The intergenerational continuity of parental conditional regard and its role in mothers’ and adolescents’ contingent self‐esteem and depressive symptoms

Although research has documented the adverse consequences of parental academic conditional regard in different developmental periods, few studies have examined antecedents and, in particular, the possibility of intergenerational continuity of this parenting dimension. The current study aimed to identify patterns of intergenerational similarity in two types of conditional regard (i.e., positive and negative). Additionally, it examined mothers’ and adolescents’ contingent self‐esteem (CSE) and depressive symptoms as outcomes of this process. In total, 211 mothers and their 10‐ to 16‐year‐old adolescents filled out questionnaires assessing perceived conditional regard in the relationship with their own mother (i.e., grandmothers’, and mothers’ conditional positive (PACPR) and negative regard (PACNR)), contingent self‐esteem (i.e., maternal child‐invested CSE and adolescents’ academic CSE), and maternal and adolescents’ depressive symptoms. Results revealed direct intergenerational similarity for PACPR, but not for PACNR. Within generations, PACPR was related positively to CSE, which, in turn, was related positively to depressive symptoms. Moreover, PACNR was related positively to depressive symptoms. Our findings provide preliminary evidence for the intergenerational continuity of conditional regard, which has important consequences because of its relation to CSE and subsequent depressive symptoms within both generations.     

The Banality of the Past: A Sociological Perspective on Popular Russian Historical Novels of the 1990s

Abortion has always been a significant form of birth control in Russia, and currently the replacement of abortion by contraceptive devices is proceeding very slowly. The high incidence of abortion in adolescents and women who are pregnant for the first time poses the threat of future infertility and worsening health. Russia still has a high level of maternal mortality; one out of four cases is linked to the consequences of abortion, especially criminal abortion.     

Demographic Characteristics and Contraceptive Practices of Abortion Patients at a New Zealand Medical Centre

A highly controversial Centre performing early pregnancy terminations opened in Auckland in May 1974, and remained the only facility specialising in abortion in New Zealand. It closed following the enactment of the Crimes Amendment Act in December 1977. Analysis of social characteristics of attenders shows that this Centre served a younger population than those having abortions in public hospitals. Fewer than 47% of those obtaining abortions had previously used a contraceptive technique, and of those who did the majority used methods with relatively high failure rates. There was a relationship between educational attainment, age, and contraceptive usage.     

Contraceptive utilization: profile of the Muslim Arab women in rural Israel

The contraceptive habits of the Arab population in rural Israel was explored by means of a cohort ( n =429) of rural Muslim women, with the aim to compose a profile of the women who practice modern contraception. Self-reported information revealed that only one third of the women apply modern contraceptive devices. Multivariate analysis showed the following independent variables to bear a contributory and predictive value with respect to use or non-use of modern contraceptive means by Muslim village women in Israel: degree of religiosity of the woman, male offspring, extent of modernity within the nuclear family, number of children, occupation of the husband, and adherence to traditional norms by the woman.     

Successful and unsuccessful contraceptors: a multivariate typology

"The purpose of this study is to develop and test a multivariate, multidimensional exploratory model of successful and unsuccessful contraceptive use." The data concern 200 sexually active females who visited an obstetrics and gynecology department in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The authors conclude that successful contraceptive use has to be seen in a multidimensional context and is not simply a problem concerning contraceptive information. They also conclude that early sexual socialization and education, generally in the family setting, is important in the development of sexually responsible behavior.     

Utilizing a game for both needs assessment and learning in adolescent sexuality education

A fact-gathering, experimental game proved to be an effective instrument in the needs assessment phase of an adolescent sexuality educational program aimed at low-income females. The game ("Family Few"), which covered the topics of menstruation and reproduction, was played by 35 Black, Hispanic, and white females aged 13-16 years recruited from medical and psychiatric clinics in Miami, Florida. The goals of the game were to elicit terminology used by participants, identify and correct misconceptions and misinformation, and determine if learning could occur. Although 57% of participants reported prior exposure to formal sex education, misinformation about the need for activity curtailment during menstruation and the importance of early pregnancy detection was widespread. Group members believed they needed to restrict activities involving physical exercise, sexual relations, water, and cold during menses and were not likely to seek medical or family consultation regarding a missed period until the end of the 1st trimester of pregnancy. Also evident was a need for accurate information on the side effects, risk factors, benefits, and effectiveness of contraceptive methods. The group responses enabled the sex educators to prepare a culturally responsive, developmentally oriented curriculum for further work with disadvantaged female adolescents. The group process was ranked highly on the Likert Scale by these teenagers as an enjoyable, useful means of information dissemination and problem solving.     

