Despite the rapidly increasing rate of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) among adolescents, there is a dearth of culturally appropriate psychological measures screening for NSSI among the adolescents ...in the Asian countries. This study aimed to develop and validate the Self-Harm Screening Inventory (SHSI), a culturally sensitive and suitable scale for screening adolescents for NSSI. In total, 514 Korean adolescents (aged 12-16 years) were recruited nationwide. All participants gave informed consent and completed the online self-report measures on NSSI, depression, anxiety, and self-esteem. Thereafter, preliminary items were developed through a series of steps: literature review, ratings of experts on self-harm and suicide, and statistical analyses. Ten of the 20 preliminary items were eliminated after exploratory factor analysis due to low endorsement and factor loading (less than .70). The final version of the SHSI comprised 10 binary items relating to self-harm behaviors within the past year (e.g., cut my body with sharp objects, hit my body). A confirmatory factor analysis supported a one-factor structure, as hypothesized. The one-factor model had a good model fit (x.sup.2 (35) = 84.958, p < .001, RMSEA = .053, CFI = .981, TLI = .975, SRMR = .124). The SHSI also had good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = .795) and 4-week test-retest reliability (r = .786, p < .01). The SHSI had high correlations with another self-harm related scale, the Self-Harm Inventory (r = .773, p < .01), and moderate correlations with the Child Depression Inventory (r = .484, p < .01) and Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (r = .433, p < .01). Additionally, the SHSI was negatively correlated with the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (r = -.399, p < .01). The findings indicate that the SHSI is a reliable and valid measure for the screening of self-harm behaviors among adolescents.
We explored differences between parents/guardians of youth participating in community- (CBM) versus school-based (SBM) mentoring programs sponsored by Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada ...(BBBS-Canada). Assessed were demographic differences as well as perceptions of risk, support, and reasons for wanting a mentor. Participating were 131 parents of youth in CBM (n = 79) or SBM (n = 52) matches recruited with assistance from BBBS agencies. All data were gathered via an online survey. Compared to SBM parents, parents of youth in CBM matches were less likely to be married and were living in homes with fewer adults and fewer children. However, CBM and SBM parents did not differ on ratings of family risk or social support. For CBM parents, a top reason for wanting a mentor was the desire for children to have new experiences; for SBM parents, top reasons included seeking academic support for children and because one of their children had a physical disability or mental illness. CBM and SBM parents in this study were more similar than distinct, but differences that emerged have potential implications for agencies' efforts to involve parents in youth mentoring programs.
•This is the first study to compare parents of youth in BBBS community-based and school-based mentoring matches.•We found no evidence that school-based mentoring programs can better reach high risk families than community-based mentoring programs.•In fact, community-based mentoring parents were less likely to be married and to be the sole caregiver in the home.•The findings argue strongly for greater delineation of the differences in these two program types.
In a convenient large-size format, this book presents the first research-based, comprehensive program designed to support high school students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Developed and ...tested in public schools by the Center on Secondary Education for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (CSESA), the program addresses four critical areas--literacy, social competence and peer relationships, independence, and postschool transition preparation for students and their families. Chapters provide a roadmap for implementation of each component, complete with intervention guidelines, case vignettes, key findings, lessons learned, and reproducible forms that can be downloaded and printed at the companion website. The book also helps readers navigate the wealth of additional resources freely available from CSESA.
Within an integrated conceptual framework made up of social cognitive theory, theory of fundamental causes, and the risk and protective factor approach, we assess reported antisocial behavior and ...favorable attitudes toward antisocial behavior among youths and parents in a high-school sample after the implementation of a Youth and Family Master Plan in Pomona, California, USA from 2005 to 2009. We perform z tests for same students (8th grade 2005 and 12th grade 2009), same grade (8th,10th, and 12th grade), inter-grade, same year, and overall, 2005 to 2009 comparisons for Pomona, Los Angeles, and US national samples. It was hypothesized that after five years of implementation, Pomona Youth and Family Master Plan (PYFMP) activities will reduce antisocial behavior and favorable parental and youth attitudes toward antisocial behavior. Within a p-value of 05, z-test results show a decline in youth antisocial behavior among youths in the Pomona sample. Patterns in youth antisocial behavior were not consistent with youth favorable attitudes toward antisocial behavior but were consistent with perceived parental favorable attitudes toward antisocial behavior. Though youth favorable attitudes toward antisocial behavior were generally rising within the Pomona data, when compared to the rates of change in Los Angeles and US, Pomona rates of change were lower. Intra and inter jurisdictional patterns above could be attributed to the community multicomponent interventions of the PYFMP. They also align with assumptions and explanations offered in the integrated conceptual framework, which suggest a mediating role for environmental factors.
Nascent research has found that transgender and/or nonbinary (TGNB) youths experience higher rates of poor mental health outcomes than cisgender youths. The minority stress model highlights ...experiences of rejection and discrimination on mental health disparities for TGNB individuals.
Using data from a quantitative cross-sectional survey of TGNB youth aged 13–24 years, we examined the association between experiencing bathroom discrimination and depressive mood, seriously considering suicide, and attempting suicide.
