Individual Youth Research Articles

Building Evidence‐Based Interventions for the Youth, Providers, and Contexts of Real‐World Mental‐Health Care

AbstractEfforts to identify empirically supported treatments (ESTs) for youth's mental health problems are valuable, but the descriptor empirically supported does not guarantee that a treatment will work well in everyday clinical use. The voltage drop often seen when ESTs move from efficacy studies to clinical practice contexts may reflect limited exposure to real‐world conditions during development and testing. One result may be interventions that are focused more narrowly and are more linear than the clinical practice they are designed to enhance. In this article, we suggest three strategies for building and refining ESTs that are robust for real‐world application: (a) designing interventions to fit the contexts of youth treatment, (b) structuring interventions that can be tailored to fit individual youth characteristics, and (c) building programs for nontraditional intervention contexts. In addition, we describe how to develop interventions that are ready for practical implementation: the deployment‐focused model.

Preparing at-risk youth for a changing world: revisiting a person-in-context model for transition to employment

Background: The current global cohort of youth has been called ‘a generation at-risk’, marked by a dramatic rise in youth who are not in employment, education or training programmes. In 2010, youth were three times as likely as adults to be unemployed, with youth unemployment worsening in 2012 and 2013. Accordingly, there is an urgent need to examine educational structures that can promote greater labour market attachment and successful transition into employment for youth worldwide. Vocational and work-based education (WBE) has been identified as one of the most recommended and promising educational structures for curtailing youth under- and unemployment. However, WBE takes many forms, making it difficult to discern which WBE programme is most likely to meet the diverse needs of any individual at-risk youth. Moreover, there has been a dearth of theoretical conceptualisations to explain WBE as a context that promotes resilience for at-risk youth as they transition into the world of work.Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a revised model for WBE as an enabling context for at-risk youth in transition from school to employment. Specifically, a person-in-context approach is used, situating youth-related facets (e.g. agency) in relation to systemic facets (e.g. political, cultural) to provide a comprehensive theoretical basis for WBE. The revised model maintains three overlapping domains – the individual, the social-cultural and the economic-political – to address a theoretical gap in the literature on transition systems while providing a foundation for practical efforts to prepare at-risk youth for engaging in a changing labour market.Design and Methods: The model was constructed through a systematic and interdisciplinary integrative literature review that examined empirical, conceptual, policy-based and practice-based literature on at-risk youth transition from school to work. Articles and documents were analysed for both individual and contextual factors that influence transition, in order to contribute towards the development of a robust person-in-context model. Existing models of transition and other systems were also examined that addressed the needs of at-risk youth. A ‘person-in-context’ approach was selected for our model as it enabled representation of both macro- and microcosmic factors that shape effective WBE programming.Conclusions: The model is organised around three critical domains that were identified as being influential for school-to-work transition: the individual domain, the social-cultural domain and the economic-political domain. Within each of these domains, multiple facets are described that shape youth transition. WBE is positioned at the centre of the model as an educational structure that can attend to the multiple facets that shape engagement in school and work. The paper concludes with an explicit research agenda linked to the model and practical implications for WBE programming.

Impacts of the HackHealth after‐school program: Motivating youth through personal relevance

ABSTRACTAfter‐school programs are uniquely situated to attract and engage youth in a variety of interest‐driven activities that ensure that each individual youth's personal interests are nurtured. In collaboration with school librarians at five middle schools in the greater Washington D.C. metro area, we developed and implemented an after‐school program, HackHealth, which aims to increase disadvantaged middle school students’ interest in science and health, their health and digital literacy skills, and their health‐related self‐efficacy. Based on data collected from the 63 youth who have participated in HackHealth over the past two years (as well as their parents) through surveys, participant observation, pre‐ and post‐interviews, and focus groups, we investigate why these youth joined HackHealth, the health‐related topic each one selected to research during the program and the reasons for their choice, and the perceptions of participants and their parents regarding the short‐term outcomes of participating in the program. The importance of building on youths’ personal interests and ensuring the personal relevance of both content and skills in attracting and sustaining youth participation and engagement in after‐school programs is discussed.

