2005-06 National First Place Winners
Research on teen self-harm and exercise earn two students $50,000 college scholarships
First Place Winners
$50,000 Scholarship
Natalia Nazarewicz
Oak Ridge High School
Oak Ridge, TN
Deliberate Self-Harm Among Adolescents: Prevalence, Risk Factors, and Treatment Options
"I talked with some high school guidance counselors and student advisors after completing my study and they were shocked by the scope of the problem. A few teachers and administrators didn't even know that the self-harm phenomenon existed, and were shocked to hear that students would deliberately injure themselves."
Natalia Nazarewicz conducted a survey of more than 1,000 Oak Ridge students showing that 26% of them had engaged in deliberate self-harm - such as cutting or burning their skin. She found that self-harm was often a response to stress generated in school, at home, or among peers. She found strong correlations between the incidence of self-harm and the person's perceptions of school, friends, family as well as themselves.
Two-thirds of those who reported a history of self-harm said they had since stopped the practice. Natalia said the most common reason given for stopping self-harm was "a decrease in stress level or an increase in general mood."
"I enjoyed the respect that everyone showered on us at the YES Competition," she said, "Everyone took us seriously and made us feel that we were not just teenagers doing research projects; instead we were doing something really significant." Natalia serves as vice-president of the International Relations Club and vice president of the Gay-Straight Alliance. She enjoys bicycling and swing dancing. She plans to study social policy at Brown University.
Aman Prasad
Century High School
Pocatello, ID
Physical Activity and Mood in Adolescents
"I've become quite interested in depression, specifically in adolescents. Finding novel means of mitigating the negative effects of mood disorders is essential, and I wanted my research to involve that aspect."
For his project, Aman Prasad conducted a survey of 852 9th and 10th grade students from three Pocatello schools about their moods and their levels of physical activity. On average, he found that students who exercised at a rate of three or more days a week had better mood scores than students who did not exercise. Additional days of exercise each week resulted in even better mood scores, but moderate levels of exercise did not significantly affect mood.
After jogging or exercising, Aman would notice a sudden uplift in his mood and outlook on the rest of the day. He confirmed this with other friends who agreed that they felt better if they exercised and felt "down" if they didn't. This observation, combined with his interest in adolescent depression, inspired him to pursue his research topic.
After the YES Competition, Aman said, "I learned that when you're motivated to try something new, to build bridges with your ideas, there really is no limit to what you can accomplish. Solving problems with science and helping potentially millions of other humans is a universal concept no matter where you're from." Aman is a member of the National Honor Society, Pocatello Youth Forum, Pocatello Arts Council, and Century school magazine. In his free time he enjoys reading, writing, research, and running. He will attend Cornell University.