The Controversy Over Controversies: A Plea for Flexibility and for “Soft‐Directive” Teaching

A controversy rages over the question of how should controversial topics be taught. Recent work has advanced the “epistemic criterion” as the resolution to this controversy. According to the epistemic criterion, a matter should be taught as controversial when contrary views can be entertained on the matter without the views being contrary to reason. When an issue is noncontroversial, according to the epistemic criterion, the correct position can be taught “directively,” with the teacher endorsing that position. When there is a legitimate controversy, the view should be taught “nondirectively,” with the teacher remaining neutral. In response, Bryan Warnick and Spencer Smith argue that the proponents of the epistemic criterion fail to recognize the multidimensional nature of what it means to learn to be rational. Recognizing this complexity undermines the link between the epistemic status of the controversy and directiveness of one's teaching, suggesting more flexibility in how teachers approach controversial issues. It also implies the need for a new category of teaching, which Warnick and Smith call “soft‐directive” teaching.     

Influences on teacher education student attitudes toward youth who are HIV+

The expectations, attributions, and reactions toward children and youth who have contracted HIV/AIDS warrant close attention from parents, teachers, related service personnel, and others who will interact with these students in the schools. Those who are misinformed or unaware of their beliefs may inadvertently discriminate against children and youth with the disease. This study examined factors that influence judgments about children and youth with HIV/AIDS in a sample of teacher education students. Course of infection of HIV accounted for significant differences in the participants' judgments about responsibility and blame for contracting the disease and also fearfulness and attitudes reflecting isolation for these youth. Educational professionals should be aware of the many negative attributions placed on adolescents who are diagnosed as HIV⁺ and be prepared to act as facilitators when designing appropriate interventions to assist these students. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 41: 211–219, 2004.     

Life satisfaction in children and youth: Empirical foundations and implications for school psychologists

A central component of positive psychology is subjective well‐being (SWB). One facet of SWB receiving increased research attention is children's perceived quality of life (PQOL). Existing research related to child and youth PQOL is reviewed, followed by a discussion of the implications of the research for school psychology practice. Research with children and adolescents reveals that PQOL has a wide ranging nomological network including personality, environmental, and activity variables. Furthermore, PQOL appears to mediate relationships between the environmental experiences of youth and problem behavior. Implications are discussed within the context of calls for greater attention by school psychologists to prevention, non‐traditional assessment, direct service, consultation with teachers and parents, diversity issues, and the science‐practice connection. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 41: 81–93, 2004.     

A Promise Unfulfilled: Social Skills Training With At-Risk and Antisocial Children and Youth

Antisocial behavior exhibited by children and youth has been an issue of concern for societies throughout history. Events of recent years in the United States (e.g., school shootings, increases in criminal adjudication among children and youth, escalation in violent behavior within this age group) have galvanized public concern and raised antisocial behavior among children and youth to a national health care issue. The purpose of this article is to briefly review the social skills training knowledge base and describe social skills training considerations for at-risk and antisocial children and youth at 3 grade levels: (a) preschool and elementary, (b) middle school, and (c) high school. Characteristics of students, composition of model social skills interventions, and, where possible, efficacy data are reviewed and discussed. We conclude the article by discussing recommendations for future research in this area.     

Using early care and education quality measures with dual language learners: A review of the research

As the number of young dual language learners (DLLs) in early care and education (ECE) programs is increasing, it is critical to examine how well measures of the quality of practices in these settings reflect the needs of the diverse groups of children being served. This review of the research literature addressed these questions for ECE settings serving children birth-five: whether quality differs for settings serving high proportions of DLLs compared to typical samples, whether existing quality measures exhibit similar psychometric characteristics and associations with child outcomes in settings serving DLL and non-DLL children, and whether DLL-specific measures perform differently than general measures of quality. The search procedure produced 10 research studies that met the criteria for inclusion in the review out of approximately 3800 that were found initially and more than 300 that were reviewed. These studies included 10 out of 46 identified measures of ECE quality, including both general and DLL-specific measures. Findings suggested that widely used general ECE quality measures function similarly for DLLs compared to typical populations with regard to overall quality, psychometric characteristics, and child outcomes. Further research is needed to broaden the knowledge base for a wider variety of measures, beyond center-based settings, and beyond Spanish-speaking DLLs, as well as to enhance methodological approaches. There appear to be potential research opportunities through numerous existing studies that included DLL populations but had not analyzed their data in regard to these groups.     

