Background: Violence and bullying perpetration among boys are major public health problems. We address gaps in the literature by examining: (1) how risk and protective factors co-occur, and (2) how different risk/protection profiles are associated with violence and bullying perpetration among adolescent boys. Methods: Data came from the…

The primary purpose of this study was to examine whether social relationship factors are associated with trajectories of depressive symptoms from adolescence into emerging adulthood. Specifically, adolescent-parent communication with mothers and fathers, peer support, and sibling warmth and hostility were examined in relation to depressive…

This study aims to identify the relationships between Individualized Education Program (IEP) status and substance use. More than 122,000 eighth-, ninth-, and eleventh-grade students provided survey data in 2013. Analyses tested associations between IEP status and tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use, accounting for emotional distress and…

Teenage pregnancy among school-going youth is a concern worldwide, but in socially-economically challenged environments it is a result of, and contributory factor to, a complex web of social injustice. In South Africa, most of the school-based prevention interventions to date have been adult-designed and imparted, with the voice of the target…

Many school-based suicide prevention programs do not show a positive impact on help-seeking behaviors among emotionally troubled teens despite their being at high risk for suicide. This study is a secondary analysis of the Surviving the Teens® program evaluation to determine its effect on help-seeking behaviors among troubled youth. Results showed…

Survey data on the problem of drug abuse in Russia show a high level of awareness of the issue among young people. To reduce the level of drug use in Russia, a comprehensive, focused, and coordinated program involving representatives of official state and social institutions, as well as institutions of civil society, is needed. Combining their…

Objective: Child maltreatment constitutes a strong risk factor for violent delinquency in adolescence, with cumulative experiences of maltreatment creating increasingly greater risk. Our previous work demonstrated that a universal school-based violence prevention program could provide a protective impact for youth at risk for violent delinquency…

The development and implementation of a new school-based suicide prevention education programme in one secondary school in Vancouver, British Columbia, recently provided us with an opportunity to conduct an in-depth, qualitative case study. The purpose of our study was to deepen our understanding of how school-based suicide prevention education…

Youth suicide is a serious public health issue in the United States. It is currently the third leading cause of death for youth aged 10 to 19. School-based prevention programs may be an effective method of educating youth and enhancing their help-seeking. Most school-based suicide prevention programs have not been rigorously evaluated for their…

Two theoretical perspectives have been proposed to describe, explain, and intervene in adolescent development--prevention science and positive youth development (PYD). An integrative model bridging these two perspectives posits that it is important to assess the extent to which the same, similar, or complementary mechanisms may be responsible for…

The Adolescent Responses to Alcohol and Drug Offers Scale (ARADOS) is a self-report questionnaire designed to assess a respondent's anticipated emotional reactions and intended use of cognitive-behavioral refusal skills in response to an offer of alcohol or other drug. A sample of 267 students enrolled in the 11th and 12th grades of four public…

This study examined the stability of adolescent physical and psychological dating aggression across both time and partners in a sample of 664 high school students using both nonparametric and growth curve (GC) modeling techniques. Nonparametric and GC modeling tests demonstrated moderate levels of stability of all forms of aggression.…

Some evidence suggests that close friends may be knowledgeable of youth's psychological adjustment. However, friends are understudied as reporters of adjustment. The current study examines associations between self- and friend-reports of internalizing and externalizing adjustment in a community sample of fifth-, eighth-, and eleventh-grade youth.…

Investigated high school students' (n=325) knowledge of suicidal peers. Found 68 percent of females and 42.5 percent of males knew peer who had committed or attempted suicide. Ninety-seven students reported having talked to a peer who was definitely considering suicide; of these, 63 percent talked to their peer, 24.7 percent told adults, and 12…

Assesses the impact of a school-based sexual risk reduction program on adolescents' knowledge, need for information, problem-solving and communication skills, and intention to talk about and to practice safer sex. Results indicate significant treatment effects with knowledge, perception of skills, and frequency of communication. Other results are…