Category: Adolescence

Adolescent is the transition period between childhood and the adulthood – age range from 10-19 years where child undergoes emotional, physical and social changes, nearabout 16% of the world population is made up of adolescents. (UN, 2018).

Healthy dietary behavior and the lifestyle acquired during these stages may have a greater influence on their growth, health and wellbeing; high intake of sugary food, low consumption of fruits and vegetables, inadequate supplementation of iron, calcium are the cause which may have long term effect on the health of the individual which may result in obesity, nutrient deficiencies and chronic disease (Hoelscher et al., 2002). Over eating in childhood may lead to obesity, which is one of the important risk factors associated with type 2 diabetes in children. (Hussain et al, 2007). Some study conclude that the adequate intake of fruits and vegetables has linked with the reduction of risk of chronic disease like cardiovascular, cancer, and type 2 diabetes and obesity (PEM & Jeewoon, 2015; USDA 2014). Inadequate intake of fruits and vegetable may also lead to vitamin and mineral deficiency whilst the calcium and iron intake in body has helped in the preventing the osteoporosis and iron deficiency anemia. Low fiber diet in body has seen a direct relationship to the bowel cancer. (Ferguson, 2005).As, Children and youth spend most of their time in school and consumption of fast food in school is seen much higher- as the study on the British secondary school children reveals one fifth of the school children consume the junk food and drinks during their breakfast and lunch time (Zahra et al., 2014).Where, more than 90% of school have vending machines which make available of the sugary drinks in High school and middle school. (Gordon et al 2007b).

Health theories is mostly used in behavioral changes as it helps to understand the dietary behaviors and develop the necessary intervention strategies for it (Cerin et al., 2009). Health belief model is one of the common methods used to understand the health behavior in the population using the concepts of perceived susceptibility, severity, perceived benefits and barriers, cues to action, and self-efficacy. (Hochbaum, 1958; Rosenstock, 1974). The use of health behavior framework in nutrition behavior has shown the significant change in the attitude, knowledge and behavior of the nutritional intake. For e.g. The study conducted on the 188 female students shows the change in attitude and behavior (intake of diary product) at intervention group by the application of HBM model as shown in Table (1) (Naghaspour et al., 2014). Likewise, similar finding of change in knowledge and behavior was seen on study conducted on sixth-grade primary school, as the children were provided the training to change the behavior as shown in (Table 2) (Fathi et al., 2017). The results from these study evident that the students perceived barrier related to, unhealthy diet and junk food has decreased and perceived susceptibility has increased where the other cross-sectional study which was carried among the 500 high-school students between male and female students to understand the predictors of the dietary behavior shows the significant association between healthy eating pattern and perceived self-efficacy and barriers by using the model framework (Arash et al., 2016).

Nutrition education can be delivered around different settings- mainly aims to deliver the information through conduction of campaigns, providing the skills required for the individual to promote healthy diet and to prevent from nutritional related disease and providing the environment for safe and nutritious food (Contento, 2011). In Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health the sustainable environment is necessary for good health of individual, community, nationals and global levels and government has a stewardship role in implementing the policy and strategy to address the nutrition problems (WHO, 2004).

Food-Based Dietary Guidelines (FBDGs) is a strategy implemented for the benefit of the individual and the community which provides the guidelines of healthy diet in understandable manner in the form of pictorial form i.e. food guide pyramid (Table 4) to deliver the healthy eating message (FAO,1997). The guideline of National Food Guide Pyramid has been implemented in 76 countries out of 126 deliver the messages of healthy eating were nearabout 90 percent guidelines where few guidelines are age specific and provides the message of social and behavioral change i.e. ‘enjoy your meals’, add variety of food in your diet including fish and vegetable, milk and fish consumption (Metab, 2007). The Study on the food pyramid contribution in different countries like: Australia, France, and Denmark and the USA has shown the positive effects in limitation of the sweet and fats and, where the intake of iron and vitamin D, vegetables and fruits and drinking of fortified milk was seen higher in youth (Auestad, 2015). In South Africa and Chile, the guidelines are broadcasted through the national or health networks to promote the good health. 15 Asian countries have implemented the dietary guidelines (FAO, 2018); where the India use the poster, brochure of leaflet to spread the message (Krishnaswamy, 2008); Thailand Food dietary guidelines has more than nine recommendation for the ages above 6 years (MOPH, 1988) where Philippines has also specific age group message related to dietary guideline (FNRI, 2015). In China, the Philippines and Thailand the increase in knowledge and understanding of diet and health was notice after the implementation of FBDGs in (Brown et al., 2011; Tanchoco, 2011; Sirichakwal et al., 2011).

Mass media campaign is the approaches targeted to the large population to change the health behavior where media and technologies like radio, newspapers, Tv, poster are popularly used to deliver the message (Wakefield et. al 2005). Media campaign related to increase in intake of fruits and vegetables, fat free or low-fat milk and access to healthy food can be targeted to the adolescents using information and communication technologies such as emails, different games or messages (Webb et al., 2017). The Pew Research Center, reported that the 92% of the American teens are easily access to internet where the 88% and are regular user of the electronic gadgets like: mobile, laptop etc (Lenhert, 2014). Pacific Obesity Prevention in Communities project conducted a mass campaign in Tonga, through tv, radio, poster to deliver the message to the adolescents related to the obesity and Nutrition (Fotu et al., 2011a). Through Television progrmmes like animation, related to nutrition behavior can also influence teen to change the behavior and attitude e.g. in Bangladesh, Nepal, India Meena cartoons are used as the communication. Though newspaper is less common in adolescents which is replaced by the internet and TV still few countries provide the information to the public e.g. In Fiji, weekly information of nutrition and diet is published on newspaper. of (Swodon, 2012). IN China, “WHO/China School Nutrition Project is one of the health promotion curriculums launched on school to increase the health of the student. While, a study in adolescents in school shows the nutritional intervention had improve their knowledge on the consumption of sweet drink may result to chronic disease where intake of fruits and vegetables keeps them healthy and weight management (Singhal et al., 2010). Similarly, in Nepal the government has implemented the awareness of iron deficiency campaign to raise the awareness (NHSP, 2004).

Despite the conduction of food dietary guidelines and mass media campaign still there is a threat of chronic disease; Many critics state the Dietary Guidelines 2015-2020 lacks the message of consumption of sodas and sugary and processed meat lead to chronic diseases. Likewise, the inappropriate eating habits is seen in the young people from high-, middle-, and low-income countries which has shown the negative effect of food pyramid. National diet and Nutrition Survey (2014) reveal in spite of getting the proper dietary guideline the intake of dietary fiber is only 15g/day in adolescents. Few studies done on the effectiveness on the FBDGs campaign has evaluated the campaign has the minimal effect on the diet (Brown et al., 2011, Keller and Lang, 2008)

The policy are implemented to promote the healthier lifestyle choices so the consumer can be accessible to the right to information, choice, equity and distributive fairness and confidentiality in the product( Daniels, 1985).The Product information is one of the policy such been implemented by government in order to reduce the chronic disease and promote good and healthy eating to the individual. Nutrition labelling is a way of providing information about the nutrient content of foods through the graphical label or by the nutrient list in the product to the consumer. According to Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010) In US, calorie labelling was must in restaurant food menu and vending machine as the calorie requirement varies as the age of the children i.e. from 9-13 yrs. need 1,400- 2,000 calories per day. While in UK, Traffic light color used is used to determine the risk of level- “low (green)”, “moderate (yellow)2”, or “high (red)” of sugar, sodium and fat contained in it so that the understandable message is conveyed to the people for healthy eating (Triggle, 2015) where, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Hong Kong SAR, Malaysia and Thailand have already started the labelling in the food. (Hawkes, 2010b). In Australia, the food label should also indicate the type of allergen including the nutrient value of product . The study on the effectiveness of nutrition labelling on health state it one of the effective measures to make the healthy choices in selection of food (Viola, 2015). While in some studies evidence has found out the dietary fiber intake and label has positive relationship (Capacci et al., 2012). Despite, the people having the labelling knowledge they try less to involve in it because of the time to see the label where the socio- economic factor such as low income, education can also impact the food choices on labelling (Walters & Long, 2012). The Educational site and workplace are the better settings to target in reduction of junk food and increase the intake of fresh food. As, the Government has implemented the free meal or low-cost plan in school days to increase the intake of fruits and vegetables and decrease the use of junk food so every child is access to healthy nutritious diet. Few developed countries like US, Canada, Mexico, Europe, and New Zealand (R et al.,2018) have adopted the plan while the countries like while the UK school law by banning the packed food and replacing with the whole grain meal.6 https://www.fstjournal.org/features/29-1/nutritional-behaviour .A .A study on the student preference on diet reveals children eating lunch in school consume more fruits and vegetable and prefer healthy snacks over the unhealthy snacks where Proper environment is necessary for the choice of healthy diet. (Gosliner et al., 2011). Where, the study conducted in school suggest that Traffic light policy should be taught on the school curriculum as a health education programme (Pettigrew et al., 2011)

Food ethics is a behavior of manufacturers, consumer and officials that is applied in food ethics whose major concern is no harm should be done to the physical, cultural and social environments of the consumer (Mepham, 2000). lack of knowledge and it should be able to by minimize the fiscal problems, side effects and risk caused to the individual. .

The EU law on pre-packaged foods says that if 95% of the ingredients in a packet are produced organically then you can label it organic

The Healthy eating intervention programme implemented in school has provided the nutrient rich food to the students giving the adequate diet to the students. other study states the school intervention are pursuing the children which might discouraged children in healthy eating therefore, the self-motivation is necessary to make the change in existing values (Kass et al., 2014).

“Social marketing is a commercial marketing technique used to plan and implement, and evaluate programs designed to bring about change in health or social behaviors”. ICT is a cost effective approach, in nutritional health project, which helps students to get update about the nutrition, diet and healthy habits to promote the health (Räihä, 2012 ).Meanwhile in UK, advertising the health diet through websites and tv is done by introducing Change4 life campaign which consist of number of tips for the teen and child for the diet improvements and physical activity by using the slogan of ‘eat well, move more, live longer”(Department of Health, 2015)). The study conducted on youths using the Social marketing as an education program, to increase the intake of nutritious food, fruits and vegetables, and saturated fat, reveals as one of the necessary information technologies to improve the health, social, and environmental behaviors (Snow & benedict, 2003). Similarly, a study on the systematic review of ICT on five studies shows a significant outcome on the nutrient intervention on the teen’s exposure (Melo et al., 2017).). The review of educational programs conducted in school for promoting the healthy dietary behavior states the use of game is one of the motivating factors for increasing the healthy behavior. [Pérez López, 2015). While, other study where 228 children were participated reveals the experimental children participating in online games has shown the effective and entertaining educative learning to improve the nutritional knowledge (RM et al., 2013).

