Is dating violence associated with substance use and sexual risk behaviors among urban, minority, middle school youth

Background. One in 4 adolescents reports some form of dating violence each year. Dating violence among high school adolescents has been linked with several morbidity issues. However, the association between dating violence and sexual risk and/or substance use among young adolescents has rarely been studied.^ Methods. Research hypotheses were tested using a secondary data analysis from a HIV, STI, pregnancy prevention intervention study for urban middle school students.^ Results. At baseline, 21% of youth reported experiencing physical ADV victimization, 48.2% reported non-physical victimization, and 52.6% report any victimization. After adjusting for race/ethnicity, gender, and age ever having sex, alcohol use, and illicit drug use were significantly associated with several forms of ADV.^ Conclusions. Dating violence appears to be associated with early initiation of sexual behavior, as well as alcohol and drug use. Few interventions address ADV among middle school youth. Early interventions that prevent dating violence are needed. ^

Emotional intimacy predicts condom use: Findings in a group at high STD risk

The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between condom use and emotional intimacy. The study was a gonorrhea case-comparison ('Cases and Places') study with the samples being drawn from the public health clinics (cases) and select bars/nightclubs (places) of Houston, TX (N=215). Data were collected by questionnaires administered on a laptop computer. The majority of respondents were African-American (97.7%), female (69.3%) and either had high school or GED education (72.6%). Condom use with last sexual partner was analyzed along with intimacy with that partner assessed on a 3-point scale. Analysis showed that higher intimacy was related to greater condom use which was significant in males (χ2=7.85, p=.00) but not females (χ2=1.46, p=.15). These data were opposite to previous studies which showed an inverse relationship between condom use and emotional intimacy. We hypothesize that in a high-risk environment, people make more effort to protect those they feel closer to. These data suggest a need to further explore the complex relationship between emotional intimacy and condom use.^

Is maternal separation anxiety associated with school readiness?

Background. Increasing rates of maternal employment highlight the need for non-maternal child care for infants at an earlier age. Several studies have shown that employment induced maternal depression or psychological distress is associated with the child's socio-emotional and cognitive development. However, separation anxiety, a common phenomenon observed among employed mothers during early years, has seldom been studied. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of maternal separation anxiety in the child's cognitive development.^ Methods. Data were obtained from Phase I (birth to 36 months) of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (NICHD SECCYD). Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine the association between separation anxiety groups and child outcomes. Multivariate analysis was also used to examine the mediating and/or moderating effect of sensitivity and moderating effect of difficult temperament.^ Results. Separation anxiety showed a negative association with the Bracken, attachment security, maternal sensitivity and psychological state. Children whose mothers never reported high levels of separation anxiety showed higher levels of school readiness and attachment security compared to those whose mothers experienced high levels of separation anxiety at least once. There was a significant interaction between separation anxiety and maternal sensitivity for the Bracken and attachment security indicating the moderating effect of sensitivity. Maternal sensitivity was also found to partially mediate the association between high levels of separation anxiety and school readiness or attachment security. However, the interaction between difficult temperament and separation anxiety was not significant for any of the child outcomes. ^ Conclusions. High levels of separation anxiety have a negative impact on school readiness, attachment security, maternal sensitivity and psychological state. In addition, mothers who experience high levels of separation anxiety but are sensitive during the mother-child interaction have children with high school readiness and attachment security compared to those who are less sensitive.^ Keywords. Maternal separation anxiety, School readiness. ^

A look at parent-adolescent processes and adolescent sexual intentions among urban, minority, middle school youth

Background. The United States continues to have the highest rates in teenage pregnancy among industrialized nations and approximately 46% of high school students engaged in sex by the time they graduated. Various family adolescent processes (family connectedness, perceived parental beliefs about sex, parent-child communication about sex) have been linked to adolescent sexual behavior. However, the association between family adolescent and adolescent sexual intentions has not often been studied in middle school minority youth.^ Methods. Research hypotheses were tested using a secondary data analysis from a HIV, STI, and pregnancy prevention program for urban middle school students.^ Results. At baseline, 77% of students reported low intentions to engage in vaginal or oral sex within a year and 87% reported they would use a condom if having sex within the next 3 months. After adjusting for gender, age, and race/ethnicity, family connectedness and perceived parental beliefs about sex were significantly associated with vaginal and oral sex intentions. Only perceived parental beliefs was associated with condom use intentions. ^ Conclusions. Family adolescent processes appear to be associated with adolescents’ intentions regarding sex and condom use. Early interventions are needed that take into account the importance of healthy, supportive parent-adolescent relationships and encourage parents to share their beliefs about sex to adolescents before the onset of sexual activity. ^

