention the experimental groups were up to 0.9σ ahead of the control groups, one year later the differential on Piagetian measures had disappeared, but the experimentals now showed better science achievement of even greater magnitude. Although the control groups showed normal distribution both on science achievement and cognitive development, the experimental groups showed bi- or trimodal distribution. Between one-half and one-quarter of the students involved in the experiment in different groups showed effects of the order of 2σ both on cognitive development and science achievement; some students appeared unaffected (compared with the controls), and others demonstrated modest effects on science achievement. An age/gender interaction is reported: the most substantial effects were found in boys initially aged 12+ and girls initially 11+. The only group to show no effects was boys initially aged 11+. It is suggested that the intervention methods may have favored the abstract analytical learning style as described by Cohen 1986.     

Encouraging mathematics participation through improved self-efficacy: a school counseling outcomes study

This article presents findings from a study investigating the effects of a middle school counseling intervention, using a specially designed curriculum, on participating students' attitudes, self-efficacy, and performance in mathematics. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to test for main effects between condition and sex and condition x sex interaction effects on all outcome measures across 3 time points: pre-intervention, post-intervention, and follow-up. At pre-intervention, boys were significantly higher than girls on all variables except for performance in math. Models for growth indicated that students in the experimental group improved at a significant rate compared to girls in the control group on motivation, value, enjoyment, and confidence in mathematics. Implications of the findings are therefore particularly relevant for girls, who may benefit from interventions designed to increase their attitudes and self-efficacy for mathematics.     

Learning for Everyday Life: Students’ standpoints on loud sounds and use of hearing protectors before and after a teaching–learning intervention

Researchers have highlighted the increasing problem of loud sounds among young people in leisure-time environments, recently even emphasizing portable music players, because of the risk of suffering from hearing impairments such as tinnitus. However, there is a lack of studies investigating compulsory-school students’ standpoints and explanations in connection with teaching interventions integrating school subject content with auditory health. In addition, there are few health-related studies in the international science education literature. This paper explores students’ standpoints on loud sounds including the use of hearing-protection devices in connection with a teaching intervention based on a teaching–learning sequence about sound, hearing and auditory health. Questionnaire data from 199 students, in grades 4, 7 and 8 (aged 10–14), from pre-, post- and delayed post-tests were analysed. Additionally, information on their experiences of tinnitus as well as their listening habits regarding portable music players was collected. The results show that more students make healthier choices in questions of loud sounds after the intervention, and especially among the older ones this result remains or is further improved one year later. There are also signs of positive behavioural change in relation to loud sounds. Significant gender differences are found; generally, the girls show more healthy standpoints and expressions than boys do. If this can be considered to be an outcome of students’ improved and integrated knowledge about sound, hearing and health, then this emphasizes the importance of integrating health issues into regular school science.     

Gender differences in associations between exposure to school HIV education and protective sexual behaviors and sexually transmitted disease/HIV diagnosis among high school students

This study aimed to assess associations between school HIV education and protective sexual behaviors and sexually transmitted disease (STD)/HIV diagnosis with a representative sample of male and female high school students. Data from male and female adolescent participants in the 1999, 2001 and 2003 Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Survey (n = 12,243) were analyzed. Adjusted regression analyses stratified by gender were conducted to assess relationships between school HIV education exposure and the following outcomes: no sexual initiation, condom use at last sex, no multiple sex partners in the past three months and no history of STD/HIV diagnosis. Participants were mostly White (75%) and were 51% male; the subsample of sexually active students was younger than the total sample but was otherwise similar in demographics. School HIV education was reported by 93% of our sample and was significantly related to sexual initiation among boys (odds ratio = 1.9, 95% confidence interval = 1.4–2.7) but not girls. Among sexually experienced students (n = 4752), boys reporting exposure to school HIV education were significantly more likely to report condom use (odds ratio = 2.2, 95% confidence interval = 1.6–3.1), no multiple sex partners (odds ratio = 3.2, 95% confidence interval = 2.3–4.4) and no STD/HIV diagnosis (odds ratio = 3.2, 95% confidence interval = 2.0–5.0); girls reporting such exposure were significantly more likely to report no multiple sex partners (odds ratio = 2.2, 95% confidence interval = 1.3–3.6). In conclusion, exposure to school HIV education is associated with sexual protective behaviors and reduced likelihood of STD/HIV diagnosis for boys but less so for girls, suggesting the need for more gender‐tailored approaches to school HIV education.     

