Fast Track Randomized Controlled Trial to Prevent Externalizing Psychiatric Disorders: Findings From Grades 3 to 9

This study tests the efficacy of the Fast Track Program in preventing antisocial behavior and psychiatric disorders among groups varying in initial risk

Service Use Patterns for Adolescents with ADHD and Comorbid Conduct Disorder

Service use patterns and costs of youth diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and comorbid conduct disorder (CD) were assessed across adolescence (ages 12 through 17). Featured service sectors include mental health, school services, and the juvenile justice system. Data are provided by three cohorts from the Fast Track evaluation and are based on parent report. Diagnostic groups are identified through a structured assessment. Results show that public costs for youth with ADHD exceed $40,000 per child on average over a 6-year period, more than doubling service expenditures for a non-ADHD group. Public costs for children with comorbid ADHD and CD double the costs of those with ADHD alone. Varying patterns by service sector, diagnosis, and across time indicate different needs for youth with different conditions and at different ages and can provide important information for prevention and treatment researchers

Decoupling the Relation Between Risk Factors for Conduct Problems and the Receipt of Intervention Services: Participation Across Multiple Components of a Prevention Program

This study examined whether the link between risk factors for conduct problems and low rates of participation in mental health treatment could be decoupled through the provision of integrated prevention services in multiple easily-accessible contexts. It included 445 families of first-grade children (55% minority), living in four diverse communities, and selected for early signs of conduct problems. Results indicated that, under the right circumstances, these children and families could be enticed to participate at high rates in school-based services, therapeutic groups, and home visits. Because different sets of risk factors were related to different profiles of participation across the components of the prevention program, findings highlight the need to offer services in multiple contexts to reach all children and families who might benefit from them

'A foundation-hatched black elite’: Obama, the US establishment and foreign policy

US foreign policy has a largely unacknowledged racial dimension due to the racial characteristics of the US foreign policy establishment, and in shared mindsets in a soon-to-be ‘majority-minority’ nation. White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) racial-ethnic and class factors produce managed change through socialisation in an attenuated meritocratic order, adapting to challenges to elite dominance by incorporating rising talent, without altering broader patterns of power. The greatest success of such a system would be the assimilation of the most elite minority individuals, even as the bulk of those groups’ members continue to experience discrimination. Such success would be compounded by election to the highest office of a minority US president extolling the virtues of post-racial politics. President Barack Obama represents a ‘Wasp-ified’ black elite, assimilated into the extant structures of power that remain wedded to a more secular, non-biologically-racial, version of Anglo-Saxonism or, more broadly, liberal internationalism. Hence, it should occasion little surprise that there has been so little change in US foreign policies during Obama’s two-term presidency

Lifestyle Choices and Societal Behavior Changes as Local Climate Strategy

The Asia-Pacific region is witnessing rapid economic growth. Along with rising incomes, the lifestyles of the large middle class are moving quickly towards a buy-and-discard consumer model that involves carbon-intensive products and services. These increase dependency on the Earth's finite natural resources and simultaneously produces waste, putting a significant strain on the environment. Such lifestyles, coupled with scarce resources and frequent natural hazards associated with climate change, pose serious threats to the future of the planet. Developed countries with high footprint per capita are under pressure to adjust their lifestyles that respect the Earths' carrying capacity. As far as countries in the Asia and Pacific region are concerned, mere technological solutions such as improving production efficiency will not be adequate to address climate change; a paradigm shift to more resource-efficient and low-carbon lifestyles, that promote inclusive and efficient consumption is the need of the hour. Several examples of good practices and community initiatives can be found around the world, but these have yet to be brought to the mainstream in order to achieve tangible results. Governments and policy makers in the Asia-Pacific can join hands with businesses and civil society to accelerate this transition - from a consumption-oriented economic paradigm, to a more sustainable way of production and consumption. This paper attempts to identify lifestyle changes at the individual level, and behavioral changes at the community level that could offer high carbon abatement potential. It also provides some good practices of public policies and policy recommendations that can be pivotal in making a business case of low-carbon and eco-efficient lifestyles, strengthening collective awareness, and influencing public decision-making in developing countries in Asia

Diversity: A Conversation with Dean Rougeau and Elaine Pinderhughes

BC Law Dean Vincent Rougeau and Elaine Pinderhughes, Professor Emerita of the BC Graduate School of Social Work, discuss the evolution of diversity in their professional lives