The Impact of Early Childbirth on Socioeconomic Outcomes and Risk Indicators of Females Transitioning Out of Foster Care

Few studies have documented the relationship between early childbirth and the adjustment of females transitioning out of foster care. In this study, data from the National Youth in Transition Database were used to evaluate the associations between childbirth at three time points (prior to age 17, ages 17–19, and ages 19–21) and females’ socioeconomic outcomes and risk indicators at age 21 (n = 3173). Findings revealed that over 40% of females had given birth at least once by age 21, with a substantial increase in birth rates from adolescence to early adulthood. Multivariate analyses showed that childbirth between ages 17 and 19 and between ages 19 and 21 was associated with decreased likelihood of obtaining a high school diploma/GED or higher. However, only most recent childbirth (between ages 19 and 21) was associated with decreased likelihood of employment and increased likelihood of receiving public assistance. Contrary to the hypothesis, childbirth was unrelated to homelessness, substance abuse referrals and incarceration at age 21, once earlier presence of such risks was taken into account. Overall, while childbirth between ages 19 and 21 was linked to negative socioeconomic outcomes as females entered young adulthood, earlier births did not appear to confer a unique, prospective risk for the majority of the variables studied. These findings underscore the importance of expanding specialized services designed to promote educational and vocational opportunities for young mothers transitioning out of foster care, especially in the first years following childbirth. The importance of targeting foster youth for pregnancy prevention programs will also be discussed

Where Have We Been and Where Are We Going? A Conceptual Framework for Child Advocacy

The primary goal of this article is to chart the development of child advocacy as an interdisciplinary field of study and conclude with a conceptual framework for research and higher education in child advocacy. Historically, child advocacy has justifiably focused on protection needs. Values and assumptions about children\u27s best interest have also governed child advocacy, in part because evidence to inform decisions was lacking and in part because of its history as an activist movement. Against this historical backdrop, we describe contemporary trends in child advocacy that reconcile children\u27s protection with their inherent rights to personhood. We rely on the principles and articles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, most notably children\u27s rights to participation and self-expression. At the same time, we demonstrate how values and ideology are being integrated with empiricism and objective analysis to inform policy and practice in child advocacy. The future of child advocacy depends on continued synthesis of rights and protection as well as values and rigorous analysis. From this perspective, we offer a conceptual framework for research and education in child advocacy

A rat model of post-traumatic stress disorder reproduces the hippocampal deficits seen in the human syndrome

Despite recent progress, the causes and pathophysiology of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) remain poorly understood, partly because of ethical limitations inherent to human studies. One approach to circumvent this obstacle is to study PTSD in a valid animal model of the human syndrome. In one such model, extreme and long-lasting behavioral manifestations of anxiety develop in a subset of Lewis rats after exposure to an intense predatory threat that mimics the type of life-and-death situation known to precipitate PTSD in humans. This study aimed to assess whether the hippocampus-associated deficits observed in the human syndrome are reproduced in this rodent model. Prior to predatory threat, different groups of rats were each tested on one of three object recognition memory tasks that varied in the types of contextual clues (i.e., that require the hippocampus or not) the rats could use to identify novel items. After task completion, the rats were subjected to predatory threat and, one week later, tested on the elevated plus maze (EPM). Based on their exploratory behavior in the plus maze, rats were then classified as resilient or PTSD-like and their performance on the pre-threat object recognition tasks compared. The performance of PTSD-like rats was inferior to that of resilient rats but only when subjects relied on an allocentric frame of reference to identify novel items, a process thought to be critically dependent on the hippocampus. Therefore, these results suggest that even prior to trauma PTSD-like rats show a deficit in hippocampal-dependent functions, as reported in twin studies of human PTSD

TakeCARE, a Video to Promote Bystander Behavior on College Campuses: Replication and Extension

Previous research has demonstrated that college students who view TakeCARE, a video bystander program designed to encourage students to take action to prevent sexual and relationship violence (i.e., bystander behavior), display more bystander behavior relative to students who view a control video. The current study aimed to replicate and extend these findings by testing two different methods of administering TakeCARE and examining moderators of TakeCARE’s effects on bystander behavior. Students at four universities (n = 557) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: (a) view TakeCARE in a monitored computer lab, (b) view TakeCARE at their own convenience after receiving an email link to the video, or (c) view a video about study skills (control group). Participants completed measures of bystander behavior at baseline and at a 1-month follow-up. Participants in both TakeCARE conditions reported more bystander behavior at follow-up assessments, compared with participants in the control condition. The beneficial effect of TakeCARE did not differ significantly across administration methods. However, the effects of TakeCARE on bystander behavior were moderated by students’ perceptions of campus responsiveness to sexual violence, with more potent effects when students perceived their institution as responsive to reports of sexual violence

College Students’ Feelings of Campus Connectedness, Party Safety Behavior and Intervening to Prevent Sexual Assault and Intimate Partner Violence

