Search

Black adolescent males use available mental health services at a disproportionately lower rate compared to males of other racial groups. This study examines barriers to school-based mental health resource (SBMHR) use among Black adolescent males, as a means of addressing reduced usage of available mental health resources and to improve these resources to better support their mental health needs. Secondary data for 165 Black adolescent males were used from a mental health needs assessment of two high schools in southeast Michigan. Logistic regression was employed to examine the predictive power of psychosocial (self-reliance, stigma, trust, and negative previous experience) and access barriers (no transportation, lack of time, lack of insurance, and parental restrictions) on SBMHR use, as well as the relationship between depression and SBMHR use. No access barriers were found to be significantly associated with SBMHR use. However, self-reliance and stigma were statistically significant predictors of SBMHR use. Participants who identified self-reliance in addressing their mental health symptoms were 77% less likely to use available mental health resources in their school. However, participants who reported stigma as a barrier to using SBMHR were nearly four times more likely to use available mental health resources; this suggests potential protective factors in schools that can be built into mental health resources to support Black adolescent males use of SBMHRs. This study serves as an early step in exploring how SBMHRs can better serve the needs of Black adolescent males. It also speaks to potential protective factors that schools provide for Black adolescent males who have stigmatized views of mental health and mental health services. Future studies would benefit from a nationally representative sample allowing for more generalizable results regarding barriers and facilitators to Black adolescent males use of school-based mental health resources.

In this perspective, we argue that the regular use of diversity advisory boards in autism research will improve the inclusivity and participation of marginalized groups in autism research and intervention development. We define a diversity advisory board as a representative group of community members, scholars, policymakers, and area experts that specifically discuss and examine research and interventions for accurate representation and consideration of underrepresented and marginalized identities such as racial, gender, sexual minorities, and dis/abilities who are often excluded from the research process. We present three arguments for forming and integrating diversity advisory boards in autism research and intervention development. First, diversity advisory boards would encourage scholars and interventionists to be intentional in considering how their intervention will work for culturally, racially, gendered, and dis/ability diverse groups. Second, diversity advisory boards will lead to increased diverse samples of autistic participants if members of the board are incentivized to support recruitment efforts from their local communities and networks. Finally, the regular use of diversity advisory boards will improve the research-to-practice gap by including a wider range of community members in the early development and implementation of autism interventions. Recommended actions researchers could take to select, maintain, and meaningfully engage a diversity advisory board are included in this perspective.

Fully decarbonizing global industry is essential to achieving climate stabilization, and reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050–2070 is necessary to limit global warming to 2 °C. This paper assembles and evaluates technical and policy interventions, both on the supply side and on the demand side. It identifies measures that, employed together, can achieve net zero industrial emissions in the required timeframe. Key supply-side technologies include energy efficiency (especially at the system level), carbon capture, electrification, and zero-carbon hydrogen as a heat source and chemical feedstock. There are also promising technologies specific to each of the three top-emitting industries: cement, iron & steel, and chemicals & plastics. These include cement admixtures and alternative chemistries, several technological routes for zero-carbon steelmaking, and novel chemical catalysts and separation technologies. Crucial demand-side approaches include material-efficient design, reductions in material waste, substituting low-carbon for high-carbon materials, and circular economy interventions (such as improving product longevity, reusability, ease of refurbishment, and recyclability). Strategic, well-designed policy can accelerate innovation and provide incentives for technology deployment. High-value policies include carbon pricing with border adjustments or other price signals; robust government support for research, development, and deployment; and energy efficiency or emissions standards. These core policies should be supported by labeling and government procurement of low-carbon products, data collection and disclosure requirements, and recycling incentives. In implementing these policies, care must be taken to ensure a just transition for displaced workers and affected communities. Similarly, decarbonization must complement the human and economic development of low- and middle-income countries.

Author(s): Ed-Dee G. Williams [sup.1] , Matthew J. Smith [sup.1] , Kari Sherwood [sup.1] [sup.2] , Temple S. Lovelace [sup.3] , Lauren Bishop [sup.4] [sup.5] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.214458.e, 0000000086837370, [...]