Improving family planning services to rural adolescents

A longitudinal study conducted among young women and family planning service providers in 3 rural New York counties underscored the need to pay attention to individual differences among the clients served. Barriers to family planning acceptance in these counties included factors such as poor public transportation, long distances to clinic, and no telephone in many households that the urban population does not confront. The 900 young women in the sample were categorized as unserved, underserved, adequately served, or well served with regard to their family planning needs. A comparison of psychometric and survey data from these respondents indicated that clinic clients tended to be unmarried, to have a higher personal income, and have fewer children than their counterparts who were contraceptive nonusers. In addition, nonacceptors who completed the Future Events Test expected more positive events never to happen and made less use of planning for the future than the young women who were clients of the family planning clinic in their county. Although qualitative evaluation and participant-observation revealed significant differences between the 3 counties in terms of their family planning services, the distribution of women in the 4 categories did not differ among counties. Overall, these findings indicate that personality characteristics rather than situational variables are the best predictors of success or failure in taking steps to avoid unwanted pregnancy. For young women who are assessed at intake as lacking sufficient motivation to follow through on contraception, clinic personnel should develop an individualized plan aimed at providing education and raising self-esteem and optimism about control over future events.     

When Prejudice Is Popular: Implications for Discriminatory Behavior

Prejudice and popularity represent two major areas of research. Yet studies have not considered whether prejudiced adolescents actually can be popular. Among 572 high school students (M_age = 15.80 years), the current study tested the association between popularity (based on sociometric peer nominations) and sexual prejudice against gay and lesbian individuals, moderated by gender and perspective taking. As hypothesized, the association was significant for males but not females, and it was significant for adolescents lower on perspective taking but not those higher on perspective taking. Moreover, adolescents who were popular and expressed strong sexual prejudice were more likely to engage in homophobic behavior than prejudiced adolescents who were less popular. Popular adolescents with strong sexual prejudice beliefs may be more prone to use homophobic behavior as a way to maintain their dominant position. Similarly, prejudiced adolescents who are popular may face less pushback for their engagement in homophobic behavior. Continued attention to the connection between sexual prejudice and popularity is important because of the high status, influence, and visibility of popular adolescents.     

Critical Issues in Contraceptive and STI Acceptability Research

We review conceptual issues and theoretical frameworks related to users' acceptability of new technologies designed to protect reproductive health and prevent unwanted pregnancy. Special attention is given to distinctions among different kinds of users' perspectives regarding acceptability, as well as differentiating acceptability from assessments of the efficacy of innovative methods. Emphasis is also given to the larger context of couple decision-making and cultural variation. We argue that concern for sexual pleasure plays a central role in determining user perspectives regarding new methods. The female condom, contraceptive ring, contraceptive skin patch, microbicides, vaccines, emergency contraception, and PERSONA are discussed within the context of the identified critical issues .     

Could I do something like that? Recruiting and training foster carers for teenagers “at risk” of or experiencing child sexual exploitation

Child sexual exploitation (CSE) is a category of child abuse that was historically created to recognize the victimhood of children and young people, illuminating the ways that their evolving capacity to consent to sex is manipulated and undermined. Using evidence from the evaluation of specialist foster care provision and a CSE training course for foster carers, this paper considers how training might be used to widen the pool of potential foster carers for children affected by CSE and identifies qualities displayed by effective carers. It argues that improving the recruitment of foster carers can create safer home environments for teenagers at risk of or experiencing sexual exploitation and reduce the risk of further harm and that informed and effective foster care provision is crucial to prevent both the sexual exploitation of looked‐after teenagers and placement breakdowns that can ultimately increase risk.     

Implementing the Power to Kids programme in home-based (foster) care: Identifying the SAFETY approach

Sexual abuse and dating violence are chronic problems for children and young people in out-of-home care. This study explored the impact of a prevention and response programme Power to Kids, which targets harmful sexual behaviour (HSB), child sexual exploitation (CSE) and dating violence (DV) for children and young people in home-based (foster) care. Twenty-eight case managers, 25 foster carers and 13 children and young people participated in a mixed methods study in Victoria, Australia informed by the research question: How does the Power to Kids programme impact the sexual health and safety of children and young people in home-based (foster) care? The data analysis revealed a SAFETY approach whereby the sexual health and safety knowledge of carers and case managers was enhanced, and carers were given permission to have Brave Conversations with children and young people, who could then apply the new knowledge to their lives. Case managers were upskilled in identifying indicators of sexual abuse and empowered to escalate stalled therapeutic and disruption practice when children and young people were identified as experiencing HSB, CSE or DV.     

Caring for the Child Welfare Client: Am I Good Enough?

ABSTRACT

Given the demographics of youth served by the child welfare system, culturally responsive approaches are critical to effective social work practice and desperately needed. Like many adolescents who grow up in the child welfare system, Paul, a White adolescent male in foster care, was beset by a lack of adequate environmental resources and multiple stressors and had little hope or motivation to work on improving his situation. This article highlights the author's “use of self” as an African American male therapist who worked with Paul, using a Winnicottian and caring framework. Because child welfare workers are often overburdened by the demands of work, including large caseloads and clients with few to no resources, they find it difficult to consistently provide empathic and caring behaviors for their clients. The author highlights his therapeutic work and struggles with Paul and offers cultural insights and Winnicottian strategies when working with adolescents in the child welfare system who are ultimately in need of permanency and stability.     

