Child maltreatment types and adolescent substance use: The role of deviant peer affiliation

This is the first study to examine the mediating effects of deviant peer affiliation on the association between different types of child maltreatment and adolescent substance use that includes alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana. Peer deviance is a well‐established correlate of adolescent substance use, but most studies exploring the relationship between child maltreatment and adolescent substance use have failed to include peer deviance. Structural equation modelling was conducted to examine the direct effects of each type of child maltreatment (i.e., physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, and neglect) on adolescent substance use, as well as indirect effects via deviant peer affiliation, using Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect. The results indicated that deviant peer affiliation fully mediated the individuals who had been emotionally abused showed increased deviant peer affiliation, which in turn was associated with higher levels of adolescent substance use. None of the four types of child maltreatment was directly associated with adolescent substance use. The study's findings underscore the importance of early assessment and intervention for the peer relationships of youth who have been emotionally abused.     

The Influence of Parental,Peer, and School Factors on Marijuana Use Among Native American Adolescents

ABSTRACT

Marijuana use among Native American (NA) adolescents continues to be an ongoing concern and is often cited as the most critical health issue facing this population. Despite this recognition, few studies have examined the roles played by parental monitoring and school relationships among NA youth. This cross-sectional study used secondary data from the 2010 National Survey in Drug Use and Health to examine the combined influence of parental, peer, and school indicators on marijuana use among NA adolescents aged 12 to 17 years old (N = 287). The results of structural equation modeling suggest that peer factors and parental monitoring were significantly associated with marijuana use. In fact, the peer network was the most influential predictor. However, a significant relationship was not found between school relationships and marijuana use. Given the insignificance of school relationships, further research should examine the influence of peer interactions on marijuana use and the development of family-based prevention and intervention programs.     

Schools and Educational Outcomes: What Causes the “Race Gap” in Student Test Scores?*

Objective. African‐American and Hispanic students often have lower test scores than white students at all levels of education. In this article, we examine whether school factors impact racial groups differentially, helping reduce the test score gaps, and whether school policies benefit one racial group at the expense of another. Methods. The data is individual‐level data from a school district in California. Multivariate analysis (FGLS) is used to study the effect of school factors and race on test scores, after controlling for individual and school attributes. Results. School factors have a small differential effect by race on test scores. The school policies that have a positive influence on minorities' scores often involve an environment where closer attention is paid to the needs of students. Conclusion. Most school policies have a small effect on test scores, impacting all racial groups in a similar manner, without redistributing benefits across groups.     

Examining the Association Between Resilience and Risk Behaviors Among South Asian Minority Students in Hong Kong: A Quantitative Study

The relationship between risk behaviors and resilience among South Asian minority youth identifying themselves as Pakistani, Indian, Pakistani-Hong Konger, or Indian-Hong Konger (N?=?405) in a Hong Kong school setting was investigated using hierarchical linear regression analysis. Lower neighborhood disorganization, higher neighborhood characteristics, and higher individual resilience predicted lower likelihood of substance use in all ethnic groups. Stronger relationship with caregivers was associated with lower levels of substance use in all ethnic groups except for Pakistani-Hong Kongers (p?>?.05). Stronger multigroup ethnic identity predicted lower likelihood of substance use in Indians (p?=?.021) and Indian-Hong Kongers (p?=?.039). Resilience-based research, practical, and social policy implications are discussed.     

Attitudinal correlates associated with recent alcohol use and episodic heavy drinking among African American youth

African–American students in 7th–12th grades completed the PRIDE survey examining attitudinal correlates associated with recent alcohol use and heavy episodic drinking. Of participants, 13.6% reported using alcohol in the past 30 days and 5.1% reported frequent heavy episodic drinking. Logistic regression analyses indicate that male, in high school and employed increased the odds of engaging in recent use and frequent heavy episodic drinking. Perceived harm and parent/peer disapproval of substance use was negatively associated with use. Results may assist professionals in developing prevention programs for African-American youth.     

