Education Commons^™

Early Coital Debut And Associated Hiv Risk Factors Among Young Women And Men In South Africa, Audrey Pettifor, Katie O'Brien, Catherine L. Mac Phail, William Miller, Helen Rees

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

CONTEXT Young people in South Africa are at high risk of HIV infection. Because first sexual experiences may influence a young person's HIV risk, a better understanding of coital debut is needed. METHODS Data from a nationally representative survey that included 7,692 sexually active South African youth aged 15-24 were used to assess characteristics related to sexual debut and to respondents' first sexual partner. Poisson regression analyses were conducted to identify relationships among these characteristics and partner age differences, early coital debut (i.e., before age 15), forced sex with one's first partner and nonuse of condoms at first sex. RESULTS …

Feasibility Of An Activity Protocol For Young Children In A Whole Room Indirect Calorimeter: A Proof-Of-Concept Study, Anouk Oortwijn, Guy Plasqui, John J. Reilly, Anthony D. Okely

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this pilot study was to assess the feasibility of a structured activity protocol in a room calorimeter among young children. METHODS: Five healthy children (age 5.2 +/- 0.4 y) performed an activity protocol in a room calorimeter, ranging from sedentary to vigorous-intensity activities. Energy expenditure (EE) was calculated from continuous measurements of O2-consumption and CO2-production using Weir's formula. Resting EE was defined as EE during the first 30 min of the study where participants were seated while watching television. The children wore an ActiGraph accelerometer on the right and left hip. RESULTS: The protocol was well …

Computer Game Design And The Imaginative Play Of Young Children, Irina M. Verenikina, Jan Herrington

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

This paper discusses preliminary findings of the study of computer game design in relation to current understanding of imaginative play and its developmental value for young children. The crucial role of children's play in their development is well documented. A number of criteria, which are essential in building a foundation for children's cognitive development in play, were identified based on a literature review of the theoretical and empirical studies of child's play. The identified criteria were utilized to observe two young children playing various types of computer games to explore the opportunities that the games provide for imaginative play in …

The Mouse Is Not A Toy: Young Children's Interactions With E-Games, Susan Roberts, Emilia N. Djonov, Jane Torr

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Little is known about how children under 5 years respond to electronic texts. Traditional methods of transcription can record spoken language and paralinguistic features, but not the relations between children’s non-verbal behaviour (e.g. gaze, gesture, facial expressions) and the visual elements which are the focus of their attention. In this paper, drawing on naturalistic videotaped data from 4 children aged 4–5 years interacting with I Spy CD-ROMs (Scholastic), we offer an innovative method of transcription which may be used to help us understand children’s responses in depth. The method captures each child’s language, body posture, facial expressions and gestures, in …

An Investigation Of The Relationship Between Financial Capability And Psychological Well-Being In Mothers Of Young Children In Poor Areas In England, Edward Melhuish, Jay Belsky, Antero Malin

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Financial difficulties lead to financial distress that in turn may lead to poorer psychological well-being. Previous work on people's financial difficulties and capability indicates that those most vulnerable to financial difficulties may well suffer with regard to their psychological state. One particularly vulnerable group are families with young children in disadvantaged areas.

Keep Them In School: The Importance Of Education As A Protective Factor Against Hiv Infection Among Young South African Women, Audrey Pettifor, Brooke Levandowski, Catherine L. Mac Phail, Nancy S. Padian, Myron Cohen, Helen Rees

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objective To identify risk factors for HIV infection among young women aged 15-24 years reporting one lifetime partner in South Africa. Design In 2003, we conducted a nationally representative household survey of sexual behaviour and HIV testing among 11 904 young people aged 15-24 years in South Africa. This analysis focuses on the subset of sexually experienced young women with only one reported lifetime sex partner (n = 1708). Methods Using the proximate determinants framework and the published literature we identified factors associated with HIV in young women. The associations between these factors and HIV infection were explored in multivariable …

Young, Fast And Dead: A Fresh Perspective From The Early Driving Group, Amanda Burrell, Tonia L. Gray

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Risk taking behaviour is synonymous with adolescence. Moreover, epidemiological statistics associated with early driver deaths in Australia paint a disturbing picture. There is considerable debate about the effectiveness of advertising and marketing as a prophylactic to unsafe driving behaviours. This paper discusses the search for innovative approaches to road safety campaigns by accessing the perceptions of the novice driver group. A case scenario was developed by reviewing current literature on adolescent health behaviour, risk awareness, road safety and marketing communication. Initial findings from a pilot study with members of the early driving group, imply that they, as members of the …

Playing With Texts: Classroom Practices For Enriching Young Readers' Engagement With Texts, Pauline J. Harris, Barbra Mckenzie

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

This paper explores ways in which teachers may build bridges across children's home, community and school texts. It does so by looking at how children's texts form networks of relationships inside and beyond the text. These relationships significantly shape ways in which a reader interacts with the text in hand, other texts that the text-in- hand calls up, and other texts that the reader brings to bear. Further, these relationships provide teachers with valuable means for bridging children's home, school and community texts and literacy experiences. In exploring these relationships, implications for young readers and for classroom practices are described.