Moving beyond attendance: lessons learned from assessing engagement in afterschool contexts.

Youth engagement is the least researched, but potentially most important, aspect of participation in afterschool programs. The level of youth engagement can vary across programs, across youth within a program, and within individual youth over time. Engagement is important for both recruiting and retaining participants, and has been associated with more positive academic outcomes over time. This chapter integrates perspectives from practitioners, researchers, and the school engagement literature. Reasons why engagement is an important dimension of afterschool programming, different methods for assessing engagement, key features of engaging afterschool programs, and implications for practice are also outlined.

Emotional Distress Dispositions and Crisis Intervention for Children Treated for Mental Illness

We studied 1,397 youth undergoing treatment in a multi-program, multiservice agency serving vulnerable youth in both community and residential settings, testing for associations between four indicators of youth’s emotional distress dispositions and the frequency of crisis events demanding a crisis response within the first 6 months of youth’s participation in a treatment program. We addressed individual and program-level research aims employing a two-level hierarchical model considering both individual and program levels of influence. Results indicated the presence of strong associations for youth’s anger control and frustration management issues, a weaker association for anxiety/anxious disposition, and no significant association for irritability/poor self-control problems. Aggregate emotional distress differences for youth in school, probation, wraparound, residential, or community mental health programming contributed little beyond emotional distress differences among individual youth. Consistent with psychological theory, clinically measured emotional distress dispositions prompt significant behavioral disruption for youth in residential placements as well as in community settings, and they can be detected early in treatment for guiding remedial efforts.

Context-dependent pathways of the transmission of risk from communities to individuals.

Research has consistently documented the role of environmental risk factors in the onset of delinquent behavior among youth. Less is known about the processes through which these contextual risks are translated to individual youth behavior. The aim of the current study is to examine the role of family risk factors in the transmission of community risk. Data was obtained from a nationally representative sample of over 30,000 middle school youth and community key informants (CKI). A multilevel, moderated mediation model was estimated with family risk as the moderator of the effect of CKI ratings of community risk on youth perceptions of risk. Results showed that when youth came from low risk families (measured by parental use of positive family management strategies), youth perceptions of risk mediated the effects of community risk on youth delinquency; however, there was no evidence of a significant mediated effect under conditions of high risk (measured by poor family management). This appears to be because youth from high-risk families perceived their neighborhoods as high-risk, regardless of actual levels of risk (as reported by CKI). This study finds that the relationship between communities and adolescent behavior is complex and interacts with the family environment.

Youth Consumers and the Fast-food Market

This paper provides a frame for thinking about youths' public consumption of fast foods. It draws attention to the significance of the social encounters that surround food by giving greater analytical focus to the late sociologist, Erving Goffman's conception of “the situation” than is typically given in research on youth food consumption. Focusing on the role of the situation in structuring the experience of youths' consumption of fast food directs attention to the significance of the body as symbolic resource, the collective mood, emotional energy, affective gains, and the socio-spatial context to young people's participation in fast-food settings as consumers. A shift away from the individual youth food consumer as unit of analysis to a focus on situations provides greater analytical purchase in trying to work through the complicated relationship between youth agency and the consumer markets' influence over youth, as it plays out around and through food.

Measuring Gang Involvement in a Justice-Referred Sample of Youth in Treatment

Gangs are present in about 34% of all jurisdictions in the United States. Given elevations in violence and victimization associated with gang involvement, effective means are needed for measuring involvement among individual youth. This is especially the case among youth receiving services for problem behavior who might benefit from targeted treatments helping them reduce involvement in gangs. We assessed gang involvement among 421 youth referred by the justice system for intensive home- and community-based mental health treatment. Using self-report survey and therapist-recorded data, we identified 94 (22%) youth as gang involved. Risk factor measures provided support for our classification, driven primarily by self-reported indicators of gang involvement as opposed to therapist-recorded indicators.