Refrences

1. Hochbaum GM. Public participation in medical screening programs; a socio-psychological study. Washington, DC: Public Health Service, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1958:10-21. (Public Health Service publication no. 572).
2. Rosenstock IM. Historical origins of the health belief model. Health Educ Monogr. 1974. pp. 328–35.
3. Rosenstock IM, Kirscht JP. The health belief model and personal health behavior. Health Educ Monogr. 1974;2:470–3
4. Janz NK, Champion VL, Strecher VJ. The health belief model. In: Glanz K, Rimer BK, Lewis FM, editors. Health behavior and health education: theory, research, and practice. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass; 2002. pp. 45–66.
5. Spikmans FJM, Brug J, Doven MMB, Kruizenga HM, Hofsteenge GH, van Bokhorst-van der Schueren MAE. Why do diabetic patients not attend appointments with their dietitian? J Hum Nutr Diet. 2003;16:151–8. [PubMed]
6. Becker The health belief model and personal health behavior. Health Educ Monogr. 1974;2:324–508.

Adolescence is a time in someone’s life that can shape the future and who they are as a person. Introduce smoking –a highly addictive habit- to an adolescent at this time of rapid growth and change, that could negatively impact their life forever. Despite the fact that not all adolescence choose to smoke, for the ones that do, it can cause serious health problems in the future, and even negatively affect them shortly after or during the process of smoking. Four notable sources who have all come up with valid explanations of adolescence and smoking include Sang-hee Park, MD who discusses the rise of and possible reasons for adolescence smoking, Sylvia Bonino, Elena Cattelino, and Sylvia Ciairano who provides insight about the relation of adolescent smoking and rites of passage, the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention which talks about how tobacco or nicotine use in any form is unsafe, especially for adolescents, and Heather Wagner who focusses on the reasons youth may feel inclined to begin smoking, and also provides some reasons as to why no one – especially adolescence – should smoke. Altogether, each source came up with very similar points regarding adolescent and smoking, but one thing that was very consistent in each of the sources work was that adolescents smoking is very often influenced by peers and a want/need to feel excepted.

To begin, Park (2011) discusses the rise of and possible reasons for adolescent smoking. Park (2011) says that based off of surveys in 1994 in 2007, the smoking rate of adolescence in Korea increased from 21.2% in 1994 to 27.9% in 2007. She also notes that by gender, more males and females smoke with the smoking rate for males going from 30.5% to 33.5% and for females the rate going from 12.2% to 21.7%. Park (2011) points out however, that though the smoking rate for males is bigger than females, The smoking rate increased way more than males from 1994 to 2007. According to 1976 studies, 72% of high school students in New York State has experienced cigarette smoking. The source also pulled some information from a study that said 52.3% of Americans aged 8 to 17 years old has tried a cigarette before. Out of the 52.3%, 50.1% of that group has tried a cigarette before the age of 12. She also speaks on some risk factors of smoking which include family history. For this, she stated that the frequency of smoking rises when the adolescent is surrounded by smokers in the family. Parents especially can influence adolescence because parents are their kids’ main role models so the attitude the parent has about smoking may reflect off of the adolescent’s behaviour and influence them to smoke. This is especially true when the child has grown up in an environment where they’re constantly seeing smoking going on, because they could begin to think that it is okay to do. Companionship is another risk factor that Park (2011) brought up in her article. She said that if many of the adolescence friends are smoking, they may be more likely to participate as well. This case is more evident in students who joined a new friend group who smokes often or transfer schools where the smoking rate is high because they may feel they have to smoke in order to fit in and be excepted. The last risk factor that the source explains is personal characteristics. What this means is that everyone believes in different values, has different attitudes towards things, and a different surrounding environment. All these things can influence an adolescent’s perception of cigarettes which determines whether or not they take the first Drag. It can be noted that in this article, Park (2011) uses statistics from Korea which are not relevant if someone wanted to study only North American statistics. Another problem with this article is that all references and statistics used are prior to 2010 which is outdated and may not be as accurate now. However, the article as a whole is very informative packed with plenty of statistics that well represent the rise of adolescence smoking. A course connection from this article is behaviorism. One of the risk factors listed is the amount of people in the adolescent’s family or peer group that smoke. The explanation for why the adolescents might begin smoking is because if they’re constantly exposed to smoking at home, and then they go to school and their friends are doing it as well, the teen may adapt to it and begin doing it themselves because they have learned to smoke from seeing it all the time and they begin to think that it is okay. Another course connection from this article is cognitive psychology. A teen having their first cigarette sometimes depends on how the teen perceives cigarettes. If they think that they are bad, gross, unhealthy and associate it with other bad characteristics then they won’t try it, but if they think cigarettes are cool, glamorous, and not harmful, then that would lead them to try smoking. It all depends on how the adolescence perceives smoking which is what cognitive psychology is about.

The second source evaluated is by Bonino, Cattelina, and Ciairano (2005). Their main topic of discussion was about the relation of adolescent smoking and rites of passage. Some points that stood out included the fact that the actions involved with smoking contain a series of ritual behaviour types that include lighting another cigarette and passing around the lighter. The authors also point out that smoking around peers often emerges as a rite of passage and smoking is a socially excepted behaviour among adults so in the eyes of teens, mimicking this behaviour takes them from being a child to being more of an adult. Some other points made in this article about smoking cigarettes is that it is often explicitly requested by social groups in order to be accepted, making these types of behaviour actual rites of belonging. Looking even deeper than rites of passage, smoking seems to be a ritualized way to create relationships with in a group, which brings the members of the group closer. Some main functions of smoking include the anticipation of adulthood, by imitating the adult behaviour which in this case is smoking, rites of passage, and a bonding ritual. This article is different from the other three because it looks at a different perspective about adolescent smoking and brings up points that the other two articles did not. Although this article is very good at giving the reader a different perspective of why adolescence start smoking, it isn’t an article that would be beneficial to start your research with. Another thing to look at for this article is that these observations were all made in 2005, when smoking was at a higher rate, so now this may not be as true with other adolescents in today’s society. One last thing to know is that there is no factual support for these points made and it is more of an opinion, so it may not be very accurate. A course connection for this article is anticipatory socialization. Anticipatory socialization is concerned with teaching the individual how to plan ahead behaviour for new situations, and some teens smoke because of anticipation of adulthood, by imitating adult behavior.

“Youth and Tobacco Use” (2018) will be the third article evaluated in this literature review. This article talks about how tobacco or nicotine use in any form is unsafe, especially for adolescents. The points made in this article were that if people continue to smoke as much as they are now, then 5.6 million people under the age of 18 will die from a smoking-related illness. About 9 out of 10 of cigarette smokers had their first cigarette by the age of 18. Every day in the United States, over 3,200 adolescents aged 18 years or younger smoke for the first time, and an additional 2,100 young adults become habitual smokers. Some factors associated with youth smoking is social and physical environments. This is the way the media portrays tobacco use as a common and normal thing to do which can promote smoking among young people. Adolescents are also more likely to use tobacco if they see that tobacco use is common with their friends. Parental smoking can also promote smoking to their kids because if a kid grows up in an environment where their parents are always smoking, the kid could pick up that habit as well and think that it is okay since their parents do it. Another factor is biological and genetic aspects, there is proof that adolescents may be sensitive to nicotine and that teens can get addicted to nicotine quicker than adults, and genetic factors may make quitting smoking more difficult for teens, a mother’s smoking during pregnancy may increase the likelihood that her child will become a regular smoker. The last factor is mental health. There is a strong relationship between youth smoking and depression, anxiety, and stress. This may be because adolescents think that smoking can help them cope and forget about their issues, and then they become dependent on the tobacco to constantly make them feel better. Some social and environmental factors can be related to lower smoking levels among adolescents. Some examples are religious participation, racial or ethnic pride and strong racial identity, and higher academic achievement and hopes for the future. This article is very similar to the first article mentioned by Park (2011). Both of these articles talk about what may cause a teen to begin smoking in the first place, and both articles had the same points except this article mentioned one thing that Park (2011) did not. That was the fact that teens may begin smoking to cope with their mental issues. This article was very different from Bonino, Cattelina and Ciairano (2005) because this article talks more about all of the different risk factors for teens and smoking cigarettes while the other article really focuses in on rites of passage and smoking without mentioning any other reasons why a teen may begin to smoke. This article is very reliable, with 12 references from reputable websites. This source is also very plentiful in statistics which support the points well. A course connection that can be made with this article is classic conditioning. Before the adolescence starts smoking, the cigarette is just a neutral stimulus. In fact, the whole act of smoking is a neutral stimulus (taking the pack out, going outside and lighting up the cigarette). But once the adolescent becomes addicted, they associate getting out the lighter, and going outside with the rush of nicotine and dopamine that goes to the brain when they smoke a cigarette, which is the unconditioned stimulus. The act of smoking then becomes the conditioned stimulus, and the craving of the cigarette is the conditioned response.

The last article to be evaluated is by Wagner (2003). In this article, Wagner (2003) focusses on the reasons why youth may feel inclined to start smoking in the first place, and provides some reasoning as to why smoking is not a healthy act. The points that the author made in this article are that teens may begin smoking because it can be a way to show their independence, a way to communicate that no adult can make their decisions for them. It may be a way to rebel against adults and the rules. Teens may choose to smoke if they are influenced by advertisements, since marketing of cigarettes is intended to make it look like if you smoke, you’ll live a happier, more glamorous lifestyle. Teens can start smoking if a family member smokes. If you grow up in a house where one or both parents smoke, their patterns and behaviour may determine the decisions you make about whether you smoke. Teens with poor grades, low self esteem, that come from single parent families, that come from low income households, who have suffered abuse, and have grown up in a violent household are all more likely to smoke than their peers. The problem with teens who smoke is that they don’t know the risks and think that the negative affects of smoking will come in 40 or 50 years. They assume that they will be able to stop smoking before it can harm them in an way but in reality, they end up becoming addicted and not being able to quit smoking. There was a study done of adolescents who smoked over 100 cigarettes in their lifetime and most of the teens wanted to quit but were not able to because they were already addicted after just 100 cigarettes. Some reasons to quit not smoke in the first place include your health. Smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer, cancer of the mouth, bladder, throat, kidney, and pancreas. Teens who smoke say they have difficulty maintaining the same level of physical activity and endurance as they had before they began smoking. Your body’s development is another reason to not smoke. Smoking while you’re still growing and changing can affect your body’s growth. Smoking also affects the development of the lungs. You can become addicted because the younger you are when you start smoking, the more likely you are to become addicted to nicotine. The way it affects your looks. You may believe smoking makes you look more glamourous, but within a few years smoking seriously changes the way you look. It stains your teeth, can stain your fingertips, it causes premature wrinkling to your face, causes bad breath, and your hair and clothes will smell of stale tobacco smoke. This book is quite similar to Park (2011) and “Youth and Tobacco Use” (2018). These three articles are quite similar because all three of them discusses in depth the reasons why teenagers might engage in smoking at their age. One difference that this article has from the other two is that this not only discusses different risk factors, but also reasons why some youth don’t want to smoke. This article is quite different from Bonino, Cattelina and Ciairano (2005) since that article looks at rites of passage only while this article discusses some statistics, risk factors and reasons why youth shouldn’t smoke. Overall, this article is very detailed with a substantial amount of reliable sources, but one problem is that it is outdated, so many of the statistics are not accurate. However, this article makes up for it by offering information on risk factors and some reasons why not to smoke which are still very valid today. Discussing the parts of our subconscious mind known as the superego and the id is one way to connect this article to the course. The id involves our animalistic, selfish impulses. Smoking is an impulse that originates in the id because a smoker does it for the rush of nicotine to the brain that they get. Even though they know its not healthy for themselves and others around them, they still do it because they want to feel good from the does of nicotine they get.