Managing Behaviours Of Young Children, Roselyn M. Dixon

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Young children with disabilities may present challenging behaviours at home and in pre-school settings for any number of reasons.

A Literature Review Of The Impact Of Early Years Provision On Young Children, With Emphasis Given To Children From Disadvantaged Backgrounds, Edward Melhuish

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This report reviews international research on the impact of early years provision upon young children. Emphasis is given to work related to disadvantaged children. The issues of timing, duration, type, quality and quantity of early years provision are considered in terms of developmental effects upon children and when possible parents. An evaluative summary of the literature on cost benefit analyses of early years provision is also included. Conclusions tempered by the relative rigour and extensiveness of the evidence are produced. Early research was primarily concerned with whether children attending institutions developed differently from those not attending such centres. Later work …

Consumption Of Foods By Young Children With Diagnosed Campylobacter Infection - A Pilot Case-Control Study, Scott Cameron, Karin Ried, Anthony Worsley, David Topping

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objective: To determine whether parentally reported habitual intake of specific foods differed between children with diagnosed Campylobacter jejuni infection and children of a comparison group without diagnosed infection.

Design, setting and subjects: Information was collected from the parents or primary caregivers of South Australian children aged 1–5 years with diagnosed C. jejuni (cases, n=172) and an age- and gender-matched group of uninfected children (controls, n=173). Frequency of consumption of 106 food and drink items was determined for the preceding two months by food-frequency questionnaire. Four children in the control group had recorded diarrhoeal episodes during the assessment period …

Relative Risk Of Hiv Infection Among Young Men And Women In A South African Township, Catherine L. Mac Phail, Brian G. Williams, Catherine Campbell

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The prevalence of HIV infection in Africa is substantially higher among young women than it is among young men. Biological explanations of this difference have been presented but there has been little exploration of social factors. In this paper we use data from Carletonville, South Africa to explore various social explanations for greater female infection rates. This paper reports on data from a random sample of 507 people between 13 and 24 years old. Subjects were tested for HIV, as well as other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and answered a behavioural questionnaire. The age-prevalence of HIV infection differs between men …

'I Think Condoms Are Good But, Aai, I Hate Those Things': Condom Use Among Adolescents And Young People In A Southern African Township, Catherine L. Mac Phail, Catherine Campbell

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Levels of heterosexually transmitted HIV infection are high amongst South African youth, with one recent survey reporting levels of 18.9% amongst 17-20 year olds and 43.1% amongst 21-25 year olds. In these groups levels of knowledge about HIV are high, but perceived vulnerability and reported condom use are low. Much existing research into youth HIV in developing countries relies on survey measures which use individual knowledge, attitudes and reported behaviour as variables in seeking to explain HIV transmission amongst this group. This paper reports on a focus group study that seeks to complement existing individual-level quantitative findings with qualitative findings …

Attempted Suicide: Listening To And Learning From Young People, Susan Gair, Peter J. Camilleri

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Suicide has become a major international health issue. Australia records one of the highest youth suicide rates in the world and Queensland has one of the highest suicide rates in Australia. This study sought insights into the suicide attempts of young men and women who survived. In-depth interviews were conducted in Townsville, Queensland, with a small group of young men and women aged 16-24 to explore the circumstances leading to the attempted suicide, the help sought and their suggestions for more effective intervention. The findings offer insight into the needs of local at-risk youth and provide suggestions for intervention services …

Equitable Access To Education For Young Homeless People, Valerie Harwood, Ruth Phelan

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

At the National Social Policy Conference in 1995 we were one of a minority of service providers presenting a paper; in fact we found ourselves presenting with one other of this minority at the last session of the conference on Friday afternoon. It was a disappointing time slot and left us pondering the question of how seriously 'policy makers' take the contributions of the people who are at the 'coalface'. We made the decision to present a paper at the conference because we believe the program we initiated is innovative and beneficial to a severely marginalised group of young people. …