Family Functioning and School Success in At-Risk, Inner-City Adolescents

Role of achievement value, teachers’ autonomy support, and teachers’ academic pressure in promoting academic engagement among high school seniors

This study investigated the effects of individual and contextual factors (students and classrooms) on academic engagement by adopting an analytical approach based on hierarchical linear modeling. The participants in this study included 906 high school students (42.7% male) from 42 classrooms in South Korea. We established that achievement value and teachers’ autonomy support had a statistically significant positive impact on academic engagement at both the student and classroom levels. However, teachers’ academic pressure had a positive impact on academic engagement only at the classroom level. Cross-level interaction effects between the student and classroom levels, achievement value (LV 1) and autonomy support (LV 2), teachers’ academic pressure (LV1) and achievement value (LV 2), and those on teachers’ academic pressure at both levels were also identified.

The influence of family function on online prosocial behaviors of high school students: A moderated chained mediation model

The frequency of cyberbullying incidents is gradually increasing, and the seriousness of the consequences is gradually becoming more prominent. Previous studies have shown that cyberbullying bystander behaviors play an important role in reducing cyberbullying. This study aims to explore the mechanisms that high school students' family function, empathy, and social support levels how to affect their implementation of online prosocial behaviors when they act as cyberbullying bystanders. The study was conducted in 1961 high school students (M = 16.84 years; SD = 1.08) in China. Results found that family function promotes online prosocial behaviors through (a) empathy, (b) social support, and (c) chain mediating path of empathy and social support. There were interactions between gender and family function as well as social support, which played a moderating role in the paths of family function and online prosocial behaviors and social support and online prosocial behaviors, respectively. We investigated how family function affected online prosocial behaviors in high school students and how empathy and social support worked to promote them to carry out online prosocial behaviors.

Family environment and school engagement:An investigation of cross-lagged effects

INTRODUCTION

Although an extensive body of work has shown that family functioning is linked to adolescent outcomes, less is known about how the family affects school outcomes and vice versa. The present longitudinal study tested reciprocal relationships between the family environment and school engagement during the middle school years.

METHODS

A cross-lagged latent model tested these effects in 378 Turkish youth (53.7% males; M = 11.73, SD = 0.53) evaluated annually (Waves 1, 2, and 3) in grades 6 through 8.

RESULTS

Findings showed the family environment positively predicted developmental changes in school engagement at each time point (β range = 0.18 to 0.24); school engagement also positively predicted developmental changes in the family environment (β range = 0.12 to 0.28). Follow-up multigroup tests by age, sex, and family structure showed that the reciprocal links between the family environment and school engagement were invariant.

CONCLUSIONS

Study findings supported reciprocal longitudinal links between developmental changes of the family environment and school engagement. They extend previous research by highlighting the continued importance of the home environment on developmental changes in academic performance in adolescents, and thus, inform parents, educators, and policymakers on the relevance of the family in promoting academic engagement and achievement in adolescence.

Understanding the Influence of Sexual Risk Taking, Ethnic Identity, and Family and Peer Support on School Importance Among Hispanic Adolescents

Despite the broader academic gains experienced by Hispanic students, who represent the largest minority group in the United States, they remain the least educated of all major ethnic groups, and our understanding of their academic needs and strengths remains woefully inadequate. Therefore, this study examined the risk (e.g., sexual risk taking) and protective factors (e.g., family support, supportive peer networks, and ethnic identity) associated with school importance among Hispanic teens (N = 587) residing in a high-risk, resource poor urban community and the ways in which these relationships vary between adolescent males (46.5%) and adolescent females (53.5%). Schools that are able to harness the numerous assets embedded within the Hispanic community are well positioned to create learning environments that are encouraging, are culturally responsive, and can potentially reduce risk involvement that may interfere with valuing the role of school importance. Implications for school-based personnel are discussed.