Teaching Note—CASA Volunteerism: Preparing MSW Students for Public Child Welfare Practice

In an effort to reform public child welfare systems across the nation, Title IV-E child welfare training programs were established over 2 decades ago. Participating students typically engage in a customized educational experience as part of their MSW program that prepares them to work in the field of child welfare upon graduation. This article describes an initiative taking place in one MSW program where students are encouraged to serve as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA), paired with an individual child or youth in foster care. The purpose is to offer students a deeper understanding of the lived experiences of children in care. Information relating to program design and student perspectives on the experience are presented.

PROTOCOL: Predictors of youth gang membership in low‐ and middle‐income countries: A systematic review

BACKGROUND The Problem There is evidence of gang violence in low- and middle-income countries in Africa and Asia, and the prevalence of gangs is particularly well documented throughout Central and South America (Decker & Pyrooz, 2010; Gatti et al., 2011). Official estimates of gang membership in Central America estimate approximately 69,000 members, while academic estimates believe this figure to be closer to 200,000 (UNODC, 2007). Some estimates are as high as 500,000 gang members in the region including South America and the Caribbean, and gangs have been identified as “the primary threat to regional stability and security” (Muggah & Aguirre, 2013). While reporting and recording issues make it difficult to estimate rates of gang violence, the homicide rate in Colombia, Brazil, El Salvador and Guatemala are substantially higher than those of European and North American countries (Decker & Pyrooz, 2010; UNODC, 2007). Gangs are also active in South Africa, with an estimate of 100,000 members in Western Cape alone (Reckson & Becker, cited in Decker & Pyrooz, 2010); however, to date, there is limited research examining gangs in Africa and Asia...

Predictors of Reduction in Symptoms of Depression for Children and Adolescents in Foster Care

Children and adolescents in the foster care system have less favorable mental health outcomes than those in the general population. Within this system, depression is one of the most commonly diagnosed disorders, with prevalence rates up to three times that of same-aged peers, and is associated with long-term negative outcomes such as greater substance use, suicidality, and psychiatric hospitalization. The elevated rate of depression in children and adolescents in foster care and increased risk of adverse outcomes over time highlight the importance of identifying factors that promote reduction of symptoms of depression in this population. Using Optimal Data Analysis, this study examines the moderating effect of ecological systems variables, as measured by the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths-Mental Health, on decreases in depressive symptomatology in a sample of 228 foster care youth between the ages of 4 and 20. Results revealed positive change in adjustment to trauma (i.e., symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) as the optimal predictor of reduction of symptoms of depression. Positive change in family functioning, total youth strengths, positive change in sexualized behavior, and positive change in school functioning emerged as additional predictors of reduction of depression. These results indicate that clinically significant decreases over time in symptoms of depression are associated with concurrent improvement in variables across the social ecologies of children and adolescents, including the individual youth, family, and school systems. Implications for service providers working with this population are discussed.

Too far to walk or bike?

Only 25-35% of Canadian children and youth regularly engage in active transportation (AT; e.g., non-motorized travel modes such as walking and cycling) to/from school. Previous research shows that distance between home and school is the strongest barrier to AT. Based on social ecological theory, we describe several strategies to overcome this barrier. At the individual level, children and youth could engage in AT to/from destinations such as parks, shops, friends' and family members' residence, and sport fields which may be located closer than their school. Parents who drive their kids to/from school could drop them within a "walkable" distance so that they can walk for the remainder of the trip. Partnerships could be developed between schools and other nearby institutions that would allow cars and buses to use their parking lot temporarily so that children could do a portion of the school trip on foot. Developing a well-connected network of sidewalks along low traffic streets can also facilitate AT. At the policy level, decisions regarding school location have a direct influence on distance. Finally, social marketing campaigns could raise awareness about strategies to incorporate AT into one's lifestyle, and encourage parents to reconsider what constitutes a "walkable" distance.