To conclude, Park (2011), Bonino, Cattelina, and Ciairano (2005), “Youth and Tobacco Use” (2018), and Wagner (2003) all raise some great ideas about the relation of adolescents and smoking with peers and a want to feel accepted. In the future, something that would be interesting to research is if the rates of smoking in adolescence is going down, and if so, why is it going down and is their an alternative that adolescents are using to replace cigarettes? Overall, based off this secondary research, smoking is not beneficial in any way to adolescents, despite what they may think it is doing to their health. By coming up with more ways to prevent smoking and treat addictions maybe one day we could have a smoke free world.

Throughout the ever changing world, and the innovations of technologies substantially increasing, there is seen to be a direct correlation between that and the increase of personal responsibilties and social pressures. These pressures and responsiblities of the individual, in some cases can be too much to handle. More Specifically, with the change of society there are higher pressure on adolescents to succeed faster and earlier in life. Despite the positive connation with success, this societal view can result in negative effects, because of one universal standard. Present within the educational system there is seen to be one set of expectations one must reach in order to be successful in life; for example standardized testing. The entire department of education has adopted a uniform standard in which students need to pass in order to get a good subsequent life. The one imperative aspect of success that schools have been avoiding for years, is the different learning methods of individuals. “Education is not filling the mind with facts, yet training the mind to think.” -Albert Einstein. This quote illustrates the various truth that the point of schooling and education is teaching the mind to think and to train it to well adapt to the outside world. Suicide is the act in which one takes their own life, regardless of the means, there is only one ultimate conclusion, that person killed themself. Specifically for different cultures and groups, or even society as a whole, suicide is a substantially degrading factor for morale. Usually suicide is the result of low self esteem and self value, which reflects the relationship on a personal level within that society. More specifically, the actions and feelings of people individually, reflect the interactions and treaments of that soociety.One of the reasons why suicide is a significatant statistic is because of the standard the education system and society as a whole places on individuals that they need to meet a universal standard. Let alone do they meet it, some individuals cannot. Along with educational and occupational standards, society poses a big “regulation” in the lives of people as well.

Several Statistics

Throughout the twentyfirst centrury with 325.7 million inhabitants of the United States, it is estimated to be approximately 129 suicides per day. For a popular issue to be as staggering in its statistics as this is, there must be significant foundations causing it. Below are various reasons and causes of suicide, and the factors in which underlie.

Male v Females

From a recent study, AFSP states that, in 2017, men died by suicide 3.54 times more frequently than that of their female counterparts, and suicide deaths in 2017 as a whole, white males accounted for 77.97%. Roles as the breadwinners of the family, is the common stereotype for men. Generally speaking more often than not, males are held to a higher standard in terms of raising the family. Therefore, instilled at a young age, the male population experience a higher level of pressure and stress due to that preceeding fact. Men, statistically, are shown more incline to succesful financial job positions. According to, Dina Gerdeman from Harvard’s School of Business’ Working Knowledge; “Employers favor men not because they are prejudiced against women, but because they have the perception that men perform better on average at certain tasks.” As a result o this constant pressure for success, when men experience hardships within their occupation, or they are unable to attain employment, they resort to associating their personal setbacks with those respective setbacks in their workplace. Alas, suicide is a result to remedy this depressing period of their lives.

Wealthy vs. impoverished

One possible argument, and/or answer for this cause, is that there is seen to be a direct correlation between suicide and low income rates. A sample conducted by Mandi Woodruff, and examined in ‘Keeping Up With The Joneses’ Could Lead To Suicide, explains; “People who earned less than $34,000 were 50 percent more likely to commit suicide, and People who earned between $34,000 and $102,000 increased their risk for suicide by only 10 percent” (Woodruff, 2012). This research suggests that when people associate themselves with, ‘well-to-do’ people who’s net income is substantially above their own, those people try to ‘keep up’ with the elitists with whom they associate, therefore degrading their self esteem. Accordingly, the self fulfilling feeling one has is strongly associated with the necessity to attain employment, therefore unemployment is directly associated, or ‘labeled’, with depression and failure. When people are aware of this popular perspective and they, themselves are in that situation, it adds to the burden of self regret; “Unemployed people, in fact, are 72 percent more likely to commit suicide than people who are working. Retirees and people on leave from work also had higher suicide rates” (Woodruff, 2012). When people have a passion for employment and not for the sole purpose or ‘busy work’ they reach that state of self fulfillment and purpose. Therefore, if people consider themselves financially comfortable, they are ‘happy’.

Homosexual vs. Heterosexual community

With ever so changing social statuses and pressures, even though a familiar topic, the homosexual community is still rather new and different in terms of social acceptance. With that being said, many of the homosexual and LGBTQ communities label themselves as “targeted” or “harrassed” simply due to the fact that this is a position issue; politically speaking. Almost half of america is on board with the idea and acceptance of Homosexuality or transgenderism, and the respective other half is against it. According to Jeff Sheehy with the University of California, San Francisco’s Suicide Attempt Rate High Among Urban Gay Men, “twelve percent of urban gay and bisexual men have attempted suicide in their lifetime, a rate three times higher than the overall rate for American adult males” (Sheehy, 2002). This depicts the truth, that when people decide to nonconform to society, by acting despite the social standards, they are easily ostracized by the majority. Given that homosexuality is not a valence issue, therefore not accepted across the board, those individuals of that community are subject to mistreatment and harrassment.

Within this study, found was a bewildering trend. Among the age groups of suicide attempters within the community of gay and bisexual men, the rate has been shifted toward those of a younger age. For example, provided by Sheehy, “For most of those men who were at least 25 years old in 1970, the suicide attempt took place after they were 25 years old. For younger men, who did not reach 25 years old until after 1990, most of them made the suicide attempt before they turned 25 years old.” Even though this had shifted the scope of the age trend, the rate of suicide has remained constant.

Motives and desires of those who choose

Examined within the Harvard T.H. Chan School of of Public Health’s Means Matter, various surveys explained that those who have survived suicide attempts had confirmed that they had no intention nor thought of the lethality; however, they only wanted a quick remedy for their phsycological anguish. Accordingly the study provided; “Only 38% of the patients were accurate in their expectations regarding severity; 32% were inaccurate, and 29% did not know whether what they did was likely to be lethal.” Many of the people who attempt suicide do not give much thought into the means any further than mere ‘convienience.’ According to Means Matter, “A study of 33 people (mostly young men) who attempted suicide with a firearm and lived found that all used firearms obtained in their homes.” The most common reason behind the means is ‘availability.’ Described by the article, “A Houston study compared nearly-lethal suicide attempts with less-lethal attempts and found that expectation of dying, planning, impulsivity, and taking precautions against discovery were not associated with the medical severity of the attempt.”

Attituted of survived attempters

Nine out of ten people who attempt suicide and survive will not go on to die by suicide at a later date. This has been well-established in the suicidology literature. A literature review (Owens 2002) summarized 90 studies that have followed over time people who have made suicide attempts that resulted in medical care. Approximately 7% (range: 5-11%) of attempters eventually died by suicide, approximately 23% reattempted nonfatally, and 70% had no further attempts. Even studies that focused on medically serious attempts–such as people who jumped in front of a train (O’Donnell 1994)–and studies that followed attempters for many decades found similarly low suicide completion rates. At least one study, published after the 90-study review, found a slightly higher completion rate. This was a 37-year follow-up of self-poisoners in Finland that found an eventual completion rate of 13% (Suominen 2004). This relatively good long-term survival rate is consistent with the observation that suicidal crises are often short-lived, even if there may be underylying, more chronic risk factors present that give rise to these crises. Most people who die by suicide in the U.S. did not make a previous attempt. Prevention efforts that focus only on those who attempt suicide will miss the majority of completers. An international review of psychological autopsy studies found that approximately 40% of those dying by suicide had previously attempted (Cavanagh 2003). The proportion was lower (25-33%) among studies of youth suicide in the U.S. (Brent 1993, Shaffer 1996). A history of previous attempts is lower among those dying by firearm suicide and higher among those dying by overdose (NVISS data).

• Most people who attempt suicide will not go on to complete suicide.
• Still, history of suicide attempt is one of the strongest risk factors for suicide. 5% to 11% of hospital-treated attempters do go on to complete suicide, a far higher proportion than among the general public where annual suicide rates are about 1 in 10,000

Doctrine and Mandates

Regardless of incentive, there are laws in place regulating the actions of oneself in terms of suicide; whether it is acceptable or illegal. Even though suicide is a hot topic issue and a very senstive issue, a “gray area” there is a pretty universal perspective on the issue of suicide, and that is that it is very serious and should be attempted to be prevented.

State

*Attempted suicide, if caught, is illlegal and the attempter is arrestable in all 50 states. Even though the issue of suicide is a hot topic and sticky situation issue, state and federal law have no specific mandate on it. Even though there are not rules specifically regulating suicide, and claiming it as negative, there are some adverse laws regulating and imposing the awareness and prevention.

There are a variety of laws that pertain to youth suicide prevention. One law requires schools to educate students about suicide prevention using health curriculum. A different state law insulates all public and private school district employees and volunteers from civil liability for their acts and omissions when trying to intervene in a student’s suicide. The legislature found it so important that adults take action when a student is suicidal, that they insulated those adults from civil liability for their efforts with suicidal students. Staff members and volunteers should feel safe in doing their best to identify and help suicidal students.

In order to prevent suicide, schools must be able to detect and locate the root of that problem. As previously stated, bullying is a very significant factor in suicide rates among adolescents. If there can be a prevention in bullying, there can be a reduction, significantly, in suicide. Accordingly many states, including texas, have required administrators in the educational industry to remedy bullying and harassment if detected: Texas Education Code – Staff Development School district staff development is authorized to include certain training, including training in preventing, identifying, responding to, and reporting incidents of bullying.