Young Adult Outcomes of Juvenile Court–Involved Girls

ABSTRACT

The recent increase in the number of girls involved in the juvenile justice system has resulted in increased academic and public attention. Thus far, this attention has focused on entry into the juvenile justice system rather than longer-term consequences. This research helps fill this gap by examining a sample of 700 maltreated and/or impoverished juvenile court–involved females. Competing risks models were used to control for time from juvenile-court entry to adult outcomes: criminal justice system involvement, use of public mental health or substance use services, and income maintenance use. Results indicate that there are distinct predictors associated with the different outcomes, although learning disability and adolescent parenthood were associated with higher risk of both mental health/substance use services and income maintenance. Individualized services for juvenile court–involved girls are suggested. Prospective, longitudinal research is needed to investigate intrapsychic and behavioral dynamics associated with females' young adult outcomes.     

The impact of alcohol and marijuana use on academic achievement among college students

The present study explored the direct and indirect relationship between substance use, specifically alcohol and marijuana use, and academic achievement among college students, using skipping class as a mediator. Online self-administered surveys were distributed to undergraduate students at a mid-size university in the southeast. Individually, both alcohol and marijuana use significantly predicted GPA; as the frequency of students’ reported alcohol and marijuana use increased, GPAs decreased. However, when included in the same model, marijuana use appeared to mediate the relationship between alcohol use and GPA. Additionally, it was found that skipping class partially mediated the relationship between both alcohol use and GPA and marijuana use and GPA. Given the negative relationship that was found between substance use and academic achievement for all students in our sample, we highlight the importance of substance use prevention efforts that target students throughout the entirety of their college careers. We also discuss the limitations of current prevention efforts across college campuses that focus on alcohol use alone. We recommend that prevention efforts include a focus on marijuana use, in addition to alcohol use, especially given our current findings for marijuana use.     

Maternal influences on effortful control in adolescence: Developmental pathways to externalizing behaviors

Adolescents' effortful control is subject to numerous maternal influences. Specifically, a mother's own effortful control is associated with her child's effortful control. However, maternal substance use, psychopathology, and stress within the parenting role may also lead to poor effortful control for their child. Poor effortful control during adolescence can subsequently contribute to a variety of negative outcomes, including externalizing behaviors. A sample of 460 adolescents (47% female, 59.3% Non‐Hispanic Caucasian) was selected from a longitudinal, multigenerational study. The goal was to examine maternal effortful control, substance use, psychopathology, and stress in their offspring's childhood (M_age = 6.27) and their influence on their children's effortful control in early adolescence (M_age = 12.21) and the subsequent effect of effortful control on adolescents’ externalizing behavior (M_age = 13.53). Maternal effortful control (measured via conscientiousness) and psychopathology were associated with adolescent effortful control, which was associated with externalizing behavior a year later. Additionally, there was a significant indirect association between maternal effortful control and adolescent externalizing behaviors via adolescent effortful control. Thus, adolescent effortful control is associated with maternal effortful control but also subject to specific maternal risk factors in childhood. These results inform potential maternal strategies for promoting positive developmental outcomes in adolescents.     

Predicting Retention in Three Substance Abuse Treatment Modalities Among Anglo,African American,and Mexican American Juvenile Offenders

Abstract

Many of the same factors that predict delinquent behavior also predict adolescent drug use. This study examined factors that predict, and interventions that maximize, substance abuse treatment retention in three modalities among high-risk Anglo, Mexican American, and African American juvenile offenders. The study sample includes youth (N = 211) who were discharged from probation supervision and who received substance abuse services through a CSAT-funded federal demonstration project. The key predictors examined included the stage-of-change (i.e., precontemplation, contemplation, preparation) in which a juvenile fell, various dimensions captured by the Comprehensive Addiction Severity Index for Adolescents, and other intervention status (probation, case management, and mental health treatment). The research questions were addressed using statistical models known as survival analysis that treated time from entry into substance abuse treatment to exit from substance abuse treatment as the outcomes. Among key findings were that females were 73% more likely to leave day treatment relative to males; for each additional family problem ever experienced, Mexican American adolescents were 15% more likely to leave residential treatment compared with African American adolescents; and African American and Mexican American adolescents in the contemplation stage-of-change were 50% less likely to leave day treatment compared with Anglo adolescents. Applications for practice and research with this population are discussed.     

