The efficacy of a three-week career construction counselling group intervention that was structured using the My Career Story workbook [Savickas, M. L., & Hartung, P. J. (2012). My career story: An autobiographical workbook for life-career success. www.vocopher.com] was examined using a pre/post-test design. The group intervention was…

Although increasing numbers of youth are seeking help to reduce or abstain from marijuana use, little research has investigated the contextual facilitators and barriers to doing so among urban youth utilizing primary care. We qualitatively investigated contextual facilitators and barriers to marijuana reduction/abstinence in an ethnically diverse…

Introduction: Youth in disadvantaged urban areas are frequently exposed to chronic stress and trauma, including housing instability, neighborhood violence, and other poverty-related adversities. These exposures increase risk for emotional, behavioral, and academic problems and ultimately, school dropout. Schools are a promising setting in which to…

Community violence exposure is associated with increased depressive symptoms in adolescents. This study examined whether coping style moderates this relationship over time. Eighty-four low-income, urban adolescents (M[subscript age] = 13.36, 50% female, 95% African American) participated in two waves of a longitudinal study. Youth reported on…

Static reading labels are problematic not only because youths demonstrate varying reading skills and identities across secondary classrooms but also because being labeled as "struggling" can undermine literacy learning. Little research has investigated how "struggling" and "proficient" readers' interactions with…

Literature on the physical design of counseling spaces suggests that calm and comfortable school counseling offices support students' emotional disclosure. However, many counseling environment design studies fail to consider the perspectives of clients. Scholars have called for school counselors to invite youth to co-create interventions as a…

This article details key findings from a longitudinal study conducted in collaboration with Kids Company, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). The focus of this article is the role of the "teacher as witness" to the impact of a participatory theatre project with vulnerable young people. This research argues that the…

School based health centers (SBHCs) are often at the front line of medical and mental health services for students in the schools they serve. Citywide school closures in New York City in March 2020 and ongoing social distancing procedures resulted in significant changes in SBHC services as well as access to these services. Furthermore, the…

Objective: This study examined the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Urban Hassles Index (UHI). Method: Exploratory factor analyses (EFAs) were conducted via principal axis factoring extraction method. Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to evaluate the fit of the EFA-derived model using the weighted least squares…

Background: Physical education (PE) can provide opportunities to engage in daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), but MVPA levels in many classes are low. This study examines MVPA during middle school PE lessons before and after receiving the SPARK (Sports, Play, and Active Recreation for Kids) program. Methods: Sixteen schools were…

Social work scholars have increasingly adopted community-based participatory research (CBPR) approaches to center community voice in research and action to promote youth's healthy development. While valuable contributions have emerged to engage in further dialectical learning processes, limited research has examined in depth the participation,…

The concept of a "healthful home" offers the basis for a comprehensive approach to addressing the well-established relationship between health and housing. Many environmental health hazards found in homes--such as lead, mold, environmental tobacco smoke, and pesticides--can be reduced or eliminated through the use of scientifically…

Youth obesity is a major public health problem in the United States, especially among urban-based, minority youth. The B'More Healthy Communities for Kids (BHCK) trial worked at multiple levels of the food environment, including carryouts, to increase access to and demand for healthy, affordable foods. The objective of this article is to describe…

Background: Youth of color from low-income urban communities are crucial participants in research, as their involvement can shape effective, culturally responsive interventions and policy to promote youth health and well-being. These young people, however, are an often-neglected research population, due in part to perceived challenges associated…

This article explores a model for school counselors to capitalize on the therapeutic, empowerment-oriented nature of hip-hop practices to engage in youth participatory action research (YPAR). Drawing from research that supports the use of hip-hop therapy and YPAR in schools, we propose a culturally sensitive group counseling process wherein…