Adjustment to college among trauma survivors: An exploratory study of resilience

Researchers have examined students\u27 adjustment to college—why some students make the transition successfully, whereas others struggle or leave school after only a short time (e.g., Ezezek, 1994; Holmbek & Wandrei, 1993). Efforts to support students through this transition must draw upon a more complete understanding of variables that place students at risk for a stressful transition and protective factors that promote positive adaptation. Recent research has been focused on both individual and contextual variables including gender, racial identity, coping strategies, stress, social support and attachment (Feenstra, Banyard, Rines, & Hopkins, 2000; Klasner & Pistole, 2003; Pritchard & Wilson, 2003) and suggests the need for more research that goes beyond explaining academic success from demographic and academic variables (Pritchard & Wilson, p. 18). The current study is an examination of a group of students potentially at risk for a stressful transition to college: students who are survivors of traumatic stress. For the purposes of this research, trauma is defined broadly as a range of events that overwhelm an individual\u27s coping capacities and involves threats of serious injury or death to self or someone close to the individual (e.g., Pynoos, 1993). This examination was of variation in the transition to college among a sample of trauma survivors, of the roles of social relationships and supports, coping, and making meaning of the trauma in explaining variance in resilience in adjusting to college

Ecological influences on the developmental status of parents of adolescents

This study takes an ecological approach to the examination of developmental status of adults in middle adulthood, with a focus on parents of adolescents, investigating adults\u27 developmental statuses with respect to their children\u27s development. Hypotheses predicted ecological variables would related with middle adult development, defined in terms of generativity, identity certainty, and identity concern. Children\u27s development, social support, stress, personality, well-being, and background variables were investigated in analyses. It was further hypothesized that social support and stress would mediate the relation between child and adult development. The sample for the present study was composed of 126 parents-child pairs. Parents were 31 to 61 years old (M = 45.50), and their children were 11 to 17 years old (M = 14.2). Regressions were performed for each ecological variable on each parent developmental variable. Children\u27s psychosocial development predicted variability in parent generativity and identity concern; child age and pubertal status did not. Identity certainty was not predicted by child variables. Social support was consistently related with each measure of developmental status. Different social support types predicted each adult development variable. Stress was generally related with parents\u27 developmental status, but perceived and parenting stress variables were responsible for most of the predictive ability of stress in development. Extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness each predicted variability in generativity; neuroticism and conscientiousness each predicted variability in identity certainty and midlife identity concerns. A larger regression including all ecological variables showed that social support and the openness and agreeableness factors of personality were each responsible for variance in generativity when all variables were entered in the same equation. Life satisfaction and conscientiousness predicted variability in identity certainty, and children\u27s psychosocial development, life satisfaction, and conscientiousness each were responsible for variance in identity concerns. Structural equation modeling (SEM) also showed that child development and parents\u27 developmental status were related. Evidence for the role of social support as a mediator between the relationship of child to adult development was supported, but the model did not fit the data well. Other models of mediation were not supported

How the Justice System Responds to Juvenile Victims: A Comprehensive Model.

The justice system handles thousands of cases involving juvenile victims each year. These victims are served by a complex set of agencies and institutions, including police, prosecutors, courts, and child protection agencies. Despite the many cases involving juvenile victims and the structure in place for responding to them, the juvenile victim justice system model presented in this Bulletin is a new concept. Although the juvenile victim justice system has a distinct structure and sequence, its operation is not very well understood. Unlike the more familiar juvenile offender justice system, the juvenile victim justice system has not been conceptualized as a whole or implemented by a common set of statutes. This Bulletin identifies the major elements of the juvenile victim justice system by delineating how cases move through the system. It reviews each step in the case flow process for the child protection and criminal justice systems and describes the interaction of the agencies an individuals involved. Recognizing how the juvenile victim justice system works can inform policy decisions and improve outcomes for juvenile victims. Acknowledging the existence of the system has important implications for system integration, information sharing, and data collection—all of which play a key role in ensuring the safety and well-being of juvenile victims