African American and Hispanic adolescent STI and pregnancy prevention: Whose responsibility is it, anyway?

This dissertation utilized quantitative and qualitative methods to examine the role of responsibility in the prevention of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and pregnancy through condom use and other sexual behaviors among young adolescents. Data were analyzed across race and gender and three papers were developed. The quantitative portion used logistic regression to assess associations between personal responsibility, as well as other know correlates, and reported condom use and condom use intentions as a means of STI and pregnancy prevention among 445 inner-city, high school adolescents. Responsibility to prevent pregnancy by providing the condom was associated with condom use at last sex and consistent condom use. Responsibility to prevent acquiring a STI by using a condom was significantly associated with consistent condom use. No significant associations were found between responsibility and condom use intentions. ^ The qualitative section of the dissertation project involved conducting 28 in-depth interviews among 9th and 10th grade, African American and Hispanic students who attended a large urban school district in South Central Texas. Perceptions of responsibility for preventing STIs and unintended pregnancy, as well as for condom use, were explored. Male and female adolescents expressed joint responsibility to prevent a STI or pregnancy. Perceptions of responsibility for providing and using the condoms were mixed. Despite the indication of both partners, mostly all participants implied that females, more so than the males, had the final responsibility to prevent contracting a STI, a pregnancy, to provide a condom, and to make sure a condom was used. Participants expressed the role of parents' involvement for preventing these outcomes as well as the need for more sexual health education and access to preventative methods. ^ The last section of this dissertation involved qualitative inquiry to ascertain perceptions of reasons why adolescents engage in anal and oral (non-coital) sex. Pleasure-seeking and giving as well social influence and pressure were described as the main reasons why teenagers have non-coital sex. Other reasons included conveniences of participating in these behaviors such as ease of performing oral sex and anal sex as a convenient alternative to vaginal sex. Sexual inexperience was an indicator for why anal sex occurs. Many of the reasons involved misperceptions and adolescents who practice these sexual behaviors place themselves at-risk for contracting a STI. ^ This dissertation increased the current knowledge base about adolescent sexual responsibility and non-coital behaviors. Future studies should explore perceptions of responsibility and actual sexual activity practices among adolescents to reduce the burden of STIs and pregnancy as well as help public health professionals develop programs for adolescent populations, schools, and communities where these issues persist.^

For Safety’s Sake: A Case Study of School Security Efforts and Their Impact on Education Reform

Several studies have shown that the need to create safe and orderly schools has increasingly been addressed in a manner that disconnects these priorities from broader concerns related to student success, school culture, and child development. In this paper, we explore the consequences of expanding security procedures in response to an incident involving interracial conflict at an urban high school in the United States. We offer this case study to demonstrate how the primacy placed on safety and security resulted in the neglect of other important educational goals, such as academic engagement and a positive school culture. Through an analysis of observational, interview, focus group, and survey data, we show that while it is essential for schools to take measures that ensure the safety of students and staff, it is equally important for safety to be recognized as part of a larger set of goals that schools must concurrently pursue in order to meet the educational and developmental needs of the students they serve.