A contextually adapted model of school engagement in Kazakhstan

This study introduces a culturally adapted 17-item scale of school engagement. It offers an important contribution to the international literature by seeking to measure the school engagement of young people in a society undergoing transition from a collectivist to individualist mind-set alongside an education system focused on improving performance in international benchmarks such as those from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD Programme for International Student Assessment, PISA) and the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA Trends In International Mathematics And Science Study, TIMSS). To date, little has been written on how intra-individual and inter-individual factors contribute to young people’s engagement in education as societal and systemic educational reform occurs. The school engagement scale is validated by testing the empirical fit of a second-order multidimensional factor model of school engagement taken from the Western literature to large-scale data in Kazakhstan. Culturally relevant features are added such as the strong influence of ‘important others’. The model tested was formed from 1) an individual’s cognitions and behaviours associated with school and 2) the social influences of parents, peers, and teachers. 1767 secondary education students in Kazakhstan participated in the study. Confirmatory analyses supported the hypothesized additional contributory factors to school engagement. Use of the overall model indicated differences in means across gender, grade, school-type, and geographic location to show: (1) higher cognitive engagement for young women; (2) rural students with higher levels of behavioural engagement; and (3) substantial differences in social support by grade and rurality.

Chinese adolescents’ belief in a just world and academic resilience: The mediating role of perceived academic competence

The current study examined the relationship between belief in a just world and self-reported academic resilience, and whether perceived academic competence mediated this relationship. Seven-hundred fifty-one students enrolled in a middle school and a high school (45.81% male, 15 to 16 years old) from two regions of China participated in this study. Structural equation modeling indicated that general belief in a just world was: (1) directly associated with academic resilience, and (2) indirectly associated with students’ academic resilience through perceived academic competence, after controlling for the effects of gender and socioeconomic status. This study provides insight into how broader social-ideological understandings of the world (e.g., belief in a just world) may guide individual self-construals (e.g., perceived academic competence) to affect individual persistence in the face of adversity (e.g., resilience). Implications and limitations of the current study are discussed.

Relationship Between Parental Rejection and Problematic Mobile Phone Use in Chinese University Students: Mediating Roles of Perceived Discrimination and School Engagement

In order to clarify the onset mechanism of problematic mobile phone use, and to develop better strategies to prevent and treat problematic mobile phone use, the current study tested the negative impact of parental rejection on problematic mobile phone use and the mediating roles of perceived discrimination and school engagement in this association. The sample consisted of 356 Chinese university students (36.3% male) ranging from 17 to 19 years of age. Participants completed self-report questionnaires assessing parental rejection, perceived discrimination, school engagement, and problematic mobile phone use. The results documented that parental rejection was a direct risk factor for problematic mobile phone use. This association was mediated by perceived discrimination, and there was also a sequential mediating effect in which perceived discrimination led in turn to low school engagement.

Effects of parent-adolescent reported family functioning discrepancy on physical activity and diet among Hispanic youth

Research has shown that family functioning has been positively associated with physical activity and dietary intake, both of which are obesity-related risk factors. The most widely practiced methodological approach to assessing this construct in empirical studies relies on either parent or adolescent report. Yet, discrepancy in parent and adolescent report of family functioning may provide a fuller understanding of the effects of this construct on obesity-related health outcomes. This is especially important among Hispanics, a population that suffers from disproportionately high rates of obesity and its health-related consequences. The purpose of this study was to examine whether, and to what extent, parent-adolescent discrepancies in family functioning are associated with physical activity, and fruit and vegetable and added sugar intake. We estimated discrepancy scores between parents and adolescents (n = 280 dyads) in family functioning. Then, using structural equation modeling, we tested the effect of family functioning discrepancy on adolescent reports of physical activity, fruits and vegetables intake, and added sugar intake. After controlling for adolescent's gender and BMI, family functioning discrepancy was significantly associated with reduced physical activity (β = -.14*, 95% CI ([-.26, -.05]) and fruits and vegetables intake (β = -.22*, 95% CI [-.38, -.09]) such that the larger the discrepancy between parent and youth reported family functioning, the fewer days of adolescent physical activity and the poorer the fruits and vegetables intake. Our findings provide insight for the role of the family in Hispanic adolescent health outcomes and rationale for capturing rich data to better understand that role. (PsycINFO Database Record