Analysis of shared heritability in common disorders of the brain

ience, this issue p. eaap8757 Structured Abstract INTRODUCTION Brain disorders may exhibit shared symptoms and substantial epidemiological comorbidity, inciting debate about their etiologic overlap. However, detailed study of phenotypes with different ages of onset, severity, and presentation poses a considerable challenge. Recently developed heritability methods allow us to accurately measure correlation of genome-wide common variant risk between two phenotypes from pools of different individuals and assess how connected they, or at least their genetic risks, are on the genomic level. We used genome-wide association data for 265,218 patients and 784,643 control participants, as well as 17 phenotypes from a total of 1,191,588 individuals, to quantify the degree of overlap for genetic risk factors of 25 common brain disorders. RATIONALE Over the past century, the classification of brain disorders has evolved to reflect the medical and scientific communities' assessments of the presumed root causes of clinical phenomena such as behavioral change, loss of motor function, or alterations of consciousness. Directly observable phenomena (such as the presence of emboli, protein tangles, or unusual electrical activity patterns) generally define and separate neurological disorders from psychiatric disorders. Understanding the genetic underpinnings and categorical distinctions for brain disorders and related phenotypes may inform the search for their biological mechanisms. RESULTS Common variant risk for psychiatric disorders was shown to correlate significantly, especially among attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder (MDD), and schizophrenia. By contrast, neurological disorders appear more distinct from one another and from the psychiatric disorders, except for migraine, which was significantly correlated to ADHD, MDD, and Tourette syndrome. We demonstrate that, in the general population, the personality trait neuroticism is significantly correlated with almost every psychiatric disorder and migraine. We also identify significant genetic sharing between disorders and early life cognitive measures (e.g., years of education and college attainment) in the general population, demonstrating positive correlation with several psychiatric disorders (e.g., anorexia nervosa and bipolar disorder) and negative correlation with several neurological phenotypes (e.g., Alzheimer's disease and ischemic stroke), even though the latter are considered to result from specific processes that occur later in life. Extensive simulations were also performed to inform how statistical power, diagnostic misclassification, and phenotypic heterogeneity influence genetic correlations. CONCLUSION The high degree of genetic correlation among many of the psychiatric disorders adds further evidence that their current clinical boundaries do not reflect distinct underlying pathogenic processes, at least on the genetic level. This suggests a deeply interconnected nature for psychiatric disorders, in contrast to neurological disorders, and underscores the need to refine psychiatric diagnostics. Genetically informed analyses may provide important "scaffolding" to support such restructuring of psychiatric nosology, which likely requires incorporating many levels of information. By contrast, we find limited evidence for widespread common genetic risk sharing among neurological disorders or across neurological and psychiatric disorders. We show that both psychiatric and neurological disorders have robust correlations with cognitive and personality measures. Further study is needed to evaluate whether overlapping genetic contributions to psychiatric pathology may influence treatment choices. Ultimately, such developments may pave the way toward reduced heterogeneity and improved diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders

The justice system for juvenile victims: A comprehensive model of case flow

This article proposes the idea that there is a de facto juvenile victim justice system, a complex set of agencies and institutions that responds to juvenile victims of crime and violence, including child maltreatment and conventional crime. The article offers a schematic model of that system and tries to quantify the case flow through its various components, that is, the likelihood that given certain actions (e.g., a substantiated finding of maltreatment), other actions will follow (e.g., services be provided). The model also highlights the activities of the system most likely to have consequential effects on victims. We argue that more professionals are needed who understand the system in its entirety, not just their own agency role, and who can help guide victims, families, and other professionals through its complexities. More efforts are also needed to integrate and rationalize the system, particularly through information exchange among its components. Key words: sexual abuse, sexual assault, crime, child maltreatment, child abus

to Juvenile Victims: A Comprehensive Model

improving the justice system’s response to crimes against children. OJJDP recognizes that children are at increased risk for crime victimization. Not only are children the victims of many of the same crimes that victimize adults, they are subject to other crimes, like child abuse and neglect, that are specific to childhood. The impact of these crimes on young victims can be devastating, and the violent or sexual victimization of children can often lead to an intergenerational cycle of violence and abuse. The purpose of OJJDP’s Crimes Against Children Series is to improve and expand the nation’s efforts to better serve child victims by presenting the latest information about child victimization, including analyses of crime victimization statistics, studies of child victims and their special needs, and descriptions of programs and approaches that address these needs. The juvenile victim justice system is not as widely recognized in part because it is a fragmented system. It has not been conceptualized as a whole or put into place by a common set of statutes in the way the juvenile offender system has. Many of the agencies that handle juvenile victims are part of other sys tems, not designed primarily with juve nile victims in mind. This Bulletin introduces the concept that a justice system exists that responds to juvenile victims. This juvenile victim justice system is a complex set of agencies and institutions that include police, prosecutors, criminal and civil courts, child protection agencies, children’s advocacy centers, and victim services and mental health agencies. The system has a structure and sequence, but its operation, despite the thousands of cases it handles every year, is not as widely recognized and understood as the operation of the more familiar juvenile offender justice system.

Analysis of Shared Heritability in Common Disorders of the Brain

Disorders of the brain can exhibit considerable epidemiological comorbidity and often share symptoms, provoking debate about their etiologic overlap. We quantified the genetic sharing of 25 brain disorders from genome-wide association studies of 265,218 patients and 784,643 control participants and assessed their relationship to 17 phenotypes from 1,191,588 individuals. Psychiatric disorders share common variant risk, whereas neurological disorders appear more distinct from one another and from the psychiatric disorders. We also identified significant sharing between disorders and a number of brain phenotypes, including cognitive measures. Further, we conducted simulations to explore how statistical power, diagnostic misclassification, and phenotypic heterogeneity affect genetic correlations. These results highlight the importance of common genetic variation as a risk factor for brain disorders and the value of heritability-based methods in understanding their etiology