In over half of the countries examined overweight prevalence did not change during 2002-2010. However, increasing overweight prevalence was noted in many Eastern European countries over this time period. Overweight prevalence remained high in several countries in Europe and North America. These patterns call for continued research in youth overweight and highlight the need to understand cross-national differences by examining macro-level indicators. Such research should feed into developing sound translations and practices to prevent and reduce overweight in youth.

The aim of this study was to analyze changes in communication with parents about matters of concern to 11-and 13-year olds. Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) surveys conducted in Austria, the Czech Republic, /06 were analyzed by means of cluster analysis and analysis of variance. The results show that in most countries, the percentages of adolescents reporting difficulties in communication with parents increased from 1993/94 to 1997/98, and decreased afterwards. Analyses divided the countries into three groups with similar parent-child communication changes. These groups were neither related to the East-West division, nor to family structure differences. The confirmed cultural convergence Articles

Communication with parents seems to buffer the negative effects of EM use on LS during adolescence. Higher computer use was related to lower LS, but "optimal" frequency of EM communication with friends was country specific.

The temporal trends demonstrated an increase in a positive health asset for many young people, that of family communication. Positive trends may be a feature of the economic boom over the past decade coupled with cultural changes in attitudes to parenting, especially fathering.

ObjectivesThe aim of this study is to determine the impact that raised mother’s education and a relative change in family affluence might have on adolescent general self-efficacy (GSE).MethodsData on 600 children born in Poland in January 1995 and their families were used. Data from early childhood and adolescence (2008) were considered and the change between these two periods was determined.ResultsFamily affluence increased in 37.3 % of families with mothers, who had raised their education level (12.6 % of the sample), in comparison to 26.8 % in the group with no change, p < 0.001. The average GSE scores in those groups were 73.4 and 68.1, respectively, p < 0.001. In the best linear regression model adjusted for gender, the independent predictors of GSE turned out to be mother’s education change and the family’s current affluence.ConclusionsRaised mother’s education level may encourage building up developmental assets in older children. Based on the structural model, where self-efficacy is the mediator of the relationship between socio-economic status change and the quality of life (KIDSCREEN-10) these results may be of importance in further research.