Casey, M. M., Eime, R. M., Payne, W. R., & Harvey, J. T. (2009). Using a socioecological approach to examine participation in sport and physical activity among rural adolescent girls. Qualitative Health Research, 19(7), 881-893.

 

 

Adolescence is a critical time for developing lifelong healthy behaviors, including active lifestyles. Participation in sport and physical activity, however, declines during adolescence, and few studies have comprehensively identified why, particularly among rural girls. This article identifies a range of independent and interacting factors that influence sport and physical activity participation of rural adolescent girls. The socioecological model of health was used to guide four focus group discussions with Grade 7 girls (n = 34). The results showed that adolescent girls were positively influenced when sports or physical activities were fun, when they involved being with friends, and when they were supported by families and teachers through role modeling and positive feedback. A range of intrapersonal and organizational factors affected perceived self-competence, particularly the coeducational nature of school physical education classes and peer teasing, which supported social comparisons of skill level. In promoting sport and physical activity to rural adolescent girls, focus must be directed on developmentally appropriate activities that are fun, offering opportunities for single-sex classes, and generating cultural changes that encourage noncompetitive and self-referencing activities.

 

 

 

 

Stevens, T., Morash, M., & Park, S. (2011). Late-adolescent delinquency: Risks and resilience for girls differing in risk at the start of adolescence. Youth & Society, 43(4), 1433-1458.

 

 

Based on resilience and feminist criminological theories, several individual, family, and community characteristics were hypothesized to predict late-adolescent delinquency for girls varying in early-adolescent risk. Girls aged 12 and 13 were interviewed each year as part of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997. Predictors of late-adolescent delinquency were compared for girls in and below the top 10% in self-reported early-adolescent delinquency. Girls who were higher in delinquency in early adolescence were resilient by 2002 if they had no incarcerated family members and high parental monitoring. Girls with little or no early delinquency were at risk for illegal activity by age 17 primarily due to contextual adversities, low hope for the future, poverty status, and minority racial status. Persistently delinquent girls require programming to address multiple risk and protective factors over an extended time. To prevent delinquency beginning later in adolescence, girls need safe community and school contexts.

 

 

 

 

 Robertson, A. R., Lawrence, J. S., Morse, D. T., Baird-Thomas, C., Liew, H., & Gresham, K. (2011). The healthy teen girls project: Comparison of health education and STD risk reduction intervention for incarcerated adolescent females. Health Education & Behavior, 1090198110372332.

 

 

Adolescent girls incarcerated in a state reformatory (N = 246) were recruited and assigned to an 18-session health education program or a time-equivalent HIV prevention program. Cohorts were assigned to conditions using a randomized block design separated by a washout period to reduce contamination. Post intervention, girls in the HIV risk reduction program demonstrated the acquisition of risk-reduction behavioral skills and improved condom application skill. At a follow-up assessment approximately 9 months after release from the correctional facility, girls in both conditions reported fewer unprotected sexual intercourse occasions and less sex while under the influence of alcohol or other drugs.