Final report to the Illinois General Assembly : addressing the educational and related needs of children and youths who are parents, expectant parents, or survivors of domestic or sexual violence to ensure their ability to stay in school, stay safe, and successfully complete their education.

"June 2010."

Report to the General Assembly on Programs for Teen Parents /

"February 1, 1995."

Self-evaluation manual for adolescent pregnancy projects.

Cover title.

Osteopenia in a teenage boy presenting with previously undiagnosed guanidinoacetate methyltransferase (GAMT) deficiency and response to creatine supplementation

A 16 y.o. fully ambulant boy born to consanguineous Indian parents, presented for assessment of a fragility femoral neck fracture sustained against a background of autism and moderately severe intellectual disability. He had a past history of infantile eczema, and epilepsy treated with anticonvulsants from 2 to 10 years of age, with no further seizures following cessation of anticonvulsants. He had a thin body habitus (see Table 1) with long fingers and a high arched palate. He had no speech and negligible social interaction, but physical examination was otherwise unremarkable. Positive investigations revealed an undetectable serum creatinine and a urinary metabolic screen which showed an elevated GUA:Phe of 160 (< 36) and a decreased creatinine of 0.3 mmol/l (1.2–29.5) consistent with the diagnosis of guanidinoacetate methyltransferase(GAMT) deficiency. He was commenced on oral creatine 5 g three times daily. Despite improvement in physical activity, height and bone density, there was no discernable improvement in his intellectual functioning. Proton and phosphorous brain and leg magnetic resonance spectroscopy(MRS) was performed at baseline and showed an increased inorganic phosphorus peak and decreased phosphocreatine synthesis in brain and decreased creatine concentration in muscle. Following creatine treatment total brain creatine(1H-MRS) and phosphocreatine/ATP ratio (31P-MRS) content increased to 30% and 60% of control values, respectively. Brain GUA returned to normal levels.

Girls' career aspirations : the impact of parents' economic and educational status on educational and career pathways

This research investigates relationships between parental socio economic status and daughters' career aspirations; linking family background and the career choices made by teenage girls. Drawing on Bourdieu's theory of cultural capital, and figures produced by the Bradley Report's investigation, two Queensland State High Schools are the investigative platform to address the research questions. A quantitative data analysis investigated if a correlation between the indicators existed. The significance of the findings will contribute to future decision making regarding educational practices and socio economic backgrounds and to support the Bradley Report target of 20% of low SES students accessing higher education. The outcomes found that female students' aspirations are influenced by parental background in a variety of significant ways. An understanding of these assists schools in understanding how to influence girls' future aspirations.

Regional versus urban differences in teenage alcohol use: Does parental disapproval account for these differences?

- Objective To investigate if parental disapproval of alcohol use accounts for differences in adolescent alcohol use across regional and urban communities. - Design Secondary data analysis of grade-level stratified data from a random sample of schools. - Setting High schools in Victoria, Australia. - Participants A random sample of 10273 adolescents from Grade 7 (mean age=12.51 years), 9 (14.46 years) and 11 (16.42 years). - Main outcome measures The key independent variables were parental disapproval of adolescent alcohol use and regionality (regional/ urban), and the dependent variable was past 30 days alcohol use. - Results After adjusting for potential confounders, adolescents in regional areas were more likely to use alcohol in the past 30 days (OR=1.83, 1.44 and 1.37 for Grades 7, 9 and 11, respectively, P<0.05), and their parents have a lower level of disapproval of their alcohol use (b=-0.12, -0.15 and -0.19 for Grades 7, 9 and 11, respectively, P<0.001). Bootstrapping analyses suggested that 8.37%, 23.30% and 39.22% of the effect of regionality on adolescent alcohol use was mediated by parental disapproval of alcohol use for Grades 7, 9 and 11 participants respectively (P<0.05). - Conclusions Adolescents in urban areas had a lower risk of alcohol use compared with their regional counterparts, and differences in parental disapproval of alcohol use contributed to this difference.

Home curation versus teenage photography: Photo displays in the family home

In this paper we report an empirical study of the photographic portrayal of family members at home. Adopting a social psychological approach and focusing oil intergenerational power dynamics, our research explores the use of domestic photo displays in family representation. Parents and their teenagers from eight families in the south of England were interviewed at home about their interpretations of both stored and displayed photos within the home. Discussions centred on particular photographs found by the participants to portray self and family in different ways. The findings show that public displays of digital photos are still curated by mothers of the households, but with more difficulty and less control all with analogue photos. In addition, teenagers both contribute and comply with this curation within the home, whilst at the same time developing additional ways of presenting their families and themselves online that are 'unsupervised' by the curator. We highlight the conflict of interest that is at play within teen and parent practices and consider the challenges that this presents for supporting the representation of family through the design of photo display technology. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Family Nurse Partnership: Meeting the needs of teenage mothers

Meeting the needs of young parents and their children more effectively will improve their life and long term health. This paper examines the Family Nurse Partnership as a public health initiative in supporting young women and improving the outcomes of themselves and their child(ren). It explores evidence of effectiveness, cost benefit and resource implications and discusses the role of the midwife within the context of public health initiatives and specifically to the delivery of the Family Nurse Partnership.

