PROBLEM Motor vehicle crashes are the most common cause of death for American adolescents. However, the impact of where teens live on when they begin driving has not been studied. METHOD Data from the 2001 National Household Travel Survey were used to estimate the effect of residential density on the driver status of teens aged 16 to 19 years after matching on demographic characteristics. R...

U.S. teens are overrepresented in motor vehicle crashes, with the majority due to driver error; however causal pathways remain to be elucidated. This research aimed to identify driving performance factors that might underlie newly-licensed male teens’ risk. Surveys were conducted with 21 16 year olds at the time of intermediate licensure. During the second month of licensure they completed driv...

The United States has one of the highest rates of teen pregnancy among industrialized countries, with more than 750,000 pregnancies each year among women less than 20 years of age. Though teen pregnancy rates in the US had declined each year since 1991, the most recent national data show that rates of teen pregnancy, abortion, and birth are on the rise. Rhode Island has 2,430 teen pregnancies p...

Poster will report Phase I of a three-phase mixed methods research project currently underway. My research explores teens’ beliefs and motivations that keep them playing online games at a rate that some describe as “addiction.” Early findings indicate that teens believe school is not preparing them for the future, but online gaming is. This belief may indicate a sea change in how teens feel abo...

We evaluated whether family planning counseling (FPC) in an adolescent clinic promoted the onset of sexual activity among the non-sexually active teens and/or increased contraceptive use among the sexually active teens. The FPC focused on the teens' establishing sexual values, the right to say "no," abstinence and alternate forms of intimacy, consequences of intercourse, and the various contrac...

PURPOSE Explore the importance of residential mobility and use of services outside neighborhoods when interventions targeting low-income families are planned and implemented. DESIGN Analysis of cross-sectional telephone household survey data on childhood mobility and school enrollment in four large distressed cities. SETTING Baltimore, Maryland; Detroit, Michigan; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...

The life of a teenager today is far different than in past decades. Through semi-structured interviews with 10 teenagers and 10 parents of teenagers, we investigate parent-teen privacy decision making in these uncharted waters. Parents and teens generally agreed that teens had a need for some degree of privacy from their parents and that respecting teens’ privacy demonstrated trust and fostered...

In the age of digital technology, as teens seem to be constantly connected online, via social media, and through mobile applications, it is no surprise that they increasingly turn to digital media to answer their health questions. This study is the first of its kind to survey a large, nationally-representative sample of teens to investigate how they use the newest digital technologies, includin...