Sociodemographic risk factors, parental stress and social support in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Objective: Investigate relationships among neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) parent demographics, reported stress and social support.

Design: Cross-sectional observation.

Setting: Tertiary referral NICU in Mid-Atlantic USA.

Giving parents support: a randomized trial of peer support for parents after NICU discharge.

Background: Peer support during inpatient hospitalization has been recommended for NICU parents and can improve maternal mental health. Less is known about the impact of peer support after NICU discharge on parental mental health and infant healthcare utilization.

Methods: Three hundred families of infants approaching discharge from a Level IV NICU were randomized to receive a care notebook (control) or care notebook plus peer support for 12 months (intervention).

Parental Depression Symptoms at Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Discharge and Associated Risk Factors.

Objective: To investigate the prevalence and risk factors associated with parental depressive symptoms at neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) discharge and determine the relationships among depressive symptoms, stress, and social support.

Study Design: Parents participating in the Giving Parents Support trial (n = 300) were surveyed before NICU discharge. Depressive symptoms, stress, and social support were assessed using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CESD-10), Parental Stressor Scale: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (PSS:NICU), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS).

Healthcare needs and utilization patterns of sex-trafficked youth: Missed opportunities at a children's hospital.

Background: Domestic minor sex-trafficked (DMST) youth experience profound medical and mental health consequences. This retrospective study reviewed healthcare utilization patterns and documented individualized risk factors of sex-trafficked youth in the 5 years prior to presenting to a healthcare setting. The primary aim of this study was to examine healthcare utilization patterns among DMST youth with the goal of determining opportunities for earlier identification within the healthcare system.

Featured counter-trafficking program: The CAREs clinic, a primary care medical home for commercially exploited youth.

This invited article is one of several comprising part of a special issue of Child Abuse and Neglect focused on child trafficking and health. The purpose of each invited article is to describe a specific program serving trafficked children. Featuring these programs is intended to raise awareness of innovative counter-trafficking strategies emerging worldwide and facilitate collaboration on program development and outcomes research.

Characterizing the unmet mental health needs of urban adolescents.

Background: Untreated mental illness among adolescents is a serious public health concern. This study offers a classification tool for mental illness based on severity and identifies a starting point for needed interventions.

Methods: We assessed the prevalence and severity of serious emotional disturbances (SED)/serious mental illnesses (SMI) among transition-aged adolescents in an urban primary care practice and identified those with unmet needs.

Preventative Health and Risk Behaviors Among Adolescent Girls With and Without Family Histories of Breast Cancer.

Purpose: To compare health behaviors (smoking, alcohol use, fruit and vegetable intake, and exercise frequency) and breast self-exam (BSE) between girls with breast cancer family history (BCFH+) and without (BCFH-) and assess associates of behaviors across all girls.

Methods: A total of 208 BCFH+ girls (11-19 years old), with first- or second-degree relatives with breast cancer or a mother with a BRCA1/2 mutation, and 112 BCFH- peers reported their health behaviors, beliefs, and psychosocial function.

Results: Despite higher BCFH+ girls' greater perceived breast cancer risk, there were no differences between BCFH+ and BCFH- girls on diet, exercise, alcohol initiation, or BSE.

The Giving Parents Support Study: A randomized clinical trial of a parent navigator intervention to improve outcomes after neonatal intensive care unit discharge.

Parents of infants hospitalized in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) experience increased anxiety and stress, which may persist after discharge. The rationale and design of a randomized clinical trial assessing the impact of a 1-year, post-discharge, peer support intervention (parent navigation) on parental mental health and infant health care utilization is described. Qualitative methods guided the adaptation of an existing parent support program to target emotional and resource-related needs of NICU families.

Perceptions of Health Care Transition Care Coordination in Patients With Chronic Illness.

Objectives: Expert consensus jointly authored in 2011 by the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Family Physicians, and American College of Physicians supports the use of health care transition (HCT) care coordination (CC). Although gaps in care are addressed in these practice-based implementation recommendations, such recommendations have never undergone rigorous assessment. We assessed the effectiveness of implementation on quality of chronic illness care and CC during HCT for adolescents and young adults.

Development and Content Validation of the Transition Readiness Inventory Item Pool for Adolescent and Young Adult Survivors of Childhood Cancer.

Objective: The development of the Transition Readiness Inventory (TRI) item pool for adolescent and young adult childhood cancer survivors is described, aiming to both advance transition research and provide an example of the application of NIH Patient Reported Outcomes Information System methods.

Methods: Using rigorous measurement development methods including mixed methods, patient and parent versions of the TRI item pool were created based on the Social-ecological Model of Adolescent and young adult Readiness for Transition (SMART).

Results: Each stage informed development and refinement of the item pool.

Sexual and reproductive health care utilization and preferences reported by young women with cystic fibrosis.

Background: This study aimed to describe and compare the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) care utilization among young women with cystic fibrosis (CF) with the general United States (U.S.) population.

Sexual and reproductive health behaviors and experiences reported by young women with cystic fibrosis.

Background: The prevalence of general and disease-specific sexual and reproductive health (SRH) concerns is unknown in the United States (U.S.) female CF population.

Sensitivity and Specificity of Empiric Treatment for Sexually Transmitted Infections in a Pediatric Emergency Department.

