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We examined whether clinically distinct subgroups can be derived from a sample of toddlers (n = 186) who failed the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, received a comprehensive clinical evaluation, and were diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Three subgroups emerged from cluster analysis distinguished by (a) social, communication, and intellectual skills and (b) the rate and intensity of repetitive behaviors and abnormal sensory response. Preoccupations, compulsions, and rituals did not distinguish resultant subgroups. These results support a dimensional diagnostic view of ASDs in toddlers since subgroup differences were based on symptom severity rather than different symptom profiles. Results also identify specific types and levels of behavioral deficit relevant to toddler populations. Implications for early diagnosis are discussed.

Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, the authors aimed to describe the pathways of risk within sexual risk taking, alcohol use, and delinquency, and then identify how the trajectory of sexual risk is linked to alcohol use and delinquency. Risk trajectories were measured with adolescents aged 15-24 years (N = 1,778). Using Latent Class Growth Analyses (LCGA), models indicated that the majority of adolescents engaged in sexual risk and alcohol use. In joint trajectory analyses, LCGA revealed six risk taking classes: sex and alcohol, moderate risk taking, joint risk taking, moderate alcohol, alcohol risk, and alcohol and delinquency experimentation. Editors' Strategic Implications: School administrators and curriculum designers should pay attention to the study's findings with respect to the need for prevention programs to target early adolescents and integrate prevention messages about alcohol use and sexual risk taking.

Understanding the mechanisms underlying the development of violence exposure sequelae is essential to providing effective treatments for traumatized youth. This longitudinal study examined the mediating role of posttraumatic stress in the relationship between violence exposure and psychopathology, and compared the mediated models by gender. Urban adolescents (n=1,358) were surveyed using the Social and Health Assessment. The proposed relationships were examined using Structural Equation Modeling. Posttraumatic stress fully mediated the relationships between victimization and depression and anxiety in girls, and partially so in boys. In addition, posttraumatic stress partially mediated the relationships between violence exposure and commission of violence in boys. Current findings support the longitudinal effects of violence exposure on adolescent mental health. Posttraumatic stress represents a unique mechanism for the development of psychopathology in girls and is also related to negative outcomes in boys. These findings have direct implications for prevention and rehabilitation efforts among violence exposed youth.