Preventing Substance Abuse Among American Indian and Alaska Native Youth

Research on the prevention of substance abuse among American Indian and Alaska Native youth offers challenges and demands careful methods. This paper describes such challenges in terms of philosophical, political, and cultural issues surmundiig substance abuse prevention research with American Indian and Alaska Native people. The authors suggest how social work researchers can address these issues through strategies of community 'collaboration, goal sening, and cultural sensitivity. The paper discusses the limits, implications, and future applications of the described strategies for research on the prevention of alcohol and drug abuse among American Indian and Alaska Native youth.     

Substance use and other factors associated with child welfare case duration: Looking beyond out of home care

Little is known about factors associated with child welfare case duration. Understanding factors associated with case duration may help stakeholders make more informed decisions about funding and service allocation and improve compliance with federal law. This study had two research questions: (1) What factors are associated with child welfare case duration? And (2) Do factors differ depending on whether children were placed exclusively with parents or with others (e.g. relatives and foster care) during the case? The study sample consisted of families (N = 874) with co-occurring child maltreatment and substance use in one midwestern state in the United States between 2007 and 2016. Linear regression models were used to identify correlates of case duration while controlling for child placement status. Overall, having a child under 1 year of age, benzodiazepine use, methamphetamine use and injection drug use were all associated with longer case duration, whereas marijuana use with no other substance use was associated with shorter case duration. Additionally, factors associated with case duration differed based on child placement status during the case. These findings suggest important heterogeneity in families involved with child welfare services and may allow for proactive mitigation of cases at greater risk.     

Acculturation and Psychological Functioning in Asian Indian Adolescents

The objective of this exploratory study was to understand how Asian Indian immigrant families adjust to U.S. culture by examining factors that influence acculturation preferences or styles and how these styles may be associated with their children's psychological functioning, as measured by self‐esteem and academic performance. 85 U.S.‐born Asian Indian adolescents (45 girls; 40 boys) and one of their immigrant parents completed questionnaires about family demography, self‐identification, acculturation, and religiosity. Adolescents also completed a self‐perception profile. Results showed parents and adolescents had similar styles of acculturation. However, adolescents were more likely to self‐identify as ‘Indian‐American’ than were their parents. For both adolescents and their parents, integrated and assimilated acculturation styles were related to family SES, years of U.S. residence, and religiosity scores. Adolescents who had an integrated acculturation style had higher GPAs and higher scores on the self‐perception profile than did adolescents who were separated or marginalized. The findings lend tentative support for an integrated style of acculturation in promoting positive outcomes for first generation Asian Indian adolescents.     

American Indian studies and its evolution in academia

This article traces the progression of American Indian Studies programs and the discipline's evolution in academia. Our research is divided into three sections. The first describes the era of the turbulent 1960s, when programs began and struggled to assert themselves as worthy of independent intellectual status. The second part focuses on American Indian studies programs' efforts to continue maturing as an interdisciplinary field of inquiry. This section includes a discussion of the evolving methods, theories, and concepts used for analysis and research concerning the diversity of American Indian cultures. There were certain structural, personnel, and curriculum problems which presented themselves along the road to academic maturity, some of which remain. The final section suggests characteristics necessary for an ideal American Indian studies program into the 21st century.     

The Family Contexts of Gender Development in Childhood and Adolescence

We review research on the family's role in gender development during childhood and adolescence. Our discussion highlights children's dyadic family relationship experiences with their parents and siblings; additionally, we describe ways in which the larger system of family relationships, including gendered dynamics in the marriage and the differential family experiences of sisters versus brothers may have implications for gender development. We also emphasize the significance of contextual factors—ranging from situational demands and affordances to forces emanating from the larger social ecology—in family gender socialization. We conclude that family experiences may have a more important impact on gender development than has previously been believed, and we highlight directions for future study. These include: (1) applying more complex models of parent socialization and family dynamics to the study of the family's role in gender development; (2) expanding on research directed at the socialization of sex differences to study how family dynamics are linked to individual differences in girls’ and boys’ gendered qualities and behaviors; and (3) further exploring how contextual factors exert an impact on gender socialization in the family.     

