Background: Sexual violence (SV) is a serious public health concern, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (LGBTQ+) youth report higher rates than their heterosexual and cisgender peers. This qualitative study aimed to understand LGBTQ+ students' perspectives on how middle and high school environments can better prevent…

Background: Adolescent suicide is a public health issue, and school is an ideal setting for prevention activities. LEARN is a peer-led gatekeeper training for high school personnel, parents, and students. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of LEARN as a gatekeeper training. Methods: Paired t tests were used to compare pre-…

"Sexting" (electronic transmission of sexual pictures/messages) among early adolescents is associated with early sexual activity, a marker of increased sexual risk. The current study is a secondary analysis that examined the longitudinal relationship between sexting and first-time sex among a sample of early adolescents deemed "at…

Suicidal thoughts and behaviors are highly prevalent among adolescents, and peers are often the first, and sometimes only, people to know about youth suicidality. Since many adolescents do not directly disclose suicidal thoughts, school-based suicide prevention programs aim to train youth to recognize warning signs of suicide in their peers that…

Anxiety disorders are among the most prevalent psychopathologies in Western adolescents and have been on the rise in recent years. Not only does anxiety disrupt the daily lives of the young people who suffer from it, it can also have harmful behavioral, psychological, social, and academic effects. Given this, there is a pressing need to implement…

This study evaluated emerging adult effects of the PROmoting School-Community-University Partnerships to Enhance Resilience (PROSPER) universal prevention delivery system implemented in middle schools. Twenty-eight rural school districts were randomized to intervention and control conditions, with 1985 nineteen-year-old participants (90.6% White,…

The Community Readiness Model (CRM) developed and validated by the Tri-Ethnic Center was adapted to identify at-risk communities in six rural Texas counties. Five to six key informants per county were recruited from a variety of community sectors to participate in phone interviews. Paired scorers independently analyzed individual interview…

Bullying has been linked to adolescent suicidal behavior. With dramatic increases in social media use among youth, understanding the influence of cyberbullying on adolescent suicidal behavior has become central to prevention efforts. This study examined the potential protective role of school connectedness in the relationship between cyberbullying…

Substance abuse in adolescents has been recognized as a public health problem at the national and global levels. Adolescents are at risk for experimenting with substances. School nurses in secondary schools are well positioned to screen and counsel students on substance use. In this project, school nurses' self-efficacy levels increased in using…

Background: Nearly 60% of teenagers in the USA have experienced abusive online behaviour. Identifying effective programmes to address these behaviours and promote digital citizenship is a research priority to reduce the rate of occurrence and consequential harmful effects of abusive online behaviour. Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of a…

Using a population-based sample of 1,311 seventh graders in an urban school district in the South Central United States, we examined the associations between early-life trauma, anger regulation, and early adolescent perceptions about sex and parenthood. Girls and boys with more trauma exposure were more likely to perceive adolescent parenthood as…

Antisocial peer behavior and low parental knowledge of adolescents' activities are key interpersonal risk factors for adolescent substance use. However, how the magnitude of associations between these risk factors and substance use may vary across adolescence remains less well understood. The present study examined the age-varying associations of…

Government advice in relation to 'countering violent extremism' (CVE) in English schools requires teachers to identify students 'at risk' of radicalisation whilst also encouraging them to facilitate open classroom discussions of controversial issues. Data collected in seven schools illustrate how teachers are responding to this advice and…

The Minnesota's School-Based Diversion Model (SBDM) is a student-centered plan to keep youth from entering the criminal justice system due to arrests at school. Wilder Research is working with the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) to help collect and analyze information about how the SBDM is helping each pilot program increase…

The Minnesota's School-Based Diversion Model (SBDM) is a student-centered plan to keep youth from entering the criminal justice system due to arrests at school or during school hours. Wilder Research is working with the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) to help collect and analyze information about how the SBDM is helping each pilot…