John Petraitis

• PhD
• University of Alaska Anchorage

When compared with other demographics, young males are more likely to take a variety of risks (like skateboarding, using drugs) and use risky behaviors to attract romantic partners. This study extended research on risk by assessing the attractiveness of 101 different kinds of risks performed by males and females. As predicted, factor analysis revea...

Reducing SU has been an elusive goal, and SU prevention programs for the past 30 years have had, at best, only modest success. Although programs have relied increasingly on theory and increasingly more comprehensive theory, they still have a long way to go to make full use of SU theories. Therefore, it is our belief that SU could be reduced further...

Tobacco dependence interventions developed for Alaska Natives are virtually nonexistent. Alaska Natives residing on the Yukon-Kuskokwim (Y--K) Delta in southwestern Alaska use a unique form of smokeless tobacco (ST) known as Iqmik. This study employed focus group methodology to explore attitudes toward tobacco use and tobacco dependence interventio...

Knowledge of risk and protective factors for adolescent tobacco use will lead to the development of improved intervention strategies to reduce/prevent tobacco use. Theory and empirical findings demonstrate the multivariate complexity of the etiology of tobacco use. Sociocultural, social/interpersonal, and intrapersonal factors act through mediated...

This paper reviews findings from 58 prospective studies of illicit substance use (ISU) among adolescents. It arranges 384 findings according to three types of influence (viz., social, attitudinal, and intrapersonal) and four levels of influence (viz., ultimate, distal, proximal, and immediate). The bulk of evidence reconfirms the importance of seve...

This article examines correlates of desire and plans to quit smoking among 248 young, low-socioeconomic status African American women, using variables derived from the health belief model (HBM) and the theory of reasoned action. Consistent with these theoretical models, stronger concern about the effect of smoking on one's health and having close o...

Methods are proposed and described for estimating the degree to which relations among variables vary at the individual level. As an example of the methods, M. Fishbein and I. Ajzen's (1975; I. Ajzen & M. Fishbein, 1980) theory of reasoned action is examined, which posits first that an individual's behavioral intentions are a function of 2 component...

Methods are proposed and described for estimating the degree to which relations among variables vary at the individual level. As an example of the methods, M. Fishbein and I. Ajzen’s (1975; I. Ajzen & M. Fishbein, 1980) theory of reasoned action is examined, which posits first that an individual’s behavioral intentions are a function of 2 component...

This article reviews 14 multivariate theories of experimental substance use (e.g., alcohol and marijuana use) among adolescents, including those theories that emphasize (a) substance-specific cognitions, (b) social learning processes, (c) commitment to conventional values and attachment to families, and (d) intrapersonal processes. Important simila...

Smoking-related behaviors and attitudes of significant others (especially friends and parents) are among the most consistent predictors of adolescent smoking. However, theorists remain divided on whether the behaviors of significant others influence adolescent smoking directly or indirectly, and the relative influence of parental and peer smoking o...

Some theories of health behavior focus on proximal cognitive predictors of behavior, some focus on expectancy-va lue formulations, some focus on social support and bonding processes, some focus on social learning processes, and some point toward personality and intrapersonal processes. Very few extant theories of health behavior incorporate several...

This article describes the implementation and evaluation of a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) education program for adult offenders. Samples of Cook County (Chicago) probationers were educated about either HIV or heart disease in small group and in one-on-one sessions. The evaluation employed a 2 x 2 factorial design. Data were collected at 3 po...

This chapter discusses the role of social science theory in the prevention of drug use. It briefly describes several prominent theories of drug use onset and shows one way these theories can be integrated into a more comprehensive model with five distinct domains of variables. It then describes the various and subtle benefits of theories, including...

This article describes the implementation and evaluation of an HIV education seminar for adult probation officers (POs) in Cook County (Chicago). The seminar consisted of medical and legal topics, and was presented by an experienced educator. Pre- and postseminar measures of effectiveness were examined. Results showed a significant increase in part...

The amount of time consultation psychiatrists in a large metropolitan teaching hospital spent providing direct services was studied over 1,104 consecutive consultation cases. Although the majority of cases required less than 5 hours of psychiatric time apiece, more than 10% of these cases each received more than 10 hours of direct services. This fi...

Although Gerbner and Gross (1976) maintained that television viewing cultivates impressions of the real world that are distorted in the direction of the TV version of reality, several studies (e.g., Doob & Macdonald, 1979) have found no relationship between viewing and perceptions of crime in the respondent's neighborhood. It is possible, however,...

Although a consortium approach for clinical trials is a common research strategy which has made important contributions in other disciplines in medicine, to date it has not been employed for research efforts in the consultation/liaison setting. There are several reasons for this: the relative newness of the field, lack of administrative control ove...

Photocopy of original (typescript). Thesis (Ph. D.)--Loyola University of Chicago, 1990. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 76-80).