Targeting Youth Research Articles

Change in externalizing problems over time among ethnic minority youth exposed to violence

Youth exposed to violence, many of whom are from racial/ethnic minority backgrounds, are at high risk for externalizing problems such as aggressive and oppositional behavior, conduct problems, and delinquency. Most interventions target youth with already high levels of such problems, while selective prevention efforts have received less attention. It is important for researchers, policy makers and practitioners to understand how such problems develop and change over time, and how selective prevention may impact externalizing problems. In this study, we examined one-year trajectories of externalizing problems in 883 low-income, ethnic minority youth exposed to violence who participated in randomized controlled trials testing a prevention program for high-risk youth called the Strengthening Families Program. We found three trajectories of externalizing problems: Low Externalizing (43% of the sample had consistently low levels of externalizing symptoms), Persisters (39% of the sample had consistently high levels of externalizing symptoms), and Improvers (18% of the sample had initially high levels of externalizing symptoms that decreased over time). There were demographic differences between the three trajectories with individuals in the Low Externalizing trajectory more likely to be female and younger than those in the other two trajectories and Persisters and Improvers had significantly more problems with baseline internalizing symptoms, family conflict, and parenting behavior compared to the Low Externalizing trajectory. Logistic regressions then tested several predictors of membership in the Persisters trajectory compared to the Improvers trajectory, controlling for all covariates simultaneously. Only baseline parenting behavior and intervention group membership significantly predicted trajectory membership, and these were small and unreliable effects. Thus, children with varying levels of violence exposure, co-occurring emotional/behavioral problems and family issues, and varying demographics (e.g., age and gender) may do equally well over time, but engagement in this type of intervention may increase the likelihood that high levels of externalizing problems are ameliorated over time.

Drinking High Amounts of Alcohol as a Short-Term Mating Strategy: The Impact of Short-Term Mating Motivations on Young Adults' Drinking Behavior.

Previous research indicates that drinking large quantities of alcohol could function as a short-term mating strategy for young adults in mating situations. However, no study investigated whether this is actually the case. Therefore, in this article, the link between short-term mating motivations and drinking high amounts of alcohol is tested. First, a survey study ( N = 345) confirmed that young adults who engage in binge drinking are more short-term oriented in their mating strategy than young adults who never engage in binge drinking. Also, the more short-term-oriented young adults were in their mating strategy, the more often binge drinking behavior was conducted. In addition, an experimental study ( N = 229) empirically verified that short-term mating motivations increase young adults' drinking behavior, more so than long-term mating motivations. Results of the experiment clearly showed that young men and young women are triggered to drink more alcoholic beverages in a short-term mating situation compared to a long-term mating situation. Furthermore, the mating situation also affected young adults' perception of drinking behavior. Young adults in a short-term mating context perceived a higher amount of alcoholic beverages as heavy drinking compared to peers in a long-term mating context. These findings confirm that a high alcohol consumption functions as a short-term mating strategy for both young men and young women. Insights gained from this article might be of interest to institutions aimed at targeting youth alcohol (ab)use.

Impact of Facebook Ads for Sexual Health Promotion Via an Educational Web App

Background: The authors present a case study of a public health campaign, including social media, and aiming at maximizing the use of web app on sexual health. Objective: To analyze the impact of a Facebook fan page, Facebook advertisements, and posters to maximize the number of visits to the educational web app. Methods: The campaign is assessed for 1 year, using data tracked through Facebook statistics and Google Analytics. Results: The site had 3670 visits (10.1 visitors/day, 95%CI 8.7-11.4). During the one-month Facebook Ads campaign, the site received 1263 visits (42.1 visitors/day, 95%CI 37.3-46.9), multiplying by over four the average number of visitors/day. 34.4% of all the participants were recruited during the one-month Facebook ads campaign. Conclusions: Facebook advertisements seem to be a good tool to promote an educational web app on sexual health targeting youth, and to reach a huge number of users rapidly and at a low cost.