Adverse Childhood Experiences and Resilience: Addressing the Unique Needs of Adolescents

Adolescents exposed to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have unique developmental needs that must be addressed by the health, education, and social welfare systems that serve them. Nationwide, over half of adolescents have reportedly been exposed to ACEs. This exposure can have detrimental effects, including increased risk for learning and behavioral issues and suicidal ideation. In response, clinical and community systems need to carefully plan and coordinate services to support adolescents who have been exposed to ACEs, with a particular focus on special populations. We discuss how adolescents' needs can be met, including considering confidentiality concerns and emerging independence; tailoring and testing screening tools for specific use with adolescents; identifying effective multipronged and cross-system trauma-informed interventions; and advocating for improved policies.

The Relationship Between Acculturation, Ecodevelopment, and Substance Use Among Hispanic Adolescents

Using structural equation modeling, we examined the relationship of Hispanicism on recent substance use and whether Americanism moderated the effect in a sample of 1,141 Hispanic adolescents. The Bicultural Involvement Questionnaire (BIQ) was used to determine the degree of individual comfort in both Hispanic (Hispanicism) and American (Americanism) cultures. Hispanicism was associated with greater family functioning (β = 0.36, p < .05) and school bonding (β = 0.31, p < .01); Americanism moderated the effect of Hispanicism on substance use (β = 0.92, p < .01). Findings suggest that Hispanic culture was protective against substance use, however those effects differed depending on level of Americanism.

A closer look at school bonding among African American adolescents in low-income communities: A latent class analysis

Positive school bonding is a significant precursor to students' school success. However, African American youth report lower school success compared with their White counterparts. This study examined correlates of school bonding among 633 African American youth who were recruited from community settings in Chicago. Major findings indicated that negative peer norms, exposure to community violence, and poor mental health were negatively correlated with school bonding, while parental monitoring, positive self-regard, and future orientation were correlated with higher school motivation. Students classified as having high or moderate school bonding were more likely to live with both parents, experience higher levels of parental monitoring, and exhibit positive self-regard. Implications are discussed in view of these findings.

Adverse childhood experiences, family functioning and adolescent health and emotional well-being

OBJECTIVES

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been consistently linked in a strong and graded fashion to a host of health problems in later adulthood but few studies have examined the more proximate effect of ACEs on health and emotional well-being in adolescence.

STUDY DESIGN

Nationally representative cross-sectional study.

METHODS

Using logistic regression on the 2011/12 National Survey of Children's Health, we examined the cumulative effect of total ACE score on the health and emotional well-being of US adolescents aged 12 to 17 years. We investigated the moderating effect of family functioning on the impact of ACE on adolescent health and emotional well-being.

RESULTS

Adolescents with higher ACE scores had worse reported physical and emotional well-being than adolescents with fewer ACEs net of key demographic and socio-economic characteristics. Family functioning moderated the negative impact of cumulative ACE on adolescent health and emotional well-being.

CONCLUSIONS

Adolescent well-being has enduring consequences; identifying children with ACE exposure who also have lower-functioning family could also help identify those families at particular risk.

Perceived family functioning and friendship quality: cross-sectional associations with physical activity and sedentary behaviours

Background

This study examined the association of adolescent-reported family functioning and friendship quality with objectively-measured moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), sedentary time, and self-reported sedentary behaviours.

Methods

Data are from the ROOTS study. MVPA and sedentary time were assessed using combined movement and heart rate sensing. Time spent TV viewing, using the internet, playing video games, doing homework and reading for pleasure was self-reported. Data on objectively-measured and self-reported outcomes for weekdays was available for 738 (age 14.5y, 55.7% female) and 800 (56.3% female) participants, respectively. Adolescents perceived family functioning and friendship quality (Two subscales: ‘Good friendship qualities’, ‘Friendship difficulties’) was assessed by questionnaire. Analyses were conducted using multi-level linear or logistic regression.