Brauchen mehrsprachige Jugendliche eine andere fach- und sprachintegrierte Förderung als einsprachige?

Which kinds of content- and language-integrated interventions can better support mathematical learning, depending on students’ language background, as measured by communication on the discourse level or additional lexical training on the word level? A control trial compared interventions with two different materials (discursive versus lexical-discursive, each 5 × 90?min.) with respect to the dependent variable of conceptual and procedural knowledge for fractions. The effects are investigated differentially for four language groups: monolinguals versus bilinguals, each with higher versus lower German language proficiency (n = 343). For both interventions, the ANOVA shows an increase of mathematical knowledge for the experimental group, which is significantly higher than for the control group, but no significant difference between the interventions. The intervention with lexical-discursive materials led to a slightly higher increase of knowledge in the post test, but the discursive intervention was superior in the follow up test. Monolingual and multilingual students had similar patterns of growth without differential pattern. However, the proficient monolingual students tend to profit more from the interventions, especially from the lexical-discursive intervention.     

Toy-playing behavior,sex-role orientation,spatial ability,and science achievement

The purpose of this correlational study was to examine the possible relationships among children's extracurricular toy-playing habits, sex-role orientations, spatial abilities, and science achievement. Data were gathered from 282 midwestern, suburban, fifth-grade students. It was found that boys had significantly higher spatial skills than girls. No significant differences in spatial ability were found among students with different sex-role orientations. No significant differences in science achievement were found between girls and boys, or among students with the four different sex-role orientations. Students who had high spatial ability also had significantly higher science achievement scores than students with low spatial ability. Femininely oriented boys who reported low playing in the two-dimensional, gross-body-movement, and proportional-arrangement toy categories scored significantly higher on the test of science achievement than girls with the same sex-role and toy-playing behavior.     

Parental attitudes about teenage pregnancy: impact on sexual risk behaviour of African-American youth

African-American youth suffer disproportionately from sexual risk consequences including unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. Parents educating young people about sex may be one approach to reduce sexual risk behaviour among this population. The purpose of this study was to determine young people's perceptions of parents' attitudes about sex and assess whether these perceptions affect sexual risk. Data were collected from 560 African-Americans, aged 9–19 years. Most (73.4%) thought their parents would be unhappy if they got someone pregnant/got pregnant, with more girls feeling this way than boys (p = 0.013). Sexually active boys who thought their parents would be unhappy if they got someone pregnant reported fewer sexual partners within the past year (p < 0.01) and fewer sexual encounters in the past 3 months (p = 0.01) compared to those whose parents would think otherwise. Our research illustrates that parents' explicit and unstated attitudes are apparent to their offspring, and young people's perceptions can impact their risk behaviour. As such, early and often sex education communication between parents and young people should be encouraged. Sexual health interventions encouraging parents to educate about sex and its consequences could enhance the health of young African-Americans.     

Effects of fidelity of implementation on science achievement gains among english language learners

This study examined the effect of fidelity of implementation (FOI) on the science achievement gains of third grade students broadly and students with limited literacy in English specifically. The study was conducted in the context of a professional development intervention with elementary school teachers to promote science achievement of ELL students in urban schools. As the criterion for measuring FOI, we focused on the quality of instructional delivery in teaching science to ELL students. We measured FOI using both teachers' self‐reports and classroom observations during the first year of the intervention. Science achievement was measured by a pretest and posttest over the school year. The results indicate that none of the measures of FOI using teachers' self‐reports or classroom observations had significant effects on science achievement gains. The results are discussed in terms of issues about conceptualization and measurement of FOI in educational interventions. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 46: 836–859, 2009     

Protective factors for depressive symptoms in adolescents: Interpersonal relationships and perceived social support

