Child & Youth Care Forum最新文献

Background: African-American and Latinx youth are disproportionately exposed to neighborhood violence and are overrepresented in the U.S. juvenile justice system. Perceived neighborhood violence is associated with negative health outcomes.

Objective: We examined associations between African-American and Latinx youths' perceived neighborhood violence and health during reentry after juvenile incarceration.

Methods: Youth (n=50) returning home after incarceration completed health questionnaires at one-month post-incarceration. A subset of participants (n=25 youth) also participated in one-on-one, semi-structured longitudinal interviews.

Results: Twenty-eight (56%) participants reported neighborhood violence in quantitative surveys. Quantitative analyses revealed that perceived neighborhood violence was positively associated with reported asthma diagnosis, doctor recommendations for medical follow-up, perceived stress, and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Perceived neighborhood violence was negatively correlated with perceived family support. Stress ratings were associated with ACE total scores, moderate to severe depression symptoms, and family support. Moderate-to-severe depression symptoms were significantly correlated with lower ratings of family support. Qualitative interviews supplemented our quantitative findings and showed that responses to perceived neighborhood violence were linked to specific health-related behaviors, such as substance use or avoidance of gang activity.

Conclusions: Overall, our quantitative and qualitative results indicate that perceived neighborhood violence is associated with many negative psychosocial factors that could impact overall health and wellbeing of youth undergoing reentry. Treatment implications include the development and testing of family-centered interventions that help improve the transition back into the community for youth undergoing reentry and especially, their access to evidence-based treatment, including leveraging family telehealth substance use interventions.

Background: Psychological distress is highly noticeable among caregivers working in residential youth care (RYC). Maintaining and enhancing caregivers' professional mental health and quality of life is crucial to achieve effective outcomes in RYC. Nevertheless, trainings to protect caregivers' mental health are scarce. Considering the buffering effect over negative psychological outcomes, compassion training could be beneficial in RYC.

Objective: This study is part of a Cluster Randomized Trial examining the effects of the Compassionate Mind Training for Caregivers (CMT-Care Homes), looking at professional quality of life and mental health of caregivers working in RYC.

Method: The sample was composed of 127 professional caregivers from 12 Portuguese residential care homes (RCH). RCHs were randomly allocated at experimental (N = 6) and control group (N = 6). Participants were assessed at baseline, post-treatment, and 3 and 6-month follow-ups, answering to the Professional Quality of Life Scale and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale. Program effects were tested using a two-factor mixed MANCOVA, with self-critical attitude and education degree as covariates.

Results: MANCOVA showed a significant Time × Group interaction effects (F = 1.890, p = .014; ${\eta }_p^2$ = .050), with CMT-Care Homes participants presenting lower scores on burnout, anxiety, and depression at 3 and 6-months follow-ups, when compared with controls. Participants that received CMT-Care Homes considered the program useful to deal with pandemic threats and with youth during lockdowns.

Conclusion: This study shows the benefits of the CMT-Care Homes in helping professional caregivers reducing burnout, anxiety and depression, and dealing with pandemic challenges in RYC.Trial registration: This cluster randomized trial was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (TRN: NCT04512092) on 6th August 2020.

Background: Adolescent substance use is often associated with concurrent mental health problems (e.g., depression, suicide attempts, parental emotional and physical abuse, not feeling close to people at school, and lower virtual connectedness) at multiple ecological levels.

Objective: This study examined whether such risk factors among adolescents were associated with the use of telemental healthcare (TMHC) and whether gender moderated these associations.

Methods: Data were drawn from the Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey, collected by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from January to June 2021. A hierarchical multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted using a national sample of 1,460 students in Grades 9-12 in the United States who reported having used more alcohol and/or drugs during the pandemic than before it started.

Results: The results showed that only 15.3% of students sought TMHC. Students reporting increased substance use during the pandemic were more likely to use TMHC if they experienced more severe mental health problems (e.g., suicide attempts) compared to other ecological factors, such as issues with their family, school, or community. Analysis of the moderating effect showed that the closer male students felt to people at school, the more likely they were to seek TMHC, whereas the opposite was true for female students.

Conclusions: The findings highlighted that feeling close to people at school is an important aspect of understanding the help-seeking behavior of female and male adolescent substance users.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1007/s10566-023-09739-8.].