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Purpose: The objective of this study was to develop a predictive model for the sexual experiences of adolescents using the random forest method and to identify the "variable importance." Methods: The study utilized data from the 2019 to 2021 Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey, which included 86,595 man and 80,504 woman participants. The number of independent variables stood at 44. SPSS was used to conduct Rao-Scott χ² tests and complex sample t-tests. Modeling was performed using the random forest algorithm in Python. Performance evaluation of each model included assessments of precision, recall, F1-score, receiver operating characteristics curve, and area under the curve calculations derived from the confusion matrix. Results: The prevalence of sexual experiences initially decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic, but later increased. "Variable importance" for predicting sexual experiences, ranked in the top six, included week and weekday sedentary time and internet usage time, followed by ease of cigarette purchase, age at first alcohol consumption, smoking initiation, breakfast consumption, and difficulty purchasing alcohol. Conclusion: Education and support programs for promoting adolescent sexual health, based on the top-ranking important variables, should be integrated with health behavior intervention programs addressing internet usage, smoking, and alcohol consumption. We recommend active utilization of the random forest analysis method to develop high-performance predictive models for effective disease prevention, treatment, and nursing care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This qualitative study used interpretative phenomenological analysis and photovoice methods to explore the meaning of non-suicidal self-injury experienced by adolescents. Methods: Participants were adolescents enrolled in middle and high schools in Gyeonggi-do and Jeollabuk-do who were selected through snowball sampling. Six participants had repeatedly engaged in self-injurious behavior for over a year. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and the photovoice method between November 2020 and July 2021. The collected data were analyzed using six steps of interpretative phenomenological analysis. Results: The results yielded 5 main themes and 18 subthemes. The main themes were 'a silent cry to an indifferent world', 'a heartache that one endures with scars', 'an inescapable cycle', 'filling the space in one's heart', and 'healing the wounds'. The study findings revealed that the self-injurious behavior of adolescents began as a consequence of feeling lost and struggling with conflicts at home and school, which helped them relieve tension and pain. Nonetheless, inflicting self-injury only left signs of regret and remorse, which became a trace that the participants wanted to hide. However, the wounds healed after receiving attention and support from others. They were determined to stop engaging in repeated self-injurious behaviors and made efforts to do so. Conclusion: This study can be used as a basis for the development of educational programs to prevent non-suicidal self-injury in adolescents. Additionally, it can inform nursing interventions that focus on building support systems to help adolescents who attempt self-injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The study aimed to examine the effects of sleep pattern, stress, and attitude towards menstruation, and behavior that causes a reduction in exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in the course of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) in female adolescents. Method: In total, 200 girls attending middle school in K city were recruited via convenience sampling between December 11 and 31, 2018, and 192 subjects were selected for the analysis. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, an independent t-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and multiple regression. Results: Overall, 9 (4.7%), 152 (79.2%), and 31 (16.1%) students had morning-, intermediate-, and evening-type sleep pattern, respectively. The mean scores for school-related stress were highest. Scores for stress regarding relationships with friends were the lowest. The mean score for attitudes toward menstruation was 72.33 out of 147. The mean score for behavior that led to a reduction in EDCs exposure was 56.57 out of 85. The mean scores for PMS severity were 25.30 and 38.39 out of 60. Analysis of factors affecting PMS revealed that severity of menstrual pain (β=.28), use of analgesics during menstruation (β=.17), family history of PMS (β=-.16), stress (β=.19), and behavior that reduces EDCs exposure (β=-.17) exerted significant effects on PMS. The explanatory power of these variables was 37%. Conclusion: The findings propose the necessity of a health intervention program including educational information, which can reduce PMS in adolescents, induce the behaviors which can decrease exposure to EDCs, and activities for managing the stress levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study was conducted to develop a scale for measuring aggression in adolescents, based on Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Methods: The participants were 38 adolescents in an in-depth study conducted to develop items for indirect measurement, 13 adolescents in a pre-test, and 289 adolescents in the present survey. The collected data were analyzed using content validity, the correlation coefficient, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, reliability, and the Cronbach's α. Results: In this study, the most important variable related to aggression was found to be aggression intention. This study included 4 factors of direct measurement and 6 factors of indirect measurement; therefore, 41 questions were developed. Increased levels of aggression were associated with higher scores for attitudes of aggression, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and aggression intention. Conclusion: We found that the questionnaire used in this study was valid and reliable as a measurement scale to explain aggression in adolescents based on TPB. Aggression intention should be included in aggression prevention programs because it was linked to aggressive behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine changes in the self-rated health of adolescents and to identify its predictors using longitudinal data from the KCYPS. Methods: A sample of 2,351 adolescents who were in the first grade of middle school in 2010 was analyzed. The study employed latent growth analysis using data from 2010 to 2016. Results: Results indicated that self-rated health of adolescents increased, following the form of a linear function. The analyses revealed that adolescent self-perception of health were conceptualized not only by their health-related behaviors, but also by personal, socioeconomic and psychological factors. Specifically, physical activity, passive leisure time activities, gender (initial: b=-.060, slope: b=.030), place of residence (initial: b=-.079), self-rated economic condition (b=.098), working status of mother (b=.016), monthly family income (b=-.001), aggression (b=.061), depression (initial: b=-.104, slope: b=.012), stress (initial: b=-.172, slope: b=.014, ego-resiliency (initial: b=.197, slope: b=-.021), and self-esteem (initial: b=.106, slope: b=-.017) had significant effects on the overall linear change of self-rated health (p<.05 for all estimators above). Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that adolescents' self evaluation of their health is shaped by their total sense of functioning, which includes individual, health-related behavioral, socioeconomic, and psychological factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This descriptive correlational study was designed to examine the relationship of perfectionism to anger thought and problem behaviors. In addition, the mediating effect of anger thought in relation to perfectionism and problem behaviors was investigated. Methods: Data were collected from 807 students in a girls' high school, and descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, and hierachical multiple regression were used with SPSS/PC 18.0 program to analyze the data. Results: There were significant differences in anger thought (primary and secondary angerthought) and problem behaviors between the upper 25% and lower 25% group for perfectionism. Primary and secondary anger-thought had a significant mediating effect in relation to perfectionism and problem behaviors. Conclusion: For effective management and prevention of adolescent women's problem behaviors, programs including perfectionism and anger thought should be developed. Further research is necessary in order to draw a consensus on cognitive factors as mediators between the related factors of problem behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]