The association between interpersonal relationships, perceived social support, and depressive symptoms in adolescents was investigated in the present study. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depressive Symptoms Scale (CES‐D‐SF), Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), and Interpersonal Relationship Scale (IRS) were administered to 1,573 high school students. There were four main findings: all three types of interpersonal relationships (same‐sex peer, opposite‐sex peer, and teacher–student relationship) and perceived social support had direct effects on depressive symptoms; perceived social support was a mediator in the relationship between interpersonal relationships and depressive symptoms; gender differences were present in the relationship between interpersonal relationships and depressive symptoms; and the three types of interpersonal relationships exerted different effects on depressive symptoms between adolescent boys and girls. Same‐sex relationships exerted the strongest effect on depressive symptoms among girls, whereas teacher–student relationships exerted the strongest effect among boys.     

大学生性心理健康水平与性观念实证研究

通过问卷调查方法随机调查了180名大学生的性心理健康水平、性观念及性行为现状。得出结论：1．大学生性心理健康水平在性别方面有显著差异（p=0．009）,男生显著高于女生;在不同年级间有显著差异（p=0．008）,四年级大学生性心理健康水平显著高于一年级大学生;在接受过扣没有接受过性教育的同学间没有显著差异（p=0．532）。2．大学生的性观念体现出更加开放前卫,更加多元化的趋势;3．大学生性行为发生比率为16．0％;4．男、女生在对待婚前性行为、贞操、发生自慰行为等方面都有显著差异。     

Evaluation of an intervention to help students avoid unintentional plagiarism by improving their authorial identity

Students with poorly developed authorial identity may be at risk of unintentional plagiarism. An instructional intervention designed specifically to improve authorial identity was delivered to 364 psychology students at three post‐1992 universities in London, UK, and evaluated with before‐and‐after measures of beliefs and attitudes about academic authorship, using the Student Authorship Questionnaire. Changes in questionnaire scores showed that the intervention led to significantly increased confidence in writing, understanding of authorship, knowledge to avoid plagiarism, and top‐down approaches to writing, and significantly decreased bottom‐up and pragmatic approaches to writing. For understanding of authorship, knowledge to avoid plagiarism and pragmatic approaches to writing, significant intervention by year of study interaction effects showed that the greatest improvements were among year one undergraduates. Direct evaluative feedback showed that 86% of students believed the intervention helped them avoid plagiarism and 66% believed it helped them write better assignments. Post‐intervention focus groups revealed changed student understandings about authorial identity and academic writing. The results show that interventions can help students avoid unintentional plagiarism by adopting more authorial roles in their academic writing. Further research could explore other influences on authorial identity, and examine the impact of authorial identity interventions on other outcome indicators.     

Notions of sex,sexuality and relationships among adolescent boys in rural southeastern Nigeria

Although young people in Nigeria become sexually active at a very early age, little is known about how they view sex, sexuality, and relationships with the opposite sex. Yet knowledge of their notions and expectations regarding these issues has the potential to improve care and inform the development of sexuality education programmes. This paper reports the findings of a study which relied on in‐depth individual interviews and focus group discussions to investigate notions of sex, sexuality, and relationships among 120 boys aged 10–21 in rural southeastern Nigeria. Emerging data suggest that the popular images of sex, sexuality, and relationship among the boys support the notion of the cult of the male, which consists in a heady mixture of paternalism, systematic subordination of girls, and the glorification and idolization of male sexuality and sexual prowess. Boys generally held a penis‐centred view of sex and tended to liken sexual intercourse and relationships with girls to encounters during which girls were conquered, subdued, and demystified. The ideology of a double standard, in which males feel morally and physically edified by multiple sex encounters and viewed females as morally demeaned by the same, was observed among the boys. The findings show the need for approaches to sexuality education to be sensitive to the cultural contexts within which these notions are formed and sustained among boys in local communities.     

