The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of maternal depressive symptoms on adolescent alcohol use among a sample of Latino/Latina youth aged 10 to 16 years from a high-risk community. Direct and mediating effects of youth depressive symptoms, controlling for levels of concurrent emotion dysregulation, on alcohol use were examined.…

Maltreating mothers often struggle to respond sensitively to their children's distress. Examining psychophysiological processing of own child cues may offer insight into neurobiological mechanisms that promote sensitive parenting among high-risk mothers. The current study used event-related potential (ERP) methodology to examine associations…

The efficacy of sex education has been questioned, as students participate in high rates of unsafe sex after completion. Without exploring various sexual minority (SM) identities (e.g., gay, lesbian, and bisexual) and forms of sex, sex education may be especially unhelpful for SMs by perpetuating the heteronormative (i.e., assuming heterosexuality…

Background: Depression, anxiety, diabetes and cardiovascular risk factors are frequent health problems among older people with intellectual disability (ID). These conditions may be bidirectionally related. Depression and anxiety may have biological effects causing glucose intolerance, fat accumulation and also lifestyle changes causing metabolic…

Residing in high-risk urban neighborhoods has a significant impact on the optimal psychosocial development of adolescent African American males. Living in these environments often increases exposure to economic distress and attendance at under-resourced schools, which may diminish opportunities for successful life outcomes. This qualitative…

Overeating (eating an unusually large amount of food) and binge eating (overeating with loss of control [LOC]) predict adverse health consequences in adolescence. We aimed to characterize the stability of and risk factors for these distinct but interrelated constructs during critical developmental transitions. We used a population-based sample (n…

Family-related predictors of mental health problems were investigated among 30 toddlers at familial high-risk for autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and 28 controls followed from age 2- to 3-years. Parents completed the self-report Depression Anxiety Stress Scales and the parent-report Behavior Assessment System for Children. High-risk toddlers were…

Transition age youth with disabilities are at an elevated risk to experience depression and anxiety compared to youth without disabilities. The current study evaluates the implementation feasibility, acceptability, and potential efficacy of the "Think, Be, Do" curriculum (a mental health curriculum) for transition age students in special…

Children in child welfare protective custody (e.g., foster care) are known to have increased health concerns compared to children not in protective custody. The poor health documented for children in protective custody persists well into adulthood; young adults who emancipate from protective custody report poorer health, lower quality of life, and…

This article reviews the contents and research on the Strengthening Families Program (SFP), a family evidence-based seven- to 14-session intervention for drug prevention in high-risk children ages 0 to 17. Twelve Randomized Control Trials (RCTs) found significant improvements in youths' behavioral health, including 50% reductions in substance…

Although early sexual initiation has been linked to negative outcomes, it is unknown whether these effects are causal. In this study, we use propensity score methods to estimate the causal effect of early sexual initiation on young adult sexual risk behaviors and health outcomes using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to…

Efforts to identify biological correlates of internalizing symptoms in childhood have involved examinations of HPA-axis functioning, namely Cortisol Awakening Response (CAR). However, research has not assessed the relationship between CAR and internalizing problems among children younger than 8 years. Findings with older samples have been somewhat…

Objectives: Girls' rates of drug use have met up with and, in some instances, surpassed boys' rates. Although girls and boys share risk and protective factors associated with drug use, girls also have gender-specific risks. Interventions to prevent girls' drug use must be tailored to address the dynamics of female adolescence. Methods: One such…

Background: Healthy, productive employees are an integral part of school health programs. There have been few assessments of work productivity among secondary school staff. This study describes the frequency of 3 common health risk factors--obesity, depressive symptoms, and smoking--and their impact on work productivity in secondary school…

Objective: Bipolar disorder (BD) is a debilitating psychiatric condition that commonly begins in adolescence, a developmental period that has been associated with increased reward seeking. Because youth with BD are especially vulnerable to negative risk-taking behaviors, understanding the neural mechanisms by which dysregulated affect interacts…