This study examined bidirectional relations between television exposure and effortful control accounting for the effects of family contextual risk factors. Data were from a sample (N = 306) of parents and their preschool-age children (T1 M = 36 mos. in 2008-2010) assessed four times, once every 9 mos. At T1, adolescent parent status predicted…

Objective: This longitudinal study investigated the predictors of and changes in psychological trauma during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: Participants included 236 adolescents (130 males; M age = 16.74 years in spring 2020; 49.6% diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder; 16.1% diagnosed with an anxiety or depressive disorder) in…

This explanatory sequential study examined and explored the understandings and perceptions a new cohort of K-12 teachers before and after they received Trauma Informed Care (TIC) training, which emphasized the prevention, recognition, and mitigation of secondary trauma (ST). TIC training is a requirement for all teachers. The study aimed at…

Objective: To identify the sex-specific prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) risk factors and their physiological, psychosocial, and behavioral correlates in a college-aged population. Participants and methods: Cross-sectional assessment of MetS risk factors and potential correlates occurred in 379 first-year students (aged 18.34 ± 0.49 years,…

Sexual minority youth have a higher risk of suicidal behaviors than their straight peers. Despite this alarming trend, there is limited information on how health-risk factors are systematically associated with suicidal outcomes in relation to the intersection of sex and sexual orientation identity. Data from the 2017 Youth Risk Behavior Survey…

Background: The prevalence of language disorder in youth offenders far exceeds rates reported in community samples. Youth involved in the justice system are also at increased risk of a range of psychiatric disorders, including internalizing mental health problems (i.e., anxiety, depression). However, the frequency with which these co-occur in this…

Nightmares influence the mental health of university students, but the prevalence of nightmare and nightmare disorder requires additional documentation. The data of detailed nightmare experience of nightmare disorder and related depressive mood in this population are also scarce. First, a total of 1,451 students in a comprehensive Chinese…

We compared language comprehension and production across the second year of life in children of clinically depressed mothers who later remitted with children of nondepressed mothers. Altogether, 157 mother-child dyads participated: 46 with mothers diagnosed at infant age 5 months as having major, minor, or other depressive disorders who fully…

Given the high number of immigrant youth in the United States that are from Latinx backgrounds and given that these youth are at risk for experiencing traumatic events during their migration, it is critical for school mental health providers to understand how to best serve this population. To do so, they must first understand how the unique…

People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have an increased risk of suicidality. However, the risk factors remain under-investigated. This study explored factors that increase suicidality risk in ASD. Through an online survey, 150 adults with ASD were compared to 189 control adults. Autistic traits, depressive symptomatology, alexithymia, and…

Emotional maltreatment is a risk factor for adolescent depression. Yet, it remains unclear whether commissions and omissions of emotional maltreatment (a) confer vulnerability via distinct mechanisms and (b) demonstrate similar risk across adolescent subpopulations. The present, multiwave study examined whether school engagement and peer…

Adolescents can be at heightened risk for anxiety and depression, with accumulating research reporting on associations between anxiety and depression and cognitive impairments, implicating working memory and attentional control deficits. Several studies now point to the promise of adaptive working memory training to increase attentional control in…

Research has identified antecedents to flourishing--high levels of social, emotional, and psychological health--in adolescence and adulthood but few studies have attended to flourishing in childhood. Moreover, although there has been great interest in how environmental effects on mental illness vary by temperament, little attention has been…

Substance use disorders are considered externalizing disorders, defined by anti-social and impulsive behavior, as opposed to internalizing disorders, defined by anxious and depressive thinking; however, that strict binary is increasingly untenable. In this dissertation, I evaluate the co-development of internalizing and externalizing symptoms…

Depression is a risk factor for suicide in adolescents making it essential for school nurses to identify and refer at-risk adolescents for resources. At the project site, there is no current practice to routinely assess for adolescent depression. The purpose of this quantitative, quasi-experimental quality improvement project was to determine if…