Liturgical

Given that christianity, more specifically Catholicism, is the largest religion in the United States, the Church has some distinctive perspectives and mandates regarding suicide. The principle value of Christianity is the respect of life and the mission of love.

Following are some doctrine, from the CCC; “Everyone is responsible for his life before God who has given it to him. It is God who remains the sovereign Master of life. We are obliged to accept life gratefully and preserve it for his honor and the salvation of our souls. We are stewards, not owners, of the life God has entrusted to us. It is not ours to dispose of” (CCC 2280). Seeing that God is the creator of heaven and earth, God is also the creator of life. According to the sole mission of God, love, the ultimate gift of that love is life. Accordingly within the Catechism, “Suicide contradicts the natural inclination of the human being to preserve and perpetuate his life. It is gravely contrary to the just love of self. It likewise offends love of neighbor because it unjustly breaks the ties of solidarity with family, nation, and other human societies to which we continue to have obligations. Suicide is contrary to love for the living God” (CCC 2281). This explains that suicide is an act completely against the mission and fundamentals of human love. “If suicide is committed with the intention of setting an example, especially to the young, it also takes on the gravity of scandal. Voluntary co-operation in suicide is contrary to the moral law. Grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship, suffering, or torture can diminish the responsibility of the one committing suicide” (CCC 2282). Even though, suicide is a grave sin and offense against the principle of love, with God’s omnipotence, He is the only judge and can determine the desires and personal wills of each of us at the time of death.Peter Kreeft, uses further ellaboration on the issue along with clarification of catholic doctrine within his book entitled: Catholic Christianity. “..Thus the fundamental question about the morality of human life is a question about fact, about truth. What ought to be depends on what is. If I am in fact God’s Creature, then the answer to the question “whose life is it, anyway?” is that it is God’s. My life is his gift. Suicide is a sin not only against God but also against self. “Suicide…is gravely contrary to the just love of self” (CCC 2281). We are commanded to love our neighbor as ourselves; this logically entails loving ourselves as our neighbor. Killing oneself is murder just as killing another is. “It likewise offends love of neighbor because it unjustly breaks the ties of solidarity with family. …… and other human societies to which we continue to have obligations” (CCC 2281). It is not a victimless crime. It horribly scars the souls of all who love the one who does it. However, “[w]e should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives. By ways known to him alone, God can provide the oppurtunity for salutary repentance” (CCC 2283) – perhaps at the very moment of death.

Regardless of a religious affiliation every person can agree the act of suicide is wrong despite the foundational motives. It may be as the result of a neurological “chemical imbalance” however, the majority of suicides are the result of an untreated extreme depression. Each person, with regard to maintaining homeostasis, both physically and phsycologically, have that element of response to stimulus. Depending on the stimuli and the individual, that response varies. With regard to social pressure and questioning self esteem, depression is a common response to that stimulus. Life is a circle, and a respective balance. Therefore, everyone who is living, has a purpose, and mission to benefit society. Life is a lake and each person ads to lake in terms of a ripple effect, and if society continues to lax the real truth about suicide, each case will efect society. Opposed to enforcing laws and labeling them as potential threats, we must help them.

Even though there are some suicides as a result of unpreventable neurological diseases, the majority of suicides are the result of some harassment or an a pressure placed on the individual that they cannot handle. The underlying problem within society is not the question of suicide, it is human interaction. Even though suicide is a grave offense against the virtue of love, it can be prevented by positive interaction with each human. Bullying is a common factor of many hate crimes and fatal actions of society, mass shootings, murders and even suicide.

References

1. Kreeft, P. J. (2001). Catholic Christianity: A Complete Catechism of Catholic Beliefs based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church. San Francisco CA. Ignatius Press.
2. Sheehy, J. (2002). UCSF News Center. Retrieved from https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2002/08/4835/suicide-attempt-rate-high-among-urban-gay-men-ucsf-study-finds
3. Suicide Statistics. (2017). Retrieved from https://afsp.org/about-suicide/suicide-statistics/
4. U.S. Public Health Service. (1999). Violence Prevention. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/suicide/riskprotectivefactors.html
5. Smischney, T. M., Francisco, A. C. & Villarruel A. (January, 2014). Adolescent Suicide [PDF]. Retrieved from https://reachfamilies.umn.edu/sites/default/files/rdoc/Adolescent%20Suicide.pdf
6. Cash, S. J., Ph.D. & Bridge J. A. (October, 2009). Epidemiology of Youth Suicide and Suicidal Behavior. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2885157/
7. Waimberg, J. (october, 2015). Constitution Daily. Retrieved from https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/does-the-constitution-protect-a-right-to-die/
8. https://dpi.wi.gov/sspw/mental-health/youth-suicide-prevention/laws
9. https://afsp.org/about-suicide/suicide-statistics/
10. https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/why-employers-favor-men
11. https://www.businessinsider.com/link-between-wealth-and-suicide-rates-san-francisco-federal-reserve-2012-11

Teen smoking is not okay and it is not healthy. There is some scientific results that it doesn’t relieve stress, it just becomes addictive due to the harsh chemicals that are in it.

It’s scientifically proven even, that preventing teen smoking will save those 1300 deaths that happen each day. Nicotine is a chemical that becomes addictive, and can cause someone to get high and kills brain cells. Teens shouldn’t be getting high and smoking anything. Once a person smokes anything, the chemicals in the product are going to become addictive. Most of the time what starts this addiction is wanting “to look cool” or wanting “to fit in.” The tobacco can cause lung cancer at a very young age. Dying before you’ve lived life to the fullest, is not a good way to look just to look cool. This isn’t an opinion it’s just a fact, but it’s not worth going through all that pain. Just smoking to look cool and fit in, and then get deathly sick is not worth it, and the majority of people don’t enjoy it. Dying at a young age isn’t worth looking cool, because it’s not going to end happy. Just attempting to come out as “cool” and smoke as a teen can’t and is not something to be proud of, to look fun and trying to fit in isn’t worth dying at a very young age or getting some disease that could kill you when you’re not expecting it.

Teen smoking can cause damage and fatal diseases all for the reason of wanting to have fun. Smoking at a young age can cause damage to the brain and heart, from the chemicals and tobacco. It can destroy mental health, and taking advantage of losing that takes a lot for just wanting to please someone. All that is just going to cause a person to become unhappy because someone is going to be sick all the time, and that has been proven. Is it really worth having health problems like getting Pneumonia or Emphysema. Risking your life for a cigarette or a vape, it’s honestly not worth doing to yourself. Is it really worth having bad breath? It’s going to come to a point where someone can get gum diseases, and teeth will get yellow and start rotting. Not a personal opinion, but as an honest fact nobody wants to have the sight of seeing a teens teeth already rotting at a young age and same for gum diseases. All in all, causing damage to your body can do more than you think, mentally, socially, and physically; also diseases that can kill when not expecting it is very serious and should be taken into precaution for teens.

On the other hand, some people say teens smoking is fine and there’s nothing wrong with it. Their parents either don’t know that they’re teens are doing it, or they don’t care because they think everyone is doing the “trend.” Also lots of people think that it’s alright to smoke and that it won’t do much to your body. They don’t realize how much it actually hurts people’s body. That’s not true, smoking is not healthy and can do so many bad things to your body, that you wouldn’t even expect. Many teens don’t realize how bad their bodies can get damaged due to smoking. Just to sum up everything teen smoking is not ok, it’s going to bring an increase in more deaths.

All in all, teen smoking and banning would be good idea, there should be a certain age to be able to buy those products. As said before smoking kills brain cells and is killing many each and every day. Also smoking as a teen can cause damage to practically the whole body, and can cause multiple disease that can kill someone very easily. Just to conclude everything teens just want to look cool, little do they know that the majority of people don’t want to be around people who smoke or vape.

Michael A. Pizzi, Kerryellen Vroman 2013 April did their study on Childhood Obesity to find if obesity had caused impact to children’s participation, psychosocial and mental wellbeing. Their study aimed and investigated the psychosocial issues due to obesity, the variant sequelae of psychosocial factors have been revealed with childhood obesity which includes the children being targeted and marginalized and being discriminated on weight bias and that these children deserve same opportunities for participation. Children who are bullied, teased often undergo depression and low self-esteem Occupational therapists view the issues from all perspective and use a model of practice that defines the relation between occupational performance and individual’s personal system to remove all that obstructs healthy psychosocial development.

Canadian association of occupational therapy in obesity and healthy occupation (2015) was done regarding obesity which being one of the chronic disease is treated with lifestyle modification, pharmacotherapy, and surgery. Occupational therapist are, as in other areas of chronic disease prevention and management, key members of the healthcare team for persons with obesity. It does not need a new skill for them to meet the needs of obesity, rather Occupational therapist must be informed about obesity, treatment and participation experiences to determine, clarify and advocate for the application of occupational therapy in the area of obesity prevention, treatment and management. Everyday life’s occupation provides good health and wellness for all population. Occupational therapy thus having role in helping people individually, in groups and communities to participate in occupation that has positive impact on their health.

Salles-Jordan, Katie, OTD, OTR 2007, in her position paper on obesity and occupational therapy pointed out the importance of occupational therapy interventions in childhood obesity, explained the role of occupational therapists in addressing the impact of obesity on people’s ability to engage in daily activities. Interventions not only facilitate weight loss but also enable clients to make changes to performance in multiple areas of life, including incorporating appropriate productive and social activity as well as physical activity, to address obesity, thus improving health outcomes and maintaining long-term wellness. Through their knowledge of psychosocial, physical, environmental, and spiritual factors, as well as cultural traditions and perspectives that influence performance, occupational therapy practitioners help consumers develop and implement an individualized, structured approach for lifestyle change.

Alan J. Zametkin, M.D., Christine K. Zoon, B.S., Hannah W. Klein, B.S., and Suzanne Munson, B.A. conducted research on psychiatric aspects of child and adolescent obesity and highlight information in prevention, diagnosis and treatment. Health care professionals must take into account goals that provide with significant health benefits. The most effective treatments involves that the parental involvement in taking care of the child’s health. Mental health professionals must aid in developing the obese children and adolescents in building self-esteem to help them live their life without concern on the weight

Gregory John Jarvie, Benjamin Lahey, William Graziano and Edwards Frame

In his study on childhood obesity and social stigma reviewed the evidence for social stigma associated with body image in childhood in obesity. A relation between facial attractiveness, body image, and situation context and obesity stage was examined and discussed. It also aimed to investigate evidence for inter-relation between physical appearances involving the body and face and social growth. It was said that unattractiveness seemed to be influencing a child’s social interaction resulting from the way he/she is treated, though unattractive child has equal skills as that of attractive children they are not recognized. Thus the obese children assume that they look to themselves with handicap even when others don’t look at them that way.