A qualitative study of the practices and experiences of staff in multidisciplinary child sexual exploitation partnerships in three English coastal towns

This article presents findings from a qualitative study of the practices and experiences of people working in multidisciplinary child sexual exploitation (CSE) partnerships in three coastal towns in England. The study is based on focus groups conducted with 36 practitioners from a range of professional groups, including police, social work, substance misuse, education, specialist youth workers, sexual health, and statutory and non-statutory children's services. The article begins with an overview of the three towns and the structure of their responses to CSE. It goes on to explore a range of factors, which contribute to the local issues around CSE and which affect and direct multiagency working. These include practitioner perspectives on CSE vulnerability, the discrepancy between young peoples' and practitioners' views about “exploitation”, a discussion of how CSE perpetrators initiate and develop contact with young people and the role of incentives—including drugs and alcohol—as part of CSE exploitation. We finish by drawing out some general conclusions.     

Mobilizing Community Services for Adolescents in Trouble

Considering the low self-image of many adoles- cents who are experiencing social, educational and emotional problems, it is suggested that we initiate helping efforts from a wellness perspective. Social agencies often create barriers to troubled adolescents through their administrative structure and emphasis on pathology. Through the collaboration of a family service agency and public recreation department, an outreach program is described that makes use of recreational activity as an entry point for a range of social, educational and mental health services. The use of-community agencies and involve- ment of the adolescents and their parents in setting goals are vital parts of this integrative approach.     

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.     

Revitalizing the Vision in Supervision: Supporting the Supervisor in Home-Based Therapy Programs

Home-based programs provide a growing number of mental health and case-management services to high-risk children, adolescents, and their families. The clinical service providers who work directly with these children and families have varying degrees of education and practice experience as well as a range of different supervisory needs. Because of the daily challenges service providers face, they require support from competent, available supervisors. The professionals who supervise them often assume that responsibility with limited, if any, training in providing supervision. New and experienced supervisors alike often find themselves in positions for which they are ill prepared, without suitable training or administrative support. This article describes a supervision seminar developed for supervisors who supervise the clinicians who provide home-based services. The seminar provides training, support, consultation, and other forms of assistance to help supervisors adapt their clinical skills for use in their supervisory roles.     

Friends in high places: A dyadic perspective on peer status as predictor of friendship quality and the mediating role of empathy and prosocial behavior

Friendships and peer status play important roles in the social landscape of adolescents and are related to developmental outcomes. Yet, how peer status is related to friendship quality and what role social skills play in this association remains unclear. In this study, we use Actor–Partner Interdependence (Mediation) Modeling (Ledermann, Macho, & Kenny, 2011 ) to investigate how two forms of peer status, preference and popularity, are related to positive and negative friendship quality in mid‐adolescence. Results show that adolescents who are friends with more preferred (i.e., likeable) and popular adolescents report higher friendship quality. These partner effects were partially mediated by adolescents’ own prosocial behavior and their friends’ empathy levels. Higher levels of empathy of one's friend and one's own lesser preference for equity explained why adolescents were more satisfied in a friendship with highly preferred (i.e., likeable) adolescents. Interestingly, empathy was not a mediator for the link between friendship quality and popularity. These findings promote a better understanding of the interplay between different levels of social complexity (i.e., individual, dyadic and peer group level) in adolescence.     

Involvement in the Juvenile Justice System for African American Adolescents: Examining Associations with Behavioral Health Problems

While researchers have found that African American youth experience higher levels of juvenile justice involvement at every system level (arrest, sentencing, and incarceration) relative to their other ethnic counterparts, few studies have explored how juvenile justice involvement and number of contacts might be correlated with this broad range of problems. A convenience sample of 638 African American adolescents living in predominantly low-income, urban communities participated in a survey related to juvenile justice involvement. Major findings using logistic regression models indicated that adolescents who reported juvenile justice system involvement versus no involvement were 2.3 times as likely to report mental health problems, substance abuse, and delinquent or youth offending behaviors. Additional findings documented that the higher the number of juvenile justice system contacts, the higher the rates of delinquent behaviors, alcohol and marijuana use, sex while high on drugs, and commercial sex. These findings suggest that identifying and targeting youth who have multiple juvenile justice system contacts, especially those in low-resourced communities for early intervention services, may be beneficial. Future research should examine whether peer network norms might mediate the relationships between juvenile justice involvement and youth problem behaviors.     

The Adjustment of Long Term Homeless Youth

This study investigated self image, depression, hopelessness and locus of control in 30 adolescents who had lived away from home for at least six months, together with relationships between maladjustment and poor experiences at home and at school prior to leaving home. Comparisons were made with 120 adolescents living at home who were employed, unemployed, at school or at tertiary institutions. It was found that the homeless youth were more depressed and hopeless, with poorer self image than all groups excepting unemployed adolescents. Maladjustment was correlated with negative home and school experiences. These results are discussed in terms of the debate between psychological and sociological approaches to runaway behaviour, as well as the need for assessment and treatment services to be provided for long term homeless youth.