Suchergebnisse

AbstractThis study examined a path model that postulated intergenerational relationships between biological parent psychosocial functioning and foster care alumni mental health, economic status and social support; and from these to the likelihood of children of foster care alumni being placed in foster care. The sample included 742 adults who spent time in foster care as children with a private foster care agency and who reported having at least one biological child. A full pathway was found between poorer father's functioning to greater alumni depression, which was in turn associated with negative social support, and then a greater likelihood of child out‐of‐home placement. Other parent to alumni paths were that poorer father functioning was associated with alumni anxiety and post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and poorer mother's mental health was associated with PTSD; however, anxiety and PTSD were not implicated as precursors of foster care placement of the child. Findings support the need for increased practice and policy support to address the mental health needs of parents of children in or at risk of foster care, as well as the children themselves, as family history may have a lasting influence on quality of life, even when children are raised apart from biological parents.

This study assessed the effectiveness of a 17-session HIV-prevention group intervention with gay and bisexual males. Participants were aged 18 years or older, had engaged in one or more instances of unprotected sex with other males during the preceding 12 months, and had responded to local publicity for a program to assist gay and bisexual men who were having difficulty being sexually safe. Following assessment, 159 individuals were matched and assigned to receive group counseling or remain in a wait-list condition. Treatment focused on skills training in coping with high-risk situations. The intervention appeared to be more effective with exclusively gay than with bisexual men. More positive outcomes were associated with safer behavioral patterns at baseline, higher self-efficacy for safer behavior, accurate personal assessment of HIV infection risk, the absence of alcohol/drug use in association with sex, and satisfaction with social support.

This study investigated potential heterogeneity in development among offspring (age 17) of teen mothers and maternal life course as correlates of variation. Using latent class analysis, subgroups of developmental outcomes were identified. Maternal standing in two life course realms (i.e., socioeconomic and domestic) was considered as a potential explanation for heterogeneity in offspring's development. Offspring reported on measures assessing their psychological, academic, and behavioral development. Teen mothers reported on measures of life course realms. Three subgroups of developmental outcomes were identified: on track (52%), at risk (37%), and troubled (11%). Findings suggest that economic hardship and number of pregnancies among teen mothers distinguish developmental patterns among teenage offspring, whereas teen mothers' educational attainment and marital status do not.

Factors associated with the well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth were qualitatively examined to better understand how these factors are experienced from the youths' perspectives. Largely recruited from LGBTQ youth groups, 68 youth participated in focus groups ( n = 63) or individual interviews ( n = 5). The sample included 50% male, 47% female, and 3% transgender participants. Researchers used a consensual methods approach to identify negative and positive factors across 8 domains. Negative factors were associated with families, schools, religious institutions, and community or neighborhood; positive factors were associated with the youth's own identity development, peer networks, and involvement in the LGBTQ community. These findings suggest a pervasiveness of negative experiences in multiple contexts, and the importance of fostering a positive LGBTQ identity and supportive peer/community networks. Efforts should work towards reducing and eliminating the prejudicial sentiments often present in the institutions and situations that LGBTQ youth encounter.

Objective: Six items were administered to a multiethnic sample of 435 middle school—age participants in a group-delivered safer sex intervention to determine their reliability and validity. Method: Exploratory analyses were followed by confirmatory factor analyses, and then correlations of scale scores with theoretically related variables were computed. Results: Findings favored a unidimensional scale with high internal consistency (with as few as two and as many as five items). Scale scores were generally related to other constructs as expected. Conclusions: The items show evidence of reliability and validity. In addition to the items' use in peer group research, the findings have implications for practice in terms of group leader training and facilitation, and the items' use as assessment tools.