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Youth with conduct problems have poorer academic outcomes than their typically developing peers. The objective of the current study was to examine how sexual minority status was associated with trajectories of teacher-rated mathematics and language arts (i.e., reading and writing) achievement in seven consecutive years across the transition to adolescence among youth with childhood histories of conduct problems (N = 383). Sexual minority status (as assessed via indicators of identity, attraction, or behavior during adolescence in the eighth year of the study) was not associated with initial mathematics or language arts performance at time 1, but was associated with declining mathematics achievement during the transition to adolescence. These findings suggest that sexual minority status is linked to change in some aspects academic achievement among youth already at risk for poorer academic achievement (i.e., youth with conduct problems).

The Dual Failure Model suggests that peer victimization (social failure) and academic difficulties (academic failure) mediate the association between externalizing and later internalizing problems. The present study sought to better understand why children with externalizing problems develop later internalizing problems by testing the Dual Failure Model using a sample of 744 children (aged 6 to 10 at Time 1 [T1]), of whom 434 (44.7% girls) presented with high levels of conduct problems at study inception. Both parent and teacher ratings of externalizing and internalizing problems support the social failure pathway, but not the academic failure pathway. Children with externalizing behaviors at T1 who developed internalizing problems 2 years later did so via their experiences of peer victimization. These results apply for both boys and girls and do not vary according to child age at T1 or the level of conduct problems at study inception. These findings underscore the importance of early screening and intervention for externalizing behavioral problems in order to reduce subsequent peer victimization and internalizing problems. Findings regarding the consequences of internalizing are also discussed.

Gender and, to a lesser extent, sexual identity, are relevant factors in understanding variance in the prevalence, consequences, and treatment of conduct problems. The current study uses thematic analysis to explore how youth with early‐onset conduct problems and extensive histories of school‐based service use perceive gender and sexuality as impacting their service use experiences. Qualitative analysis of interviews with 41 youth (17–21 years old; 53.7% women) yielded themes pertaining to gender, sexual identity, and discrimination in service use contexts. Identified themes included homophobia in service use and adjacent school contexts, stereotypes around masculinity and femininity as conditioning peer and school staff's behavior, and salience of sexuality across developmental stages and historical timeframes. Results suggest that increased school staff training and school‐based interventions be implemented to support gender and sexual diversity, both within services for conduct problems and more broadly in school contexts. In particular, the current findings highlight homophobia as a factor limiting boys' access to mental health services. Practitioner Points: Youth who had received school services for conduct problems discussed how they perceived gender and sexuality as impacting their service use experiences.Youth described homophobia directed against boys who received or sought services, regardless of sexuality, which may particularly limit access to services for boys with conduct problems.Findings support the implementation of preventative policies and practices to address homophobia in schools, and suggest that these may be particularly important in schools providing specialized services for conduct problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children with conduct problems are at greater risk for internalizing problems. The objectives of this study were to (1) examine trajectories of internalizing problems among children with and without clinically significant conduct problems during the transition to adolescence; and (2) identify how academic achievement, peer rejection, parent socioeconomic status, maternal distress, parental warmth, child temperament, and receptive verbal functioning explained differences between the two groups. Children with conduct problems (N = 388, 45% girls) and a comparison sample without conduct problems (N = 299, 52% girls) were recruited from Quebec, Canada, when they were between the ages of 7 and 10 years, and were followed across 4 years. Mothers and teachers provided information on internalizing problems each year. Having clinically significant conduct problems was associated with higher initial levels of internalizing problems according to mothers and teachers, but not with changes in internalizing problems over time. With regards to teacher ratings, academic achievement, peer rejection, and negative emotionality partially explained differences in internalizing problems for youth with and without conduct problems. For mother ratings, maternal distress, negative emotionality, and peer rejection completely explained the association for girls, and partially explained the association for boys. Findings supported a multi-rater approach for understanding risk for internalizing problems among children with and without conduct problems. In particular, they highlight the importance of differences across context for understanding factors associated with vulnerability to internalizing problems.

