Identification of Important Factors When Measuring School Climate: Latent Construct Validation and Exploration.

Background: Researchers regularly must decide what information is necessary to understand school climate and how to include climate in a study. For example, which factors and/or scales should be used, is using just 1 scale for school climate sufficient, and to what extent does the selection of a single scale influence the research findings?

Aims: Understanding what factors to consider and which available scales to review will assist those interested in measuring school climate.

Methods: This study explores 8 validated scales related to school climate.

Mechanisms of Influence on Youth Substance Use for a Social-Emotional and Character Development Program: A Theory-Based Approach.

The Theory of Triadic Influence (TTI) provides a comprehensive framework for understanding adolescent substance use. We examined mechanisms by which a TTI-guided social-emotional and character development program, (), influences adolescent substance use. Study data come from the -Chicago, longitudinal matched-pairs cluster-randomized control trial.

Sex differences in the acceptability and short-term outcomes of a web-based personalized feedback alcohol intervention for high school seniors.

Despite the escalation of alcohol use through high school, the majority of research on school-based alcohol interventions has been conducted with junior high students or first and second year high school students. Preliminary research indicates a brief, web-based personalized feedback intervention developed for college students (eCHECKUP TO GO) may be a promising program for high school seniors. Although these studies demonstrate positive intervention effects, there is some evidence for greater program efficacy for females in this age group.

Childhood Protective Factors and a Prevention Program Reduce Later Problem Behaviors.

Prior research has yet to elucidate how constellations of protective factors in childhood and prevention efforts simultaneously may influence youth involvement in problem behaviors across different points in development. The current study examines how latent classes of social and emotional learning (SEL) skills, parent-child relationships, and peer influences in third grade and receipt of an ongoing SEL intervention predict substance use and violence in fifth and eighth grade. The urban, predominantly low-income, sample ( = 1,169) was nested in 14 schools that were randomly assigned to the program or business-as-usual.