Commentary: Adolescent Marijuana Use and Mental Health Amidst a Changing Legal Climate.

Objective: The purpose of this commentary was to briefly summarize the literature on the relationship between adolescent marijuana use and mental health and how policy changes surrounding marijuana decriminalization and legalization might impact this relationship. 

Methods:  A comprehensive literature search on adolescent marijuana use, mental health, and the impact of decriminalization and legalization was conducted. Findings are briefly summarized and discussed.

The role of caregiver social support, depressed mood, and perceived stress in changes in pediatric secondhand smoke exposure and asthma functional morbidity following an asthma exacerbation.

Objective: Caregiver depressed mood and stress are associated with increased child asthma functional morbidity (AFM) and secondhand smoke exposure (SHSe), whereas social support (SS) reduces risk. This study extends previous literature by examining (1) longitudinal patterns of pediatric AFM and SHSe and (2) how caregiver stress, depressed mood, and SS are related to child SHSe and AFM changes.

Method: Participants were 334 caregivers who smoked, had a child with asthma, and were enrolled in a smoking cessation induction/asthma intervention.

Effects of Maternal Smoking during Pregnancy on Offspring Externalizing Problems: Contextual Effects in a Sample of Female Twins.

Studies of maternal smoking during pregnancy (MSDP) suggest increased risk for cognitive impairment and psychiatric outcomes. However, it is uncertain whether these associations are the direct result of MSDP or related to confounding familial variables associated with MSDP. The current study employed propensity score analysis to examine the effects of MSDP on offspring EXT using data from a large sample of 979 unrelated mothers.

Adolescent versus Adult Stalking: A Brief Review.

This practice update considers adolescent stalking. Adolescent stalking is an area of research that deserves further study given findings from the adult stalking literature that suggest significant public health and legal consequences associated with these behaviors. However, very little is known about this phenomenon, its potential differentiation from adolescent dating violence and/or bullying and directions to take for future research.

Patterns of adaptation to children's food allergies.

Background: Families with food allergy (FA) are at risk of reduced quality of life and elevated anxiety. A moderate level of anxiety may be beneficial to sustain vigilance for food avoidance; however, excessive anxiety may increase risk for burden and maladjustment. The current study presents a framework for understanding the patterns of adaptation to FA across families and to identify typologies of families that would benefit from intervention.

Exploring Genitoanal Injury and HIV Risk Among Women: Menstrual Phase, Hormonal Birth Control, and Injury Frequency and Prevalence.

Background: Genital, anal, and oral injuries sustained from sexual intercourse may explain HIV transmission among women. We determined the variability in genitoanal injury frequency and prevalence in women after consensual sexual intercourse, exploring the role of menstrual phase and hormonal birth control.

Methods: We used a longitudinal observational design with a convenience sample of 393 women aged 21 years and older.

An Emotion Regulation Intervention to Reduce Risk Behaviors Among at-Risk Early Adolescents.

This study aimed to evaluate an intervention designed to enhance early adolescents' emotion regulation skill use and to decrease risk behaviors. Adolescents 12 to 14 years old (N = 420; 53 % male) with mental health symptoms were referred for participation in either an Emotion Regulation (ER) or Health Promotion (HP) intervention consisting of 12 after-school sessions. Participants completed baseline and follow-up questionnaires on laptop computers.

Religion-Related Child Maltreatment: A Profile of Cases Encountered by Legal and Social Service Agencies.

Religion can foster, facilitate, and be used to justify child maltreatment. Yet religion-related child abuse and neglect have received little attention from social scientists. We examined 249 cases of religion-related child maltreatment reported to social service agencies, police departments, and prosecutors' offices nationwide.

Resilience in Youth and Families Living With Pediatric Health and Developmental Conditions: Introduction to the Special Issue on Resilience.

This special issue of the Journal of Pediatric Psychology showcases a growing area of research with a collection of 16 contemporary studies of resilience in youth with chronic medical or developmental conditions and their families. The research reported in this special issue covers a broad range of pediatric populations, including cancer, type 1 diabetes, and chronic pain, among others, ranging in age from early childhood through early adulthood. This introduction to the special issue reviews the various ways the articles' authors conceptualize and define risk and resilience; most analyze protective processes in relation to resilient outcomes, including both achievement of explicitly positive experiences and avoidance of dysfunction or disruption.

Therapeutic Process During Exposure: Habituation Model.

The current paper outlines the habituation model of exposure process, which is a behavioral model emphasizing use of individually tailored functional analysis during exposures. This is a model of therapeutic process rather than one meant to explain the mechanism of change underlying exposure-based treatments. Habitation, or a natural decrease in anxiety level in the absence of anxiety-reducing behavior, might be best understood as an intermediate treatment outcome that informs therapeutic process, rather than as a mechanism of change.

The Association Between Asthma and Sleep in Urban Adolescents With Undiagnosed Asthma.

Background: We examined associations between asthma and sleep in a sample of inner-city adolescents with asthma-like symptoms who are undiagnosed, and to assess the extent to which youth's report of perceived stress moderates this association.

Methods: A total of 349 adolescents (83% girls), with a mean age of 15.8 years, and their primary caregivers participated.

Topical Review: Pediatric Food Allergies Among Diverse Children.

Objective: To present a brief review of the literature regarding potential racial/ethnic disparities in pediatric food allergy (FA).

Methods: Topical review considering data regarding FA prevalence, asthma comorbidity, epinephrine access/use, and psychosocial impact (e.g.