Youth with conduct problems have poorer academic outcomes than their typically developing peers. The objective of the current study was to examine how sexual minority status was associated with trajectories of teacher-rated mathematics and language arts (i.e., reading and writing) achievement in seven consecutive years across the transition to adolescence among youth with childhood histories of conduct problems (N = 383). Sexual minority status (as assessed via indicators of identity, attraction, or behavior during adolescence in the eighth year of the study) was not associated with initial mathematics or language arts performance at time 1, but was associated with declining mathematics achievement during the transition to adolescence. These findings suggest that sexual minority status is linked to change in some aspects academic achievement among youth already at risk for poorer academic achievement (i.e., youth with conduct problems). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexual harassment (SH) is an important public health problem among adolescents and is associated with negative outcomes. Using a theory‐based, developmentally‐informed approach, this scoping review focuses on SH victimization among adolescents (number of studies included = 20) and aims to (1) examine how the extant literature on correlates of SH defined and measured SH, and (2) identify correlates associated with SH victimization among adolescents, focusing particularly on differences between boys and girls. For the first objective, results showed variations in the definition of SH used, with very few studies employing validated measures of SH. For the second objective, the most frequently examined and supported correlates were those stemming from transactional models. Important gender differences in correlates emerged between boys and girls. Among girls' previous victimization experiences emerged as the most consistent correlates of SH, while among boys, adherence to gender role norms and beliefs and higher perception of personal power were most consistently associated with higher SH victimization. Prevention of SH needs to include youth, teachers, and parents as the results show the influence of all these social contexts in SH victimization. These prevention efforts should target groups at higher risk of SH, such as sexual and gender minority youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite social awareness of the problem of slut‐shaming for adolescent girls, no existing measure captures this construct. Using data from a sample of 202 girls from Québec, Canada (ages 14–17; 68% White), preliminary validation is provided for the Slut‐Shaming Instrument, a seven‐item measure of negative peer experiences related to being perceived as too sexually active, sexualized, or flirtatious. The measure showed strong psychometric properties including good reliability and factor structure, expected associations with daily experiences of slut‐related victimization and sexual harassment, and links with number of sexual partners and other forms of peer victimization. Slut‐shaming was associated with distress accounting for these other forms of victimization (including sexual harassment), suggesting the pertinence of addressing this type of gender‐based victimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the association between state laws that prohibit firearm ownership for offenders convicted of misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence (MCDV) and firearm ownership in two-parent families with high-conflict male partners with arrest histories. Mixed effects logistic regression models applied to data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth cohort (n = 5350) determined that living in a state with laws that prohibited firearm ownership for convicted MCDV offenders decreased the likelihood of firearm ownership among families with high-conflict males by 62%. The length of the time limit on firearm prohibition was correlated with incremental decreases in firearm ownership in such families, with the probability of firearm ownership among families with high-conflict males decreasing from 30% in states with no MCDV laws restricting access from firearms to 12% in states with permanent prohibition on firearm ownership. These findings have significance for public health policy aimed at decreasing intimate-partner homicide., Author(s): Kate C. Prickett [sup.1] , Alexa Martin-Storey [sup.2] , Robert Crosnoe [sup.3] Author Affiliations: (Aff1) 0000 0004 0408 3579, grid.49481.30, The Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, The School [...]

Mental health disparities between sexual minority and other youth have been theorized to result in part from the effects of the stigmatization on social integration. Stochastic actor-based modeling was applied to complete network data from two high schools in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (M[subscript age] = 15 years, N = 2,533). Same-sex attracted youth were socially marginalized in a smaller predominantly White school but not in a larger, more racially diverse school. For both schools, homophily was a critical network feature, and could represent social support for and social segregation of such youth. These findings emphasize the school context in studying the social lives of sexual minority youth and suggest that youth may be better off socially in larger and more diverse schools.

