The purpose of the present study was to investigate possible associations between college students' attitudes, risk-taking behaviour related to noisy activities, and hearing problems such as threshold shifts or self-experienced hearing symptoms. The sample included 258 students aged between 17 and 21 enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania, USA. A questionnaire measuring attitudes towards noise, use of hearing protection, and self-reported hearing symptoms was distributed among the students. After completing the questionnaire a hearing screening, including pure-tone audiometry and tympanometry, was conducted. The result revealed that 26% had thresholds poorer than the screening level of 20 dBHL. Attitudes were significantly related to self-experienced hearing symptoms, but not to threshold shifts. Attitudes and noise sensitivity was, significantly related to use of hearing protection. Hearing protection use was found in activities such as using firearms, mowing lawns, and when using noisy tools but was less reported for concerts and discotheques. It can be concluded that the young adults in this study expose themselves to hearing risks, since the use of hearing protection is in general very low.

Adolescents in Western society often expose themselves to high levels of sound in gyms, rock concerts, discotheques etc. As these behaviours are as threatening to young people's health as more traditional risk behaviours are, our aim in the present study was to analyze the relationship between self-exposure to noise, risk behaviours and risk judgements among 310 Swedish adolescents aged 15-20 (167 men; 143 women). Adolescents' behaviour in different traditional risk situations correlated with behaviour in noisy environments, while judgements about traditional risks correlated with judgements regarding noise exposure. It is an interesting finding that although young women judge risk situations as generally more dangerous than young men do, they nevertheless behave in the same way. We suggest that this difference is a social and cultural phenomenon which underscores the importance of adopting a gender perspective in the analysis of risk factors. Adolescents reporting permanent tinnitus judged loud music as more risky than adolescents with no symptoms and they did not listen to loud music as often as those with occasional tinnitus. Research on hearing prevention for young people needs to acknowledge and make use of theories on risk behaviour, especially due to the existence of a relationship between adolescents' risk-taking in noisy environments and other types of risk-taking. Similarly, theories on risk behaviour should acknowledge noise as a risk factor.

Adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) need stable self-care routines for good metabolic control to minimize future cardiovascular health complications. These routines are demanding, and might be particularly challenging in underprivileged groups. The aim of this study was to gain in-depth knowledge on the experience of adolescents with T1DM and a non-Swedish background regarding factors that might influence their ability to take care of themselves; in particular, factors that might influence diabetes management routines, their social situation, and the support they receive from caregivers. We interviewed 12 adolescents with T1DM and minority backgrounds. The results indicated resources and constraints in the adolescents' social context and in the health care organization. The adolescents developed conceptions that helped to explain and excuse their self-care failures, and their successes. These findings highlight the importance of integrating T1DM as part of the individual's personal prerequisites. We discuss implications for the organization of diabetes care for adolescents.

Structural relations between sources of parental knowledge, feelings of being overly controlled and risk behaviors in early adolescence. Journal of Family Studieshttps://doi.org/10. 1080/13229400.2017.1367713 Access to the published version may require subscription. N.B. When citing this work, cite the original published paper. Permanent link to this version:http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-37206In this study, we have investigated parental knowledge and its sources, namely adolescent disclosure, parental control, and parental solicitation; and how they relate to adolescents' feelings of being overly controlled, and to three types of adolescent risk behaviors, namely bullying, substance use and delinquent behavior. This was studied in a sample of 1520 Swedish early adolescent boys and girls (M age = 13.0). A structural equation path model showed that adolescent disclosure and parental control were positively associated with parental knowledge, which in turn related to all three risk behaviors. Adolescent disclosure was related to lower levels of risk behaviors, while parental solicitation was linked to higher levels of adolescent engagement in risk behaviors, especially for boys, through feelings of being overly controlled. The findings support the idea of a functional role of open communication, as well as adequate levels of autonomy granting, for managing boys' and girls' risk behavior.

Parents' actions and knowledge of adolescents' whereabouts play key roles in preventing risk behaviors in early adolescence, but what enables parents to know about their adolescents' activities and what links there are to adolescent risk behaviors, such as substance use and delinquent behavior, remain unclear. In this study, we investigated whether different aspects of the parent-adolescent relationship predict parental knowledge, and we examined the direct and indirect longitudinal associations between these aspects of the parent-adolescent relationship and adolescents' self-reported delinquent behavior and substance use. The participants were 550 parents and their adolescent children from two small and two midsized municipalities in Sweden. Parental data were collected when the adolescents were 13 years old (mean), and adolescent data on risk behaviors were collected on two occasions, when they were 13 and 14 years of age (mean). Structural path analyses revealed that adolescent disclosure, parental solicitation, and parental control predicted parental knowledge, with adolescent disclosure being the strongest source of parental knowledge and the strongest negative predictor of adolescent risk behaviors. Parenting competence and adolescents' connectedness to parents were indirectly, through adolescent disclosure and parental solicitation and parental control, associated with substance use and delinquent behavior. Some paths differed for boys and girls. In conclusion, confident parenting and a close parent-adolescent relationship in which adolescent disclosure is promoted, seem protective of adolescent engagement in risk behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record