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There is persistent underrepresentation of female and ethnic and racial minority students in computing. While community colleges provide a unique opportunity to increase diversity in computing fields, many students do not persist. This study aims to understand the factors that predict students' momentum--completion of a certificate, degree, or transfer in an information and communications technology (ICT) major--in order to generate information that can be used to tailor interventions. Participants were enrolled in ICT classes at 17 community colleges. Surveys were collected from 474 students at three time points over two years. Multilevel logistic regression was used to identify the factors that predict momentum approximately one year after the class ended. The results expand on Wang's theoretical model of student momentum. Men were more likely than women to have achieved an academic milestone, which was partially a result of taking more prior ICT classes, having more positive interactions with faculty and a more positive perception of the classroom climate, as well as greater motivation and fewer childcare responsibilities. Among students from groups that are underrepresented in computing, momentum was positively associated with taking prior ICT classes, motivation during the class, and romantic relationships; it was negatively associated with educational barriers. Being enrolled less than full-time at baseline or having financial challenges did not undermine momentum. Implications for practice, as well as study limitations are discussed.

This paper explores the use of withdrawal as a harm reduction approach to adolescent pregnancy prevention and its association with condom use. Data come from a baseline survey of a randomised controlled trial to test the effectiveness of FLASH, a sexual health education curriculum. Study participants completed electronic self-report surveys in health classes in their first or second year of high school (age range 14.1-17.9, mean 15.3 years). One-hundred and ninety-one students (12% of full sample) reported engaging in vaginal intercourse in the 3 months prior to the survey; of these, 66.0% reported using withdrawal as a birth control method, without significant differences by race, gender, region or birth control beliefs. Withdrawal was often used in combination with condoms (55.5%), periodic abstinence (40.0%) and birth control pills (13.4%). The effectiveness of withdrawal and its prevalence suggest an opportunity to reflect on how withdrawal is taught -- moving from avoiding its use to a harm reduction approach to help sexually active youth avoid risk, reduce risk and reduce potential harm associated with sexual behaviours. Rather than focusing on withdrawal as risky, youth-serving professionals should acknowledge young people's efforts to prevent pregnancy and recognise the social and relational contexts of contraceptive choices.

Online surveys are an efficient and relatively affordable way to collect data. However, there are issues associated with it, including potential fraudulent data due to accidental or deliberate duplicate entries. In this brief we describe a case study of deliberate duplicate entries in an ongoing study of community college students. Students from career technical education (CTE) courses at community colleges across California were invited to participate in a study of persistence in CTE. Shortly after data collection started, we noticed irregularities in survey entries which were subsequently investigated for fraud. Steps were taken to confirm the validity of survey entries and prevent future fraudulent entries. This paper is the first, to our knowledge, to document the process of identifying, rectifying, and reducing the potential for future fraudulent entries in a community college student sample. Our case study can serve as an important lesson for researchers utilizing online survey data collection methods in longitudinal studies.

Background: Blended learning is a combination of online learning and face-to-face instruction, and is increasingly being used in K-12 settings. A meta-analysis conducted for the Department of Education suggests blended learning is more effective than either group-based or online learning alone, particularly in K-12 settings. Methods: This paper provides a narrative review of the literature from 2000 to 2017 on blended learning as it applies to sexual health education programs, and discusses outcomes, best practices and potential challenges of blended learning that may be important for practitioners and researchers considering this approach. Results: Blended learning approaches are being used successfully in sexual health education programs, including school-based programs, and have yielded positive behavioral and psychosocial changes. Similar to traditional group-based programs, not all outcomes tested in these programs showed positive impact. Designing blended learning programs can be challenging, but there is a large best-practice literature that can inform practitioners interested in using it. Conclusions: Blended learning approaches are viable for sexual health education and offer numerous advantages to group-based only programs, such as confidential personalization and an instructional approach that is familiar and engaging for participants.

As high schools offer more pre-Advanced Placement (pre-AP) and Advanced Placement (AP) courses to prepare students for college academics, students often are given quality grade point average (GPA) points to help compensate for the rigorous curriculum. In states where class ranking determines automatic university admission, fluctuations of class ranking might influence students' decisions regarding whether or not to enroll in AP courses. Using a correlational design, a convenience sample of 116 high school graduate transcripts was analyzed for pre-AP and AP course completion, GPA, and class rank. Data were analyzed using measures of correlation and multiple regression. Results of a transcript analysis for pre-AP and AP course completion confirmed that the number of completed pre-AP and AP courses was a strong predictor of high school GPA and class rank. The findings suggest that as educators begin to understand the implications of AP course enrollment on the post-secondary educational options available to students, educators might alter the advice given to students as they embark on their college planning. Implications for school administrators are discussed. (Contains 3 tables and 1 footnote.)

This article examines the relationship between exposure to violence, fear of exposure to violence, and sexual risk among a sample of urban middle school youth. The sample included 911 seventh-grade students who completed self-report surveys. Approximately 20% of the sample reported at least one direct threat or injury with a weapon in the past 3 months, and 52% reported ever seeing someone seriously injured or killed. Experiencing a direct threat was significantly associated with greater intentions to engage in vaginal intercourse and sexual touching behaviors; witnessing violence was significantly associated with sexual touching. Fearing exposure to violence was not associated with increased sexual risk. Most associations did not differ by gender. These data highlight the potential influence of exposure to violence on sexual risk among early adolescents, and underscore the potential of addressing exposure to violence in sexuality education programs and sexual health services for enhanced impact.