Results

Adolescents reporting better family functioning accumulated more MVPA on weekdays (beta; 95% confidence interval: 0.57; 0.17,0.98). Higher scores on the good friendship qualities subscale was associated with greater MVPA throughout the week (weekdays: 1.13; 0.62,1.65, weekend: 0.56; 0.09,1.02) and lower sedentary time on weekdays (−10.34; −17.03,-3.66). Boys from better functioning families were less likely to report playing video games at the weekend (OR; 95% confidence interval: 0.73; 0.57,0.93) or reading for pleasure (weekday: 0.73; 0.56,0.96 weekend: 0.75; 0.58,0.96). Boys who attained higher scores on the good friendship qualities scale were less likely to play video games at the weekend (0.61; 0.44,0.86) or report high homework on weekdays (0.54; 0.31,0.94). A higher score for good friendship qualities was associated with lower odds of girls playing video games during the week (0.76; 0.58,1.00) or reading for pleasure at the weekend (0.61; 0.42,0.88). Girls that reported fewer friendship difficulties had lower odds of high TV viewing (0.76; 0.62,0.93) or playing video games (0.71; 0.52,0.97) at the weekend, and lower odds of reading for pleasure (0.63; 0.49,0.81) or reporting high homework on weekdays (0.70; 0.52,0.95).

Discussion

Family functioning and friendship quality exhibit a complex pattern of association with physical activity and sedentary behaviour that varies by sex and day of the week. Findings highlight the potential value of targeting interpersonal aspects of the family and friendships as an adjunct to behaviour change interventions.

Goal oriented and risk taking behavior: The roles of multiple systems for Caucasian and Arab-American adolescents

With Bronfenbrenner’s (1977) ecological theory and other multifactor models (e.g. Pianta, 1999 ; Prinstein, Boergers, & Spirito, 2001 ) underlying this study design, the purpose was to examine, simultaneously, key variables in multiple life contexts (microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem levels) for their individual and combined roles in predicting adolescent risk-taking and goal-oriented behaviors. Predictor variables were parenting behaviors (parenting style, monitoring, and involvement), the risk-taking and goal-oriented behavior of peers, and religiosity (attendance, involvement, and importance). General media consumption was also explored. The participants in this study were 272 9th to 12th grade Caucasian and Arab-American high school students (124 males and 148 females) from a suburban public school district in the midwestern United States (Mean age = 15.64). Results revealed several themes, including that peers appeared to have the primary role in explaining variance in risk behaviors, while parents have the primary role in explaining goal-oriented behavior. Religiosity contributed minimally. There were several noteworthy differences between the two cultural groups regarding which factors explained the most variance in criterion variables. Results are explored in more detail and implications for prevention and intervention are discussed.

Parental involvement and African American and European American adolescents' academic, behavioral, and emotional development in secondary school

This study examined longitudinal trajectories of parental involvement across middle and high school, and how these trajectories related to adolescents' academic, behavioral, and emotional adjustment. In addition, ethnic and socioeconomic status differences in longitudinal associations and the potential moderating role of parental warmth were assessed. Longitudinal growth modeling technique was used to describe trajectories of different types of parental involvement and adolescent outcomes over 7th, 9th, and 11th grades (mean ages = 12.9, 14.3, and 17.2 years, respectively) on an ethnically and economically diverse sample of 1,400 adolescents (51% female, 56% African American, 39% European American, 5% others). Each aspect of parental involvement contributed differentially but significantly to adolescent outcomes. Finally, parental warmth moderated the associations between providing structure at home and adolescent grade point average and problem behavior.