Completion of high school is a critical juncture predicting future success among adolescents. However, Black youth are often subjected to structural and micro-manifestations of structural barriers in schools, hindering their success. Moreover, research on resiliency factors associated with the academic success of Black adolescents facing structural barriers is woefully underdeveloped. In response, this study tested the associations between a resiliency factor (proposed by the Nguzo Saba and African-centered theory) and three predictors of school success (i.e., engagement, initiative-taking, and diligence). The study sample was derived from the Templeton Flourishing Children Project Pilot Study, which measured variables that contribute to 'flourishing' and are important for improving youth outcomes. The sample of Black youth was evenly representative of both Black boys and girls. The results suggest that dimensions of school success can be bolstered by increased relational and personal concern among Black youth for their fellow peers, which supports that an Afrocentric worldview may be a relevant developmental asset for positive outcomes in Black adolescents. Finally, the implications of these findings are discussed, including opportunities and strategies for school behavioral health workers to assist Black youth who may be at risk for school failure., Author(s): Husain Lateef [sup.1] , Lauara Brugger [sup.1] [sup.2] , Donte Boyd [sup.3] , Adrian Gale [sup.4] , Ed-Dee Williams [sup.5] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.4367.6, 0000 0001 2355 7002, Washington [...]

This study explores longitudinal influences of various factors on Black parents' involvement in their children's education. Guided by Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler's Model of Parent Involvement, this research examines whether parents' school climate perceptions, attitudes about involvement, self-efficacy, and children's academic performance predict parent involvement over time. Utilizing data from the Maryland Adolescence in Context Study with a sample of 560 Black parents, we found that positive school climate perceptions and favorable attitudes towards involvement significantly predict increased parent involvement in later years. The results underscore the importance of supportive school environments and parent attitudes in fostering their involvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The convergence point of growth regulatory pathways that control cell proliferation is the initiation of genome replication, the core of which is the assembly of pre-replicative complexes resulting in chromatin being 'licensed' for DNA replication in the subsequent S phase. We have analysed regulation of the pre-replicative complex proteins ORC, Cdc6, and MCM in cycling and non-proliferating quiescent, differentiated and replicative senescent human cells. Moreover, a human cell-free DNA replication system has been exploited to study the replicative capacity of nuclei and cytosolic extracts prepared from these cells. These studies demonstrate that downregulation of the Cdc6 and MCM constituents of the replication initiation pathway is a common downstream mechanism for loss of proliferative capacity in human cells. Furthermore, analysis of MCM protein expression in self-renewing, stable and permanent human tissues shows that the three classes of tissue have developed very different growth control strategies with respect to replication licensing. Notably, in breast tissue we found striking differences between the proportion of mammary acinar cells that express MCM proteins and those labelled with conventional proliferation markers, raising the intriguing possibility that progenitor cells of some tissues are held in a prolonged G1 phase or 'in-cycle arrest'. We conclude that biomarkers for replication-licensed cells detect, in addition to actively proliferating cells, cells with growth potential, a concept that has major implications for developmental and cancer biology.

Endorsement of African-centered theory and practice are widespread within Black communities across the United States. The usage of African-centered frameworks is also common among many Black social workers. However, past research suggests that African-centered theory and subsequent models of practice are marginalized within social work literature and curricula. Since advocacy began for the inclusion of African-centered approaches to practice during the mid to late 1990s, there have been no strategic analyses tracing how African-centered scholarship has advanced within social work. This study sought to examine to what extent the African-centered framework is included within scholarship among prominent social work journals. A content analysis was conducted of articles in six major social work journals published between 2000 and 2019. A total of 42 articles met the criteria for inclusion. While there has been a level of change in the number of published articles of African-centered social work, findings suggest that relative to other practice modalities/models, African-centered scholarship is noticeably lacking in social work literature. The article concludes with implications to advance culturally responsive research and practice with communities of African descent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]