The study of youth online: a critical review and agenda

ABSTRACTThe increasing and pervasive use of online technologies, especially social media, has inspired scholars to investigate how the Internet influences communication. As young people represent the fastest growing adopters of new online technology, much of this research targets youth activity online. But how is the communication discipline taking up this issue, broadly? Typically left to new media and computer-mediated communication scholars, we argue youth online activity raises new and exciting possibilities for researchers across the communication discipline. In this paper, we present a qualitative content analysis of communication research about youth and the Internet. Our analysis of over 700 journal articles provides a clear picture of past and present trends in communication research of youth online activity. Furthermore, we discuss the top four content themes, including: uses and gratifications, engagement, identity, and the uniqueness of youth experience. Critically, we articulate how such research organizes and positions youth in meaningful ways, paving the way for issues of inclusion. We call for a shift from a “difference” framework to one that more explicitly considers “complexity” before suggesting opportunities for future research that crosses and unites subdisciplinary boundaries.

Gaming Climate Change: Assessing Online Climate Change Games Targeting Youth Produced in Spanish

Abstract In search of innovative approaches to raise climate change awareness among digital natives, online and serious games are gaining currency as new platforms for communication, education and social change. Thanks to their interactivity and immersive narrative, games have capacity to convey to young people the problems that they will be facing in the future and enable them to experience these problems directly through the game. In addition, online games can offer the possibility to be implemented in educational contexts as a didactic tool for teachers. This study aims a) to present a checklist with validated evaluation criteria identified through the Delphi method; and b) to conduct a qualitative evaluation of communicative and educative elements of a sample of 24 online climate change games targeting youth and produced in Spanish. Our findings suggest that the games evaluated seem to be on the right path, making the topic of climate change local, visual and connected, although there is still room for improvement in terms of contents, gameplay and didactics.

SOMALIA: Al‐Shabaab Forces Target Youth

Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social and Cultural SeriesVolume 54, Issue 1 p. 21298B-21300A National Security SOMALIA: Al-Shabaab Forces Target Youth First published: 06 February 2017 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-825X.2017.07476.xCitations: 1Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume54, Issue1February 2017Pages 21298B-21300A RelatedInformation

Usability of a Smartphone Application to Support the Prevention and Early Intervention of Anxiety in Youth

Mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders are common in youth with anxiety problems being among the most prevalent, typically failing to spontaneously remit, and placing some youth at risk for additional difficulties. Mobile health (mHealth) might be a novel avenue to strengthen prevention efforts for child anxiety, since program effects are generally small. However, although a significant number of mHealth tools have been developed, few have been evaluated in terms of usability (or even clinical effectiveness). Usability testing is the first level of evaluation in responsible mHealth efforts as it is one of the main barriers to usage and adoption. As such, the objective of this research was to evaluate the usability of a smartphone application (app) corresponding to an indicated prevention and early intervention targeting youth anxiety. To accomplish this, 132 children (Mage=9.65, 63% girls) and 45 service providers (Mage=29.13, 87% female) rated our app along five established dimensions of usability (ease of use, ease of learning, quality of support information, satisfaction, and stigma). Findings showed that the app was highly and positively rated by youth and providers, with some variations (lower ratings when errors occurred). Path analyses also showed that system understanding was significantly related to greater system satisfaction, but that such relation occurred through the quality of support information offered by the app. Together, this has research and clinical implications as it highlights avenues for advancing youth care via mHealth usability evaluation, including prior to establishing effectiveness.