The Effects of Two Mindset Interventions on Low-Income Students’ Academic and Psychological Outcomes

Abstract

This study examined two widely available light-touch, writing-based mindset interventions: one that targeted students’ purpose for learning and one that aimed to increase students’ growth mindset. In order to examine the potential mechanisms underlying previously reported effects of mindset interventions, we analyzed these interventions’ effects on low-income, ethnic minority adolescents’ academic outcomes, task persistence, task-relevant anxiety, critical motivation, and sense of belonging. Results indicated that the purpose for learning intervention had a small negative impact on students’ self-reported grades the following year, and null results for the other outcomes. The growth mindset intervention was administered one year following the purpose for learning intervention and we found no evidence of treatment impacts on any outcomes. Analyses of treatment impact moderation suggested that certain student characteristics, such as student gender and race could play a role, but most of these tests also presented null results. The primarily null results of both interventions suggest that further study is needed to determine the effectiveness of one-time, self-administered mindset interventions across a variety of contexts and student populations.     

Topics discussed with mothers and fathers for parent–child sex communication among African-American adolescents

The purpose of this study was to examine gender differences in parent–child sex communication for 14 topics among early adolescent African-American youth. Similar to prior research, a larger percentage of participants reported they discussed sex with their mother in comparison to their father. In contrast to prior research, more males than females reported they discussed sexual topics with their mothers and fathers. Binary logistic regression analysis found significant differences for males versus females for father–child conversations on 12 of the 14 topics. Only two of the analyses were significant for males versus females on mother–child discussion of the topics. Finally, parent–child conversations tended to focus on general versus personal information. For example, a larger percentage of participants reported discussing general information on HIV/AIDS compared to discussing sexual orientation. The importance of research that focuses on the role of fathers in parent–child sexual socialisation is discussed.     

Childhood sexual abuse,risky sexual behaviors and adverse reproductive health outcomes among Chinese college students

BackgroundChildhood sexual abuse (CSA) is a serious public health problem worldwide.ObjectivesWe reported the prevalence of CSA and examined its association with risky sexual behaviors and adverse reproductive health outcomes among college students in China.Participants and settingParticipants were 17,966 college students from 130 colleges in Eastern, Central, and Western China, who completed the online questionnaire in January–August 2015.MethodsData were obtained from a cluster-random Internet-based survey. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were employed: risky sexual behaviors and adverse reproductive health outcomes were outcome variables, and various types of CSA were predictor variables, while adjusting for socio-demographic and lifestyle characteristics.ResultsThe overall prevalence of any type of CSA was 27.5%. Most perpetrators were friends/acquaintances (34.6%) or intimate partners (24.7%) of the victims. Respondents who reported penetrative CSA were strongly associated with regular unprotected sex (odds ratio (OR): 3.0, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.2–4.0), early sexual debut (OR: 5.5, 95% CI: 3.3–9.1), having genital tract symptoms in the last 12 months (OR: 5.0, 95% CI: 4.1–6.0), unintended pregnancy (OR: 6.2, 95% CI: 4.2–9.0), and induced abortion (OR: 5.5, 95% CI: 3.7–8.2) (for boys, the survey asked about history of unintended pregnancy and induced abortion of their sexual partners). A dose-response relationship was found across non-contact, contact, and penetrative CSA.ConclusionsCSA experience may increase the likelihood of risky sexual behaviors and adverse reproductive health outcomes in victims’ early adulthood.     

Sexual and Reproductive Health Behaviors of Asian Pacific Islander Community College Students

Analyzed were the sexual and reproductive health behaviors of Asian Pacific Islander (API) California community college students who took the National College Health Assessment (NCHA) survey. This was done to identify characteristics related to sexual behavior and choice of birth control and examine the association between condom use and history of HIV testing. A total of 769 API heterosexual, male and female students between ages 18–24 were included in the analysis. Chi-square analyses were conducted to determine whether there was an association between condom use and history of HIV testing. API students reported few sexual partners (41% with no partner, and 49% with 1 or 2 partners), and preferred condoms (53.0%) for birth control over hormonal methods (29.3%). One-fifth of API students have used emergency contraception, and 21.7% have had an HIV test. API students had more conservative sexual practices and lower HIV testing practices than community college students in general. More culturally tailored education is needed on contraceptive options and to increase HIV testing behaviors among APIs.