Objective: To determine test characteristics of provider judgment for empiric antibiotic provision to patients undergoing testing for a sexually transmitted infection.

Study Design: We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional electronic health record review of all patients aged 13-19 years who had Neisseria gonorrhoeae (GC) and Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) testing sent from an urban, academic pediatric emergency department in 2012. We abstracted data, including patient demographics, chief complaint, sexually transmitted infection test results, and treatment.

Pelvic Inflammatory Disease in a Pediatric Emergency Department: Epidemiology and Treatment.

Objectives: Most adolescent cases of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) are diagnosed in the emergency department (ED). An important step to prevent PID-related morbidity among this high-risk population is to quantify prevalence and microbial patterns and identify testing and treatment gaps.

Methods: We performed a retrospective, cross-sectional study of all visits by adolescents to an urban children's ED with an International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, diagnosis of PID in 2012.

Provider Attitudes and Practices toward Sexual and Reproductive Health Care for Young Women with Cystic Fibrosis.

Study Objective: To investigate the attitudes and practices of cystic fibrosis (CF) providers toward sexual and reproductive health (SRH) care in young women with CF.

Design, Setting, Participants, And Interventions: Adult and pediatric US CF providers were sent an online survey exploring their attitudes toward SRH importance, SRH care practices, and barriers/facilitators to SRH care in adolescent and/or young adult women. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression were used to analyze results.

Adolescents' Perceptions of Transition Importance, Readiness, and Likelihood of Future Success: The Role of Anticipatory Guidance.

Expert consensus supports anticipatory guidance around health care transition (HCT), but little is known about its impact on adolescents' perceptions of HCT. This study aimed to evaluate the frequency of HCT anticipatory guidance delivery and the effect it had on participants' perceptions of HCT. Adolescents (n = 209) with special health care needs were administered National Survey for Children with Special Health Care Needs transition assessment questions, then reported perceptions of transition importance, readiness, and likely future success.

Psychosocial Adjustment and Perceived Risk Among Adolescent Girls From Families With BRCA1/2 or Breast Cancer History.

Purpose: To evaluate the impact of breast cancer family history and maternal BRCA1/2 mutation on the psychosocial adjustment and perceived risk in girls age 11 to 19 years old.

Materials And Methods: Girls age 11 to 19 years old with one or more relatives with breast cancer or a familial BRCA1/2 mutation (breast cancer family history [BCFH] positive, n = 208; n = 69 with BRCA1/2-positive mother), peers (BCFH negative, n = 112), and their mothers completed assessments of psychosocial adjustment, breast cancer-specific distress, and perceived risk of breast cancer.

Results: General psychosocial adjustment did not differ significantly between BCFH-positive and BCFH-negative girls, either by self-report or mother report, except for higher self-esteem among BCFH-positive girls (P = .

Improving Sickle Cell Transitions of Care Through Health Information Technology.

Introduction: Transitions between inpatient and outpatient care and pediatric to adult care are associated with increased mortality for sickle cell disease (SCD) patients. As accurate and timely sharing of health information is essential during transitions, a health information technology (HIT)-enabled tool holds promise to improve care transitions.

Methods: From 2012 through 2014, the team conducted and analyzed data from an environmental scan, key informant interviews, and focus groups to inform the development of an HIT-enabled tool for SCD patients' use during care transitions.

Provider and Patient Attitudes Regarding Sexual Health in Young Women With Cystic Fibrosis.

Objective: To explore the attitudes, preferences, and experiences of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) and CF providers toward sexual and reproductive health (SRH) care for young women with CF.

Methods: Young women with CF aged 18 to 30 years from a US CF care center and pediatric and adult CF program directors from a national sample participated in qualitative interviews investigating their experiences regarding SRH care and their attitudes and preferences toward SRH care provision in the CF setting. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and coded by using a thematic analysis approach.

Cystic fibrosis program directors' attitudes toward sexual and reproductive health in young women with CF.

Introduction: Advancements in therapy have led to dramatic increases in the life expectancy of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). As survival improves, young women with CF will have expectations for their sexual and reproductive health (SRH) futures similar to their counterparts without CF. As they face unique CF-specific SRH concerns, they may rely on CF care providers for disease-specific SRH care provision.

Psychosocial Adjustment in School-age Girls With a Family History of Breast Cancer.

Objective: Understanding how young girls respond to growing up with breast cancer family histories is critical given expansion of genetic testing and breast cancer messaging. We examined the impact of breast cancer family history on psychosocial adjustment and health behaviors among >800 girls in the multicenter LEGACY Girls Study.

Methods: Girls aged 6 to 13 years with a family history of breast cancer or familial BRCA1/2 mutation (BCFH+), peers without a family history (BCFH-), and their biological mothers completed assessments of psychosocial adjustment (maternal report for 6- to 13-year-olds, self-report for 10- to 13-year-olds), breast cancer-specific distress, perceived risk of breast cancer, and health behaviors (10- to 13-year-olds).

Trends in standard workup performed by pediatric subspecialists for the diagnosis of adolescent polycystic ovary syndrome.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to identify trends in the clinical workup, diagnosis, and treatment of polycystic ovary syndrome by pediatric endocrinologists, pediatric gynecologists, and adolescent medicine specialists.

Design: Retrospective chart review.

Setting: Tertiary care medical center.