Racial/Ethnic Group Differences in Older Adults' Involvement with Adult Protective Services.

This paper represents the first study to focus on quantifying racial/ethnic group differences in older adults' involvement with adult protective services (APS).  Across 3 independent county programs, the rate of APS reports was about twice as high for Black older adults compared to White older adults.  These differences were greater for clients who were older and male but remained similar across allegation type.

Measuring the diverse characteristics of county adult protective services programs.

Adult protective services (APS) programs vary markedly, yet few studies have quantified this diversity. In 2020, a survey of Ohio's 85 county-administered APS programs incorporated subsequent feedback from staff and described the programs in a systematic manner. This process resulted in a 100% response rate and illustrated an efficient approach to measuring organizational characteristics (e.

Implementing Triple P during the COVID-19 pandemic with families at risk for substance use.

Background: Many studies have examined the Positive Parenting Program (Triple P), yet few have considered its effectiveness during the twin challenges of the opioid crisis and COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective: This study examines the implementation of, and parenting outcomes associated with the Positive Parenting Program (Triple P) in 13 counties in central Ohio.

Participants And Setting: The program was provided to parents who were at heightened risk for substance use.

Using administrative data from adult protective services: opportunities and considerations.

As federal agencies support the development of data systems for adult protective services (APS), researchers and practitioners are increasingly using administrative data to study types of adult maltreatment, including self-neglect, and the systems that respond to them. To date, however, APS has worked with little guidance about how best to use these data. This situation has contributed to inconsistent findings and uneven quality of research.

How Long Do Adolescents Wait for Psychiatry Appointments?

Appointment wait times are a neglected dimension of children's access to psychiatry. We systematically examined how long an adolescent waits for a new patient appointment with a psychiatrist for routine medication management. From state directories, we identified 578 providers of adolescent psychiatric care in Ohio.

Trust and distrust among Appalachian women regarding cervical cancer screening: a qualitative study.

Objective: To explore Appalachian women's perceptions of trust and distrust of healthcare providers and the medical care system as they relate to views about cervical cancer and screening.

Methods: Thirty-six Ohio Appalachia female residents participated in community focus groups conducted by trained facilitators. Discussion topics included factors related to cervical cancer, and the issues of trust and distrust in medical care.

Faith-health collaboration in the United States: results from a nationally representative study.

Purpose: Estimate the prevalence of and identify characteristics associated with religious congregations' collaboration with health agencies.

Design: Cross-sectional analyses of self-report data from the National Congregations Study, a random sample of religious congregations generated from the 1998 General Social Survey.

Setting: United States.

Demographic differences in the prevalence, co-occurrence, and correlates of adolescent bullying at school.

Background: Despite a large literature on bullying, few studies simultaneously examine different dimensions of the phenomenon or consider how they vary by demographic characteristics. As a result, research findings in this area have been inconsistent. This article focuses on 2 dimensions of bullying behaviors--aggression and victimization--and examines demographic variation in their prevalence, co-occurrence, and association with other health outcomes.

Substance use among American Indian youth in an Eastern city.

This study represents one of the first efforts to examine substance use among American Indian (AI) youth in an Eastern city. As part of a school-based study in metropolitan Columbus, Ohio, 596 self-identified AI youth (grades 6-12) completed surveys describing their use of alcohol, cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, marijuana and inhalants. Net of gender, grade and family structure, AI youth were more likely than their white peers to regularly use most substances while overall prevalence resembled estimates from studies of urban AI youth in the Western United States.

Co-occurrence of mental and physical illness in US Latinos.

Background: This study describes the prevalence of comorbid physical and mental health problems in a national sample of US Latinos. We examined the co-occurrence of anxiety and depression with prevalent physical chronic illnesses in a representative sample of Latinos with national origins from Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and other Latin American countries.

Method: We used data on 2,554 Latinos (75.

The dose-response relationship of adolescent religious activity and substance use: variation across demographic groups.

This article addresses two inconsistent findings in the literature on adolescent religious activity (RA) and substance use: whether a dose-response relationship characterizes the association of these variables, and whether the association varies by grade, gender, ethnicity, family structure, school type, and type of substance. Multinomial logistic regression analyses of a large, diverse data set of high school students in metropolitan Columbus, Ohio ( n = 33,007), found marked differences in alcohol, marijuana, and cigarette use among youths who never, occasionally, or regularly participated in RA. Weekly RA was consistently associated with less substance use, yet occasional RA sometimes was associated with greater use.

High school students' misuse of over-the-counter drugs: a population-based study in an urban county.

A survey of high school students (n = 39,345) found 4.7% occasionally misuse over-the-counter drugs (i.e.

Drug selling among high school students: related risk behaviors and psychosocial characteristics.

Purpose: To identify risk behaviors and psychosocial characteristics associated with high school students' selling drugs.

Methods: In 2000, an anonymous standardized survey assessed substance use, drug selling and related risk factors (e.g.

Religious activity and risk behavior among African American adolescents: concurrent and developmental effects.

This study examines how religious activity is associated with risk behaviors, concurrently and developmentally among urban African American adolescents. Seven hundred and five African American youths were interviewed annually during high school. Retention rates for the study exceeded 90%.

College students' early cessation from episodic heavy drinking: prevalence and correlates.

The author surveyed 788 undergraduates at a large public university (overall response rate 54%) to (1) estimate the proportion of college students who cease engaging in a pattern of episodic heavy drinking (EHD) and (2) identify individual and contextual factors associated with early cessation. He used a staging algorithm to classify respondents into 4 stages of EHD cessation. Of the 60% who had engaged in EHD, 64% continued to drink heavily with no intention of stopping, 12% continued to drink heavily but were thinking about stopping, 14% had ceased temporarily, and 9% had ceased permanently.

Episodic and persistent gun-carrying among urban African-American adolescents.

Purpose: To examine whether similar risk factors influenced episodic and persistent gun-carrying among urban African-American adolescents.

Methods: The sample consisted of 705 African-American youths (48.9% male; mean age at baseline = 14.