(Press-News.org) A school-based, six-session program targeting sexual risk behaviors appeared to reduce rates of unprotected sex and sex with multiple partners among South African sixth-graders, according to a report in the October issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
South Africa has an estimated 5.5 million individuals living with HIV or another sexually transmitted disease (STD), more than any other nation in the world, according to background information in the article. Almost 20 percent of South Africans age 15 to 49 have HIV, with new infections most common among those age 15 to 24. "It is estimated that more than one-half of all South African individuals aged 15 years in 2006 will not survive to 60 years of age," the authors write. "Young adolescents, before or just after the initiation of sexual activity, are singularly important to intervention efforts because they are highly vulnerable and have not established habitual patterns of sexual behavior."
To test the efficacy of a school-based prevention program in this environment, John B. Jemmott III, Ph.D., of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and colleagues conducted a cluster-randomized, controlled study involving 18 primary schools in Eastern Cape Providence, South Africa and two six-session behavior-change interventions based on extensive research.
Nine schools were randomly assigned to participate in the HIV/STD intervention, which was designed to teach students how to avoid HIV and other STDs, enhance beliefs supporting abstinence and condom use, and increase the skills and self-confidence needed to choose less risky behaviors. The health-promotion intervention focused on behaviors linked to other diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer. The 1,057 participating children (average age 12.4) were asked about sexual behaviors before and three, six and 12 months after the intervention.
Averaged over the three follow-ups, a significantly smaller percentage of students in the HIV/STD risk reduction group than the health promotion group reported having unprotected vaginal intercourse (2.2 percent vs. 4.2 percent), having vaginal intercourse at all (4.8 percent vs. 7.2 percent) or having multiple sexual partners (1.8 percent vs. 3.2 percent).
"In conclusion, sexual transmission of HIV is a major risk faced by adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa, and interventions are needed urgently to reduce their risk," the authors write. "This study provides the first evidence that a theory-based, contextually appropriate intervention can reduce sexual risk behaviors, particularly unprotected vaginal intercourse, vaginal intercourse and multiple partners, among young South African adolescents in the earliest stages of their sexual lives."
"Future research with more sexually experienced adolescents will have to explore whether such interventions can have an effect on condom use and STDs, including HIV."
###
(Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2010;164[10]:923-929. Available pre-embargo to the media at www.jamamedia.org.)
Editor's Note: This study was funded by a research grant from the National Institute of Mental Health. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.
END
Young children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) appear to be at greater risk for adolescent depression and/or suicide attempts five to 13 years after diagnosis, according to a report in the October issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Sixteen to 37 percent of clinically-diagnosed adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder also suffer from major depressive disorder and/or dysthymia (a mild form of depression). "When major depressive disorder occurs concurrently with ADHD, major depressive disorder has ...
Individual therapy and family-based treatments both appear effective in treating anorexia nervosa in teens, although adolescents in family-based programs may be more likely to achieve full remission six or 12 months after treatment, according to a report in the October issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
The rate of new cases of anorexia nervosa is about 74 of every 100,000 individuals, and the prevalence of this disorder among adolescent girls is 0.5 percent to 0.7 percent, according to background information in the article. "Physical ...
Special mental health courts appear to be associated with lower post-treatment arrest rates and reduced number of days of incarceration for individuals with serious psychiatric illnesses, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the February 2011 print issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
"Mental health courts are an increasingly popular post-booking jail diversion program," the authors write as background information in the article. "Mental health courts have the laudable goal of moving persons with serious ...
Using electrodes to stimulate areas deep within the brain may have therapeutic potential for patients with obsessive compulsive disorder that is refractory to treatment, according to a report in the October issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
"Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a psychiatric disorder characterized by persistent thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive ritualistic behaviors (compulsions)," the authors write as background information in the article. "It has an estimated lifetime prevalence of 2 percent and affects ...
Children whose mothers are genetically predisposed to have impaired production of serotonin appear more likely to develop attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) later in life, according to a report in the October issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
"Serotonin is a hormone and transmitter that performs a broad range of physiological functions in the human body," the authors write as background information in the article. "In addition to its transmitter function in the mature nervous system, serotonin has an important role ...
ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered biomarkers that could lead to personalized radiation treatments for cancer patients. The findings appear today online in the journal Genome Research.
"Overcoming resistance to radiation therapy would make treatment more effective for some individuals," says Liewei Wang, M.D., Ph.D., Mayo Clinic genomic researcher and senior author of the study. "Our findings may make it possible to one day develop novel therapies aimed at selected subgroups of cancer patients."
Roughly half of all cancer patients undergo radiation ...
The Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 gave universities significant control of the intellectual property associated with technologies that result from their federally funded research, allowing them wide latitude to license these discoveries to companies that can commercialize them.
How well is this system working at translating new knowledge into goods and services that can benefit the public, and are any changes needed? MANAGING UNIVERSITY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST, a new report from the National Research Council, examines these questions and recommends ways to ...
After a decade of joint work and scientific adventure, marine explorers from more than 80 countries today delivered a historic first global Census of Marine Life.
In one of the largest scientific collaborations ever conducted, more than 2,700 Census scientists spent over 9,000 days at sea on more than 540 expeditions, plus countless days in labs and archives.
Released today are maps, three landmark books, and a highlights summary that crown a decade of discovery.
The now-completed documentation in books and journals, plus the accumulating databases and established ...
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Nanotechnology is about to emerge in the world of pesticides and pest control, and a range of new approaches are needed to understand the implications for public health, ensure that this is done safely, maximize the potential benefits and prevent possible risks, researchers say in a new report.
In a study published today in the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, scientists from Oregon State University and the European Union outline six regulatory and educational issues that should be considered whenever nanoparticles are ...
CORVALLIS, Ore. – A new study has determined that female executives are more than twice as likely to leave their jobs – voluntarily and involuntarily – as men. Yet despite systemic evidence that women are more likely to depart from their positions, the researchers did not find strong patterns of discrimination.
Lead author John Becker-Blease, an assistant professor of finance at Oregon State University, and his co-authors at Loyola Marymount University and Trinity College, analyzed data from Standard & Poor's 1500 firms. They classified departures as voluntary or involuntary ...
