This article presents preliminary results investigating the relationship between parental and adolescent adjustment and coping and their relationship to social support and family functioning in a sample of adolescents (ages 11-18) with cancer and one of their parents. Parents and adolescents from two pediatric oncology clinics completed measures of distress, coping, social support, and family cohesion/adaptability. Low levels of distress were reported by both children and their parents with positive correlations noted between parent and child adjustment. Adolescents reported that their parents and a close friend were the greatest sources of social support and described their families as having a high degree of cohesion and adaptability. Both adolescents and parents used more adaptive than maladaptive coping strategies, although distress was associated with reduced use of adaptive coping. Adolescents are able to adapt to cancer in the context of strong family and social supports. In addition, there is a relationship between parental and adolescents adjustment, and between greater use of adaptive coping styles and lower distress.
We examined the relationship between adolescents' perceptions of their close friends' attitudes about substance use, and their own use of cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana. Using data from the 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, a multistage area probability sample sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (n = 17,865), we tested the direct and moderating effects of subgroups of race and gender on perceptions of adolescents' close friends on past month substance use. Significant effects were found on peer attitudes influencing substance use for all race and gender subgroups. Close friends' attitudes of indifference were associated with increased substance use and disapproval associated with reduced use, controlling for age, income, family structure, and adolescents' own attitudes of risk of substance use. Significant moderating effects of peer attitudes on cigarette and marijuana use were found for both gender and race moderators. Conditional effects of the moderation by race were also examined for gender subgroups. The moderating effect of race on close friends' attitudes impacting cigarette and marijuana use was stronger in magnitude and significance for females compared to males. Female marijuana and cigarette use was more influenced by close friends' attitudes than males, and whites were more influenced by their close friends than Hispanics and blacks. White females are more susceptible to close friends' attitudes on cigarette use as compared to white males and youth of other races. Implications for socially oriented preventive interventions are discussed.
Mixed‐race or multiethnic youth are at risk for mental and physical health problems. We used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1997 to compare family characteristics of adolescents of a mixed‐race or multiethnic background with those of a monoracial or monoethnic background. Mixed‐race or multiethnic youth reported feeling less supported by parents and reported less satisfactory parent‐adolescent relationships. Mixed‐race/multiethnic youth were more like monoracial White youth in terms of being independent but were more like racial or ethnic minorities (African Americans, Hispanics) in regard to family activities. Reasons for these findings are explored. We discuss the need for future research on the experiences of mixed‐race/multiethnic youth.
BACKGROUND Primitive electronic waste (e-waste) recycling creates exposures to several hazardous substances including lead. In Uruguay, primitive recycling procedures are a significant source of lead exposure. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to examine lead exposure in blood lead levels (BLLs) in low-income children exposed to lead through burning cables. METHODS A sample of children and adolescents exposed to lead through burning cable activities were assessed at the Department of Toxicology in Montevideo, Uruguay, between 2010 and 2014. Soil lead levels of residences were taken shortly after their assessment. FINDINGS The final sample included 69 children and adolescents (mean age 7.89 years). More than 66% of participants had an additional source of lead exposure—manual gathering of metals—and <5% were exposed to lead through landfills or paint. Average BLLs at first consultation were 9.19 ug/dL and lower at the second measurement (5.86 μg/dL). Data from soil lead levels ranged from 650 to 19,000 mg of lead/kg of soil. The interventions conducted after the assessment included family education in the clinic and at home, indoor and outdoor remediation. We found a decrease in BLLs of 6.96 μg/dL. Older children had lower BLLs (r = −0.24; P =0.05). Statistical analyses also showed that children living in areas with higher soil lead levels had significantly higher BLLs (r = 0.50; P < 0.01). Additionally, we found greater BLLs from burning cable activities when children had been exposed to lead-based paint (r = 0.23; P < 0.1). CONCLUSION Among children exposed to e-waste recycling, the most common additional source of lead exposure was the manual gathering of metals. The average BLL among children and adolescents in this study is higher than the BLLs currently suggested in medical intervention. Future research should focus on exploring effective interventions to reduce lead exposure among this vulnerable group.
Research on children's knowledge of illnesses has largely concentrated on studying how children reason about common innocuous diseases. It is also important to uncover how children reason about more severe diseases, such as cancer, to be able to treat and communicate with children diagnosed with this disease. Several aspects of prevalent childhood cancers may challenge the intuitive theories that children hold about illness and can make cancer a difficult illness for children to understand. In the present study we assess knowledge of six dimensions (prognosis, internal, course, contamination, contagion, cause) of cancer and colds as a comparison illness. Healthy 5-, 7- and 10-year-olds, and adults were administered a yes/no and forced-choice questionnaire created to tap into six dimensions of two illnesses. Results indicate that 5-year-olds reason about cancer and colds in similar ways, but 7- and 10-year-olds begin to make a distinction between cancer and colds on some of the illness dimensions. Children in the youngest two age groups were found to think that cancer is just as contagious as colds but by age 10 children begin to think of cancer as a less contagious illness. Adults clearly differentiate between the two illnesses on almost all the dimensions.
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