The development and implementation of theory-driven programs capable of addressing poverty-impacted children's health, mental health, and prevention needs: CHAMP and CHAMP+, evidence-informed, family-based interventions to address HIV risk and care

This article describes a program of prevention and intervention research conducted by the CHAMP (Collaborative HIV prevention and Adolescent Mental health Project; McKay & Paikoff, 2007 ) investigative team. CHAMP refers to a set of theory-driven, evidence-informed, collaboratively designed, family-based approaches meant to address the prevention, health, and mental health needs of poverty-impacted African American and Latino urban youth who are either at risk for HIV exposure or perinatally infected and at high risk for reinfection and possible transmission. CHAMP approaches are informed by theoretical frameworks that incorporate an understanding of the critical influences of multilevel contextual factors on youth risk taking and engagement in protective health behaviors. Highly influential theories include the triadic theory of influence, social action theory, and ecological developmental perspectives. CHAMP program delivery strategies were developed via a highly collaborative process drawing upon community-based participatory research methods in order to enhance cultural and contextual sensitivity of program content and format. The development and preliminary outcomes associated with a family-based intervention for a new population, perinatally HIV-infected youth and their adult caregivers, referred to as CHAMP+, is described to illustrate the integration of theory, existing evidence, and intensive input from consumers and healthcare providers.

Ethnocultural factors, resilience, and school engagement

In this article we examine how cultural and community factors interact with individual level factors to predict school participation. Participants were 497 Atlantic Canadian youth purposefully selected because of their concurrent use of more than one government service or community program at the time they were interviewed. Results revealed that contextual factors associated with resilience (e.g. cultural adherence and involvement in one’s community) affect school engagement more than individual or relational factors among this population. Furthermore, these contextual resilience factors showed a pattern of differential impact, with the greatest influence occurring in the lives of visible minority youth. Findings suggest that improvements in school engagement are likely to result from school-based efforts to enhance children’s experience of their culture and involvement in community activities. Sampling youth outside regular classroom settings and including meso- and exo-systemic factors in studies of school engagement may help to identify protective processes not previously discussed in the literature.

Annual Research Review: What is resilience within the social ecology of human development?

BACKGROUND

  The development of Bronfenbrenner's bio-social-ecological systems model of human development parallels advances made to the theory of resilience that progressively moved from a more individual (micro) focus on traits to a multisystemic understanding of person-environment reciprocal processes.

METHODS

  This review uses Bronfenbrenner's model and Ungar's social-ecological interpretation of four decades of research on resilience to discuss the results of a purposeful selection of studies of resilience that have been done in different contexts and cultures.

RESULTS

  An ecological model of resilience can, and indeed has been shown to help researchers of resilience to conceptualize the child's social and physical ecologies, from caregivers to neighbourhoods, that account for both proximal and distal factors that predict successful development under adversity. Three principles emerged from this review that inform a bio-social-ecological interpretation of resilience: equifinality (there are many proximal processes that can lead to many different, but equally viable, expressions of human development associated with well-being); differential impact (the nature of the risks children face, their perceptions of the resources available to mitigate those risks and the quality of the resources that are accessible make proximal processes more or less influential to children's development); and contextual and cultural moderation (different contexts and cultures provide access to different processes associated with resilience as it is defined locally).

CONCLUSION

  As this review shows, using this multisystemic social-ecological theory of resilience can inform a deeper understanding of the processes that contribute to positive development under stress. It can also offer practitioners and policy makers a broader perspective on principles for the design and implementation of effective interventions.

Family functioning: associations with weight status, eating behaviors, and physical activity in adolescents

PURPOSE

This article examines the relationship between family functioning (e.g., communication, closeness, problem solving, behavioral control) and adolescent weight status and relevant eating and physical activity behaviors.

METHODS

Data are from EAT 2010 (Eating and Activity in Teens), a population-based study that assessed eating and activity among socioeconomically and racially/ethnically diverse youths (n = 2,793). Adolescents (46.8% boys, 53.2% girls) completed anthropometric assessments and surveys at school between 2009 and 2010. Multiple linear regression was used to test the relationship between family functioning and adolescent weight, dietary intake, family meal patterns, and physical activity. Additional regression models were fit to test for interactions by race/ethnicity.

RESULTS

For adolescent girls, higher family functioning was associated with lower body mass index z score and percent overweight, less sedentary behavior, higher intake of fruits and vegetables, and more frequent family meals and breakfast consumption. For adolescent boys, higher family functioning was associated with more physical activity, less sedentary behavior, less fast-food consumption, and more frequent family meals and breakfast consumption. There was one significant interaction by race/ethnicity for family meals; the association between higher family functioning and more frequent family meals was stronger for nonwhite boys compared with white boys. Overall, strengths of associations tended to be small, with effect sizes ranging from -.07 to .31 for statistically significant associations.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings suggest that family functioning may be protective for adolescent weight and weight-related health behaviors across all race/ethnicities, although assumptions regarding family functioning in the homes of overweight children should be avoided, given small effect sizes.