Praween Agarwal, Kamala Gupta, Vinod Mishra and sutapa Gupta in 2015 did study to explain the psychosocial factors among obese, overweight morbidity in women from Delhi, where they have interviewed women of age 20-54 years who were selected from the national family health survey samples 1998-1999 a re-interview had been done after four years 2003, day to day issues were collected, not satisfied with body image and sexual needs, discrimination and stigma. They had found that psychosocial & behavior issues were found to be highly present which lead to anxiety, depression and low self-esteem.

Blanchard in 2006 in his study to determine the interrelation between obesity and age, education and socioeconomic status and depression and obesity in African- American. Information were collected by a direct interview for American health survey. Higher rates of obesity along with depression were found.

Mary A Forhan, Mary C Law, Brenda H. Vrkljan et al in 2014 in their study described that obesity had a great impact of quality of life in regard to their health, but was unclear on influence of participation in different occupation. This study explains the class 3 obesity and its impact on daily living occupation. Adults who were undergoing treatment for obesity were interviewed.

Datas were collected in descriptive methods where the people participating were scored under tensions, barriers and coping strategies in different occupations. Participation in different daily living occupations were described the level and quality of occupations were affected by barriers perceived in the surrounding environment. Participation was greatly affected for these class3 obesity individuals. The treatment in providing a meaningful participation in life’s everyday activities for obesity must involve adaptations of the surrounding environment.

OBESITY AND SOCIAL PARTICIPATION

Ketteridge and Boshoff in 2008 did a study to evaluate the participation of adolescents in physical activity and their perception for participation and the strategies that encourage the involvement. Using three focus group a interpretive design was formed in which a cross sectional study has been done. The reasons were found to be the benefits in areas like physical health, emotional, psychological and self-development. The factors that encouraged the participation were fun and interesting where they could have their own choices and not of the competitive type. The adolescents who participated were from private schools. Reduced results were found from adolescents who were less active.

Impact of obesity not only affected the individuals directly but also indirectly by job absenteeism (Bungum et al., 2003). Obesity indirectly reduced education and employment services (Puhl & Brownell, 2001); reduced access of the available healthcare and wellness services provided for everyone (Wallis, 2004); due to portrayals in television regarding obesity in which the obese women were less attractive and preferred by everyone which lead to the limited social participation (Greenberg, Eastin, Hofschire, Lachlan, & Brownell, 2003; Moloney, 2000).these ill effects and consequences causes a great deal of damage to their participation throughout their entire life, reducing their interest and performance in their desired activities.

OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY IN OBESITY

Kristi Haracz, I Susan Ryan, I Michael Hazelton et al in 2013 did a study to describe that obesity is health concern globally. It usually lead to lower physical & mental health along with wellness and hindrances in performing occupation. The interrelation among health and wellness with occupation, where an occupational therapist can describe the causative factors and its consequences of obesity.

This study with evidence based support described the function of occupational therapy in obesity. It comprises of eight theoretical bases of which two qualitative studies and twelve quantitative studies. Occupational therapy treatment plans were based on certain categories such as in preventing issues and promoting health, increasing the participation in physical activities, changing the dietary patterns and decreasing the effects of obesity. The interventional categories were identified as evaluation, environmental modifications, health educating and adapting occupations according to needs. However studies were needed to provide a strong evidence base for practice of occupational therapy.

Position paper in occupational therapy published a paper to explain people working in profession other than occupational therapist how obesity impacts a individual from performing their everyday events of life. For the individuals with obesity occupational therapist evaluates and considers all the needs of the individual and sets goals and works on implanting them, they also works with individuals in designing the intervention plan according their interests and needs in areas affected due to obesity Occupational therapy programs put to action the personal preferences of client, their medical regimen a plan a intervention. Occupational therapy also does community program by changing their lifestyles and through education programs, introducing new healthy routines and habits, recommendation of certain modifications at home to reduce laziness and adaptive equipment to improve the effort in occupations, retraining ADL and IADL, good wellbeing program for adolescents and children, play and education program in schools regarding healthy lifestyle and social participation.

David Eitle and Tamela Mcnulty Eitle in 2018 in their study examined the relation between obesity and weapon carrying in school, where adolescents for protecting themselves from the bullying and teasing carry weapons. In these Males were found to be more involved to represent a measure to victimization, there was link between obesity and carrying weapons to school to harm those persons who tried victimizing the obese individuals, there need to be antigang to protect these obese individuals from being victimized.

Karthik kumar .B, Prasad H.K in 2015 in their research in adolescent obesity quoted that adolescent obesity is most common problem faced. Though these children should be screened for risk factors, a relative investigation should be done for endocrine and polycystic ovary. Treatment for obesity should be in way as investigation must be done less compared to medication and medication to be precede by surgery. Hence a combined therapy with healthy diet, physical activity and modification in environment is needed for a better outcome.

Levels of the USA accounted for 13% of obese people world wide in 2013, with china and india jointly accounting for another15%. Although age-standardized rates

Laurel Mellin in 1988 did study to find that the social relations were responsible for the development of obesity by the behavior and environment situations. Very little researches were done to prove the social context involved in obesity which can used to form intervention. The social network play a major role in intervention where the network of friends, family and community may be made known about an issue which is ignored by everyone and they can be encouraged to follow a sets of practice for all to follow in order to prevent obesity beforehand which can provoke a change in behavioral practice and make a great impact in the prevention and treatment of obesity. When new intervention model is formed this can be taken into consideration for the better results.

Laura Zettel-Watson, Michael Brittonstigma did their study to find the social interaction in obesity of the obese population of which the younger ones are more involved. Researches are being done that the social interaction affected in these younger population was affected when they grow into adults, data were collected by interview from population age of 60-93. Results were found that not much of the obese population were not affected in their social interaction proving when the factors of health level, self-esteem increases, age were controlled. Higher BMI in older adults did not create a bigger impact on the participation since they have learned to accept that obesity cannot be a reason to stigmatization for social participation.

Judy A Andrews Sarah E. Hampson, Missy Peterson, Susan C. Duncan, in their study to find the impact that children who did not do physical activity had on children who had a good social image due to physical activity of prolonged fitness and better growth, where a number 846 samples were selected out of which the 50% being female from different race, ethnicity or mixed type. An examination was done using the latent growth model showing on the impact that social image by early physical activity on obesity. Results showed that individuals who did physical activity in initial stage a had good social image about it had better results but they that stopped it over time were predicted for obesity. Thus concluding that a social image of physical activity from the early stage will have greater performance levels.

Flector Lu, lemonade did a study in creating the devices that could facilitate in performing physical activity using the current trends of social networking to improve fitness. The study was done on adolescents aged 14-15 with experimental group consisting of 20 subjects who were using the fitness device and control group consisting of 15 subjects did not use the fitness device. Primarily they tried changing the attitude of the target group regarding the fitness, and then the benefits from the devices used for fitness was studied, finally if the social device could actually improve the body fitness and attitude. This device consisted of thirteen exercise which the person can perform alone or with his friends, this devices records the performance and progress which they can share and motivate others and themselves be motivated. Results showed improvement in physical fitness and attitude towards fitness by the use of the fitness device.

Sema Sal Altan, Murat Bektas did their study to determine if adolescent obesity is effected by the way the parent feeding and social anxiety. As part of their cross sectional analysis samples were collected from secondary school adolescents from turkey numbering 649 samples, schools were selected from both rural and urban society. Information was collected based on the parent-child data of socio-demographics form. Individual assessment on the anxiety levels, self-efficacy and parent feeding style. Results showed in obese adolescent males that they feared places, relationships, in healthcare prevention effectiveness and dietary consumption and in obese female adolescents feared the same outer environment, healthcare prevention effectiveness, socio-emotional, anxiety in unknown places and strict diet consumption. This proved that the feeding styles by parent, social anxiety and feeding styles by parent greatly impact on the obesity.

Adolescents, generally considered ages 11-21, all over America are exposed to drugs. It is not just a problem in the inner cities or urban areas. Adolescents in the US use illicit drugs (but not alcohol) more than adolescents in Europe. Teens do drugs for reasons including; to relieve boredom, satisfy their curiosity, self medicate depression and anxiety, to feel adult, for social acceptance, to improve their mood, to increase performance, succumbing to peer pressure. However, many adolescents reject alcohol and drug use despite apparent availability. The factors that seem to affect adolescent motivation to avoid alcohol and drug use include; positive adult role models, good relationship with parents, no experience of loss, separation or trauma in childhood, high self esteem, desire to do well in school, negative feelings about the use of alcohol or drugs, risk avoidance personality, above-average family income, living in a community that offers youth activities where drugs and alcohol are not tolerated, active in faith-based organizations where alcohol and drugs are rejected, attending schools with effective drug education programs.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse funds a project that studies changes in the behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs of American young people regarding substance use. This resource is known as the Monitoring the Future project. Over 50,000 students from 420 schools take part in the annual survey from eighth grade through twelfth. Monitoring the Future project statistics from 2017 show that over 50% of high school seniors have used an illicit drug or an inhalant at least once in their lifetime 37% of 10th graders, and over 23% of 8th graders have experimented with an illegal drug or inhalant.

While many adults, most of whom are parents, feel that experimentation is a normal part of growing up, and some parents did it themselves as adolescents, some things have changed since they were youths. The drugs have changed. A generation ago, some drugs; ketamine, MDMA were not widely available, and some drugs; spice, bath salts, etc. did not exist, while the most common drug used by adolescents, marijuana, is much more potent than it was a generation ago. (The National Institute on Drug Abuse says the potency of marijuana has been steadily increasing over the past few decades, but a level of 20 or 30 percent THC is even greater than the institute has reported in the past. As of 2012, it said marijuana confiscated by police agencies nationwide had an average THC concentration of about 15 percent.)

A generation ago addiction was not considered a medical condition. Today it is scientifically accepted that it is a disease of the brain with identifiable symptoms; however, it is not known why some can engage in drug use and not become addicted, and some become addicted. Research suggests that genetic factors predispose specific individuals, which explains why a family history of addiction to drugs or alcohol, leads to increased risk. Childhood trauma; neglect, physical and emotional abandonment, sexual, physical, and psychological abuse alters the brain chemistry of children, making them more at risk of addiction.

We now know more about how substance abuse physically changes the brain. Most importantly, we know the brain continues to develop until the early 20s. This means young people are at greater risk of the damage caused by drugs and alcohol, and the younger the person is, the more profound that damage can be. It should be a priority social policy to reduce adolescent drug and alcohol use. To develop effective drug education programs, it’s important to understand the teen motivation to use or not use drugs or alcohol.