For emerging adults, high-quality friendships can be an important source of companionship and support. The most commonly studied negative interaction between friends is conflict, yet work with youth suggests more serious victimization also occurs in friendship. In the current study, we developed and obtained preliminary psychometric evidence for the Friendship Victimization Scale, a measure that assesses physical, sexual, relational, and verbal forms of victimization in the friendships of emerging adults, as well as coercive and controlling behaviors. Emerging adults (N = 316, M age = 21.27 years, SD = 1.47; 60.4% women, 37.0% men; 59.2% White) completed the Friendship Victimization Scale along with measures to examine construct validity. The majority of the sample reported experiencing at least one act of victimization by a friend, and men reported more victimization than did women. Results supported a 2-factor structure, with relational and verbal victimization loading on one factor and physical and sexual victimization and controlling behaviors loading on the other. Cronbach's alphas exceeded.90 for the total score and both subscales. Greater friendship victimization was predicted by negative features in each of a best and a challenging friendship, even after accounting for negative features in a dating relationship, and was unrelated to positive features in any of these relationships. Overall, results indicate that victimization is common in emerging adults' friendships. The findings provide preliminary evidence for the utility of the Friendship Victimization Scale as a measure of this understudied source of risk in the interpersonal lives of emerging adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the association between adolescents' perceptions of their neighborhoods' safety and multiple elements of their functioning in school with data on 15 year olds from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (n = 924). In general, perceived neighborhood safety was more strongly associated with aspects of schooling that were more psychosocial in nature (e.g., school attachment) than those that were more cognitive (e.g., test scores). Examination of neighborhood and family moderators of these associations revealed that perceived neighborhood safety was negatively associated with grades for youth from low-income families but was positively associated with school attachment for youth from such families when they lived in neighborhoods rated by observers as high in physical disorder.

Sexual minority status persists in being linked to poorer adolescent mental health. Using a longitudinal sample (N = 845), we examined how youth's own same‐gender attraction and their perceptions of peers' beliefs about their same‐gender attraction (i.e., assumed attraction) were associated with trajectories of depressive symptoms from grade eight (when students are typically 13–14 years old) to grade 10. Reporting either same‐gender attraction, assumed same‐gender attraction or both were associated with higher initial levels of depressive symptoms that persisted over time compared to youth with real and assumed other‐gender attraction only. These links were partially mediated by experiences of discrimination. Findings suggest the importance of understanding adolescent perceptions of peer beliefs in the association between same‐gender attraction and depressive symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Addressing the higher rates of sexual violence experienced by gender and sexual minority students in university contexts requires an understanding of responses to disclosures of sexual violence. Using data from a large-scale study of sexual violence in university contexts, the current study examined (1) whether gender and sexual minority status was associated with responses to sexual violence disclosure and (2) how disclosure responses were associated with trauma symptoms among these students. Linear regression indicated that university students' (n = 1,464) reports of responses to disclosures of sexual violence did not differ across gender or sexual minority status. Focusing on gender and sexual minority participants (n = 327), linear regression linked turning against the victim and positive responses to higher levels of trauma symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The well-documented higher rates of depression among sexual minority youth are increasingly viewed by developmentalists as a byproduct of the stigmatization of sexual minority status in American society and of the negative impact this stigma has on the processes associated with depression. This study attempted to spur future research by testing Hatzenbuehler's (2009) psychological mediation framework to investigate the ways in which peer harassment related to sexuality puts young people at risk by influencing the cognitive, social, and regulatory factors associated with depression. Analyses of 15 year olds in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development revealed that sexual minority status was largely associated with depressive outcomes via harassment, which was subsequently associated with depression via cognitive and social factors. Results point to various avenues for exploring the importance of the social world and self-concept for the outcomes of sexual minority adolescents in the future. (Contains 2 tables and 2 figures.)