Youth Audiences and the Media in the Digital Era: The Intensification of Multimedia Engagement and Interaction

Youth Audiences and the Media in the Digital Era:The Intensification of Multimedia Engagement and Interaction Valerie Wee (bio) Youth audiences in possession of disposable income, and the time and inclination to spend it, have long been a demographic valued by the media industries, both as the consumers of media content and as the "product" sold to advertisers.1 However, the generations born after 1995 into capitalist, technologically advanced, first-world environments—who have grown up with digital entertainment interfaces offering heightened opportunities for interaction, participation, and control over their preferred entertainment experiences—are abandoning traditional, industry-regulated forms of [End Page 133] media consumption.2 These developments signal an era of upheaval for legacy media, which are being forced to grapple with rapidly evolving audience behaviors, an expanding range of competing (online) entertainment options, and the intensification of (digital) piracy, all of which are challenging the traditional ways in which entertainment is being produced, delivered, accessed, and consumed. How have the growth and widespread adoption of digital technologies altered how contemporary youth audiences use and consume entertainment media? How are legacy media responding to the challenges of targeting and attracting youth audiences who are increasingly distracted by an expanding range of new media entertainment options? Within the limits of these few pages, I restrict my discussion to contemporary youth's evolving interactions with entertainment media and detail how two specific youth-oriented television series—Glee (Fox, 2009–2015) and Scream (MTV, 2015–) have attempted to co-opt new media's heightened potential for interactivity and fan engagement to more effectively target youth audiences. The emergence of new digital media technologies has directly disrupted the analog status quo. While the structures and practices of "old" legacy media are built on a notion of mass communication, in which content and information is linear and flows from a single source to many recipients, new media's open, largely unregulated structure and low barriers to entry offer the opportunity for content and information to flow from many sources to many recipients. In addition, there is a perception that the new media environment allows content producers and distributors, and media users, consumers, and audiences alike to freely interact and to mutually and simultaneously participate in both the creation and the consumption of media content.3 Where analog media ensured that entertainment content was historically encountered and consumed on regulated schedules, in specific venues and spaces, via distinct devices and technologies, while offering identifiably disparate experiences, digital's promise of cross-media "convergence" is dissolving the barriers between different forms of media and their content, and ensuring that multiple forms of media entertainment can be enjoyed across an expanding range of multipurpose digital communication devices.4 In the digital age, computer, tablet, and mobile phone screens are supplanting the traditional movie and television screen. Digital devices afford media consumers greater independence, choice, and agency with regard to how, where, and when they consume their entertainment, easily circumventing broadcast or release schedules imposed by content providers or distributors, nullifying traditional audience-measuring systems, and disrupting the once-stable advertising model.5 Increasingly, youth audiences in the [End Page 134] twenty-first century are accessing their media at the touch of a button (or touchscreen), free from geographical or temporal constraints. Significantly, while a 2015 study of US tweens (eight- to twelve-year-olds) and teens (thirteen to eighteen) offers positive news for the entertainment industries, revealing that youth continue to spend significant amounts of time accessing and enjoying media—nine hours for teens and six hours for tweens daily, with television watching and listening to music dominating their activities—the survey also notes developments that point to the erosion of traditional media's control over youth media consumption habits. Where television viewing is concerned, teens reportedly spend "only half (50 percent) of all [their] TV and video-viewing time watching TV programming on a TV set"; the other 50 percent of the time they spend on digital devices and mobile gadgets—in fact, US tweens spent 41 percent of all their screen time on mobile devices, as compared to 46 percent for teens.6 Furthermore, the statistics for traditional television viewing reveal startling declines in younger...

A New Mentorship Model: The Perceptions of Educational Futures for Native American Youth at a Rural Tribal School

A case study utilizing a mixed methods design concluded that a nontraditional-style mentorship intervention model for at-risk, Native American youth at a tribal school in South Dakota has positively impacted the youths’ perspectives of their educational futures. The mentorship intervention model was social work-rooted, theory-driven, and culturally-sensitive. The literature review discussed the lack of research for this oppressed group with mentorship programming and provided comprehension to advance mentorship program in rural reservation settings. Research knowledge of this at-risk group's social problems, historical trauma experience, and mentorship programs advanced the success of this intervention. By focusing on the strengths and needs of the tribal school, a partnership between a tribal school and two universities formed to establish a non-traditional mentorship program that positively impacted the youth and benefited the school’s strategic goals. Comparing the mixed method data of the Native American tribal rural school target youth group to a non-Native American, non-tribal, rural school youth group, findings justified the need for this intervention as well as supported the positive impact that the intervention has had on the Native American youths' educational perspectives.