The impact of school year work on adolescent *development

In recent decades, work has become an increasingly common feature of adolescent life in the United States. Once assumed to be an inherently positive experience for youth, school year work has recently been associated with several adverse effects, especially as the number of hours of weekly work increases. The purpose of this dissertation was to describe the impact of school year work on adolescent development in a sample of high school students from rural South Texas, an area where economically-disadvantaged and Hispanic students are heavily represented.^ The first study described the prevalence and work circumstances of 3,565 10$\rm\sp{th}$ and 12$\rm\sp{th}$ grade students who responded to anonymous surveys conducted in regular classrooms. The overall prevalence of current work was 53%. Prevalence differed by grade, college-noncollege-bound status, and parent education. Fifty percent of employed students worked to support consumer spending.^ The second study examined the effects of four levels of work intensity on the academic, behavioral, social, mental and physical health of students. The following negative effects of intense work were reported: (1) decreased engagement in school, satisfaction with leisure time, and hours of weeknight and weekend sleep, and (2) increased health risk behaviors and psychological stress. The negative effects of intense work differed by gender, grade, ethnicity, but not by parent education.^ The third study described the prevalence of injury in the study population. A dose response effect was observed where increasing hours of weekly work were significantly related to work-related injury. The likelihood of being injured while employed in restaurant, farm/ranch, and construction work was greater than the probability of being injured while working in factory/office/skilled, yard, or retail work when compared to babysitting. Cuts, shocks/burns and sprains were the most common injuries in working teens.^ Students, parents, educators, health professionals and policymakers should continue to monitor the number of weekly hours that students work during the school year. ^

Los profesores de historia y el papel de la lectura en sus clases

La lectura es una herramienta central en la enseñanza y el aprendizaje de la historia. Son conocidos los problemas que afrontan los alumnos para comprender textos históricos, y por eso -entre otras razones- resulta necesario concebir a la lectura como contenido de enseñanza de la Historia. Los aportes de las investigaciones psicolingüísticas permitieron modificar la concepción acerca de la lectura desde dos puntos de vista: se pasó de entenderla como un proceso de descifrado de lo escrito a un proceso de construcción de significado. A la vez, dejó de ser conceptualizada como un conjunto de habilidades para ser interpretada desde una teoría de comprensión global. Actualmente se caracteriza a la lectura como un proceso de construcción de significados y se ha puesto en evidencia que los conocimientos previos del lector sobre la temática del texto constituyen uno de los factores determinantes de la particular interpretación que realiza (Smith, 1983; Goodman, 1982). Construir el significado de un texto de historia supone construir los conceptos, crear y recrear representaciones sobre los hechos, reorganizar el conocimiento anterior incorporando conocimiento nuevo (Aisenberg, 2003). Este trabajo presenta avances de una investigación que busca construir conocimiento sobre las representaciones de los docentes acerca del papel de la lectura en la enseñanza y el aprendizaje de Historia. Las preguntas que orientan esta investigación son: ¿Qué representaciones tienen los profesores de la Escuela Secundaria sobre el papel de la lectura en la enseñanza y el aprendizaje de la historia? Cuando utilizan textos, ¿qué supuestos subyacen a las propuestas didácticas? Se trata de un estudio exploratorio, abordado desde una lógica de investigación cualitativa. En el análisis de las entrevistas realizadas encontramos ideas, percepciones y referencias a prácticas que responderían a concepciones habituales de la enseñanza tradicional de la historia, y otras que estarían influenciadas por los nuevos desarrollos teóricos sobre el tema, difundidos en los últimos años en espacios de formación y en bibliografía sobre las prácticas de lectura en contextos de estudio. Hasta el momento, se han construido dos modos básicos de concebir la relación de la lectura con la historia por parte de los profesores: una relación de interioridad y una de exterioridad. En articulación con cada una, se pueden encontrar diferencias en las concepciones sobre la lectura, en las interpretaciones acerca de las dificultades de lectura y aprendizaje de los alumnos y en las propuestas de enseñanza en las clases de Historia

