Teaching emotional and social competencies: Efficacy of a work readiness program designed for vulnerable youth.

Background: As emotional and social competency training proliferates within a work readiness context, concerns remain regarding their efficacy. Data on these programs tends to be scarce and outcome objectives are often poorly defined.

Objective: Authors developed and tested a work readiness emotional and social competency program specifically designed for at-risk young adults, tailored with best practices in mind.

Gambling Related Cognitive Distortions in Adolescence: Relationships with Gambling Problems in Typically Developing and Special Needs Students.

The present study examined the link between problematic gambling and gambling related cognitions (GRCs) in a large sample of adolescents with (N = 266) and without (N = 1,738) special education needs (SEN) between the ages of 14 and 18 years attending several high schools in eastern central Ontario. The adolescents with SENs were identified as having various learning disorders and/or internalizing and externalizing problems [e.g.

Are gambling related cognitions in adolescence multidimensional?: Factor structure of the Gambling Related Cognitions Scale.

The present study examined the factor structure of the Gambling Related Cognitions Scale (GRCS); (Raylu and Oei in Addiction 99:757-769, 2004) in a large sample of adolescents (N = 1,490) between the ages of 16 and 18 years (630 males, 860 females) attending several high schools in central Ontario. Problem gambling was measured using the DSM-IV-J (Fisher in J Gambl Stud 8:263-285, 1992). A 5-factor GRCS model was found to have the best fit to the data, and gambling-related cognitions were found to be powerful predictors of disordered gambling among adolescents.

Gambling behaviour in adolescents with learning disorders.

The present study examined the prevalence of disordered gambling behaviours in a community-based sample of adolescents (N = 532) living in eastern central Ontario. Of particular interest was examining the hypothesis that adolescents with learning disorders are at elevated risk for disordered gambling. Rates of disordered gambling in male adolescents with learning disorders were found to be significantly higher than adolescents without learning problems, even after controlling for negative affectivity and ADHD symptomatology.