Research has shown that children's dietary and activity-related behaviors are shaped by the family environment and parenting behaviors. The present study describes the development and validation of a bilingual (Spanish and English) scale assessing parenting strategies associated with children's dietary and activity-related behaviors in the home. Items were generated from focus groups with Latina mothers and a review of the literature, and two different samples were used to assess the scale's psychometric properties, including an examination of predictive validity using measured child body mass index. Factor analysis of the first sample (N=91) yielded a 5-factor solution (Limit Setting, Monitoring, Discipline, Control, Concern) and accounted for 65% of the variance. Confirmatory factor analyses on a second sample of Latina mothers recruited into a childhood obesity prevention study (N=714) showed that a 26-item 5-factor solution (Limit Setting, Monitoring, Discipline, Control, Reinforcement) provided the best fit for the data. Parenting strategies characterized as controlling were associated with a lower BMI among children. After using multiple samples and establishing its validity, the Parenting strategies for Eating and Activity Scale (PEAS) was found to be valid and reliable in measuring Latino parenting strategies related to children's dietary and activity-related behaviors.

The present study examined the applicability of the Social Ecological Model for explaining condom use in a sample of female sex workers (FSWs) (N=435) participating in a behavioral intervention to increase condom use in Tijuana, Mexico. Using a multi-group path analysis, we compared women who work in bar settings (n=233) to those who worked on the street (n=202) with regard to an individual factor (self efficacy), an interpersonal factor (client financial incentives), and a structural factor (condom access). Competing models showed differential impacts of these factors in the two venue-based groups. Having access to condoms was associated with greater self-efficacy and less unprotected sex in women who worked in bars. Among street-based FSWs, having clients offer monetary incentives for unprotected sex was related to greater unprotected sex while having access to condoms was not. Understanding the contextual factors associated with condom use among subgroups of FSWs has important implications for the development of HIV prevention interventions.

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