Overall, 58% of TGNB youths in this sample reported being prevented or discouraged from using a bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity. Among the TGNB youth who experienced bathroom discrimination, 85% reported depressive mood and 60% seriously considered suicide. Furthermore, 1 in three TGNB youths who experienced bathroom discrimination reported a past-year suicide attempt, with 1 in five reporting multiple suicide attempts. After adjusting for demographic variables and general discrimination due to one's gender identity, bathroom discrimination significantly increased the odds of reporting depressive mood (adjusted odds ratio aOR = 1.34), seriously considering suicide (aOR = 1.40), a suicide attempt (aOR = 1.66), and multiple suicide attempts (aOR = 1.71).
These findings suggest that preventing TGNB youths from accessing appropriate bathrooms is associated with harmful mental health indicators. Addressing the suicide disparities for TGNB youths requires structural change. Policies and procedures need to be in place to ensure that all youths have equal access to appropriate bathrooms.
In Indonesia, Thailand and Myanmar, democratic regression and the reconsolidation of authoritarian regimes have triggered the rise of social media-driven protest movements. These are pioneered by a ...new generation of activist youth, distinguishing themselves from previous student and youth movements by the digitally mediated, decentralized and diverse nature of their protest.While experimenting with digitally mediated repertoires of action adopted and adapted from similar struggles elsewhere, these protesters forge transnational links that give rise to new protest assemblages across and beyond the region. This is exemplified by the social media-based #MilkTeaAlliance, in which the distinct protests in Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar and other countries are conjoined through extended solidarity and affinity ties in a common "generational" struggle against entrenched authoritarianism. The youth resistance in Hong Kong was instrumental in driving this trend.Like a "rhizome" (Deleuze and Guattari 1987), these movements are characterized by connectivity, heterogeneity, multiplicity and "unbreakable" expansion. This allows for a fluid participation of various activist and non-activist groups (such as K-poppers) and the inclusion of various issues and demands in the protest, which merge into the cause of fighting systemic injustice. It also heightens the movements' viability and resilience to repression.However, besides physical repression, protesters in all three countries face the added challenge of new modes of cyber-repression. The combined effect of repressive cyber laws, intrusive cyber surveillance and aggressive cyber troops took its toll on the protest movements' capacities for online agitation and mobilization, thus contributing to the movements' silencing and suppression. Yet, the resistance did not die out, as activists dodge cyber-repression
and make creative uses of digital media and technologies to cultivate their resistance online, at the grassroots level, or in the cultural sphere.Meanwhile, as long as authorities remain repressive and tone-deaf to this generation's criticism and concerns, the gulf between them looks set to widen. The longer-term implication is that this generation will remain alienated and continue to express their struggle in novel and unpredictable ways.
Seeking to influence the direction of government policy decision-making, many young people are politically engaged, not through voting and party membership like youth in previous decades, but rather ...through membership in social, environmental or identity-centered organizations, lobby groups or advocacy organizations, and online groups. In this paper, we investigate the many ways that Canadian Arab youth get involved in the formal political system and examine the nature of that involvement. We have found that Canadian Arab youth show a higher level of political participation than the Canadian youth population as a whole and that rather than being politically alienated, Canadian Arab youth are active participants in Canadian society, as well as an interested and diligent citizenry. We examine the possible forces galvanizing Arab youths' political interest and mobilizing them into action. Based on our findings, we argue that the Canadian political landscape is changing due to substantive contributions from ethnic minority youth, including Arab youth.
Gender minority adolescents, such as transgender, gender nonconforming, gender diverse and non-binary youth, may face unique challenges with regard to online sexual communication. They may be ...especially vulnerable for sexting-related risks. The aim of this study is to explore the sexting experiences of gender minority youth among a school-based sample.
This brief exploratory study reports on a survey that was conducted among 1293 respondents with an average age of 14.79 years old (SD = 1.97) in the Dutch-speaking area of Belgium, and compares engagement in sexting experiences between cisgender and gender minority youth.
The results of our exploratory study show that gender minority adolescents were more likely to have ever been pressured to send a sexting image. There were no significant differences with regard to receiving sexts, or receiving forwarded sexts. None of the gender minority youth reported that they had forwarded a sexting image from someone else, as opposed to 9.3% of cisgender youth who had forwarded a sext.
Despite the explorative nature of our study, the results suggest that gender minority youth may be at an increased risk to experience sexting-related pressure. Additional research is needed to investigate the sexting experiences of gender minority adolescents. Gender minority youth may benefit from education about safer sexting, and specifically ways to cope with sexting-related pressure.
Foster youth advisory boards (YAB) have the objective of promoting foster youth participation in decisions that are made about their lives. There is currently little known about how youth ...participation is conceptualized or implemented within or across boards. This qualitative study explored youth participation from the perspectives of 42 primary YAB facilitators in 34 states. The study's findings are derived from telephone interviews. A thematic analysis identified four primary approaches to youth participation, which we labeled as being, ‘Adult-Led’ (n=2); ‘Adult-Driven Youth Input’ (n=14); ‘50–50 Youth-Adult Partnership’ (n=16); and ‘Youth-Led’ (n=2). Within each of these approaches to youth participation, we present findings that explore facilitators' conceptualizations of youth participation, the strategies and program activities they use to enact youth participation, and the strengths and limitations of each of the approaches. Our discussion explores implications for YAB program activities, youth participation in child welfare systems, and future research.
•This study explored conceptualizations of youth participation from facilitators of foster youth advisory boards.•The study's findings are derived from phone interviews with 42 facilitators in 34 states.•The analysis identified four approaches to youth participation.•Study findings draw attention to the need for clear guidelines and rigorous research.
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