Sexual and gender minority (SGM) youth experience higher rates of adverse mental health outcomes, most notably suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs). The current study examines risk and protective factors for STBs and depression among 1,078 youth in high schools. We examine these outcomes through an intersectional lens, and we extend the use of…

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…

In the present online survey, 158 teachers in regular and special education teaching in grades six to nine were asked to rate the importance of probable reasons for problematic school absenteeism. On average, the teachers estimated that among their students, 19 students had presented with problematic school absenteeism over the last five years.…

This study explored how neighborhood characteristics may relate to African American adolescents' internalizing symptoms via adolescents' social support and perceptions of neighborhood cohesion. Participants included 571 urban, African American adolescents (52% female; "M" age = 17.8). A multilevel path analysis testing both direct and…

This study examined the impact of breathing awareness meditation (BAM), life skills (LS) training, and health education (HE) interventions on self-reported hostility and 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) in 121 African American (AA) ninth graders at increased risk for development of essential hypertension. They were randomly assigned to BAM,…

Hispanic youth are at risk for experiencing depressive symptoms and smoking cigarettes, and risk for depressive symptoms and cigarette use increase as Hispanic youth acculturate to U.S. culture. The mechanism by which acculturation leads to symptoms of depression and cigarette smoking is not well understood. The present study examined whether…

The objective of this study was to examine differences in psychological distress, service utilization, and prescriptions for medications between adolescents with histories of family involvement with child protective services (CPS) and adolescents without such involvement. Data on 3,497 students were obtained from the 2009 cycle of the Ontario…

The current study tested sex-specific pathways to early puberty, sexual debut, and sexual risk taking, as specified by an integrated evolutionary-developmental model of adolescent sexual development and behavior. In a prospective study of 238 adolescents (n = 129 girls and n = 109 boys) followed from approximately 12-18 years of age, we tested for…

Many adolescents experience peer victimization, which often can be homophobic. Applying the minority stress model with attention to intersecting social identities, this study tested the effects of general and homophobic victimization on several educational outcomes through suicidality and school belonging among 15,923 adolescents in Grades 7…

Background: Latino youth experience disproportionate rates of mental health problems including suicide and depression. Better understanding of underlying risk and protective factors on the part of school-based health professionals, teachers, and health care providers in their lives is warranted. The aims of this secondary analysis of 2004…

This study examined the longitudinal relationship of early elementary predictors to adolescent depression 7 years later. The sample consisted of 938 students who have been part of a larger longitudinal study that started in 1993. Data collected from parents, teachers, and youth self-reports on early risk factors when students were in 1st and 2nd…