From risk assessment to risk management: Matching interventions to adolescent offenders' strengths and vulnerabilities

Though considerable research has examined the validity of risk assessment tools in predicting adverse outcomes in justice-involved adolescents, the extent to which risk assessments are translated into risk management strategies and, importantly, the association between this link and adverse outcomes has gone largely unexamined. To address these shortcomings, the Risk–Need–Responsivity (RNR) model was used to examine associations between identified strengths and vulnerabilities, interventions, and institutional outcomes for justice-involved youth. Data were collected from risk assessments completed using the Short-Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability: Adolescent Version (START:AV) for 120 adolescent offenders (96 boys and 24 girls). Interventions and outcomes were extracted from institutional records. Mixed evidence of adherence to RNR principles was found. Accordant to the risk principle, adolescent offenders judged to have more strengths had more strength-based interventions in their service plans, though adolescent offenders with more vulnerabilities did not have more interventions targeting their vulnerabilities. With respect to the need and responsivity principles, vulnerabilities and strengths identified as particularly relevant to the individual youth's risk of adverse outcomes were addressed in the service plans about half and a quarter of the time, respectively. Greater adherence to the risk and need principles was found to predict significantly the likelihood of externalizing outcomes. Findings suggest some gaps between risk assessment and risk management and highlight the potential usefulness of strength-based approaches to intervention.

Computer Crimes in the Jordanian Society: Ajloun/Empirical Study

The study aimed identifying the most important computer crimes and Internet in the Jordanian society, has emerged from this main objective questions are: 1) What is the size of the breakthroughs that crimes committed on the Internet? 2) What is the size of the financial crimes committed on the Internet? 3) What is the size of crimes create or attend or participate in the opposition or hostile websites committed on the Internet? 4) What is the size of piracy crimes committed on the Internet? The sample of the study. It consisted of (50) individual youth(Males and Females).Order to answer the first question and the second, third and fourth were used averages and standard deviations and ranks with the aim of identifying the most common Internet crimes. And extract duplicates for the purposes of description of the sample. In light of the results of the study the researcher recommended a series of proposals, it was the most important media awareness, create a specialty of information security, which will provide a dedicated staff continues cyber crimes and suggest solutions studied to reduce them. Besides a deterrent laws that prevent poor souls from committing crimes via the Internet.

Empowerment‐Based Positive Youth Development: A New Understanding of Healthy Development for African American Youth

A shift occurred in research about adolescents in the general population. Research is moving away from deficits toward a resilience paradigm and understanding trajectories of positive youth development. This shift has been less consistent in research and practice with African American youth. A gap also exists in understanding whether individual youth development dimensions generate potential in other dimensions. This study presents an empowerment‐based positive youth development model. It builds upon existing research to present a new vision of healthy development for African American youth that is strengths‐based, developmental, culture‐bound, and action‐oriented. It emphasizes the relationship between person and environment, the reinforcing nature of developmental assets, and the necessity of a sense of community and community engagement for youth.

Youth Mobility in an Isolated Sahelian Population of Mali

This article uses fieldwork collected in four villages of the Sarnyéré Dogon in Mali between 2002 and 2010 to explore the impact of unprecedented individual youth mobility. This small Sahelian population has been challenged by declining natural resources and an opening up to the outside world. Temporary migration of families before each rainy season or harvest has always been part of this population’s adaptation to an arid environment, but youth mobility, especially among girls, is new. Although migration is short term and over relatively short distances, it is an increasingly prevalent alternative to agricultural subsistence strategies. Whereas economic reasons underpin boys’ mobility, for young unmarried girls, the predominant driving force is the discovery of the outside world. Broadly speaking, youth migration in this population is one part of changing intergenerational and gender relations and is especially related to youths’ more individual choices of spouse.