Age Differences in the Impact of Employment on Antisocial Behavior

While research suggests that working more than 20 hr weekly is associated with greater antisocial behavior among middle‐ and upper‐class youth, some have argued that employment benefits at‐risk youth and leads to desistance from crime among youthful offenders. This study investigates the relation between hours worked, school attendance, and employment characteristics on antisocial behavior in a sample of approximately 1,300 juvenile offenders (ages 14–17 at baseline) tracked over 5 years. The combinations of high‐intensity employment and irregular school attendance, unemployment and irregular school attendance, and unemployment and not being enrolled in school are associated with significantly greater antisocial behavior, particularly during early adolescence. High‐intensity employment diminishes antisocial behavior only when accompanied by attending school.     

Care or scare: the safety of youth in congregate care in New York City

OBJECTIVE: This qualitative study examined stakeholders' perceptions of the safety of youth ages 12 and older living in congregate care facilities within the New York City foster care system. The study explored the youth's physical safety, the safety of their personal belongings, the physical conditions of congregate care settings, and the relationship between staff quality and youth safety. METHOD: The study involved interviews with family court judges, representatives of private child welfare agencies, attorneys who represent children in foster care, social workers, representatives of advocacy and other relevant organizations in New York City, and former foster youth who had been placed in congregate care settings. RESULTS: Safety in congregate care environments was an issue of significant concern. Threats to the youth's safety were found to emanate from peer-on-peer violence, stealing of personal belongings, inappropriate staff conduct, and the poor physical conditions of facilities. Youth's sense of safety was strongly linked to staff quality, including staff ability to relate effectively to youth and to maintain control of congregate care environments. CONCLUSIONS: Existing regulations in New York State appear to have had little effect in ensuring the safety of youth in many group and residential care facilities. Steps to improve safety outcomes for youth in these settings are proposed.     

Hospitalized youth and child abuse: A systematic examination of psychiatric morbidity and clinical severity

Many children and adolescents who require psychiatric hospitalization have been physically or sexually abused, yet the association between reported histories of abuse and the complexity and severity of mental illness among psychiatrically hospitalized youth is poorly described with regard to current inpatient psychiatric practice. We sought to determine the association between histories of abuse and psychiatric complexity and severity in psychiatrically hospitalized youth including comorbidity patterns, psychotropic medication use, reason for admission and length of hospitalization. A systematic chart review was performed on 1433 consecutive psychiatric hospitalizations of children and adolescents that occurred over a 10-month period. Children with a history of abuse were more likely to be diagnosed with multiple DSM-IV-TR disorders than non-traumatized children. A history of sexual abuse was associated with more medication use than in their non-traumatized peers and a higher likelihood of treatment with antipsychotic medications, both at admission and discharge. Physical and sexual abuse were independently associated with increased length of stays, with exposure to both physical and sexual abuse associated with a 2-day increase in duration of hospitalization compared to non-traumatized patients. The findings from this study draw attention to the adverse impact of abuse on psychiatric morbidity and complexity and suggest the need for trauma-informed treatment in psychiatric hospital settings.     

The maltreated adolescent: patterns of physical abuse

Although adolescents are severely and chronically physically abused, relatively little attention has been directed towards understanding this phenomenon. This study explored the family characteristics and the behavioral-emotional reactions of 77 adolescents who were physically maltreated. The youths were selected at a number of sites including a runaway shelter, a hospital-based child abuse team, and a protective service unit. Six different patterns of adolescent reaction to abuse were identified: acting-out, depression, generalized anxiety, extreme adolescent adjustment, emotional-thought disturbance, and helplessness-dependency. Abuse toward these youth had been ongoing for an average of nearly five years. As there were no differences in family characteristics and emotional-behavioral reactions between subjects who were abused only during adolescence (including single-incident abuse) and subjects for whom family violence was evident from childhood on, the utility of a developmentally specific system of abuse categorization is questioned. It is suggested that it is the pattern of parent and child interaction rather than the course of the maltreatment that is related to the emotional and behavioral dysfunction of the adolescent victim.     

Environmental and Individual Influences on Adolescents,Aspirations: A Moderation-Mediation Model

A moderation-mediation model was constructed to examine relationships among distal family contexts, children,s cognitive performance and cognitive attitudes, adolescents, proximal family and school settings, and adolescents, aspirations. The sample in the longitudinal study included 250 female and 250 male 16-year-olds and their parents from Adelaide, Australia. The findings from moderation-mediation investigations and from regression surface analyses indicated that (1) distal family contexts moderate the relations among children,s individual characteristics and adolescents, aspirations, (2) the associations between distal family contexts and adolescents, aspirations are mediated, in part, by the adolescents, perceptions of their parents, and teachers, educational capital, (3) there are different patterns for females and males in terms of relationships among distal family contexts, children,s individual characteristics, perceptions of proximal settings, and adolescents, aspirations and (4) there are family-context differences in the linear and curvilinear nature of the relations among individual characteristics, proximal settings, and adolescents, aspirations, that also vary between females and males in those family contexts.     