Social Circus: The Cultural Politics of Embodying “Social Transformation”

Collapsing “capitalist” pyramids, generating a Wonderland of hula-hooping, stiltwalking, and gender-bending Alices, Montréal’s social circus organization Cirque Hors Piste fosters relational practices of trust and play. Targeting youth with marginalized life paths, polyphonic expression is emphasized as a pivotal element shaping the pedagogy and dramaturgy of the social circus collective creation process.

Longitudinal quality of life improvement in underserved rural youth with obesity

SummaryObjectiveACT! (Actively Changing Together) is a family‐ and community‐based intervention targeting youth with obesity. The objective of this study was to establish the longitudinal impact on Health‐Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) as well as the relationship with anthropometric and demographic factors.MethodsYouth (n = 75) aged 8–14 years meeting criteria for overweight or obesity were referred to the programme. Twelve, 90‐min classes in English and Spanish were held at the YMCA. Demographics and anthropometrics were assessed, as well as HRQoL that was measured with the child‐reported Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL™) 4.0 Generic Core Scale. Data was collected at three follow‐up points after completion of the intervention: initial follow‐up (n = 65), 6 (n = 41) and 12 months (n = 25). Analysis included paired dependent t‐tests between baseline and follow‐up, and Pearson's correlations on HRQoL, anthropometric and demographic data.ResultsPedsQL scores significantly improved from baseline to all follow‐up timepoints (initial follow‐up immediately following the intervention, and 6 and 12 months post intervention). Over time, body mass index Z‐Score and per cent body fat displayed various points of significance and strengthening correlations.ConclusionsLongitudinal improvements in HRQoL were sustained up to 12 months following a family‐ and community‐based intervention in this underserved population. Anthropometric measures continuously correlated with and contributed to HRQoL outcomes.

Promising Themes for Antismoking Campaigns Targeting Youth and Young Adults.

Behavior change campaigns typically try to change beliefs that influence behaviors, with targeted beliefs comprising the campaign theme. We present an empirical approach for choosing among a large number of potential themes, and results from the implementation of this approach for campaigns aimed at 4 behavioral targets: (1) preventing smoking initiation among youth, and (2) preventing initiation, (3) stopping progression to daily smoking and (4) encouraging cessation among young adults. An online survey of 13- to 17-year-olds and 18- to 25-year-olds in the United States (US), in which 20 potential campaign themes were represented by 154 beliefs. For each behavioral target, themes were ranked based on the strength of belief-intention and belief-behavior associations and size of the population not already endorsing the beliefs. The most promising themes varied across behavioral targets but 3 were consistently promising: consequences of smoking for mood, social acceptance and social popularity. Using a robust and systematic approach, this study provides campaign developers with empirical data to inform their selection of promising themes. Findings related to the campaign to prevent initiation among youth informed the development of the US Food and Drug Administration's "The Real Cost" campaign.

Caregiving for youth with co-occurring developmental disabilities and behavioral health issues when caregivers face additional health-related stressors: Analysis of risk and protective factors from a national sample

BackgroundFamily caregivers of youth with DD and behavioral health issues experience the highest level of caregiving strain. Many must also deal with their own or another family member’s chronic health condition, which may place them at additional risk for poor outcomes. Aims(1) Provide a “snapshot” of DD family caregivers based on a national sample; (2) identify risk and protective factors among groups of DD caregivers with graduated levels of health-related stressors; (3) examine the impact of risk and protective factors on strain for DD caregivers. Methods and proceduresWe conducted a secondary analysis of data from N=600 DD caregivers recruited through sites across the United States. Risk and protective factors were compared among three groups of caregivers at study enrollment: (1) those focused on providing care for the target youth with DD, without additional health-related stressors with which to contend; (2) those contending with minor additional health-related stressors; and, (3) those contending with major additional health-related stressors. Predictors of caregiving strain at six months post-enrollment were identified. Results52% of the overall sample was unemployed and 71% were living at or below poverty. Differences were found among groups on a variety of risk and protective factors. With some exceptions, predictors of caregiving strain were similar to non-DD populations. Conclusions and implicationsThis study provides valuable information about a population of caregivers who are highly vulnerable to poor outcomes. Findings highlight the importance of considering the needs, strengths, and outcomes of family caregivers.