Objective: This research examines associations between college students’ feelings of campus connectedness and two types of prosocial bystander intervention behavior to prevent sexual assault: party safety behavior and intervening in high-risk situations. Method: Short-term longitudinal associations between college students’ feelings of campus connectedness and bystander intervention behavior were examined in three studies. Study 1 (n = 213) examined these associations over a 1-month period. Study 2 (n = 557) was designed to replicate findings from Study 1 in a larger, more diverse sample. Study 3 (n = 730) was designed to replicate and extend findings with party safety behavior from Studies 1 and 2 over a 2-month period. Study 3 also examined whether frequency of party attendance and feelings of responsibility might help explain the association between campus connectedness and party safety behavior. In each of the three studies, students were recruited from multiple universities; students reported on feelings of campus connectedness at baseline and on bystander behavior at baseline and follow-up assessments. Results: In each study, students’ feelings of campus connectedness predicted party safety behavior at follow-up, controlling for party safety behavior at baseline. Feelings of campus connectedness were not associated with intervening in high-risk situations. In Study 3, frequency of party attendance and feelings of responsibility did not explain the association between campus connectedness and party safety behavior. Conclusion: Feelings of campus connectedness may be important to consider in campus efforts to prevent sexual assault

Adolescent Parents in the First Wave of the National Youth in Transition Database

Adolescent parenthood occurs with relative frequency among youth in the foster care system. Few studies describe the characteristics of adolescent parents in foster care, or compare male and female parents, particularly using large, national samples. The present study used data from the National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD; N = 15,601) to document the number of foster youth who had children at age 17 years, the factors associated with adolescent parenthood, and the differences between male and female parents on general functioning indicators and use of Chafee services. Results revealed that 4% of males and 10% of females in the NYTD sample had children. Multivariate analyses indicated that for males and females alike, non-White race and Hispanic ethnicity were associated with increased likelihood of childbirth. Among males, the multivariate odds of being a parent increased substantially if they had a history of homelessness, substance abuse referral, or incarceration. Among females, only a history of incarceration was significantly associated with parenthood. Receiving Chafee-funded services was not related to either male or female parenthood. These findings highlight the high rates of adolescent parenthood among youth in foster care, particularly if other risk factors are also present. Practice implications and future research directions are discussed

Correlates of Perceived Coercion during Psychiatric Hospital Admission

The objectives of this study were to replicate the study of C. W. Lidz et al (see record 1996-15479-001); examine the differences in perceptions about hospital admission for voluntary and involuntary patients (16 yr olds and older), all of whom had been involuntarily detained initially for psychiatric evaluation; and examine the impact of community members vs hospital staff, locus of control, and psychiatric symptom severity on patients\u27 perceptions of coercion. Results substantiate earlier findings of Lidz et al in that legal status (involuntary), procedural justice, and negative pressures are significantly related to perceived coercion. Although all patients in this study were detained involuntarily initially, those permitted to sign as voluntary perceived their hospital admission as less coercive and more respectful, fair, and dignified than did those against whom petitions for involuntary treatment had been filed. Locus of control and symptom severity were unrelated to perceived coercion. Finally, the results suggest that procedural justice and negative pressures from community members bore a stronger association with perceived coercion than did experiences with hospital staff involved in the patient\u27s admission

A Social Ecology Analysis of Childbirth among Females Emancipating from Foster Care

Purpose No research has examined childbirth from a national perspective among females emancipating from foster care. The present study fills this gap by: (1) documenting the rates of initial and repeat births among females ages 17 and 19 in a national prospective study and (2) identifying risk and protective factors at age 17 that predict childbirth between ages 17 and 19. Methods This study used data from the National Youth in Transition Database and Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System to identify risk and protective factors associated with childbirth in a national sample of transition-age female youth (N = 3,474). Results The cumulative rate of childbirth by age 19 was 21%, with higher rates reported between ages 17 and 19 (17%; n = 602) compared with age 17 or earlier (9%; n = 313). In logistic regression analysis, black race and Hispanic ethnicity, placement with relatives, runaway status, trial home visit placement, early emancipation from foster care, and lifetime incarceration histories were associated with increased likelihood of childbirth. In contrast, school enrollment and employment skills were associated with decreased likelihood of childbirth. The multivariate odds of childbirth between ages 17 and 19 increased 10-fold if youth already had a child by age 17. Conclusions Sexual health and pregnancy prevention programs should specifically target youths who already have children. Increased attention should be paid to adolescents placed with biological families and those with histories of criminal involvement

Stability of Psychiatric Patients\u27 Perceptions of their Admission Experience

The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the stability (i.e., consistency of patients’ responses over time) of newly developed scales to measure the admission experience of psychiatric hospitalization. Eighty-four psychiatric patients involuntarily committed to a crisis stabilization unit participated. All participants were admitted under an emergency petition or ex parte order for a psychiatric evaluation. Patients were interviewed soon after admission (M 5 3.33 days, SD 5 1.86 days). The test–retest interval was 24–48 hours with most (83.3%) re-evaluated at 24 hours. Overall, the measures showed acceptable levels of stability (r ’s range from .62 to .72). Factors associated with reliable responses were lower overall psychiatric symptom severity, less severe psychotic symptoms, and mentioning the same person as an influence of perceptions about the admission experience at each assessment point