Adolescent Substance Use Prevention Interventions Outside of Classroom Settings

Substance use prevention programs empowering individual adolescents to resist substance use through education and skills training are crucial to reducing substance use within this population. However, existing programs of this type are designed primarily for classroom use, and may not meet the needs of social workers intervening with adolescents outside classroom settings. A literature review identified six programs that have demonstrated statistically significant reductions in substance use when implemented outside the classroom. The current study describes these programs, identifies their common characteristics, and draws on additional prevention research to outline recommendations for practitioners seeking to apply the field’s most current knowledge base in community settings.     

Chinese Construction of Adolescent Development Outcome: Themes Discerned in a Qualitative Study

Although there are well-known theories of adolescent development in the West, there is a notable lack of theory and empirical support for understanding the outcome of Chinese adolescent development. This paper examines the cultural themes that account for Chinese–Canadian parents’ and adolescent’s construction of adolescent development outcome. A qualitative study approach was used to explore the experiences and views of 19 adolescents and 10 of their parents. Four major themes identified reflect deep-rooted cultural effects. These themes include: be a good person (self-cultivation), be a good child (filial piety), be a self-reliance person to honor family (Chinese familism), and be a mature person (the quest for harmony and other-related attributes). A concept of “self in relational networks” is therefore proposed for understanding the unique outcome of Chinese adolescent development in the Chinese–Canadian context. “Self in relational network,” in this context, refers to the development of a web of good fitting, harmonious, appropriately positioned, and socially acceptable interpersonal relationships in the adult world. The view reflects the indigenous concept of “guanxi” in Chinese culture.     

Sociocultural Variations in Adolescent Girls' Expressions of Distress: What We Know and Need to Know

Social workers have a unique interest in understanding diversity in patterns of human adaptation to adverse circumstances. This paper draws social workers' attention to empirical research on sociocultural variations in adolescent girls' expressions of distress. Focusing on internalizing and externalizing modes of expression, the author summarizes current studies that investigate ethnic/race and socioeconomic influences on adolescent girls' behavioral and psychological symptoms of underlying distress. This review of existing literature points to the need for a more refined understanding of multiple and interacting influences on adolescent female patterns of expression and draws several implications for social work practice with this diverse population group.     

从青少年性失误谈青春期教育

目前在我国,青少年性失误呈上升和低龄化趋势,性失误的危害极大,因此应大力开展青春期教育.     

Patterns of linguistic variation among Glaswegian adolescent males1

This article presents the results of an ethnographically informed sociolinguistic investigation of Glaswegian Vernacular and examines the intersection between language and identity using data collected from a group of working‐class adolescent males, over the course of three years, from a high school in the south side of Glasgow, Scotland, called Banister Academy. Through the fine‐grained acoustic analysis of the phonetic variable cat (equivalent to the trap/bath/palm set, Johnston 1997 ), coupled with ethnographic observations, this article shows how patterns of variation are related to Community of Practice membership, how the members of the Communities of Practice in Banister Academy use linguistic and social resources to differentiate themselves from one another, and how certain patterns of variation acquire social meaning within the peer‐group. This article contributes to the under‐researched area of adolescent male language use and offers one of the first ethnographically supported accounts of linguistic variation in Glasgow.     

Parental and adolescent health behaviors and pathways to adulthood

This paper examines associations among parental and adolescent health behaviors and pathways to adulthood. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, we identify a set of latent classes describing pathways into adulthood and examine health-related predictors of these pathways. The identified pathways are consistent with prior research using other sources of data. Results also show that both adolescent and parental health behaviors differentiate pathways. Parental and adolescent smoking are associated with lowered probability of the higher education pathway and higher likelihood of the work and the work & family pathways (entry into the workforce soon after high school completion). Adolescent drinking is positively associated with the work pathway and the higher education pathway, but decreases the likelihood of the work & family pathway. Neither parental nor adolescent obesity are associated with any of the pathways to adulthood. When combined, parental/adolescent smoking and adolescent drinking are associated with displacement from the basic institutions of school, work, and family.     

