School psychologists must have a solid understanding of how to evaluate psychological trauma. In their line of work, they have found that the PREPaRE model of school crisis intervention provides important guidance when addressing this issue. Specifically, the PREPaRE model argues that school psychologists need to conduct a needs assessment before…

Anxiety sensitivity (AS), a cognitive risk factor for anxiety disorders, was evaluated in a homogeneous obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) sample. A total of 280 individuals with OCD completed measures. Evaluation of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index revealed a latent structure that was congruent with previous studies showing a single higher order…

The present study investigated the association of mothers' marriage and changes in young adolescents' cognitive and socioemotional development and changes in family processes. Analyses employed longitudinal data from the "Three-City Study" to track maternal partnerships for 860 low-income adolescents (10-14 years-old in Wave 1) across a…

Young adolescent alcohol users drink at higher rates than their peers throughout adolescence and appear to be less amenable to intervention. This study compares those who reported alcohol use in the past year to those who reported no use in a multiethnic, urban sample of sixth graders in 61 schools in Chicago in 2002 (N = 4,150). Demographic,…

Bipolar disorder is a severe form of mental illness with a primary disruption in mood. With fluctuating phases of mania and depression, bipolar disorder can have a serious impact on all activities of daily living, including parenting. Ten mothers with bipolar disorder were interviewed to understand their strengths, challenges, and service needs in…

The Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) is a functional assessment used in approximately 27 states to evaluate youth service outcomes. The CANS purports to measure both the youth's risk and protective factors, but its validity is largely un-researched. This study compares ratings of 304 delinquent youth on the CANS and ratings on a…

This bulletin examines the prevalence of alcohol, drug, and mental disorders among youth at the Cook County (Illinois) Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, by gender, race/ethnicity, and age. Drawing on research conducted by the Northwestern Juvenile Project, this bulletin finds that nearly two-thirds of males and three-quarters of females studied…

"Data Trends" reports present summaries of research on mental health services for children and adolescents and their families. The article summarized in this "Data Trends" discusses research on mental health care utilization among young children, up to age seven, in a low-income urban setting. Overall, the study indicates that…