Family functioning: associations with weight status, eating behaviors, and physical activity in adolescents

PURPOSE

This article examines the relationship between family functioning (e.g., communication, closeness, problem solving, behavioral control) and adolescent weight status and relevant eating and physical activity behaviors.

METHODS

Data are from EAT 2010 (Eating and Activity in Teens), a population-based study that assessed eating and activity among socioeconomically and racially/ethnically diverse youths (n = 2,793). Adolescents (46.8% boys, 53.2% girls) completed anthropometric assessments and surveys at school between 2009 and 2010. Multiple linear regression was used to test the relationship between family functioning and adolescent weight, dietary intake, family meal patterns, and physical activity. Additional regression models were fit to test for interactions by race/ethnicity.

RESULTS

For adolescent girls, higher family functioning was associated with lower body mass index z score and percent overweight, less sedentary behavior, higher intake of fruits and vegetables, and more frequent family meals and breakfast consumption. For adolescent boys, higher family functioning was associated with more physical activity, less sedentary behavior, less fast-food consumption, and more frequent family meals and breakfast consumption. There was one significant interaction by race/ethnicity for family meals; the association between higher family functioning and more frequent family meals was stronger for nonwhite boys compared with white boys. Overall, strengths of associations tended to be small, with effect sizes ranging from -.07 to .31 for statistically significant associations.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings suggest that family functioning may be protective for adolescent weight and weight-related health behaviors across all race/ethnicities, although assumptions regarding family functioning in the homes of overweight children should be avoided, given small effect sizes.

Development of School Engagement in Association With Academic Success and Well-Being in Varying Social Contexts

This review examines the development of students’ engagement with school and how it may contribute to future academic success and individual well-being in different social contexts. The review discusses the two main approaches of school engagement research: one examines students’ behavioral, cognitive, and affective engagement (North American approach), while the other examines study-related vigor, absorption, and dedication (European approach). This research shows that a high level of school engagement is positively associated with academic success, and negatively associated with students’ ill-being, such as depressive symptoms and burnout. High engagement with school also fosters several aspects of students’ well-being, such as positive emotions and life satisfaction. Moreover, several contextual factors, including parental affect, teachers’ support, and a mastery-oriented atmosphere in the classroom, promote students’ engagement with school.

The unique and additive associations of family functioning and parenting practices with disordered eating behaviors in diverse adolescents

To examine the unique and additive associations of family functioning and parenting practices with adolescent disordered eating behaviors (i.e., dieting, unhealthy weight control behaviors, binge eating). Data from EAT (Eating and Activity in Teens) 2010, a population-based study assessing eating and activity among racially/ethnically and socio-economically diverse adolescents (n = 2,793; mean age = 14.4, SD = 2.0; age range = 11-19) was used. Logistic regression models were used to examine associations between adolescent dieting and disordered eating behaviors and family functioning and parenting variables, including interactions. All analyses controlled for demographics and body mass index. Higher family functioning, parent connection, and parental knowledge about child's whereabouts (e.g. who child is with, what they are doing, where they are at) were significantly associated with lower odds of engaging in dieting and disordered eating behaviors in adolescents, while parent psychological control was associated with greater odds of engaging in dieting and disordered eating behaviors. Although the majority of interactions were non-significant, parental psychological control moderated the protective relationship between family functioning and disordered eating behaviors in adolescent girls. Clinicians and health care providers may want to discuss the importance of balancing specific parenting behaviors, such as increasing parent knowledge about child whereabouts while decreasing psychological control in order to enhance the protective relationship between family functioning and disordered eating behaviors in adolescents.