Context,network, and adolescent perceived risk

Prior research has identified a list of individual attributes, along with neighborhood, school, and network characteristics, as potential factors affecting perceived risk. However, prior research has rarely investigated the simultaneous effects of these factors on perceived risk. This study uses the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (AddHealth), supplemented with the 1990 census data, to examine the associations of neighborhood, school, and network characteristics and perceived risk among adolescents. To account for the overlaps between school districts and neighborhoods, we use cross-classified multilevel modeling (CCMM). Our analyses lead to two main findings. First, perceived risk appears to be context-specific. Perceived risk at school is mostly affected by school characteristics but not by neighborhood characteristics. Perceived risk in neighborhood is mostly affected by neighborhood characteristics but not by school characteristics. Second, network characteristics matter for both types of perceived risk and more so for perceived risk at school than in neighborhood. We find that, while having more friends is associated with a lower level of perceived risk, having more friends with delinquent and violent behaviors is associated with a higher level of perceived risk among adolescents.     

Prevalence rate of DSM mental disorders among adolescents living in residential group homes of the French Child Welfare System

Purpose

To determine the prevalence of some major mental disorders among adolescents living in a residential group home and the distribution of these disorders by gender.

Method

The participants included 183 adolescents (13–17 years old) living in residential group homes of the Child Welfare System in the county of Bouches-du-Rhône (South of France). A structured psychiatric Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children was used to assess the existence of Anxiety Disorder (AD), Major Depression (MD), Conduct Disorder (CD), Eating Disorder (ED), Enuresia (En), Psychosis Screen (PS) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) among the study participants over the six-month period before the assessment was taken. The existence of Suicide Attempts (SA) during the lifetime of each child was also assessed.

Results

Of the youths qualified, 48.6% as having at least one psychiatric disorder during the last six months (AD: 28.4%; CD: 15.3%; MD: 14.8%; PS: 18.6%; ADHD: 3.8%), and SA have been reported in 23% of them. Females were more affected than boys (p < 0.001) with 64.9% having at least one disorder compared to 36.8% of boys; AD: 49.3% vs. 13.2%; and MD: 27.3% vs. 5.6%.

Conclusion

Adolescents living in residential group homes of the Child Welfare System in France have notably high rates of mental disorder (about three times more than those of the general population of the same age), similar to the patterns found in adolescents in North America and Europe. These data are the first of their kind in France and will guide necessary changes to the child welfare system.     

A preliminary study of group intervention along with basic canine training among traumatized teenagers: A 3-month longitudinal study

The current study aimed to reduce the psychological distress of teenage girls who were exposed to traumatic event (physical or sexual abused), through using dogs-assisted therapy. Two sets of designs conducted: 1) longitudinal design which aims to answer the question: does dog assisted therapy will reduce psychological distress (namely depressive symptoms, post-traumatic symptoms), improve self confidence and subjective well being among these teenage girls? 2) Cross-sectional design that aims to compare the treatment group (dogs-assisted therapy) with comparison group at baseline and after the last session. The groups (intervention vs. matching) were compared on socio-demographic variables (only for time 1), subjective well-being, coping with stressful life events, PTSD symptoms, and depressive symptoms at base line (time 1) and at the end of the intervention (time 2). Findings from the longitudinal perspective have shown a rapid decline at the level of PTSD symptoms in the intervention group, along with significant reduction in the proportion of participants with elevated risk for PTSD. The main significant findings from the cross-sectional design were: lower level of subjective well-being, higher level of PTSD symptoms and depressive symptoms among the intervention group compared to the matching group at base line. However, these differences became non-significant at the end of the intervention. Various explanations for these findings are discussed.     

Lost in transition: Illicit substance use and services receipt among at-risk youth in the child welfare system

This study examined the use of mental health and substance abuse services among adolescents in the child welfare system (CWS) who reported use of illicit substances. 1004 adolescents age 11–15 years at baseline were followed for 5–7 years, over five waves of data collection. Shortly after the investigation for maltreatment (baseline), 69.1% of youths using illicit substances received mental health and/or substance abuse outpatient specialty services. By the last follow-up, during the transition to adulthood, only 21.5% of young adults using illicit substances received outpatient specialty services. Youth who used illicit substances were more likely to receive outpatient and inpatient specialty services than non-users at the time of contact with the CWS (mostly baseline), but this difference faded over the follow-up period. By 5–7 years follow-up, there was no significant difference in specialty services receipt for illicit substances users versus non-users. Predictors of outpatient service use at most waves were having Medicaid, mental health needs, and having recently seen a school counselor or primary care physician. Among illicit substance users transitioning to adulthood, African American youths were less likely to receive outpatient specialty services than White youths. These findings reveal a need for more attention to illicit substances use among youth in the CWS, better cross agency integration, and special attention to the needs of transition-age youth to better connect them with services as they age out of the CWS.