Los profesores de historia y el papel de la lectura en sus clases

La lectura es una herramienta central en la enseñanza y el aprendizaje de la historia. Son conocidos los problemas que afrontan los alumnos para comprender textos históricos, y por eso -entre otras razones- resulta necesario concebir a la lectura como contenido de enseñanza de la Historia. Los aportes de las investigaciones psicolingüísticas permitieron modificar la concepción acerca de la lectura desde dos puntos de vista: se pasó de entenderla como un proceso de descifrado de lo escrito a un proceso de construcción de significado. A la vez, dejó de ser conceptualizada como un conjunto de habilidades para ser interpretada desde una teoría de comprensión global. Actualmente se caracteriza a la lectura como un proceso de construcción de significados y se ha puesto en evidencia que los conocimientos previos del lector sobre la temática del texto constituyen uno de los factores determinantes de la particular interpretación que realiza (Smith, 1983; Goodman, 1982). Construir el significado de un texto de historia supone construir los conceptos, crear y recrear representaciones sobre los hechos, reorganizar el conocimiento anterior incorporando conocimiento nuevo (Aisenberg, 2003). Este trabajo presenta avances de una investigación que busca construir conocimiento sobre las representaciones de los docentes acerca del papel de la lectura en la enseñanza y el aprendizaje de Historia. Las preguntas que orientan esta investigación son: ¿Qué representaciones tienen los profesores de la Escuela Secundaria sobre el papel de la lectura en la enseñanza y el aprendizaje de la historia? Cuando utilizan textos, ¿qué supuestos subyacen a las propuestas didácticas? Se trata de un estudio exploratorio, abordado desde una lógica de investigación cualitativa. En el análisis de las entrevistas realizadas encontramos ideas, percepciones y referencias a prácticas que responderían a concepciones habituales de la enseñanza tradicional de la historia, y otras que estarían influenciadas por los nuevos desarrollos teóricos sobre el tema, difundidos en los últimos años en espacios de formación y en bibliografía sobre las prácticas de lectura en contextos de estudio. Hasta el momento, se han construido dos modos básicos de concebir la relación de la lectura con la historia por parte de los profesores: una relación de interioridad y una de exterioridad. En articulación con cada una, se pueden encontrar diferencias en las concepciones sobre la lectura, en las interpretaciones acerca de las dificultades de lectura y aprendizaje de los alumnos y en las propuestas de enseñanza en las clases de Historia

Los profesores de historia y el papel de la lectura en sus clases

La lectura es una herramienta central en la enseñanza y el aprendizaje de la historia. Son conocidos los problemas que afrontan los alumnos para comprender textos históricos, y por eso -entre otras razones- resulta necesario concebir a la lectura como contenido de enseñanza de la Historia. Los aportes de las investigaciones psicolingüísticas permitieron modificar la concepción acerca de la lectura desde dos puntos de vista: se pasó de entenderla como un proceso de descifrado de lo escrito a un proceso de construcción de significado. A la vez, dejó de ser conceptualizada como un conjunto de habilidades para ser interpretada desde una teoría de comprensión global. Actualmente se caracteriza a la lectura como un proceso de construcción de significados y se ha puesto en evidencia que los conocimientos previos del lector sobre la temática del texto constituyen uno de los factores determinantes de la particular interpretación que realiza (Smith, 1983; Goodman, 1982). Construir el significado de un texto de historia supone construir los conceptos, crear y recrear representaciones sobre los hechos, reorganizar el conocimiento anterior incorporando conocimiento nuevo (Aisenberg, 2003). Este trabajo presenta avances de una investigación que busca construir conocimiento sobre las representaciones de los docentes acerca del papel de la lectura en la enseñanza y el aprendizaje de Historia. Las preguntas que orientan esta investigación son: ¿Qué representaciones tienen los profesores de la Escuela Secundaria sobre el papel de la lectura en la enseñanza y el aprendizaje de la historia? Cuando utilizan textos, ¿qué supuestos subyacen a las propuestas didácticas? Se trata de un estudio exploratorio, abordado desde una lógica de investigación cualitativa. En el análisis de las entrevistas realizadas encontramos ideas, percepciones y referencias a prácticas que responderían a concepciones habituales de la enseñanza tradicional de la historia, y otras que estarían influenciadas por los nuevos desarrollos teóricos sobre el tema, difundidos en los últimos años en espacios de formación y en bibliografía sobre las prácticas de lectura en contextos de estudio. Hasta el momento, se han construido dos modos básicos de concebir la relación de la lectura con la historia por parte de los profesores: una relación de interioridad y una de exterioridad. En articulación con cada una, se pueden encontrar diferencias en las concepciones sobre la lectura, en las interpretaciones acerca de las dificultades de lectura y aprendizaje de los alumnos y en las propuestas de enseñanza en las clases de Historia

