INTRODUCTION One of the factors that influences HIV risk behavior among early adolescents is their HIV/AIDS knowledge. The objectives of this study were 1) to describe the sociodemographic features and HIV/AIDS knowledge among Puerto Rican early adolescents participating in the ASUMA (A Supportive Model for HIV Risk Reduction in Early Adolescents) project; and 2) to assess changes in the knowle...

Background: Risk factors of non-communicable disease (NCD) origin from early life, and exposure to environmental pollutant may be a predisposing factor. This study aimed to investigate the association of air quality index (AQI) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) with some NCD risk factors in a sample of Iranian children and adolescents. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was con...

Increased availability of cell-phones has provided new avenues through which adolescents can bully their peers. Text-bullying is an emerging form of bullying which may threaten the emotional well-being of early adolescents. In this study 565 early adolescents (10–13 years old) completed questionnaires regarding their experiences with bullying (text-message and traditional) and measures of depre...

Current definitions for the diagnosis of the metabolic syndrome are focused on adult populations (1–4), whereas specific criteria for its early diagnosis have never been formally defined for children and adolescents. Because the best approach for the prevention of the metabolic syndrome is early recognition, defining it in children and adolescents is necessary for estimating the magnitude of th...

Endothelial dysfunction is the early predictive factor for the development of atherosclerosis and future cardiovascular diseases in adulthood. The prevalence of endothelial dysfunction in children and early adolescents is increasing worldwide. Peripheral arterial tonometry is a noninvasive technique for assessing peripheral microvascular function and is used as a validated marker of endothelial...

This study examined whether development of two forms of cognitive control (proactive and reactive) between early and midadolescence was associated with the onset of major depressive disorder (MDD) during the same period and if it prospectively predicted MDD onset between mid- and late adolescence. Adolescents (N = 165) completed 3 waves of assessments, at 12 (T1), 16 (T2), and 18 (T3) years of ...

Despite evident heightened adolescent risk-taking in real-life situations, not all experimental studies demonstrate that adolescents take more risks than children and adults on risky decision-making tasks. In the current 4 independent meta-analyses, neurodevelopmental imbalance models and fuzzy trace theory were used as conceptual frameworks to examine whether adolescents engage in more risk-ta...