The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine
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Although scholars conclude that children/adolescents in two-parent nuclear families have an advantage over those in stepfamilies, emerging evidence indicates that the experiences of African American youths have been overshadowed. In three replicated studies, we detected no differences on several important and commonly assessed well-being and competence indicators among samples of African American youth in two-parent nuclear and stepfamilies.
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Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is a necessary cause of cervical cancer, and is etiologically associated with a subset of cancers of the anus, oropharynx, penis, vagina, and vulva. Current data indicate that HPV infection is potentially associated with 90%-93% of anal cancers, 12%-63% of oropharyngeal cancers, 36%-40% of penile cancers, 40%-64% of vaginal cancers, and 40%-51% of vulvar cancers. HPV infection accounts for up to 492,800 cervical cancers and 97,215 cases of noncervical HPV-related cancers worldwide during 2002, including up to 50,780 cancers among men (13,485 anal cancers, 26,775 oropharyngeal cancers, and 10,520 penile cancers) and up to 46,435 cancers among women (14,787 anal cancers, 6,048 oropharyngeal cancers, and 25,600 vaginal/vulvar cancers). ⋯ Incidence rates for cervical cancer have declined significantly during the past 30 years in the United States, consistent with the success of Pap smear screening. However, incidence rates for anal, oropharyngeal, and vulvar cancers have increased substantially in recent years. The high proportion of cervical and noncervical cancers caused by HPV types 16 and 18, that is, 70%-76% for cervical cancers and 63%-95% for noncervical cancers, underscores the potential for prevention of a majority of cervical as well as noncervical HPV-related cancers through prophylactic HPV vaccination.
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To ensure a workforce of board-certified adolescent medicine (AM) specialists, the reasons why physicians choose this specialty must be understood. This study sought to develop a profile of AM fellows and to delineate common experiences that influenced them to seek AM training. ⋯ A variety of experiences with AM and/or adolescents is important in establishing interest in AM as a career. Serving as mentors and capitalizing on brief role modeling opportunities could promote further interest in AM fellowship training.
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Comparative Study
Area deprivation affects behavioral problems of young adolescents in mixed urban and rural areas: the TRAILS study.
Behavioral problems occur more frequently among adolescents in deprived areas, but most evidence concerns urbanized areas. Our aim was to assess the impact of area deprivation and urbanization on the occurrence and development of behavioral problems among adolescents in a mixed urban and rural area and to examine the contributory factors. ⋯ As in highly urbanized areas, behavioral problems occur more frequently among adolescents in deprived mixed rural and urban areas. Urbanization has little effect on these area differences.