In 1982, First Lady Nancy Reagan uttered three words that became a clarion call for the adolescent drug prevention movement; “Just Say No”. (Lillenfeld, S. and Arkowitz, H. (2014). Why Just Say No Doesn’t Work, scientificamerican.com). The drug education programs that were developed subsequently, centered around that phrase, have largely proved to be ineffective. Effective drug education programs are among the motivations previously listed (paragraph one) as contributing to adolescents rejecting drug use.

The first program that was based on Just Say No was the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program (DARE). From 1983 through today DARE is in schools across the country. A uniformed law enforcement officer goes to schools and teaches pre-adolescents through high school about the dangers of drug and alcohol use. It is currently in 75% of US school districts. A meta-analysis in 2009 revealed that students enrolled in the program were just as likely to use drugs as those that were not. (Lillenfeld) Two problems have been identified with the program. One was a lack of student participation in role-playing how to handle situations where drugs or alcohol are available or offered. Instructing students to “Just Say No” hasn’t produced the desired results because adolescents often lack the interpersonal social skills to be able to refuse drugs when offered by peers. Another was that the program lasts months and studies indicate that effective programs have to continue over a period of years. Additionally, the course has been shown to backfire when it comes to alcohol and tobacco because, according to researchers Werch and Owen from the University of North Florida, instructors teach that the effect of these substances (which are legal for adults) are innocuous compared to other substances. (Lillenfeld).

Other studies on why drug programs fail to motivate adolescents to resist drugs and alcohol conclude that one of the reasons that affect DARE and other programs, is scaremongering doesn’t work. “honesty is the best policy. Exaggerating the detrimental health effects of drugs like marijuana contributed to discrediting programs. Even changed the curriculum in 2001 a “fact sheet” claimed marijuana has no medical value, weakens the immune system, and causes insanity and lung disease-claims that are widely refuted by health experts” (Lopez, G. (2014) Why anti-drug campaigns like DARE fail, vox.com)

The same studies find that what is effective is linking abstinence to being independent and autonomous. Adolescents want to be thought of as adult and independent. Colorado, which has legalized adult use of recreational marijuana, is spending a portion of the tax revenue from the legal sales on an anti-marijuana use program for adolescents. It’s called “Don’t be a Lab Rat” and it is trying to convey the potential risks to youth without crossing the line into hyperbole. The basis of the program is that the effects on developing brains are not yet fully known and that adolescents that use marijuana are essentially offering themselves as “lab rats” to scientists who want to measure the drug’s effects on the teen brain. (Lopez) This approach has earned mixed reviews, and it’s too early to know if it will be effective.

A small study in 2001 considered the role that cultural values play in adolescent motivation to abstain from drug or alcohol use. The study focused mostly on marijuana and alcohol. Subjects were divided into two groups, those identified as African American and those identified as European American. Neither group identified alcohol as a drug. Both AA and EA subjects reported that the most common motivation for the use of marijuana was social needs; to fit in, to be popular, acquire friends, gain attention, and secondarily for enjoyment, liking the feeling of being high. Only the EA youth reported additional reasons of boredom, curiosity, problem-solving. The motivation to reject marijuana use fell along ethnic lines. EA subjects reported that they didn’t use the drug because of social self-concepts. “They discussed different attitudes, low self-esteem, becoming a totally different person, getting knocked around, not being a good person to be around, and isolation from others as motivations for staying away from drugs. Conversely, only AA adolescents described both physical and psychosocial threats that originated from parents or drug resistance programs/ advertisement, such s messing up the brain, making the kidneys hard, making lungs black, making others smell bad, making people go crazy, making people get sick, hurting people, getting people into trouble, making people fight and making people do many other “stupid things”. Descriptions that seemed to fit into the “end Results” category (again only mentioned by AA youth) included not being able to find a job, getting into trouble, going to jail, and dying” (Barnett, J. Miller, M. (2001) Adolescents’ Reported Motivations to Use or Not to Use Alcohol or Other Drugs, socialstudies.org)

Adolescents use or abstinence from drugs, and alcohol is strongly affected by the positive or negative influence of peers. “Research around the effect of peers on adolescent drug use and recovery suggests at least two different ways that peers influence one another. Peer contagion theory and iatrogenesis suggest that grouping high risk youth together could lead to a higher risk for drug use or relapse after initial cessation of use.” (Peabody, J. (2014). Positive Peer Support or Negative Peer Influence? The Role of Peers Among Adolescents in Recovery High Schools. NCIB)

Studies support the idea that having non using peers is predictive of sobriety among adolescents that used drugs or are in recovery from addiction. While some programs are based on adolescents in recovery supporting each other studies, have found that having a high-risk individual in the program can undermine the recovery of others. This is more of a danger with adolescents than adults in recovery. The study found that adolescents that relapse sometimes cause others to relapse. (Peabody)

Studies have shown that peers have more influence on adolescents than parents as a general rule. Adolescents and even young adults usually have a need to fit in and feel part of a group. Handling peer pressure is not difficult if the adolescent is surrounded by those with similar values. Late adolescence (18-21) is a time when many leave home and attend college and those that don’t move out of their parent’s homes and set off on their own life. It is a time when they have more freedom and less supervision. (Regents of the University of California, (2019) How to Handle Peer Pressure, ucsc.edu)

There can be overt peer pressure such as friends telling you what to do or indirect peer pressure like seeing peers do shots at a party and being curious to try alcohol. It’s important for adolescents to reflect on their values and try to avoid situations that they feel test their boundaries.

According to the Monitoring the Future study of 2015, carried out by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institutes of Health almost every fourth college student had used an illegal drug in the past month. While heavy drinking is common in college, recent trends show a decline of alcohol use, and marijuana use increasing, especially in states where it is available for medical or recreational use legally. College students in the late adolescence age group are motivated by self-medication, taking drugs to relieve anxiety, and the desire to enhance performance as well as social acceptance factors such as peer pressure. “The use of non prescribed stimulants (NPSU) include Adderall, Ritalin mostly for college students have found NPSU to correlate with instrumental motives and productivity-related demands” (Leon, K. (2017) To Study, to Party, or Both? Assessing Risk Factors for Non-Prescribed Stimulant Use among Middle and High School Students, Journal of Psychoactive Drugs

It was surprising to me to learn that some adolescents that would generally not be considered high risk of drug use are engaging in the use of non-prescribed stimulants. “there is growing concern over increasing rates of illicit prescription drug use among college students. Using semi-structured interviews with 22 college students who misused prescription stimulants, we find that they draw on conventional middle-class beliefs (e.g., success and moderation) to make sense of their drug use. They do this by creating identities as people who are focused on success and use stimulants only as a tool to perform their best. They use excuses and justifications rooted in middle-class values to create symbolic boundaries between themselves (as legitimate users) and others (as hedonistic users). This allows them to persist with their illegal behaviors while maintaining an identity as conventional citizens.” (Kerley, K. Copes, H (2014) Middle-class Motives for Non-Medical Prescription Stimulant Use Among College Students, Taylor and Francis Online)

Understanding the motivations to use or not use alcohol or drugs among adolescents is important if we want to develop programs and strategies to increase abstinence among those in this age group.With the risk of addiction and the fact that adolescent brains are still developing we should be trying to curb the use of alcohol and drugs among adolescents.

References

1. Barnett, J. Miller, M. (2001) Adolescents’ Reported Motivations to Use or Not to Use Alcohol or Other Drugs, socialstudies.
2. http://web.a.ebscohost.com.db07.linccweb.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=18&sid=7bd8b424-c203-46f3-839d-7e142d2ecb56%40sessionmgr4006
3. Kerley, K. Copes, H (2014) Middle-class Motives for Non-Medical Prescription Stimulant Use Among College Students, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01639625.2014.951573
4. Leon, K. (2017) To Study, to Party, or Both? Assessing Risk Factors for Non-Prescribed Stimulant Use among Middle and High School Students, http://web.b.ebscohost.com.db07.linccweb.org/ehost/detail/detail?vid=2&sid=e59e47f0-27b2-4f22-91fb-b5078f298ca9%40pdc-v-sessmgr03&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=121270006&db=a9h
5. Lillenfeld, S. and Arkowitz, H. (2014). Why Just Say No Doesn’t Work, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-just-say-no-doesnt-work/
6. Lopez, G. (2014) Why anti-drug campaigns like DARE fail, www.vox https://www.vox.com/2014/9/1/5998571/why-anti-drug-campaigns-like-dare-fail?fbclid=IwAR3kTAEAbuaad0E9-1jtjeafV5FMlc0xZUR8FgOtpKrlOZHvUXYIEU428k8
7. Peabody, J. (2014) Positive Peer Support or Negative Peer Influence? The Role of Peers aong Adolescents in Recovery High Schools. Www.ncbi.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc401940

Synthetic Opioids

Synthetic opioids exist as fentanyl-adulterated or fentanyl substituted heroin (FASH). Synthetic opioids are sold as heroin put into powdered form, counterfeit opioids, or benzodiazepine pills. The ingredient fentanyl is a chemical of analogs which comes in several morphine-equivalent in strengths. The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has found that the primary supplier of illicitly produced fentanyl’s come from China. “Fentanyls sourced from China take several routes on their way into the US including internet purchases, routing through Canada (typically pill form), or through Mexico in powder or pill forms” (Ciccarone, 2019). These illicit drugs cause fentanyl seizures and synthetic opioids overdose. The most affected region overflowing with synthetic opioid is the Mid-Atlantic and the Midwest. Overall, this illegal drug can be injected and causes several concerns in blood-borne viruses such as hepatitis C and HIV.

Prevention and Interventions

Social workers will start helping the youth because the period between being a child and a young adult is where individuals are being exposed to illicit drugs that are likely to use drugs. “Ideally, preventive interventions should stop young people from starting drug use, but they can also delay initiation of drug use and prevent young people from becoming regular and dependent drug users” (Strang, 2012). Prevention strategies in venues are useful at schools, media, community, health care facilities, and at other establishments. Interventions done by social workers to spread awareness of the effects of drugs are environmental interventions, psychosocial developmental interventions, and educational interventions. The US government officials have joined forces with public safety and public health, with the help of the criminal justice system they have a significant amount of data with drug samples in their crime labs. Even police officers do their part in the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program, coming into classrooms and giving advice about the dangers of using drugs. Social worker’s relations with the public health uses approaches by “planning and intervening at the five levels of prevention: health promotion, specific protections, early diagnosis and prompt treatment, limitation of disability, and rehabilitation” (Social Work Perspective, 2013). As for the suppliers, intervention for this particular situation is drug surveillances. Nevertheless, concentrate on long-range strategies, systems change, regulation, and policy.

