Parenting skill is one of the crucial needs that parents must have in caring adolescents’ sexual health risk behavior. Present study aims to determine predictors of parenting skills in preventing adolescents’ sexual...Parenting skill is one of the crucial needs that parents must have in caring adolescents’ sexual health risk behavior. Present study aims to determine predictors of parenting skills in preventing adolescents’ sexual health risk behavior. A cross sectional study was conducted among adolescents’ parents who attended government health clinics in a semi-urban district, West Malaysia. Data were collected by systematic random sampling using validated questionnaire from eight government health clinics based on routine daily out-patient services. There were 386 respondents participated with 98.9% of response rate. Parental skill is categorized as appropriate or inappropriate based on Trans-Theoretical Model (TTM) staging. Eighteen independent variables were used: parental socioeconomic status, adolescent characteristic, parenting style, parent-adolescent communication, parental stress, perception on adolescent sexual risk, comfortable in discussing sexual issues, knowledge in sexual reproductive health (SRH) and knowledge in HIV/AIDS. Assessment of parenting skills using the TTM stage showed 139 respondents (36%) had inappropriate parenting skills, in which they were in pre contemplation, contemplation or preparedness stages, while 247 respondents (64%) showed appropriate parenting skills when they were in action and maintenance stages of TTM. Older parent, late adolescent, low parental education level, extended family living arrangement, comfortable in discussing sexual issues, good parent-adolescent communication and higher knowledge in HIV/AIDS were found significant in bivariate analysis. Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified older parent (AOR = 1.927, 95% CI = 1.889 - 1.966, p < 0.001), lower parental education (AOR = 2.394, 95% CI = 1.348 - 4.254, p = 0.003), comfortable in discussing sexual issues (AOR = 3.810, 95% CI = 1.622 - 8.948, p = 0.002), good parent-adolescent communication (AOR = 4.741, 95% CI = 2.478 - 9.071, p ≤ 0.001) and having higher knowledge on HIV/AIDS (AOR = 2.804, 95% CI = 1.528 - 5.147, p = 0.001) as significant predictors for appropriate parenting skills in preventing adolescent sexual health risk behavior. In conclusion, more than one third of parents were still not ready in preventing adolescent sexual risk behavior. Targeting the young parents and those having difficulty in communicating sexual issues with theirs adolescents should be emphasized in early intervention program for parents. Self-assessment using TTM stage questionnaire will help parents to identify their parenting skills in preventing adolescent sexual health risk behavior.展开更多
The worldwide decline over the last decade in the number of clinical cases of malaria does not mean an end to the universal problem of malaria pathogenesis in those afflicted by infection. Resistance to drugs, higher ...The worldwide decline over the last decade in the number of clinical cases of malaria does not mean an end to the universal problem of malaria pathogenesis in those afflicted by infection. Resistance to drugs, higher risk of disease relapse and failure to maintain effective memory of the pathogen in the absence of persistent exposure result in the repeated failure of anti-malarialtreatments. The artificial blocking of transmission of the Plasmodium parasite between hosts from human to Anopheles mosquito, and vice versa, is crucial to restricting the spread of disease. However, a limited knowledge of the molecular mechanisms in operation for transmission of malaria has impeded progress towards a transmission-blocking vaccine. This review highlights the role of anti-malarial immune responses to antigen-specific targets for designing effective vaccines against the sexual stages of Plasmodium that occur within the invertebrate vector. In particular, artificial induction of gametocyte and ookinete apoptosis as a novel means to prevent gamete fertilization and oocyte development, respectively, is highlighted. This and other recent insights into our understanding of the molecular regulation of transmission-blocking immunity are discussed and future prospects considered.展开更多
文摘Parenting skill is one of the crucial needs that parents must have in caring adolescents’ sexual health risk behavior. Present study aims to determine predictors of parenting skills in preventing adolescents’ sexual health risk behavior. A cross sectional study was conducted among adolescents’ parents who attended government health clinics in a semi-urban district, West Malaysia. Data were collected by systematic random sampling using validated questionnaire from eight government health clinics based on routine daily out-patient services. There were 386 respondents participated with 98.9% of response rate. Parental skill is categorized as appropriate or inappropriate based on Trans-Theoretical Model (TTM) staging. Eighteen independent variables were used: parental socioeconomic status, adolescent characteristic, parenting style, parent-adolescent communication, parental stress, perception on adolescent sexual risk, comfortable in discussing sexual issues, knowledge in sexual reproductive health (SRH) and knowledge in HIV/AIDS. Assessment of parenting skills using the TTM stage showed 139 respondents (36%) had inappropriate parenting skills, in which they were in pre contemplation, contemplation or preparedness stages, while 247 respondents (64%) showed appropriate parenting skills when they were in action and maintenance stages of TTM. Older parent, late adolescent, low parental education level, extended family living arrangement, comfortable in discussing sexual issues, good parent-adolescent communication and higher knowledge in HIV/AIDS were found significant in bivariate analysis. Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified older parent (AOR = 1.927, 95% CI = 1.889 - 1.966, p < 0.001), lower parental education (AOR = 2.394, 95% CI = 1.348 - 4.254, p = 0.003), comfortable in discussing sexual issues (AOR = 3.810, 95% CI = 1.622 - 8.948, p = 0.002), good parent-adolescent communication (AOR = 4.741, 95% CI = 2.478 - 9.071, p ≤ 0.001) and having higher knowledge on HIV/AIDS (AOR = 2.804, 95% CI = 1.528 - 5.147, p = 0.001) as significant predictors for appropriate parenting skills in preventing adolescent sexual health risk behavior. In conclusion, more than one third of parents were still not ready in preventing adolescent sexual risk behavior. Targeting the young parents and those having difficulty in communicating sexual issues with theirs adolescents should be emphasized in early intervention program for parents. Self-assessment using TTM stage questionnaire will help parents to identify their parenting skills in preventing adolescent sexual health risk behavior.
文摘The worldwide decline over the last decade in the number of clinical cases of malaria does not mean an end to the universal problem of malaria pathogenesis in those afflicted by infection. Resistance to drugs, higher risk of disease relapse and failure to maintain effective memory of the pathogen in the absence of persistent exposure result in the repeated failure of anti-malarialtreatments. The artificial blocking of transmission of the Plasmodium parasite between hosts from human to Anopheles mosquito, and vice versa, is crucial to restricting the spread of disease. However, a limited knowledge of the molecular mechanisms in operation for transmission of malaria has impeded progress towards a transmission-blocking vaccine. This review highlights the role of anti-malarial immune responses to antigen-specific targets for designing effective vaccines against the sexual stages of Plasmodium that occur within the invertebrate vector. In particular, artificial induction of gametocyte and ookinete apoptosis as a novel means to prevent gamete fertilization and oocyte development, respectively, is highlighted. This and other recent insights into our understanding of the molecular regulation of transmission-blocking immunity are discussed and future prospects considered.