Background: Previous research on psychiatric and health disparities according to level of cognitive functioning has focused on adults within an American healthcare context. The current study compares children with and without cognitive and developmental delays in Quebec, Canada, using physician billing data from a longitudinal study of low-income, francophone families. Canada is an ideal context for studying medical billing data as its equal access healthcare system removes many socioeconomic biases. Methods: A large sample (n = 1050) of children is used to describe psychiatric and health disparities, as well as differences in Ambulatory Care Sensitive (ACS) conditions and primary healthcare, between children with (n = 107) and without (n = 943) diagnoses in their billing history indicative of delays. Results: The findings demonstrated a relatively high level of psychiatric diagnoses for children with delays. However, no difference was found between children with and without delays in regard to emergency room visits and hospitalizations for ACS conditions and primary healthcare. Conclusions: The findings suggest that, within a universal healthcare system, disparities in primary healthcare may not emerge until adulthood in individuals with delay status.

The Behaviour Style Observation System for Young Children (BSOS) was used to predict preschool-aged children's externalizing and internalizing behaviour problems in middle childhood, 3-5 years after the initial assessment. This observational measurement tool was designed to sample and assess young children's disruptive, non-compliant, and unresponsive behaviour, during a brief (11 min) observation in the child's home. In the current study, the BSOS was used to predict parent and teacher ratings of child behaviour problems after school entry in a longitudinal sample (N = 81) of at-risk children at time 2. The BSOS predicted teacher-reported externalizing problems at time 2. In contrast, parent reports of behaviour problems, although correlated with repeated parent reports at time 2, were not significantly predictive of teacher-reported behaviour problems at school age. The BSOS was not associated with either parent or teacher reports of internalizing problems. These findings emphasize the importance and utility of using observational measures when examining the continuity of behaviour problems in young children over time. (Contains 5 tables.)

To understand how family relations and dynamics were associated with firearm ownership among US families with 4-year-olds and with firearm storage among those families with firearms, controlling for sociodemographic characteristics of families and states. With representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (n = 8,100), logistic regression models employed a set of family process variables (e.g., parenting practices, parental stress, maternal depression, and safety behaviors) as (1) predictors of firearm ownership among all families and, (2) as predictors of safe firearm storage among firearm owning families. An estimated 22% of families with pre-kindergarten age children reported having firearms in their households. Among firearm owning families, 69% of families kept firearms in a locked cabinet. Comparing families who did and did not report owning firearms, those who did were more likely to report spanking their children. Firearm owning parents who reported higher levels of parenting stress and lower likelihood that their child always wore a helmet when bicycling were also more likely to report unsafe firearm storage practices. Family processes differentiated both firearm owners from non-firearm owners and firearms owners who locked up their firearms from firearm owners who did not. These findings suggest that firearm ownership and firearm safety behaviors likely arise from a more general family context related to child health and safety. Keywords Firearm storage * Disciplinary practices * Family safety behavior * Early childhood * Parenting stress, Introduction The American Academy of Pediatrics strongly recommends that parents who own firearms keep them locked and unloaded, with ammunition stored separately and also locked [1]. For a variety of [...]

Background: Children with conduct problems (CP) have been found to be heavy and costly medical service users in adulthood. However, there is little knowledge on how medical service use develops during childhood and adolescence among youth with and without childhood CP. Knowing whether differences in developmental trajectories of medical service use for specific types of problems (e.g., injuries) are predicted by childhood CP would help clinicians identify developmental periods during which they might intensify interventions for young people with CP in order to prevent later problems and associated increased service use. Methods: Participants were drawn froman ongoing longitudinal study of boys and girls with and without childhood CP as rated by parents and teachers. Medical service use was assessed using administrative data from a public single payer health plan. Latent growth modeling was used to estimate the mean trajectory of four types of medical visits (psychiatric, injury-related, preventative, total visits) across time and evaluate the effect of CP and other covariates. Results: Support the hypothesis that early CP predicts higher medical service use at nine years old, and that this difference persists in a chronic manner over time, even when controlling the effects of ADHD and family income. Girls had fewer medical visits for psychiatric reasons than boys at baseline, but this difference diminished over time. Conclusions: Clinicians should be aware that childhood CP already predicts increasedmedical service use in elementary school. Issues specific to different contexts in which injuries might occur and sex differences are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]