Family Factors and Mediators of Substance Use Among African American Adolescents

This study uses a sample of 424 African American 8th- and 12th-grade students (mean age = 16.55; 65.1% girls) in the United States to examine how family protective factors explain cultural and school protective factors that prevent substance use. Questionnaires were administered between 2007 and 2009. Using structural equation modeling, results indicated that cultural and school factors partially mediated the relationship between family factors and lifetime substance use. School factors fully mediated the relationship between cultural factors and lifetime substance use. The findings suggest that parents promote cultural attributes, which in turn promotes school achievement, and in turn contributes to lower substance use. Limitations of the study, and implications for future research and prevention programs are discussed.

Caregivers, young people with complex needs, and multiple service providers: a study of triangulated relationships

Five patterns of service provider-caregiver-adolescent interaction are discussed using qualitative interviews and file review data from 44 youth with complex needs who were clients of more than one psychosocial service (child welfare, mental health, addictions, juvenile justice, and special education). Findings show that young people and their families become triangulated with service providers, either engaging with, or resisting, interventions. For young people with complex needs involved with multiple service providers, both positive and negative patterns of interaction contribute to the complexity of caregiver-child interactions. According to young people themselves, the most functional of these patterns, empowerment, was experienced as protective when it helped them to meet their personal needs and enhance communication. In contrast, four problematic patterns produced triangulations described as conflictual or unsupportive. The implications of these patterns for family therapy are discussed with an emphasis on the therapist as both clinician and advocate for better services from multiple providers.

Increasing Opportunities for Inner-City Youth: The Feasibility of an Economic Empowerment Model in East Harlem and the South Bronx, New York

Youth of color are disproportionately likely to grow-up in poor, disadvantaged neighborhoods characterized by high levels of psychosocial stressors and inadequate supportive resources. Poverty and racial minority status correlate with an increased risk of high-school dropout, teen pregnancy, substance abuse, and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Given these trends, child welfare researchers are developing various interventions to increase the protective resources and social opportunities available to youth of color. This article reports results of a preliminary, qualitative study that investigated the feasibility and acceptability of an economic empowerment intervention in the South Bronx and East Harlem, New York. Using focus groups and brief questionnaires with youth and their parents/guardians (N=24 dyads), we explored attitudes toward youth educational savings accounts, financial planning classes, and mentorship for inner-city youth. Findings indicate a strong interest in an economic empowerment intervention among adolescents and their caregivers in these communities. These findings have implications for the design of larger-scale research programs that aim to improve inner-city youth's socio-economic wellbeing using economic empowerment models.

Mechanisms of Family Impact on African American Adolescents' HIV-Related Behavior

A longitudinal model that tested mediating pathways between protective family processes and HIV-related behavior was evaluated with 195 African American youth. Three waves of data were collected when the youth were 13, 15, and 19 years old. Evidence of mediation and temporal priority were assessed for three constructs: academic engagement, evaluations of prototypical risk-taking peers, and affiliations with risk-promoting peers. Structural equation modeling indicated that protective family processes assessed during early adolescence were associated with HIV-related behavior during emerging adulthood and that academic engagement, evaluations of prototypical risk-taking peers, and affiliations with risk-promoting peers accounted for this association. Evidence of a specific pathway emerged: protective family processes → academic engagement negative → evaluations of prototypical risk-taking peers→ affiliations with risk-promoting peers→ HIV-related behavior. Academic engagement also was a direct predictor of HIV-related risk behavior.

Reciprocal relations between parenting and adjustment in a sample of juvenile offenders

The over-time reciprocal links between parenting and adolescent adjustment were examined in a sample of 1,354 serious adolescent offenders followed for 3 years (16 years of age at baseline, SD = 1.14). Parallel processing growth curve models provided independent estimates of the impact of parenting on adolescent functioning as well as the impact of adolescent functioning on parenting. Positive adolescent development was facilitated by high parental warmth and low parental hostility. Parental monitoring predicted less problematic behavior, but less positive functioning as well. Predictably, parents became warmer and less hostile in response to positive adolescent development, and less warm in response to problematic adolescent functioning. Parental monitoring declined when adolescents exhibited either positive or problematic functioning.

