Although a number of factors have been found to predict smoking status among adolescents, few researchers have examined how belief in smoking as a weight-control strategy may be related to smoking in this high-risk population. With the goal of discovering whether belief in smoking as a weight-control strategy predicted smoking status, the present investigation surveyed 659 Black and White high school students. Analyses showed that among regular smokers, 39% of White female and 12% of White male smokers reported using smoking to control their appetite and weight. In contrast, not a single Black male or female reported using smoking to control appetite and weight. Although belief in smoking as a weight-control strategy did not predict regular smokers versus never smokers, the weight-belief item reliably separated experimental smokers from regular smokers. The survey also revealed that White female restrained eaters were the most likely to actually use smoking as a weight-control strategy.

Background-Limited treatment options exist for smokers who are not ready to make a quit attempt. Smoking reduction may be a viable treatment approach if proven to increase the rates of long-term abstinence from smoking.Method-A systematic review of randomized, controlled trials that tested smoking-reduction interventions (pharmacological, behavioral, or both combined) among smokers who were not ready to make a quit attempt (immediately or in the next month) was conducted to assess the efficacy of these strategies in promoting future smoking abstinence. The primary outcome was the 7-day point-prevalence smoking abstinence at longest follow-up (≥ 6 months). Ten trials were included; six tested pharmacologic interventions, one evaluated a behavioral intervention, and three evaluated combined interventions.Results-Pharmacologic (2732 participants; OR 2.33, 95% CI 1.43 to 3.79) and combined (638 participants; OR 2.14, 95% CI: 1.28 to 3.60) smoking-reduction interventions significantly increased long-term abstinence from smoking. Insufficient evidence was available on the efficacy of behavioral smoking-reduction interventions (320 participants; OR 1.49, 95% CI 0.56 to 3.93). Conclusions-Further ContributorsAuthors A, B, and C designed the study. Author A conducted literature searches, provided summaries of previous research studies, identified potentially eligible articles, and extracted data from these articles. Authors B and C contributed to the idea of the study, and participated in the planning of analysis and editing the manuscript. Author D checked the extracted data for accuracy and conducted the statistical analysis. Author A wrote the first draft of the manuscript and all authors contributed to and have approved the final manuscript. Conflict of InterestThe author(s) declare that they have no conflicts of interest.Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. NIH Public Access NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript mechanism through which nicotine replacement therapy assisted smoking reduction in increasing abstinence rates.

The relationships between two coping styles (i.e., use of personal and interpersonal resources; ventilation and avoidance) and two health outcomes (i.e., adherence and metabolic control) were evaluated in 135 youths with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). Individual characteristics (i.e., age, duration of illness) and contextual variables (i.e., stress, family relations) were used to predict coping styles. Poor adherence to treatment, older adolescent age, and long duration of IDDM were correlated with ventilation and avoidance coping. Youths with short duration of IDDM were more likely to cope through the use of personal and interpersonal resources, although this strategy was not associated with health outcomes. A multiple regression analysis indicated that high ventilation and avoidance coping was predicted by high stress, low family cohesion, and older adolescent age. In addition, the interaction between family adaptability and duration of IDDM significantly predicted ventilation and avoidance coping.

To examine patterns of mono-versus polydrug abuse, data were obtained from intake records of 69,891 admissions to publicly funded treatment programs in Tennessee between 1998 and 2004. While descriptive statistics were employed to report frequency and patterns of mono-and polydrug abuse by demographic variables and by study years, bivariate logistic regression was applied to assess the probability of being a mono-or polydrug abuser for a number of demographic variables. The researchers found that during the study period 51.3% of admissions reported monodrug abuse and 48.7% reported polydrug abuse. Alcohol, cocaine, and marijuana were the most commonly abused substances, both alone and in combination. Odds ratio favored polydrug abuse for all but one drug category-other drugs. Gender did not affect drug abuse patterns; however, admissions for African Americans and those living in urban areas exhibited higher probabilities of polydrug abuse. Age group also appeared to affect drug abuse patterns, with higher odds of monodrug abuse among minors and adults over 45 years old. The discernable prevalence of polydrug abuse suggests a need for developing effective prevention strategies and treatment plans specific to polydrug abuse.

Canonical babbling (CB) is critical in forming foundations for speech. Research has shown that the emergence of CB precedes first words, predicts language outcomes, and is delayed in infants with several communicative disorders. We seek a naturalistic portrayal of CB development, using all-day home recordings to evaluate the influences of age, language, and social circumstances on infant CB production. Thus we address the nature of very early language foundations and how they can be modulated. This is the first study to evaluate possible interactions of language and social circumstance in the development of babbling. We examined the effects of age (6 and 11 months), language/culture (English and Chinese), and social circumstances (during infant-directed speech [IDS], during infant overhearing of adult-directed speech [ADS], or when infants were alone) on canonical babbling ratios (CBR = canonical syllables/total syllables). The results showed a three-way interaction of infant age by infant language/culture by social circumstance. The complexity of the results forces us to recognize that a variety of factors can interact in the development of foundations for language, and that both the infant vocal response to the language/culture environment and the language/culture environment of the infant may change across age.

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The authors performed path analysis, followed by a bootstrap procedure, to test the predictions of a model explaining the relationships among students' distal future goals (both extrinsic and intrinsic), their adoption of a middle-range subgoal, their perceptions of task instrumentality, and their proximal task-oriented self-regulation strategies. The model was based on R. B. Miller and S. J. Brickman's ( 2004) conceptualization of future-oriented motivation and self-regulation, which draws primarily from socialcognitive and self-determination theories. Participants were 421 college students who completed a questionnaire that included scales measuring the 5 variables of interest. Data supported the model, suggesting that students' distal future goals (intrinsic future goals in particular) may be related to their middle-range college graduation subgoal, to their perceptions of task instrumentality, and to their adoption of proximal task-oriented self-regulation strategies.

As Latino children acculturate to the United States, they are at risk for excess weight gain. Existing literature suggests that higher levels of food insecurity may predict obesity, but the role of acculturation is not well understood. Latino children ages 2-17 of both immigrant and non-immigrant parents (n = 63) were recruited from a primary care clinic serving low income families. Child anthropometric measures, and parent acculturation and food insecurity measures were collected via self-administered questionnaires. Over 63% of the patients were either overweight or obese according to criteria established by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Regression analysis revealed acculturation as a significant moderating variable between food insecurity and BMI percentile, F(5,12) = 4.836, P = .017, R (2) = .707 in children of Latino immigrants. The identification of this relationship may serve to facilitate in the development of future weight-gain prevention interventions in primary care settings within Latino immigrant populations.