From Secondary School To University: Attracting Young Students Towards A Career In Nuclear

From its creation, Spanish Young Generation in Nuclear (Jóvenes Nucleares, JJNN), a non-profit organization that depends on the Spanish Nuclear Society (SNE), has as an important scope to help spread knowledge about nuclear energy, not only pointing out its advantages and its role in our society, but also trying to correct some of the ideas that are due to the biased information and to the lack of knowledge. To try to have success in that goal, some high school lectures were taught and it has been organized regularly a Basic Course on Nuclear Science and Technology

Influências do PIBID na representação social de licenciandos em química sobre ser \"professor de química\"

Esta Tese apresenta um estudo sobre a formação inicial de professores de Química em 10 diferentes universidades públicas brasileiras, estabelecidas em 7 diferentes estados e abrange 217 estudantes de licenciatura. Analisou-se a influência do \"Programa Institucional de Bolsas de Iniciação à Docência\" - PIBID - na composição do Núcleo Central (NC) da Representação Social (RS; (MOSCOVICI, 1978) desses Licenciandos sobre o ser \"professor de Química\". Para alocar um termo na zona de centralidade de uma RS é necessário identificar o valor simbólico do termo, refletido em sua saliência, a qual é indicada pela relação entre freqüência e Ordem Média de Evocação e, pelo poder associativo, refletido na conexidade e na categorização temática dos termos. Para a coleta de informações, empregou-se um questionário, com 20 questões, das quais apenas 5 fazem referência específica à tarefa de livre associação de palavras a partir do termo indutor \"professor de Química\", enquanto as demais se referem à caracterização do grupo social. As conclusões deste estudo emergiram da comparação entre o NC da RS de alunos participantes do PIBID (118) com aquele de licenciandos que jamais participaram do Programa (99). Para os alunos participantes dos sub-projetos PIBID-QUÍMICA, os termos do NC da RS investigada são: dedicado, experimentação, responsabilidade. Para o sub-grupo não/PIBID, os termos salientes e com conexidade suficiente para expressar sua centralidade na RS são: dedicado, experimentação, inteligente. Portanto, a zona de centralidade da RS dos dois sub-grupos é diferente, devido a dois termos: responsabilidade e inteligente. O primeiro termo destacado é exclusivo do NC do sub-grupo PIBID, enquanto o último ocorre apenas no NC do sub-grupo não/PIBID. Vale salientar que para o sub-grupo PIBID o termo experimentação apresenta saliência e conexidade expressivos e, para o outro sub-grupo, o termo mais saliente e conexo é dedicado, o que reflete uma diferença qualitativa na organização interna da estrutura das RS, resultado que os caracteriza como diferentes grupos sociais, cada um com uma RS para o ser \"professor de Química\". A presença de termos diferentes na zona de centralidade das RS indica que o processo de formação desenvolvido no âmbito do PIBID expressa a importância da vivência das diferentes práticas pedagógicas junto à Escola Básica durante a formação inicial para a docência em Química, o que não ocorre para o sub-grupo não/PIBID até o momento dos estágios docentes, que demoram muito para acontecer nas Licenciaturas convencionais. No caso do sub-grupo não/PIBID, é forte a presença de termos ligados à idéia de \"vocação\" na docência, expressando aspectos históricos resistentes à mudança no processo de formação de professores.

Comprehensive Validation Of A Measure Of Student School Engagement: A Pilot Study Of Middle School Students