Evaluating the Feasibility of a Gardening and Nutrition Intervention with a Matched Contact-Control Physical Activity Intervention Targeting Youth

The study reported here involved Cooperative Extension as a key research partner and was guided by a community-based participatory research approach and a feasibility study framework. The research objective was to assess four indicators of feasibility (i.e., acceptability, demand, implementation, and limited-effectiveness) of a gardening and nutrition program delivered at three youth community sites as compared to a matched contact-control physical activity intervention delivered at three different youth community sites. Conducted in a medically underserved region, the mixed-methods, quasi-experimental study revealed numerous opportunities for and barriers to increasing youths' willingness to try fruits and vegetables and increasing physical activity among youths.

Validation of Antonovsky Orientation to Life Questionnaire (OLQ-13) in a sample of university students in Navarre

The sense of coherence (SOC), the central concept of the salutogenesis model described by Aaron Antonovsky, has been employed as a predictor of measures of perceived and objective health. It is strongly and positively related to healthy behaviour and is mainly developed while young and studying. University students are a target youth group for applying measures promoting health according to their SOC level; it is therefore necessary to check the quality of the scale's measurement. The goal is to validate and study the psychometric properties of the SOC scale in students at the University of Navarre and determine their temporal evolution. Newly enrolled students at the University of Navarre were analysed. Cohort study with a 3 year follow-up. The instruments used were the Orientation to Life Questionnaire (OLQ-13), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the Discomfort Index. The following were studied: the quality and viability of the data, scale assumptions, temporal stability, reliability, concurrent and clinical validity, as well as factorial structure and confirmatory analysis of the data obtained. SPSS v. 19 and Amos v.7 statistical software were used. The study sample consisted of 508 students, 33.5% male and 65.9% female. High reliability (Cronbach Alpha 0.814). Adequate validity converging with the PSS. Inadequate clinical validity. Analysis of main components with three factors that explain 50.73% of the variation. A valid instrument that makes it possible to propose it as a tool for applying measures promoting health in young people.

Modern museums in the palaces of the western Grasfields, Cameroon

This paper suggests that the recent interest in modern museums in the palaces of the Grassfields is obscurely associated with the need to transform the palaces and, more importantly to address the multiple problems plaguing the royal treasury or traditional palace museums. The paper argues that unlike the royal treasury, the modern museum is significant, partly because it constitutes a democratic space, and partly because it articulates and can be associated with the irony of change and continuity. Method: The findings are based on qualitative data collected from documents and from ethnographic studies on the emergence of modern museums across the region. Results: The paper has contributed to the scholarship on Cameroon, and, in particular, extended Michael Rowlands’ (2008) seminal work on curating postcolonial pasts in the Grass elds by unveiling the modern museum as a democratic lens through which to view the undemocratic royal treasury. Policy implications: The study suggests among others, the need for the Grassfields population to embrace the modern museum – and to see it as a continuation of the royal treasury. The practical implication is to tailor the modern museum to the socio-cultural needs of the target population-particularly women and youths since they are generally excluded from the activities of the royal treasury. Key words : royal treasury, museum, Cameroon, Grassfields, Bambui, youths