This paper addresses a gap in the literature on student work placements, specifically the challenges of returning to final-year study after a year out. We focus on students in an Accountancy and Finance Department at one UK University who alerted us to the ways in which they struggled during the transition back to full-time study. Their accounts were surprising in the light of, albeit limited, research and our own perceptions that students who go on placement fare better in the final year than those who do not. We draw two inferences from this research, which we discuss in this paper. First, there is a need to refine analyses and evaluations of the benefits of a placement year. Second, there is a need to expand the repertoire of methodologies in empirical placement research to include those that provide opportunities for students to articulate what matters to them.

Adolescence represents a crucial period for sexual and romantic relationship development, and acquisition of skills and confidence essential for effective sexual consent communication. However, various barriers may interfere with adolescents’ belief in their ability (i.e., their self-efficacy) to negotiate consent in practice. This study aimed to investigate the state of adolescents’ self-efficacy to ask for consent and explore the influence of romantic relationship communication (a construct comprised of three characteristics: relationship assertiveness skills, positive conflict resolution, and communication awkwardness). Participants were 411 adolescents who had current or past relationships (61% girls, 77% Latine, 79% heterosexual). Participants generally reported above-average levels of self-efficacy to ask for consent (M = 4.14 out of 7, SD = 1.24), with LGBQ+ adolescents exhibiting statistically significantly higher levels of self-efficacy compared to heterosexual adolescents (M = 4.51 vs. 4.09, t = -2.66, p = .008). Self-efficacy to ask for consent was positively individually related to positive conflict resolution and relationship assertiveness skills, and negatively related to communication awkwardness (all ps < .001). In a path model, romantic relationship communication displayed a statistically significant association with adolescents’ self-efficacy to ask for consent, with high positive conflict resolution, low communication awkwardness, and high relationship assertiveness skills being associated with higher self-efficacy to ask for consent. Findings suggest improving adolescents’ romantic communication skills may enhance their self-efficacy to ask for consent, and contribute to increased rates of sexual consent communication. Intervention strategies should target multiple levels of influence to promote positive consent cognitions, behaviors, and cultural norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Older age is a risk factor for low bone mineral density (BMD). Older women have been found to have lower BMD than younger women. Recent trends for decreased calcium consumption and physical activity may place younger women at greater risk than previously anticipated. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of age on BMD in young (19.1 ± 0.4 years) versus midlife (46.3 ± 0.4 years) women. Methods: BMD was assessed with the Alara MetriScan. Results: Young women had lower BMD compared to midlife women (T score: - 1.18 ± 0.78 versus 0.25 ± 0.12; P < 0.05), lower body weight (65.6 ± 1.6 kg versus 79.6 ± 1.9 kg, P < 0.001), and lower body mass index (BMI; 23.7 ± 0.6 versus 29.3 ± 0.7 kg/m2, P < 0.001). Discussion: Based on these data, younger women are at greater risk for loss of BMD and early onset osteoporosis than their older counterparts. Translation to Health Education Practice: Health Educators should teach that calcium and vitamin D supplementations are vital in maintaining bone mineral density throughout an individual's life span.

Romantic relationships are central in the lives of young people. This paper uses data on romantic relationships from urban youth in the USA to illustrate how using a relationships perspective in HIV/STI and pregnancy prevention programmes broadens the skills and content covered, and contextualises the learning to enhance relevance and use. Self-report survey data were collected using electronic handheld devices for a school-based randomised trial. The survey sample includes 911 young people (mean age = 12.4 years) representative of their schools. Logistic regressions explored associations between selected sexual behaviours and relationship characteristics. For all participants, having more boy/girlfriends, dating alone, ever touching and ever having had oral sex were associated with an increased likelihood of having vaginal sex. Among young people with current partners, having a partner three or more years older, length of relationship and ever having oral sex were associated with an increased likelihood of having vaginal sex. The study data confirm the importance of accounting for relationships in sexual risk reduction programmes, and provide avenues for enhancing the relevancy of typical school-based prevention programmes.

Using the randomly selected subsample of 1,000 youth (472 boys, M age = 12.2 years, SD = 1.5; 528 girls, M age = 12.1 years, SD = 1.4) drawn by Dowling, Getsdottir, Anderson, von Eye, and Lerner (in press) from a Search Institute (1984) archival data set, Young Adolescents and Their Parents (YAP), this research employed structural equation modeling procedures to appraise the structural relations among second-order factors of religiosity, spirituality, and thriving. Three hierarchically related models were tested: The first model was a complete mediation model that involved a direct effect of spirituality on thriving and an indirect effect of spirituality on thriving, mediated by religiosity, the second model only consisted of the mediated effect, and the third model only consisted of the direct effects of spirituality on thriving and religiosity on thriving. Consistent with expectations, the complete mediation model provided reasonably good fit to the data and was significantly better than either of the alternative models. The importance of the findings reported here for the future study of youth thriving using either the YAP data set or new, longitudinal studies is discussed. (Contains 3 tables and 3 figures.)

Positive individual and social behaviors were assessed among male gang members and males involved in community-based organizations aimed at promoting positive youth development. Correlations of attribute scores were more often significant for the gang than for the nongang youth. Approximately one-quarter of the gang youth had total positive attribute scores that were above the average total positive attribute score for the nongang youth. (Author/SD)