Environmental Influences on Tobacco Use Among Asian American and Pacific Islander Youth

There is growing interest in understanding individual and environmental influences on youth risk behaviors, including tobacco use. The purpose of this article is to describe the processes and findings from a study that sought to increase the capacity of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community-based organizations to understand and address the environmental influences on tobacco use among AAPI youth. Using a multimethod approach to data collection that included GIS (geographic information system) mapping, Photovoice, and individual youth surveys, a team of community and university researchers conducted a 3-year study to assess and address the environmental influences of tobacco use among youth. Community-based participatory research principles guided the study and facilitated unique capacity building and analyses throughout the study period. Results in Long Beach from all three methods highlighted the associations between youth smoking and environmental factors: GIS mapping identified at least 77 separate locations of pro-tobacco influences, photographs captured many of these locations and provided youth leaders with opportunities to identify how other influences contributed to smoking risk, and surveys of youth indicated that perceived community safety and proximity to pro-tobacco influences were associated with smoking in the past 30 days. Subsequent community-based organization activities undertaken by study partners are also discussed, and lessons learned summarized.

Social Ecological Predictors of Longitudinal HIV Treatment Adherence in Youth With Perinatally Acquired HIV

To apply a social ecological model to explore the psychosocial factors prospectively associated with longitudinal adherence to antiretroviral treatment in youth perinatally infected with HIV. Randomly selected youth, age 8 to <19 years old, completed cognitive testing and psychosocial questionnaires at baseline as part of a multisite protocol (N = 138). A validated caregiver-report measure of adherence was completed at baseline and 24 and 48 weeks after baseline. In multivariate analysis, youth awareness of HIV status, caregiver not fully responsible for medications, low caregiver well-being, adolescent perceptions of poor caregiver-youth relations, caregiver perceptions of low social support, and African American ethnicity were associated with nonadherence over 48 weeks. Interventions focusing on caregivers and their interactions with the individual youth and extrafamilial system should be prioritized for prevention and treatment efforts to address nonadherence during the transition into adolescents.

ЦЕННОСТНО-МОТИВАЦИОННАЯ ДЕТЕРМИНАЦИЯ ПОВЕДЕНИЯ ЛИЧНОСТИ

The subject areas of the article scientific materials are the functional characteristics of the value and motivation of individual adolescents and youth with deviant behavior. Identification of these characteristics is the purpose of a study carried out by the author. The empirical research tools are the methods of «Diagnostics system of value orientations of personality» by E. B. Fantalova and «Polimotivational trends in diagnostics of ego-conception of personality» by S. M. Petrova. The study results suggest specificity of value-semantic and motivational formations deviant adolescents and young people have, as manifested in the integrative indicators of understanding of the values and motives of self-realization; in the structure of the humanitarian component of value-semantic system; on the level of awareness of personal sense of spiritual values. The study obtained data allow us to identify systemic linkages intraindividual factors in the genesis of the deviant behavior of the individual, which provides an opportunity to improve the educational, corrective and advisory practices.

Digital Art Making as a Representational Process

In this article I bring artistic production into the learning sciences conversation by using the production of representations as a bridging concept between art making and the new literacies. Through case studies with 4 youth media arts organizations across the United States I ask how organizations structure the process of producing autobiographical digital art through a focus on representational tasks and how learning can be traced by examining youth artists' representations over time. Using a distributed cognition framework I analyze data on the process of making digital art in terms of the macro and micro tasks performed in order to identify occasions for external representation construction and use across organizations. I then examine how individual youth engage in these macro and micro tasks by producing representations that demonstrate their understanding. These analyses show that youth media arts organization production processes engage young artists in a representational trajectory that begins with developing a story about the self, moves toward a focus on how the tools of the medium afford representation of that story, and culminates in digital representations that reflect an understanding of the relationship between story and tools.