Parallel Process of Posttraumatic Stress and Externalizing Problems Among Youth at High Risk for Victimization.

Research shows comorbidity between posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and externalizing problems among polyvictimized youth. However, the impact of polyvictimization on the longitudinal co-development of PTSS and distinct forms of externalizing problems remains unclear. Growth trajectory modeling was used to address this gap.

Feasibility and promise of community providers implementing home-based parent-child interaction therapy for families investigated for child abuse: A pilot randomized controlled trial.

Background: Despite evidence supporting Parent-Child Interaction Therapy's (PCIT) effectiveness for maltreatment prevention, its integration in child welfare services (CWS) has been challenging.

Objective: Using a pilot randomized controlled trial design, we evaluated the (1) feasibility of training therapists from CWS providers to implement home-based PCIT (2) feasibility of retaining parent-child dyads at-risk for child abuse in voluntary PCIT services, and (3) promise of PCIT for improving parenting skills.

Participants And Setting: Between 2015-2017, 23 therapists from CWS providers and 55 caregiver-child dyads who were determined to be at moderate-to-high risk for physical and/or emotional abuse, remained in the same home, and were referred for voluntary parenting services following a child protective investigation participated.

Risk for substance use among adolescents at-risk for childhood victimization: The moderating role of ADHD.

Background: Youth who are victimized by violence are at heightened risk for substance use (SU) during adolescence, a period characterized by elevated impulsivity and risk-taking behavior. This risk may be magnified by attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Objective: To examine risk/protective factors for adolescent SU among adolescents at-risk for victimization and whether ADHD moderates these associations.

A Systematic Review of Organizational and Workforce Interventions to Improve the Culture and Climate of Youth-Service Settings.

Both organizational culture and climate are associated with service quality and outcomes across youth-service settings. Increasing evidence indicates capacity of organizational interventions to promote a positive and effective culture and climate. Less is known about common intervention components across studies and service settings.

After-school poly-strengths programming for urban teens at high risk for violence exposure.

Violence exposure increases teens' risk for emotion dysregulation, anxiety, depression, and aggression towards peers. Teens of color are disproportionately more likely to be exposed to violence and less likely to receive mental health services. Community after-school programs can help reduce disparities by offering opportunities for skills development and mental health promotion to mitigate risk associated with violence exposure.

Workforce Support for Urban After-School Programs: Turning Obstacles into Opportunities.

Organized after-school programs can mitigate risk and build resilience for youth in urban communities. Benefits rely on high-quality developmental experiences characterized by a supportive environment, structured youth-adult interactions, and opportunities for reflective engagement. Programs in historically disenfranchised communities are underfunded; staff are transient, underpaid, and undertrained; and youth exhibit significant mental health problems which staff are variably equipped to address.

Does Poverty Moderate Psychosocial Treatment Efficacy for ADHD? A Systematic Review.

To determine the extent to which children in poverty show differential benefit versus non-impoverished peers when undergoing behavioral treatment for ADHD. Multiple readers conducted a systematic review using four research databases, one national treatment database, and multiple recent reviews and meta-analyses to identify appropriate studies. Of 1192 initial search results, only five studies met inclusion criteria and were fully abstracted.

Post-traumatic stress as a pathway to psychopathology among adolescents at high-risk for victimization.

Objective: Victimization by violence elevates adolescents' risk for developing internalizing and externalizing psychopathology. Recent findings suggest that disruptions in developmental processes associated with post-traumatic stress (PTS) reactions may partially account for the relationship between victimization and the subsequent development of psychopathology during adolescence. The present study tested the temporal sequencing of these associations using multi-informant measurements in a large, diverse sample of adolescents at high-risk for victimization.

Unstable child welfare permanent placements and early adolescent physical and mental health: The roles of adverse childhood experiences and post-traumatic stress.

Although researchers have found that child welfare placement disruptions are associated with elevated youth physical and mental health problems, the mechanisms that explain this association have not been previously studied. The present study built on a previous investigation of the physical and behavioral consequences of long-term permanent placement patterns among youth who participated in the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN). The current investigation (n=251) aimed to (a) report the early adolescent living situations of youth with different long-term placement patterns, and (b) to delineate the roles of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and post-traumatic stress (PTS) reactions in the association between unstable long-term placement patterns and physical and mental health problems during the transition to adolescence.