Alcohol Use Predicts Sexual Decision-Making: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Experimental Literature.

Alcohol is associated with HIV and other sexually transmitted infections through increased sexual risk-taking behavior. Establishing a causal link between alcohol and sexual behavior has been challenging due to methodological limitations (e.g.

Associations Between Psychiatric Impairment and Sexual Risk Behavior Among Teens in Mental Health Treatment.

Aims: To assess the associations of sexual risk behavior with psychiatric impairment and individual, peer, and partner attitudes among adolescents receiving mental health treatment.

Methods: Adolescents (N=893, 56% female, 67% African American) completed assessments of psychiatric impairment, rejection sensitivity, peer norms, HIV knowledge, perceived vulnerability, self-efficacy and condom use intentions. Two structural equation models were used to test the study hypotheses; one for sexually active youth and one for non-active youth.

Good Sleep Health in Urban Children With Asthma: A Risk and Resilience Approach.

Objectives: To identify children demonstrating "good" sleep health in a sample of urban children with persistent asthma; to compare sociocontextual, asthma clinical characteristics, and sleep behaviors in children with "good" versus "poor" sleep health; and to examine protective effects of family-based health behaviors on sleep health.

Methods: Participants were 249 Black (33%), Latino (51%) and non-Latino White (16%) children with asthma, ages 7-9 years, and their primary caregivers. 

Results: 32 percent of children had "good" sleep health.

Fathers and Asthma Care: Paternal Involvement, Beliefs, and Management Skills.

Objective: To compare asthma care roles of maternal and paternal caregivers, and examine associations between caregiver involvement and the outcomes of adherence, morbidity, and parental quality of life (QoL).

Methods: Mothers and fathers in 63 families of children, ages 5-9 years, with persistent asthma completed semistructured interviews and questionnaires. Adherence was measured via electronic monitoring.

Relationships of parental monitoring and emotion regulation with early adolescents' sexual behaviors.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the moderating influence of parental monitoring (e.g., unsupervised time with opposite sex peers) and adolescent emotional competence on sexual behaviors, among a sample of at-risk early adolescents.

Relationship between dietary energy density and dietary quality in overweight young children: a cross-sectional analysis.

Background: Observational research has found that lower energy density (ED) diets are related to reduced intake of fat and greater intake of fruits and vegetables. No study has examined the relationship between dietary ED and dietary quality, as determined by the Healthy Eating Index-2005 (HEI), in children who are overweight and obese.

Objective: Examine the relationship between dietary ED and HEI, determined from 3-d food records, in 156 children, aged 4-9 years, who had ≥85th percentile body mass index presenting for family-based obesity treatment.

Sensory Phenomena in Tourette Syndrome: Their Role in Symptom Formation and Treatment.

The primary symptoms of Tourette Syndrome (TS) are motor and vocal tics, but increasingly, researchers have examined the role of sensory phenomena in biobehavioral models of the disorder. These sensory phenomena involve tic-related premonitory urge sensations as well as potential abnormalities in the perceptual and behavioral experiences associated with external sensory input. As such, dysfunctional sensorimotor integration might represent a key facet of TS pathology.

The Impact of Military Deployment and Reintegration on Children and Parenting: A Systematic Review.

Hundreds of thousands of children have had at least 1 parent deploy as part of military operations in Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom; OIF; Operation New Dawn; OND) and Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom; OEF). However, there is little knowledge of the impact of deployment on the relationship of parents and their children. This systematic review examines findings from 3 areas of relevant research: the impact of deployment separation on parenting, and children's emotional, behavioral, and health outcomes; the impact of parental mental health symptoms during and after reintegration; and current treatment approaches in veteran and military families.

Association between adverse childhood experiences in the home and pediatric asthma.

Background: Numerous studies suggest that psychosocial factors could contribute to pediatric asthma.

Objective: To examine the relation between single and cumulative adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), a measurement of household dysfunction, on parent report of lifetime asthma in children.

Methods: This cross-sectional study used data from the 2011 to 2012 National Survey of Children's Health, a nationally representative sample of children 0 to 17 years old (n = 92,472).

Characteristics of Young Children with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Baseline Features from the POTS Jr. Sample.

Pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a chronic and impairing condition that can emerge early in childhood and persist into adulthood. The primary aim of this paper is to examine the characteristics of a large sample of young children with OCD (age range from 5 to 8). The sample will be described with regard to: demographics, OCD symptoms/severity, family history and parental psychopathology, comorbidity, and global and family functioning.

Children's Food Allergies: Development of the Food Allergy Management and Adaptation Scale.

Objective: Develop a measure that evaluates effective pediatric food allergy (FA) management, child and parent FA anxiety, and integration of FA into family life.

Methods: A semistructured family interview was developed to evaluate FA management using a pilot sample (n = 27). Rating scales evaluated eight dimensions of FA management (FAMComposite), child anxiety, parent anxiety, and overall balanced integration (BI).

Alterations of Mitochondrial DNA Copy Number and Telomere Length With Early Adversity and Psychopathology.

Background: Telomere shortening and alterations of mitochondrial biogenesis are involved in cellular aging. Childhood adversity is associated with telomere shortening, and several investigations have shown short telomeres in psychiatric disorders. Recent studies have examined whether mitochondria might be involved in neuropsychiatric conditions; findings are limited and no prior work has examined this in relation to stress exposure.