철도 자유여행패스 내일로 여행객의 지각된 통제, 심리적 주인의식, 국내여행 태도 및 행동의도 간의 구조적 영향관계 연구

This study examined the structural relationships of perceived control, psychological ownership, attitude and behavioral intention toward domestic tourism. It focused on the case of Rail-ro, which is a seasonal rail pass for youth travelers. It also tested the mediating role of psychological ownership between perceived control and attitude/behavioral intention. Targeting youth travelers who made domestic trips using a Rail-ro pass in the Summer of 2015, an online questionnaire survey was conducted for two weeks from August 14 to August 28, 2015. A total of 241 responses were used for analysis after removing incomplete or invalid surveys. This study found that (1) perceived control exerted significant positive influences on psychological ownership, attitude and behavioral intention, (2) psychological ownership had a positive effect on attitude and behavioral intention, and (3) attitude showed a positive effect on behavioral intention. It also highlighted the point that psychological ownership is a significant partial mediator between perceived control and attitude/behavioral intention. This study provided academic and practical implications based on the importance of psychological ownership that travelers felt during their Rail-ro experiences in the context of domestic tourism.

A National Survey of State Medicaid Psychotropic-Monitoring Programs Targeting Youths.

This study aimed to describe state Medicaid psychotropic-monitoring programs targeting youths. Key informants from each state Medicaid administration and the District of Columbia were invited to participate in a telephone-administered survey designed to assess the implementation strategies of the state psychotropic-monitoring program. Data were collected from August 2011 through December 2012. A total of 38 states participated, four declined, and nine did not respond to the invitation. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize monitoring programs. Key informants from 28 of the 38 states (74%) reported a program in place, mostly prior authorization (68%). One-third of the programs (32%) had a two-tier review involving pharmacists and child psychiatrists. Although variability in psychotropic-monitoring programs may limit comparison of program impact across states, the variability provides an opportunity to investigate the impact of different models on best practices and the quality of care.

Modern museums in the palaces of the western Grassfields, Cameroon

Introduction: This paper suggests that the recent interest in modern museums in the palaces of the Grassfields is obscurely associated with the need to transform the palaces and, more importantly to address the multiple problems plaguing the royal treasury or traditional palace museums. The paper argues that unlike the royal treasury, the modern museum is significant, partly because it constitutes a democratic space, and partly because it articulates and can be associated with the irony of change and continuity. Method: The findings are based on qualitative data collected from documents and from ethnographic studies on the emergence of modern museums across the region. Results: The paper has contributed to the scholarship on Cameroon, and, in particular, extended Michael Rowlands’ (2008) seminal work on curating postcolonial pasts in the Grassfields by unveiling the modern museum as a democratic lens through which to view the undemocratic royal treasury. Policy implications: The study suggests among others, the need for the Grassfields population to embrace the modern museum – and to see it as a continuation of the royal treasury. The practical implication is to tailor the modern museum to the socio-cultural needs of the target population-particularly women and youths since they are generally excluded from the activities of the royal treasury.

Intergenerational continuity in economic hardship, parental positivity, and positive parenting: The association with child behavior.

The current study examined intergenerational continuity in economic hardship, parental positivity, and positive parenting across generations based on both the family stress model (FSM) and the family resilience framework. The study included 220 generation 1 (G1) parents, their target youth (generation 2: G2) who participated from adolescence through adulthood, and the target's child (generation 3: G3). Assessments included observational and self-report measures. Results indicated that G1 economic hardship negatively influenced both G1 positivity and G1 positive parenting. Similarly, G2 economic hardship was negatively related to both G2 positivity and G2 positive parenting, which in turn was associated with G3 positive behavior to G2. For both G1 and G2, parental positivity mediated the association between economic hardship and positive parenting. G2 economic hardship was indirectly related to G3 positive behavior through G2 parental positivity and positive parenting. An important finding is that the intergenerational continuity of economic hardship, positivity, and positive parenting were transmitted from G1 to G2. Results suggest that even in times of economic adversity, parental positivity and positive parenting were transmitted from G1 parents to their G2 youth during adulthood. Such continuity seems to influence the positive behavior of the G3 children.