Private and Public Displays of Affection Among Interracial and Intra‐Racial Adolescent Couples*

Objective. This article examines variation in displays of affection between interracial and intra‐racial adolescent couples. Method. Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), a nationally representative sample of adolescents in the United States, we estimate hierarchical linear models to compare characteristics of interracial and intra‐racial relationships among white, African‐American, Hispanic, Asian American, and Native American adolescents. In our comparisons we highlight three dimensions of relationship attributes: public display, private display, and intimate physical contact. Results. Our findings suggest that interracial couples are less likely than intra‐racial couples to exhibit public and private displays of affection, but are not different from intra‐racial couples in intimate displays of affection. Conclusions. Social barriers against interracial dating still exist such that even though interracial couples are similar to intra‐racial couples in their levels of intimacy in private, they are less comfortable displaying their feelings in public.     

Exploring the Impact of School Discipline on Racial Disproportion in the Juvenile Justice System*

It is widely recognized that African‐American youth are significantly overrepresented in many juvenile justice systems relative to their population percentages. Research has also determined that similar disproportion exists in school discipline and speculated about a “school‐to‐prison pipeline” for minority youth. Objective. This study explores empirically the degree to which disciplinary decisions made in schools can help to explain observed rates of disproportionate minority contact with juvenile courts. Methods. It does so in an assessment of education and justice system data from a sample of counties in Missouri. Results. The findings suggest that racial disproportion in out‐of‐school suspensions, which cannot be explained solely by differences in delinquent behavior, is strongly associated with similar levels of disproportion in juvenile court referrals. The association between disproportionate patterns of school discipline and court referrals persists after controlling for poverty, urbanization, and other relevant factors. Conclusions. The implication is that school‐based programs that offer alternatives to suspension and expulsion and promote disciplinary equity may help alleviate racial disproportion in the juvenile justice system.     

Religious affiliation and beliefs about racial inequality: White college students’ attitudes about Black-White and Native American-White inequality

Is religious affiliation associated with attitudes about racial inequality? While prior research has explored the relationship between religion and attitudes about Black-White inequality, studies exploring attitudes towards Native Americans are rare. Our study is the first to explore the association between religion and attitudes about Native American-White inequality. We find that religious subcultural differences do exist as Catholics, Protestants, and those with no religious affiliation tend to use different explanations for racial inequality, although the relationship between religious affiliation and attitudes is similar regardless of whether African Americans or Native Americans are the target. We also find that across religious groups there is a greater tendency to use person-centered or individual explanations for Native American-White inequality and structural explanations for Black-White inequality. We argue that consistent findings for the association of religious affiliation and attitudes for different racial groups provide support for the presence of religion specific cultural toolkits.     

Substance Use Decision-Making – Are Clinicians Using the Evidence?

Clinical assessment and treatment decision-making is a complex, everyday task for the substance use workforce. This Canadian study conducted with community substance use providers in the Interior region of British Columbia examines the factors clinicians pay attention to in their decision-making. A randomized factorial survey approach, using three unique vignettes embedded with factors of interest, was used to test the effect of case and respondent factors on assessment and treatment decisions. Responses were received from 106 participants, representing approximately a 35% response rate, yielding a sample size (n) of 308 vignettes. Multiple regression tested the independent effects of the vignette and clinician factors on assessment and treatment decisions. Factors within the vignette associated with withdrawal, physical illness and mental health issues emerged as the most predictive elements. The social complexity of people’s lives, client’s stated treatment preferences and readiness for change, and respondent characteristics were obscured in decision-making. This study indicates a lack of fidelity in the use of core assessment and treatment-matching tools, suggesting that clinician decision-making may, in everyday practice, be more heuristic and evidence-informed than evidence-based. Further research on normative decision-making practices in the substance-field is warranted.