Pratiques éducatives des parents d’adolescents présentant un TDAH : perception des parents et des adolescents en lien avec les comportements à risque

La présente étude vise à examiner d’une part le lien entre les pratiques éducatives rapportées par la mère et celles perçues par son adolescent ayant un trouble déficitaire de l’attention avec ou sans hyperactivité (TDAH) et examiner le lien avec l’adoption de comportements à risque chez l’adolescent (délinquance et association aux pairs déviants). Cinq pratiques éducatives ont été étudiées de manière distincte, soit l’engagement parental, les pratiques positives, la discipline inconstante, la faible supervision ainsi que la punition corporelle. Chacune d’entre elles a été mesurée par la mère, son adolescent et une variable de désaccord a ensuite été créée. L’échantillon est composé de 32 dyades mère-adolescent ayant participé cinq ans auparavant au programme Ces Années Incroyables. Les adolescents ont tous un diagnostic de TDAH et sont âgés entre 10 ans et 15 ans. Les résultats démontrent une absence de corrélation entre chacune des pratiques éducatives rapportées par la mère et celles perçues par l’adolescent. La mère tend à avoir une perception plus positive des pratiques éducatives que son adolescent. Les résultats démontrent aussi que la perception de l’adolescent sur les pratiques éducatives est associée à la compréhension des comportements à risque. Finalement, la perception de l’adolescent s’est avérée être un facteur aggravant de la relation entre l’ampleur du désaccord mère adolescent et l’association aux pairs déviants. La discussion explique ces résultats et aborde les importantes implications cliniques.

Management and program audit of the Parents Too Soon Program.

"August 1990."

Breaking down barriers:teenage girls’ perceptions of engineering as a study and career choice

Background: Stereotypically perceived to be an ‘all male’ occupation, engineering has for many years failed to attract high numbers of young women [1,2]. The reasons for this are varied, but tend to focus on misconceptions of the profession as being more suitable for men. In seeking to investigate this issue a participatory research approach was adopted [3] in which two 17 year-old female high school students interviewed twenty high school girls. Questions focused on the girls’ perceptions of engineering as a study and career choice. The findings were recorded and analysed using qualitative techniques. The study identified three distinctive ‘influences’ as being pivotal to girls’ perceptions of engineering; pedagogical; social; and, familial. Pedagogical Influences: Pedagogical influences tended to focus on science and maths. In discussing science, the majority of the girls identified biology and chemistry as more ‘realistic’ whilst physics was perceived to more suitable for boys. The personality of the teacher, and how a particular subject is taught, proved to be important influences shaping opinions. Social Influences: Societal influences were reflected in the girls’ career choice with the majority considering medical or social science related careers. Although all of the girls believed engineering to be ‘male dominated’, none believed that a woman should not be engineer. Familial Influences: Parental influence was identified as key to career and study choice; only two of the girls had discussed engineering with their parents of which only one was being actively encouraged to pursue a career in engineering. Discussion: The study found that one of the most significant barriers to engineering is a lack of awareness. Engineering did not register in the girls’ lives, it was not taught in school, and only one had met a female engineer. Building on the study findings, the discussion considers how engineering could be made more attractive to young women. Whilst misconceptions about what an engineer is need to be addressed, other more fundamental pedagogical barriers, such as the need to make physics more attractive to girls and the need to develop the curriculum so as to meet the learning needs of 21st Century students are discussed. By drawing attention to the issues around gender and the barriers to engineering, this paper contributes to current debates in this area – in doing so it provides food for thought about policy and practice in engineering and engineering education.

Recruiting faith and non-faith based schools, adolescents and parents to a cluster randomised sexual-health trial: experiences, challenges and lessons from the mixed-methods Jack Feasibility Trial

Background: The move toward evidence-based education has led to increasing numbers of randomised trials in schools. However, the literature on recruitment to non-clinical trials is relatively underdeveloped, when compared to that of clinical trials. Recruitment to school-based randomised trials is, however, challenging; even more so when the focus of the study is a sensitive issue such as sexual health. This article reflects on the challenges of recruiting post-primary schools, adolescent pupils and parents to a cluster randomised feasibility trial of a sexual health intervention, and the strategies employed to address them.
Methods: The Jack Trial was funded by the UK National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). It comprised a feasibility study of an interactive film-based sexual health intervention entitled If I Were Jack, recruiting over 800 adolescents from eight socio-demographically diverse post-primary schools in Northern Ireland. It aimed to determine the facilitators and barriers to recruitment and retention to a school-based sexual health trial and identify optimal multi-level strategies for an effectiveness study. As part of an embedded process evaluation, we conducted semi-structured interviews and focus groups with principals, vice-principals, teachers, pupils and parents recruited to the study as well as classroom observations and a parents’ survey.
Results: With reference to Social Learning Theory, we identified a number of individual, behavioural and environmental level factors which influenced recruitment. Commonly identified facilitators included perceptions of the relevance and potential benefit of the intervention to adolescents, the credibility of the organisation and individuals running the study, support offered by trial staff, and financial incentives. Key barriers were prior commitment to other research, lack of time and resources, and perceptions that the intervention was incompatible with pupil or parent needs or the school ethos.
Conclusions: Reflecting on the methodological challenges of recruiting to a school-based sexual health feasibility trial, this study highlights pertinent general and trial-specific facilitators and barriers to recruitment, which will prove useful for future trials with schools, adolescent pupils and parents.