Conclusion

In closing, individuals using illegal drugs would surely have negative consequences to their health. An effective policy can change the negativity done to communities by decreasing crimes, improving the quality of life for families and neighborhood, stability, and public health. Unfortunately, there will people getting rich off illegal drugs distributed from illegal markets. But if supply control programmers work successfully on obstructing drug supplier’s location, there would slowly change the supply flow decreasing it. This includes stopping the flow of a dangerous chemical used in drugs known as fentanyl. Many people had seizures and overdosed from the illegal drug. Social workers can help spread the word about the dangers of illegal drugs by speaking in venues at schools, the community, media, healthcare facilities, and other establishments. Furthermore, the US government officials joined together with public safety, public health, and the criminal justice system they can draw out illegal drugs with data from crime labs.

Introduction:

Sleep is vital for the human body to function but due to the stressful and busy life of adolescence sleep is often overlooked. Those aged between 14 and 17 years require approximately 8 to 10 hours of sleep per night. The statistics for sleep in teenagers is extremely shocking, all finding that most don’t meet the required sleep per night, in fact “one study found that only 15% reported sleeping 8 1/2 hours on school nights” (Sleepfoundation.org, n.d.). Along with lack of sleep, many adolescents may also suffer from irregular sleep across the week, “which can affect their biological clocks and hurt the quality of their sleep” (Sleepfoundation.org, n.d.).

Sleep deprivation is a serious issue that can have detrimental effects on an individuals health. For example, “sleep deprivation can cause impairments in short and long term memory, decision making, attention, and reaction time” (Headspace, n.d.). There are many ways to improve sleep quality, these include, but are not limited to meditation, reducing blue light, limiting caffeine, sleeping and waking at constant times, exercising regularly and setting a bedroom temperature (Mawer, 2018). In this study, the intervention of meditation for improved sleeping will be tested and analysed. The subject for this study is a 16-year-old student that currently struggles with restless sleep and sleeplessness. “The deep relaxation technique has been shown to increase sleep time, improve sleep quality, and make it easier to fall (and stay) asleep” (Sleepfuondation.org, n.d.). Not only can meditation improve your sleep quality, but “can help ease many stress-related ailments, including depression, pain, and high blood pressure” (Corliss, 2019). Meditation works by lowering “the heart rate by igniting the parasympathetic nervous system and encouraging slower breathing, thereby increasing the prospect of a quality night’s sleep” (Headspace, n.d.). Method:

This study was conducted by using the IOS application Smiling Mind. The subject executed the same meditation episode, Oceans, from the Sleep for Teens program, specifically designed “to support calm and restful sleep” (Smiling Mind, 2019). Oceans “uses ocean sounds to simulate the relaxing nature of the ocean with the wave like motions of the breath rising and falling” (Smiling Mind, 2019). The subject completed the meditation episode immediately before going to sleep. To ensure the legitimacy of the results, the subject ensured the conditions were the same each night. The subject has recorded the approximate time they fell asleep and woke up, as well as the length of their sleep and the quality they feel suits how rested and rejuvenated they felt. Results: The data displayed in Figure 1 shows the sleep statistics from the subject’s sleep without the meditation intervention. It is displayed that the subject’s average sleep time was 01:12 and average waking time was 06:25. This table also shows the subject’s sleep length on average was 5.23 hours, and their average sleep quality on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the best possible was 5.8.Figure 2 shows the subject’s sleep data with the meditation intervention. These results show that on average, the subject’s sleep time was 03:10 and wake time was 05:55. This figure also shows that the subject recorded an average sleep length of 5.15 hrs. The subject used the same quality scale as previous and recorded an average sleep quality of 5.1 out of 10.In Figure 3 the graph is displaying the sleep length and quality for all 10 nights prior to the meditation intervention. Overall, the trend remains relatively constant throughout the recording however, a large dip in length and quality on night 5.

The graph depicted in Figure 4 shows the sleep length and quality data from the meditation intervention. This graph has a more stable trend in comparison to Figure 3 however, does have a slight drop in quality on night 9.Figure 5 compares the subject’s sleep length and quality from both with and without the meditation intervention. It is shown that overall, the subject’s sleep length and quality remained at a more stable rate in comparison to before the study however, neither was improved drastically.Conclusion:

To conclude, in this study, it was found that meditation on average did not improve sleep length or quality, however, did assist in the relaxation and time taken to fall asleep. Acknowledgments:

Thank you to the following references for the displayed information and statistics.

References:

1. Amarnath, R. (2017). Improving Sleep Quality through Heartfulness Meditation. [online] International Journal of Health Sciences and Research. Available at: http://www.ijhsr.org/IJHSR_Vol.7_Issue.5_May2017/54.pdf [Accessed 30 Jul. 2019]. Corliss, J. (2019). Mindfulness meditation helps fight insomnia, improves sleep. [online] Harvard Health Blog. Available at: https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/mindfulness-meditation-helps-fight-insomnia-improves-sleep-201502187726 [Accessed 30 Jul. 2019]. Mawer, R. (2018). 17 Proven Tips to Sleep Better at Night. [online] Healthline. Available at: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/17-tips-to-sleep-better#section2 [Accessed 27 Jul. 2019].
2. Headspace. (n.d.). Meditation for Sleep. [online] Available at: https://www.headspace.com/meditation/sleep [Accessed 27 Jul. 2019]. Sleepfoundation.org. (n.d.). A Cheap and Easy Way to Treat Insomnia (and Beat Stress): Meditation. [online] Available at: https://www.sleepfoundation.org/articles/how-meditation-can-treat-insomnia [Accessed 30 Jul. 2019]. Sleepfoundation.org. (n.d.). Sleep for Teenagers. [online] Available at: https://www.sleepfoundation.org/articles/teens-and-sleep [Accessed 29 Jul. 2019]. Smiling Mind. 2019. Smiling Mind (version 3.6.0). [IOS Application] [Accessed 17 Aug. 2019].

Every 40 seconds an individual commits suicide, making it the tenth leading cause of death globally (Karaman, D., & Durukan, İ., 2013). However, research on the risks and characteristics of suicide throughout human development has a lot of limitations. In this research paper, we will review the risk factors and characteristics of suicide as an individual develops from birth to death. Are the risk factors for each stage of development unique, or are they broad enough to be applied to every group? Currently, research on suicide focuses on one age group at a time and few research papers go over multiple stages of human development. By comparing the research done on various stages of development, we can recognize the symptoms of suicidal thoughts and potentially help prevent this type of event from happening. While some risk factors of suicide can cover multiple stages of development, each group has unique characteristics that need to be watched for.

Stages of Development

Childhood and Early Adolescence

There has been a large focus on suicide risks and characteristics for adolescent individuals, however elementary school-aged children are not well studied despite the recent spike (Sheftall et al., 2016). One reason for this is due to the rarity of suicide in children as well as the fact that suicide is never coded as a cause of death for children younger than four-years-old for developmental reasons (Sheftall et al., 2016). Most of the research on childhood suicide tends to be focused on the ages of 5 to 11 years old. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 0.17 per 100,000 children from the ages of 5 to 11 years old commit suicide in 2014 compared to 5.18 per 100,000 adolescents between the ages of 12 to 17 years old (Sheftall et al., 2016). While the number of deaths by suicide does increase with age, there is still a concern as to what characteristics and risk factors can contribute to childhood suicide. Sheftall et al (2016) theorized that the characteristics and circumstances that we look for in adolescents may not manifest in children between the ages of 5 to 11 years old.

There are a few reasons for the differences in the manifestation of what we deem to be suicidal characteristics. One difference found was that children who committed suicide were more likely to suffer from ADD/ADHD (59.3%), whereas adolescents were more likely to show symptoms of depression (65.6%) (Table 2, Sheftall et al., 2016, P. 5). This could account for the difficulty of diagnosing children as suicidal since depression is the key factor we look for. Also, the results in Table 2 (Sheftall et al 2016, p. 5) show that alcohol and substance abuse was relatively low in children compared to adolescents at the time of death (1.6% vs 3.9%; P=.71). Another study found that 48% of female adolescents and 58% of male adolescents were under the influence of alcohol at the time of their suicide (Lahti, Harju, Hakko, Riala, & Räsänen, 2014). Unfortunately, this study did not have the data available to compare this result to the individual’s previous alcohol use before their suicide (Lahti et al., 2014). One area that children and adolescents did not differ in was the percentage of those who disclosed their suicidal intent to another person before their death. In a study done by Sheftall et al (2016) 29.5% of children and 28.9% of adolescents spoke with another person about their intent before their death. Finally, the precipitating factors that lead children and adolescents to suicide were similar as well. The results in Table 1 (Sheftall et al., 2016, p. 4) show that 60.3% of children’s suicides and 46% of adolescent suicides were related to friction or conflict with friends or family. Table 1 (Sheftall et al., 2016, p. 4) also shows that children and adolescents were likely to have school problems (32.1% vs 34.4%; P=.68) or a recent crisis (38.5% or 36.3%; P=.71) before their death.

As a child ages and turns in to an adolescent the risk of them committing or contemplating suicide increase as well (Lahti et al., 2014). While males are 4 times more likely to commit suicide, females are more likely to attempt suicide (37% vs 67%) (Lahti et al., 2014). Many believe that age would help an individual identify their problems and seek help. However, even though adolescents have more critical thinking ability than children, they may choose to conceal or deny any mental health problems they are dealing with. This could be due to the stigma that surrounds mental illness or the reluctance of friends, family, and even the individual themselves to seek help from professionals (Lahti et al., 2014). However, the study did find that not all individuals who committed suicide previously had mental health issues. According to Lahti et al (2014), findings in psychological autopsy studies found that 10% of individuals, usually male, did not have a diagnosable psychiatric disorder. One thing to keep in mind is that some mental disorders are genetic. For example, the serotonergic system is the most extensively investigated biological factor of suicide (Karaman & Durukan, 2013). Low serotonin levels are commonly associated with a mood disorder such as depression or bipolar disorder and are linked to suicidal thoughts and behavior (“Serotonin”, N.D.). Neves and colleagues (as cited in Karaman & Durukan, 2013) did a study in 2010 over the potential suicide rates in bipolar patients. They found that 26.77% of patients had a lifetime history of non-violent suicide attempts and 16.67% of patients had a lifetime history of violent suicide attempts (as cited in Karaman & Durukan, 2013). This type of disorder is genetic, which means that more adolescents could be at risk, and brush off the symptoms as “teen angst”. One main way to combat this risk factor is to reduce the stigma of accessing mental health services (Lahti et al., 2014).

