The role of violent media preference in cumulative developmental risk for violence and general aggression

The impact of exposure to violence in the media on the long-term development and short-term expression of aggressive behavior has been well documented. However, gaps in this literature remain, and in particular the role of violent media exposure in shaping violent and other serious antisocial behavior has not been investigated. Further, studies of violent media effects typically have not sampled from populations with confirmed histories of violent and/or nonviolent antisocial behavior. In this study, we analyzed data on 820 youth, including 390 juvenile delinquents and 430 high school students, to examine the relation of violent media use to involvement in violence and general aggression. Using criterion scores developed through cross-informant modeling of data from self, parent/guardian, and teacher/staff reports, we observed that childhood and adolescent violent media preferences contributed significantly to the prediction of violence and general aggression from cumulative risk totals. Findings represent a new and important direction for research on the role of violent media use in the broader matrix of risk factors for youth violence.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/83443/1/2009.boxer_et_al.Role.of.violent.media.pref.in.cumulative.devlop.risk.for viol&gen.aggress. JYA.pd

Social Competitiveness and Plasticity of Neuroendocrine Function in Old Age: Influence of Neonatal Novelty Exposure and Maternal Care Reliability

Early experience is known to have a profound impact on brain and behavioral function later in life. Relatively few studies, however, have examined whether the effects of early experience remain detectable in the aging animal. Here, we examined the effects of neonatal novelty exposure, an early stimulation procedure, on late senescent rats' ability to win in social competition. During the first 3 weeks of life, half of each litter received daily 3-min exposures to a novel environment while the other half stayed in the home cage. At 24 months of age, pairs of rats competed against each other for exclusive access to chocolate rewards. We found that novelty-exposed rats won more rewards than home-staying rats, indicating that early experience exerts a life-long effect on this aspect of social dominance. Furthermore, novelty-exposed but not home-staying rats exhibited habituation of corticosterone release across repeated days of social competition testing, suggesting that early experience permanently enhances plasticity of the stress response system. Finally, we report a surprising finding that across individual rat families, greater effects of neonatal novelty exposure on stress response plasticity were found among families whose dams provided more reliable, instead of a greater total quantity of, maternal care

The urgency of doing: evaluating the validity of an implementation and sustainability measure for school-wide prevention programs

School-based prevention and promotion interventions (SBPPI) teach students how to recognize and manage emotions, solve problems effectively, establish positive relationships with others, and develop prosocial attitudes. When implemented effectively, SBPPI have been shown to improve desirable outcomes (e.g., commitment to community, standardized achievement test scores, and attendance) and to reduce undesirable outcomes (e.g., suspensions, drug and alcohol use, and aggressive and violent behavior). Unfortunately, our understanding of how to effectively implement and sustain SBPPI outside of well-controlled conditions is lacking. In order to help build a science of implementation and sustainability, this thesis presents a conceptual framework and a measurement tool for effective SBPPI implementation. The framework differentiates among various phases of implementation, ecological levels surrounding implementation in schools, and factors in the system of implementation that facilitate fidelity and sustainability. This framework is measured by the “Schools Implementing Towards Sustainability” (SITS) scale, which is designed to be “user-friendly” in field settings by being viable and scalable. Analyses from a diverse sample of 157 schools implementing Social-Emotional Character Development (SECD), a type of SBPPI, reveal that the SITS has good reliability, good concurrent and construct validity, and promising predictive validity. The findings of the SITS may help advance both the science of school-based interventions and the science of implementation and dissemination as a whole by demonstrating how to bridge the science/“real world” gap.M.S.Includes bibliographical referencesby Dominic C. Mocer

The Urgency of Doing: Assessing the System of Sustainable Implementation Model Via the Schools Implementing Towards Sustainability (Sits) Scale

School-based prevention and promotion interventions (SBPPI) improve desirable outcomes (e.g., commitment to school and attendance) and reduce undesirable outcomes (e.g., suspensions and violence). Unfortunately, our understanding of how to effectively implement and sustain SBPPI outside of well-controlled conditions is lacking. To bridge this science/ real world practice gap, a system of sustainable implementation, which merges implementation strategies and sustainability strategies, is proposed for SBPPI. Ecological levels and phases affect this system. This conceptualization is supported by analyses from a diverse sample of 157 schools implementing Social-Emotional Character Development, a type of SBPPI. The system of sustainable implementation was measured using the Schools Implementing Towards Sustainability (SITS) scale, which was designed to be user-friendly in field settings by being viable and scalable. The SITS demonstrated strong reliability as well as promising concurrent and construct validity. Implications are discussed

The Increasing Impact of Socioeconomics and Race On Standardized Academic Test Scores Across Elementary, Middle, and High School

For students and schools, the current policy is to measure success via standardized testing. Yet the immutable factors of socioeconomic status (SES) and race have, consistently, been implicated in fostering an achievement gap. The current study explores, at the school-level, the impact of these factors on test scores. Percentage of students proficient for Language and Math was analyzed from 452 schools across the state of New Jersey. By high school, 52% of the variance in Language and 59% in Math test scores can be accounted for by SES and racial factors. At this level, a 1% increase in school minority population corresponds to a 0.19 decrease in percent Language proficient and 0.33 decrease for Math. These results have significant implications as they suggest that school-level interventions to improve academic achievement scores will bestymied by socioeconomic and racial factors and efforts to improve the achievement gap via testing have largely measured it

Can School Counselors Deliver Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment for Social Anxiety Effectively? a Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Social anxiety disorder (SAD) typically onsets in adolescence and is associated with multiple impairments. Despite promising clinical interventions, most socially anxious adolescents remain untreated. To address this clinical neglect, we developed a school-based, 12-week group intervention for youth with SAD, Skills for Academic and Social Success (SASS). When implemented by psychologists, SASS has been found effective. To promote dissemination and optimize treatment access, we tested whether school counselors could be effective treatment providers. Method: We randomized 138, ninth through 11th graders with SAD to one of three conditions: (a) SASS delivered by school counselors (C-SASS), (b) SASS delivered by psychologists (P-SASS), or (c) a control condition, Skills for Life (SFL), a nonspecific counseling program. Blind, independent, evaluations were conducted with parents and adolescents at baseline, post-intervention, and 5 months beyond treatment completion. We hypothesized that C-SASS and P-SASS would be superior to the control, immediately after treatment and at follow-up. No prediction was made about the relative efficacy of C-SASS and P-SASS. Results: Compared to controls, adolescents treated with C-SASS or P-SASS experienced significantly greater improvement and reductions of anxiety at the end of treatment and follow-up. There were no significant differences between SASS delivered by school counselors and psychologists. Conclusion: With training, school counselors are effective treatment providers to adolescents with social anxiety, yielding benefits comparable to those obtained by specialized psychologists. Questions remain regarding means to maintain counselors’ practice standards without external support