Social anxiety symptoms among youth with chronic health conditions: trajectories and related factors.

This study explored three-year trajectories of social anxiety symptoms among youth with chronic health conditions and investigated factors influencing those trajectories. Participants ( = 439) were recruited from eight pediatric rehabilitation centers. The Social Anxiety Scale for Children-Revised measured social anxiety across four time points.

Youth with chronic health problems: how do they fare in main-stream mentoring programs?

Background: Youth with chronic physical health problems often experience social and emotional problems. We investigate the relationship between participation in the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada community-based mentoring programs (BBBS) and youth social and mood outcomes by youth health status.

Methods: Youth newly enrolled in BBBS were classified by health status (one or more chronic physical health problems without activity limitation, n = 191; one or more chronic physical health problems with activity limitation, n = 94; no chronic health problem or activity limitation, n = 536) and mentoring status (yes/no) at 18 month follow-up.

Dimensionality of the PTSD Checklist in a Canadian Aboriginal Sample.

Background And Purpose: The PTSD Checklist-Civilian Version (PCL-C) is a widely used screening instrument measuring posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, to our knowledge, the factor structure of the PCL-C has not been examined in an Aboriginal population. Considerable research indicates that PTSD symptoms are characterized by 4 factors, with both the "King model" and the "Simms model" supported by the literature.

Mentoring Relationships and the Mental Health of Aboriginal Youth in Canada.

We compared the mentoring experiences and mental health and behavioral outcomes associated with program-supported mentoring for 125 Aboriginal (AB) and 734 non-Aboriginal (non-AB) youth ages 6-17 participating in a national survey of Big Brothers Big Sisters community mentoring relationships. Parents or guardians reported on youth mental health and other outcomes at baseline (before youth were paired to a mentor) and at 18 months follow-up. We found that AB youth were significantly less likely than non-AB youth to be in a long-term continuous mentoring relationship.