While mental health is a large risk factor for suicide in all ages, others are just as important when it comes to adolescents. Suicide attempts are a large indicator that an individual might attempt to commit suicide again, however, some non-violent attempts go unreported when they do not result in death (Beghi, Rosenbaum, Cerri, & Cornaggia, 2013). Another risk factor is adverse life circumstances, such as physical or emotional trauma that leaves a lasting impact on the individual (Lahti et al., 2014). The last two potential impacts on adolescent risks of suicidal thoughts or behaviors are parent psychopathology and the availability of lethal methods. Parent psychopathology can impact a parent’s ability to care for the child, such as schizophrenia or substance abuse (Lahti et al., 2014). This can impact suicidal thoughts and behaviors as it could cause stress on the child or cause them to feel like they are the parent instead due to the responsibility it could assert onto them. Finally, the availability of lethal methods is key to the ability to perform suicidal actions. While those with strong impulses for suicide will usually find a method, the harder it is to find a lethal method the more likely the individual is to change their mind or seek professional help (Lahti et al., 2014).

Late Adolescence to Late Adulthood

Most of the research done on suicide prevention has been focused on adolescents and older adults (CDC, 2013). However, many of the risk factors and characteristics displayed in young adolescents are also present in late adolescence and early adulthood. A study done by DeJong, Overholser, and Stockmeier (2010) found that most suicides in adults were done while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Another interesting thing that their study found was that while depression was a key indicator of a suicidal crisis, it was uncommon for patients to attempt suicide after recovering from their suicidal episodes (DeJong et al., 2010). This was not something that was researched when it came to childhood and early adolescent suicides. This could be since many individuals go undiagnosed until they reach early adulthood, if not later. Suicide attempts are also a risk factor with late adolescence and early adulthood. Beghi et al (2013) found previous suicide attempts were a strong indicator for future attempts, fatal and nonfatal, and can persist for decades. However, some risk factors are unique to adults. For example, a few risk factors unique to these stages of development are financial and job problems (DeJong et al., 2010). While this kind of stressor can be experienced in childhood and early adolescence, it is more common to be experienced later in life. History shows us that suicide rates tend to be parallel with business rates, for example, rates increases during times of economic hardship (CDC, 2013). Suicide ideation is the strongest predictor of suicides and suicide attempts but is not as strong for repeated suicide attempts (Beghi et al., 2013).

Late Adulthood and Elderhood.

Suicide rates tend to increase with age. Among the male population, those between 50 to 59 years old have an increased risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors (CDC, 2013). The women population saw a great increase in suicide rates from ages 60 to 64 (CDC, 2013). The risk factors for suicidal thoughts or actions tend to remain the same but are focused in a few areas. According to Shin et al (2013) suicide risk factors in the elderly can be divided into three primary categories: mental illness, physical illness, and social problems. The highest correlation being between depression and suicide ideation or attempt (Shin et al, 2013). Social problems, such as social isolation, functional impairment, or loss of a spouse can also have a strong effect on suicidal thoughts and behaviors (Mezuk, Lohman, Leslie, & Powell, 2015). One contributing factor that is unique to late adulthood and elderhood is the prevalence of long-term care facilities that may contribute to suicidal thoughts. For example, as individuals age, they may not be able to care for themselves as much as they once were, and their family may not be available to help. Many who suffer from physical or mental disabilities seek out long-term care facilities to assist them. Long-term care facilities have been associated with a higher risk of suicidal behaviors according to Mezuk et al (2015), for factors that are unique to them. For example, the number of beds in a facility and high staff turnover rates can impact suicidal behaviors among residents (Mezuk et al., 2015). Also, depression is a more common diagnosis for new patients than dementia is (Mezuk et al., 2015). Many older individuals who attempted suicide were also less educated and unemployed (Suresh Kumar, Anish, & George, 2015). This could be due to the generational difference between an older individual verse a younger individual, as well as the fact that many older individuals are retired. Finally, older individuals are more likely to suffer from co-morbid physical illness, such as anemia and hyperthyroidism, which can increase the burden on caregivers, cause family discord, and drain financial resources (Suresh Kumar et al., 2015). However, despite the high-risk older individuals present of suicidal tendencies, research on the matter has received little attention (Shin et al, 2013).

Comparison

According to the Integrated Motivational-Volitional Model of Suicide Behavior done by O’Connor and Kirtley (Table 5, 2018, p. 2) suicide ideation and behavior have different factors influencing them. The question asked today was are the risk factors and characteristics of suicide universal to every stage of development or are they unique to each. By comparing the data found the answer is both. For example, one risk factor is the presence of a recent stressor leading up to the suicide attempt. Suresh Kumar et al (Table 3, 2015, p. 10) found that 83.8% of the elderly and 86.2% of young groups had a recent stressor. However, the type of stressor that caused the attempt was different for each group. While the older group’s stressor was typically related to psychiatric illness and physical problems, the younger group’s stressor was typically related to interpersonal issues with spouse and other family members (Suresh Kumar et al., 2015). Also, the elderly group tended to commit or attempt suicide one week after the stressor versus the younger group who would commit or attempt suicide with 24 hours of the stressor (Suresh Kumar et al., 2015). Another example is the difference found between the groups was the presence of mental illness. Both groups had similar results when it came to a psychiatric diagnosis, 75.9% for those below 65 years old and 86.5% for those above 65 years old (Table 5, Suresh Kumar et al., 2015, p. 12). However, the younger group was more like to be diagnosed with adjustment disorder compared to the older group’s main diagnosis being depression (Table 5, Suresh Kumar et al., 2015, p. 12). One risk factor that is more prevalent to elder individuals is social isolation. Although this risk factor can be present in the younger generation, it is more likely to appear in the elderly due to spousal death, family moving away, or lack of mobility (Shin et al., 2013). Also, elderly risk factors are not always recognized in the elder as well, and normally thought to be normal complaints associated with aging (Suresh Kumar et al., 2015). The same is true for the risk factors of childhood suicide since many children do not understand the emotions they are feeling or are afraid to voice them Sheftall et al., 2016).

Conclusion

According to the CDC (2013), the number of suicide deaths eclipsed the number of deaths from motor vehicles in the U.S. Currently there is no psychological test, clinical technique, or biological marker sensitive and specific enough to predict short-term suicidal risk or repetition (Beghi et al., 2013). By reviewing the data above we can see that the risk factors and characteristics are not separated by the stage of development an individual is in. This means that an adolescent and an elder can be experiencing the same risk factors and displaying the same characteristics of suicidal intention. However, there are variations of the risk factors that are more unique to one age group than to another, such as social isolation or adjustment disorder. Also, more research needs to be done on childhood and elderhood suicide factors and characteristics to fully compare them to adolescents and adults. While some risk factors of suicide can cover multiple stages of development, each group has unique characteristics that need to be watched for.

Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) are gradually increasing in the youth, mainly in adolescents. STIs are mainly transferred through some type of sexually intercourse between two individuals. The youth of this generation have the complex that they are untouchable and don’t comprehend the extent of their action. Nevertheless, the youth account for almost half of the population in the United States that has STIs. Most adolescent and young adult do not know that they have a STI until it is too late and it can lead to problems further on in life. Most adolescents do not know the short term and long term affects of these STIs until it is to late. If they are educated, they can learn the full extent of what can happen and keep them healthy. By having schools and parents on the same page about educating them, this could lower the rate of STIs.

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are infections that are transfer thought sexual intercourse with another partner. Typically, STI’s are transmitted through oral, anal, or vaginal intercourse. “Adolescents and young adults 15-24 years of age represent approximately 25% of the sexually active United State population, but account for nearly half of all new sexually transmitted infection”(Schneider, 2019). With the younger generation becoming sexually active a lot earlier these days, it is important to educate them on their risk of getting an STI and how to prevent it. STIs can affect an individual’s life everyday once they have contracted the infection. The theory of reasoned action/ planned behavior has high potential to change this epidemic and alter the reality of many teens across the world. The attitudes regarding risky sexual behavior are significantly different now then what they where thirty years ago.

Sexually transmitted infections are becoming a huge health issue among teenagers in the world. The problem with the youth being sexually active is that they don’t know the full extent of the actions they’re taking until it is too late. “The reluctance of adolescents to use condoms is another possible explanation for the increase in STIs” (Samkange-Zeeb, 2011). The main problem with STI’s is that most are symptom free and they can be passed along to the next partner before one even knows that they have it. “Female adolescents are likely to have a higher risk of contracting an STI than their male counterparts, as their partners are generally older and hence more likely to be infected”(Schneider, 2019). When they become sexual active most do not want to talk about their sex lives. Since they do not talk their sex lives they also do not go into the doctor to get regular testing done. Some are scared to go to the doctor to get tested because of insurance issues or they do not want their parents to know about it.

Most of the adolescents in this generation have this idea that nothing can touch and that they are invincible. There are many consequences to their actions that they don’t seem to understand until it too late to change it. In the science diet article it talks about “complications (that) can include pelvic inflammatory diseases and possibly lead to ectopic pregnancies and infertility” (Samkange-Zeeb, 2011). The way that complications are transfer is by unprotected or unsafe sex. Most teens don’t always know if they have a STI before moving on to the next partner. Since females are more prone to an STI, they often suffer the most with the obstacles that they are faced with. Women are faced with infertility problems later in life due to suffering the consequences of the decisions they made in their youth. STI’s do not often show symptoms so they pretty much incubate in a woman’s bodies damaging her reproductive organs over time. “Most cases of tubal factor infertility are attributable to untreated sexually transmitted diseases that ascend along the reproductive tract and are capable of causing tubal inflammation, damage, and scarring”(G.TsevatBAa, 2016).

There are many factors that play a role to an adolescent or young adult to become sexually active early on and how they contract a STI. Those factors can be biological, behavioral, culture or even environmental. According to the Center of Disease Control, “biologically young women are more prone to getting STI then young men, young people do not get the recommendation for STI screenings, (so) they are hesitant to talk about it openly and honestly, or they do not have insurance or transportation to the screening” (CDC, 2014). Sex education is still a taboo subject for some people; also some religions believe that it should not be taught. However, sex education is now being taught in schools. This is because parents do not feel comfortable talking about sex with their children at home. Most parents do not know how to approach the subject with their teens. However, giving sex education courses to the adolescents will strengthen their knowledge about the topic but also gave them a healthy mind set toward sex. Teachers have set curriculum that they are required to teach in sex education classes, these courses where fabricated my school board directors and parents alike. “Sex education is required for adolescent to provide them with positive direction and knowledge which would avoid unnecessary worries and tensions”(Toor, 2012).

To conclude, sex education is an important subject to teach adolescents about sexually transmitted infections. If adolescents are taught the right tools to protect themselves, they will better understand the subject and might giver higher regard to their choices, thus fearing the repercussions. As stated in the paragraphs above, adolescents can contract STIs which can have some serious complications in their near future. If adolescents can become more aware about STI’S they have a higher likelihood to stay healthy and protect against disease or infection. With the help from teachers and parents, the adolescents can better understand that their actions have consequences, some if these being life altering or even deadly.