PurposeBetter knowledge on why some individuals succeed in maintaining participation in physical activity throughout adolescence is needed to guide the development of effective interventions to increase and then maintain physical activity levels. Despite allowing an in-depth understanding, qualitative designs have infrequently been used to study physical activity maintenance. We explored factors contributing to the maintenance and the decline of physical activity during adolescence.MethodsQuestionnaires were administered to 515 grade 10-12 students. The Physical Activity Questionnaire for Adolescents was used to determine physical activity level at the end of adolescence. An adapted version of this questionnaire was used to estimate physical activity in early adolescence. Among both genders, we identified participants who maintained a high level of physical activity since grade 7 and some whose activity level declined. For each category, groups of 10 students were randomly selected to take part in focus group discussions.ResultsSeven focus groups with 5 to 8 participants in each were held. Both maintainers and decliners associated physical activity with positive health outcomes. Maintenance of physical activity was associated with supportive social environments and heightened feelings of competence and attractiveness. A decline in physical activity was associated with negative social validation, poor social support and barriers related to access.ConclusionsAlthough maintainers and decliners associate physical activity with similar themes, the experiences of both groups differ substantially with regards to those themes. Taking both perspectives in consideration could help improve interventions to increase and maintain physical activity levels of adolescents.

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Positive psychosexual development in adolescence is crucial to sexual health. Evidence suggests that adolescent’s psychosexual development is influenced by the sexual self-concept, relational skills, attitudes toward sexual pleasure, and sexual practices. To date, however, understanding of normative dispositions and experiences that positively shape adolescents’ psychosexual development remains limited. The goal of the study was to provide a descriptive analysis of adolescents’ perceptions of their sexual self, relational skills, and attitudes towards sexual pleasure as well as their sexual practices while considering age and gender differences. A Canadian sample of 1584 adolescents (49.7% girls, 49.4% boys and 0.9% gender diverse) aged 14 to 18 years old ( M = 15.53, SD = 0.93) completed a self-reported questionnaire evaluating various aspects of sexuality and sexual practices. Results indicated that most youth are sexually active through autoerotic or partnered sexual practices, and that positive perceptions towards the sexual self, relational capacities and pleasure increase with age. Moreover, compared to girls, boys presented a more positive sexual self-concept, less positive perceptions of their relational skills and they were more likely to report autoerotic sexual practices. Cluster analysis supported classifying adolescents into the following profiles: positive, mildly positive, mildly negative and negative perception of the sexual self and sexuality . These profiles varied according to sexual practices, gender and age. This study provides further insight into general patterns and heterogeneity of adolescents’ sexuality that are relevant for adapting sexuality education and sexual health intervention.

Malgré leur place prépondérante dans le réseau d'identification des femmes violentées, les médecins et les infirmières rapportent peu de cas de violence conjugale dans leur clientèle. Quinze médecins et cinq infirmières ont été interrogés dans le cadre d'une recherche portant sur les attitudes des professionnel-le-s de la santé envers la femme violentée. Il ressort de cette recherche que le contexte de travail contribue à la sous-identification des femmes violentées. Les auteur-e-s en concluent que cette situation, ajoutée à la présence d'attitudes défavorables du personnel médical à l'égard des femmes violentées, nécessite une mise en question de la pratique dans les services de santé.Despite their importance in the identification process of battered women, physicians and nurses report very few cases of wife abuse in their practices. Fifteen physicians and five nurses were interviewed as part of a research on health professionals' attitudes toward battered women. One finds that the work environment contributes to the underreporting of battered women. The authors conclude that this situation, added to the presence of unfavorable attitudes among health professionals towards battered women, raises the need to reconsider medical practice in health services