Trajectories of psychological dating violence perpetration in adolescence

BackgroundMore than one adolescent out of three will use psychological dating violence (DV) as a strategy to resolve conflict in romantic relationships, which will have major consequences on their partner’s well-being. However, over time, most adolescents will learn skills to better interact and face conflicts, suggesting that psychological DV rates should decrease over time. Yet, because of individual characteristics and experiences, evolution over time may differ across adolescents. Risk factors for psychological DV have not been examined specifically, even though it is the most common form of dating violence.ObjectiveThis study aimed to explore latent trajectories of psychological DV perpetration and examine risk factors predicting trajectory group membership.Participants and methodsA sub-sample of 449 adolescents who reported being in a dating relationship for the three waves of the Youths’ Romantic Relationships (YRR) Survey completed printed and online self-report questionnaires.ResultsResults from the group-based modeling identified 4 trajectories of psychological DV perpetration: absence of violence (30.7%), low violence (61.3%), high descending (4.2%), and moderate elevating (3.8%). Age, DV victimization, exposure to father toward mother violence, low self-esteem, marijuana use, DV victimization of peers, and antisocial behaviors of peers predicted trajectory membership. The model explained 36.7% of the variance.ConclusionsThese results support the need for a person-oriented approach to study psychological DV and for developing prevention programs adapted to the specific characteristics of vulnerable youth.     

Evaluation of a social contextual model of delinquency: a cross-study replication

The present study empirically examined three theoretical approaches designed to predict risk for delinquency during adolescence: an individual difference perspective, a social interactional model, and a social contextual approach. Hypotheses derived from each perspective were tested using two independent samples of early adolescents followed over a 4-year period. Six-hundred sixty-seven children (in sixth grade at Time 1), and their parents comprised the first sample (Project Family); and 451 children (in seventh grade at Time 1), their parents, and a close-aged sibling made up the second sample (Iowa Youth and Families Project). Results from a series of structural equation models suggested that a social contextual approach provided the best fit with the data across both samples and genders. Consistent with the social contextual approach, results indicated that a lack of nurturant and involved parenting indirectly predicted delinquency by increasing children's earlier antisocial behavior and deviant peer relationships; child antisocial behavior also predicted similar decreases in nurturant parenting over time. Both child antisocial behavior and deviant peer affiliations at Time 2 predicted delinquency 1 year later. Implications for theoretical development and future research priorities are discussed.     

The Importance and Difficulty of Disciplined Adherence to the Educational Reform Model

Policymakers, researchers, educators, parents, and citizens alike recognize the need for quality programs that address the pressing developmental and learning needs of our youth, particularly those most at risk. Community-based youth programs are being viewed increasingly as a productive means to facilitate the successful physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development of adolescents (Girod, Martineau, &; Zhao, 2004). To address the challenges of growing up in unhealthy environments where high-risk behaviors such as smoking, drinking, experimentation with drugs, physical violence, and unprotected sex can lead to profound negative outcomes, carefully organized and supervised after-school programs have been developed to provide a positive alternative to such problematic adolescent activity (Riggs &; Greenberg, 2004). Notwithstanding, research evidence of program effectiveness—academic and otherwise—is scant, which sets the stage for underresearched after-school programs to be eyed with greater fiscal scrutiny.     

Adolescent risk factors for child maltreatment

We investigate adolescent risk factors, measured at both early and late adolescence, for involvement in child maltreatment during adulthood. Comprehensive assessments of risk factors for maltreatment that use representative samples with longitudinal data are scarce and can inform multilevel prevention. We use data from the Rochester Youth Development Study, a longitudinal study begun in 1988 with a sample of 1,000 seventh and eighth graders. Participants have been interviewed 14 times and, at the last assessment (age 31), 80% were retained. Risk factors represent 10 developmental domains: area characteristics, family background/structure, parent stressors, exposure to family violence, parent–child relationships, education, peer relationships, adolescent stressors, antisocial behaviors, and precocious transitions to adulthood. Maltreatment is measured by substantiated reports from Child Protective Services records. Many individual risk factors (20 at early adolescence and 14 at later adolescence) are significantly, albeit moderately, predictive of maltreatment. Several developmental domains stand out, including family background/structure, education, antisocial behaviors, and precocious transitions. In addition, there is a pronounced impact of cumulative risk on the likelihood of maltreatment. For example, only 3% of the youth with no risk domains in their background at early adolescence were involved in later maltreatment, but for those with risk in 9 developmental domains the rate was 45%. Prevention programs targeting youth at high risk for engaging in maltreatment should begin during early adolescence when risk factors are already at play. These programs need to be comprehensive, capable of addressing the multiple and interwoven nature of risk that is associated with maltreatment.     

