A secondary analysis of data from 1,039 Latino adolescents who participated in a study of a sex education program was conducted to examine the impact of comfortable communication about sex on intended and actual sexual behavior. Results indicate that Latino adolescents have a broad communicative network, including friends, dating partners, and extended family members, with whom they talk about sex. Regression analyses suggest comfortable sexual communication is predictive of less likelihood of being sexually active, older at first intercourse, and increased intentions to delay intercourse.

Children of Latino immigrants are often called upon to interpret and mediate linguistic and cultural information for adults in a process termed language brokering. The present qualitative study examined the experiences of nine female firstand second-generation Latina adolescent language brokers. Results showed that mothers were the persons for whom participants translated the most. In addition, school-related issues were the most frequently reported reason for brokering activities as well as the most stressful. Age, gender, and birth order influenced the range of brokering experiences, whereas language fluency influenced the frequency of brokering experiences. Additionally, the presence of another sibling who brokered was related to fluency. Finally, participants reported several familial responsibilities, other than language brokering, as being more important contributions to their families' well-being. The findings are discussed in terms of how language brokering affects the academic and linguistic activities as well as the family roles of young Latinas.Most Latino immigrant parents arrive in the United States speaking only Spanish, and many live in communities where little English is spoken. Since the young children of these immigrants are usually the first members of their families to attend U.S. schools and learn English, parents often rely on these children to interpret and translate for them. These children are referred to as "language brokers"; they use their knowledge of English and U.S. culture on behalf of their

The primary goal of this study was to describe the development and assessment of the Community Awareness Motivation Partnership (CAMP) Teen Theatre intervention. Based on the behavioural ecological model, CAMP addressed the role of contraceptive use in safe sex behaviour through a brief informative, entertaining, and culturally responsive dramatization programme. Adolescents (N ¼ 1613) between the ages of 11 and 18 (M ¼ 13.31, SD ¼ 0.76) received the intervention, and 961 participants completed both pre-and post-tests. The majority of participants were Latino (78.5%, n ¼ 1039), many of whom were first generation immigrants. Results indicated that the intervention increased participants' reported intentions to delay sex and use contraceptives. The intervention produced short-term changes in safe-sex behavioural intentions and knowledge. Suggestions for producing long-term changes were discussed.

Disinfection by-products (DBPs) are ubiquitous contaminants in tap drinking water with the potential to produce adverse health effects. Filtering and boiling tap water can lead to changes in the DBP concentrations and modify the exposure through ingestion. Changes in the concentration of 4 individual trihalomethanes (THM4) (chloroform (TCM), bromodichloromethane (BDCM), dibromochloromethane (DBCM), and bromoform (TBM)), MX, and bromate were tested when boiling and filtering high bromine-containing tap water from Barcelona. For filtering, we used a pitcher-type filter and a household reverse osmosis filter; for boiling, an electric kettle, a saucepan, and a microwave were used. Samples were taken before and after each treatment to determine the change in the DBP concentration. pH, conductivity, and free/total chlorine were also measured. A large decrease of THM4 (from 48% to 97%) and MX concentrations was observed for all experiments. Bromine-containing trihalomethanes were mostly eliminated when filtering while chloroform when boiling. There was a large decrease in the concentration of bromate with reverse osmosis, but there was a little effect in the other experiments. These findings suggest that the exposure to THM4 and MX through ingestion is reduced when using these household appliances, while the decrease of bromate is device dependent. This needs to be considered in the exposure assessment of the epidemiological studies.