Although it may sound reasonable that American education continues to be more effective at sending high school students to college, in a study conducted in 2009, The Council of the Great City Schools states that "slightly more than half of entering ninth grade students arrive performing below grade level in reading and math, while one in five entering ninth grade students is more than two years behind grade level...[and] 25% received support in the form of remedial literacy instruction or interventions" (Council of the Great City Schools, 2009). Students are distracted with technology (Lei & Zhao, 2005), family (Xu & Corno, 2003), medical illnesses (Nielson, 2009), learning disabilities and perhaps the most detrimental to academic success, the very lack of interest in school (Ruch, 1963). In a Johns Hopkins research study, Building a Graduation Nation - Colorado (Balfanz, 2008), warning signs were apparent years before the student dropped out of high school. The ninth grade was often referenced as a critical point that indicated success or failure to graduate high school. The research conducted by Johns Hopkins illustrates the problem: students who become disengaged from school have a much greater chance of dropping out of high school and not graduating. The first purpose of this study was to compare different measurement models of the Student School Engagement (SSE) using Factor Analysis to verify model fit with student engagement. The second purpose was to determine the extent to which the SSE instrument measures student school engagement by investigating convergent validity (via the SSE and Appleton, Christenson, Kim and Reschly's instrument and Fredricks, Blumenfeld, Friedel and Paris's instrument), discriminant validity (via Huebner's Student Life Satisfaction Survey) and criterion-related validity (via the sub-latent variables of Aspirations, Belonging and Productivity and student outcome measures such as achievement, attendance and discipline). Discriminant validity was established between the SSE and the Appleton, Christenson, Kim and Reschly's model and Fredricks, Blumenfeld, Friedel and Paris's (2005) Student Engagement Instruments (SEI). When confirming discriminant validity, the SSE's correlations were weak and statistically not significant, thus establishing discriminant validity with the SLSS. Criterion-related validity was established through structural equation modeling when the SSE was found to be a significant predictor of student outcome measures when both risk score and CSAP scores were used. The third purpose of this study was to assess the factorial invariance of the SSE instrument across gender to ensure the instrument is measuring the intended construct across different groups. Conclusively, configural, weak and metric invariances were established for the SSE as a non-significant change in chi-square indicating that all parameters including the error variances were invariant across groups of gender. Engagement is not a clearly defined psychological construct; it requires more research in order to fully comprehend its complexity. Hopefully, with parental and teacher involvement and a sense of community, student engagement can be nurtured to result in a meaningful attachment to school and academic success.

Psychometric properties of the Spanish adaptation of the School Attitude Assessment Survey-Revised

Background: The assessment of attitudes toward school with the objective of identifying adolescents who may be at risk of underachievement has become an important area of research in educational psychology, although few specific tools for their evaluation have been designed to date. One of the instruments available is the School Attitude Assessment Survey-Revised (SAAS-R). Method: The objective of the current research is to test the construct validity and to analyze the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the SAAS-R. Data were collected from 1,398 students attending different high schools. Students completed the SAAS-R along with measures of the g factor, and academic achievement was obtained from school records. Results: Confirmatory factor analysis, multivariate analysis of variance and analysis of variance tests supported the validity evidence. Conclusions: The results indicate that the Spanish version of the SAAS-R is a useful measure that contributes to identification of underachieving students. Lastly, the results obtained and their implications for education are discussed.

Prospective associations between meth/amphetamine (speed) and MDMA (ecstasy) use and depressive symptoms in secondary school students

Background Research has raised significant concern regarding the affective consequences of synthetic drug use. However, little evidence from well-controlled longitudinal studies exists on these consequences. The aim of this study was to determine whether use of meth/amphetamine (speed) and 63,4- methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy) is independently predictive of subsequent depressive symptoms in adolescents. Methods A sample of 3880 adolescents from secondary schools in disadvantaged areas of Quebec, Canada, were followed over time (2003e2008). Logistic regression was used to test the association between meth/ amphetamine and MDMA use in grade 10 (ages 15e16 years) and elevated depressive symptoms on an abridged Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale in grade 11, controlling for pre-existing individual and contextual characteristics. Results After adjustment, both MDMA use (OR 1.7, 95% CI 1.1 to 2.6) and meth/amphetamine use (OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.1 to 2.3) in grade 10 significantly increased the odds of elevated depressive symptoms in grade 11. These relationships did not vary by gender or pre-existing depressive symptoms. Increased risk was particularly observed in concurrent usage (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.2 to 2.9). Conclusions Adolescent use of meth/amphetamine and MDMA (particularly concurrent use) is independently associated with subsequent depressive symptoms. Further enquiry must determine whether these associations reflect drug-induced neurotoxicity and whether adolescence is a period of increased vulnerability to the hazards of synthetic drug exposure.