Learning disabilities and bullying: double jeopardy

Independently, learning disabilities (LD) and involvement in bullying each pose a risk for social, emotional, and behavioral problems. Based on the research to date and on the characteristics common to children with LD and children who are bullied, there is reason to believe that children with LD are at increased risk of victimization. However, there is little research on the relationship between LD and bullying. This article presents factors and characteristics that make children and youth with LD vulnerable to bullying. Risk factors and effects of bullying are reviewed. Implications for practice and research are discussed.     

Character in childhood and early adolescence: models and measurement

In recent years, the construct of character has received substantial attention among developmental scientists, but no consensus exists about the content and structure of character, especially among children and early adolescents. In a study of positive development among racially diverse Cub Scouts in the greater Philadelphia area, we assessed the construct and concurrent validity of a new measure of character, the Assessment of Character in Children and Early Adolescents (ACCEA), among 906 Scouts (mean age = 8.84 years, SD = 1.39 years) and 775 non-Scout boys and girls (mean age = 8.92, SD = 1.64). We identified an eight-correlated-factor model as providing the best fit with our data. We further established measurement invariance and explored latent mean differences for ACCEA scores across two Scout groups (with or without a higher-level program leader), non-Scout boys and non-Scout girls. Girls were generally superior than boys on all character attributes. We further examined concurrent validity of ACCEA by correlating the character attributes with youth sense of school competence, intentional self-regulation and parental perception of youth school performance. We discuss implications for future character research and point to the value of the ACCEA measure being used by practitioners in character development programs.     

The Protective Role of Group Identity: Sectarian Antisocial Behavior and Adolescent Emotion Problems

The protective role of strength of group identity was examined for youth in a context of protracted political conflict. Participants included 814 adolescents (M_age = 13.61, SD = 1.99 at Time 1) participating in a longitudinal study in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Utilizing hierarchical linear modeling, the results show that the effect of exposure to sectarian antisocial behaviors has a stronger effect on youth emotion problems for older adolescents. The results also show that youth with higher strength of group identity reported fewer emotion problems in the face of sectarian antisocial behavior but that this buffering effect is stronger for Protestants compared to Catholics. Implications are discussed for understanding the role of social identity in postaccord societies.     

An ecological approach to promoting early adolescent mental health and social adaptation: family-centered intervention in public middle schools

This study examined the impact of the Family Check-Up (FCU) and linked intervention services on reducing health-risk behaviors and promoting social adaptation among middle school youth. A total of 593 students and their families were randomly assigned to receive either the intervention or middle school services as usual. Forty-two percent of intervention families engaged in the service and received the FCU. Using complier average causal effect analyses, engagement in the intervention moderated intervention outcomes. Families who engaged in the intervention had youth who reported lower rates of antisocial behavior and substance use over time than did a matched control sample. Results extend previous research indicating that a family-centered approach to supporting youth in the public school setting reduced the growth of antisocial behavior, alcohol use, tobacco use, and marijuana use throughout the middle school years.     

Interpersonal dynamics within adolescent friendships: dyadic mutuality, deviant talk, and patterns of antisocial behavior

Interpersonal dynamics within friendships were observed in a sample of 120 (60 male, 60 female) ethnically diverse 16- and 17-year-old adolescents characterized as persistently antisocial, adolescent-onset, and normative. Dyadic mutuality and deviant talk were coded from videotaped friendship interactions. Persistently antisocial adolescents demonstrated lower levels of dyadic mutuality compared with adolescent-onset and normative adolescents. Persistently antisocial and adolescent-onset adolescents spent more time in deviant talk than did normative adolescents. Across groups, girls were rated as more mutual and coded less in deviant talk than boys. Furthermore, friendship dyads who engaged in high levels of deviant talk and were mutual in their interactions reported the highest rates of antisocial behavior.     

PTSD symptom cluster profiles of youth who have experienced sexual or physical abuse

The research examined whether youth (6–17 years old) who were referred for treatment due to sexual, physical, or both types of abuse presented with distinct profiles of PTSD DSM-IV-TR symptom clusters. When examining data for the 749 youth participants, five PTSD symptom cluster profiles were identified with each profile representing approximately 20% of the youth. The five profiles were also differentiated with respect to being referred for physical or sexual abuse, age, parental ratings of internalizing symptoms, and self-reported depression. The youth referred for treatment in the aftermath of child sexual, physical, or both sexual and physical abuse presented with different profiles of PTSD symptom clusters thereby suggesting a need for individualized tailoring of evidenced-based treatments. Two cognitive behavioral approaches, designed for traumatized children and either their nonoffending or offending parents, were described for treating youth with the distinct PTSD profiles.