Implementing Interventions with Families in Schools to Increase Youth School Engagement: The Family Check-Up Model

This study examined outcomes associated with the Family Check-Up (FCU), an adaptive, tailored, family-centered intervention to enhance positive adjustment of middle school youth and prevent problem behavior. The FCU intervention model was delivered to families in 3 public middle schools. The study sample comprised 377 families, and participants were randomly assigned to receive either the intervention or school as usual. Participation in the intervention was relatively high, with 38% of the families receiving the FCU. Participation in the intervention improved youth self-regulation over the 3 years of the study. Self-regulation skills, defined as effortful control, predicted both decreased depression and increased school engagement in high school, with small to medium effect sizes. The results have implications for the delivery of mental health services in schools that specifically target family involvement and parenting skills.

GENDER DIFFERENCES IN RISK/PROTECTION PROFILES FOR LOW ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

Using holistic-interactionistic theory, the simultaneous nature of risk and protection factors for both males and females (age 6-11 in Wave 1) is examined using Latent Profile Analysis (LPA). Risk/protection classes are estimated using multiple risk factor variables (e.g., physical child abuse) and multiple protective factors (e.g., extracurricular activities). These risk/protection classes were used to predict low academic performance. For both males and females, high risk, low protection individuals were significantly more likely to experience low academic performance than low risk, high protection cases. Gender differences emerged in a class for females that included the importance of parental/peer disapproval of anti-social behavior as a protective factor that was not present for males. Findings support elements of the holistic-interactionistic theory for human development and suggest the need to examine risk and protective factors in combination to account for their shared influences on developmental outcomes. Implications for youths underperforming academically are discussed.

Relationships of Social Context and Identity to Problem Behavior among High-Risk Hispanic Adolescents

The present study was designed to examine the extent to which (a) family and school functioning and (b) personal and ethnic identity is associated with conduct problems, drug use, and sexual risk taking in a sample of 227 high-risk Hispanic adolescents. Adolescents participated in the study with their primary parents, who were mostly mothers. Adolescents completed measures of family and school functioning, personal and ethnic identity, conduct problems, and drug use. Parents completed measures of family functioning and adolescent conduct problems. Results indicated that school functioning and personal identity confusion were related to alcohol use, illicit drug use, and sexual risk taking indirectly through adolescent reports of conduct problems. Adolescent reports of family functioning were related to alcohol use, illicit drug use, and sexual risk taking through school functioning and conduct problems. Results are discussed in terms of the problem behavior syndrome and in terms of the finding of relative independence of contextual and identity variables vis-à-vis conduct problems, substance use, and sexual risk taking.

African-American parents' racial and ethnic socialization and adolescent academic grades: teasing out the role of gender

This study examined the relationship of racial and ethnic socialization and academic achievement in a sample of 218 African American adolescents (grades 9-12; 52% girls) attending a public high school in the northeastern United States. Researchers were particularly interested in whether adolescent gender moderated the relationship between racial and ethnic socialization and academic grades. Results indicated that aspects of ethnic socialization, African American cultural values and African American heritage were linked to adolescent grades. Additionally, adolescent gender was found to moderate the association between these socialization variables and grades. The findings also suggest that socialization provided by paternal caregivers around African American cultural values and African American heritage may have differential effects for academic grades than the socialization messages provided by maternal caregivers. Information generated from this study broadens the understanding of socialization factors that can facilitate positive academic outcomes in African American youth and has practical implications for parents and educators.

Role of family resources and paternal history of substance use problems in psychosocial adjustment among school-aged children

The present study examines the role of family resources (parenting style and family cohesion) and paternal history of substance abuse on the psychosocial adjustment of their school-aged children. Data were collected from 148 children aged 8-11 (72 of fathers with history of substance use disorder, 76 children of fathers with no substance use problems) and their mothers. Results draw attention to the differences between the subjective experiences of the child and those of the mother, and by indicating that the effect of the interaction between the father's and the mother's control parenting style on the child's psychosocial outcome is greater than the sum total of influences of each of them separately.