Busy Streets Theory: The Effects of Communityâ engaged Greening on Violence

Lack of maintenance on vacant neighborhood lots is associated with higher levels of depression, anxiety, and stress for nearby residents. Overgrown grasses and dense brush provide hiding spots for criminals and space to conduct illicit activities. This study builds upon previous research by investigating greening programs that engage community members to conduct routine maintenance on vacant lots within their neighborhoods. The Clean & Green program is a communityâ based solution that facilitates residentâ driven routine maintenance of vacant lots in a midsized, Midwestern city. We use mixed effects regression to compare assault and violent crime counts on streets where vacant lot(s) are maintained by community members (N = 216) versus streets where vacant lots were left alone (N = 446) over a 5â year timeframe (2009â 2013). Street segments with vacant lots maintained through the Clean & Green program had nearly 40% fewer assaults and violent crimes than street segments with vacant, abandoned lots, which held across 4 years with a large sample and efforts to test counterfactual explanations. Communityâ engaged greening programs may not only provide a solution to vacant lot maintenance, but also work as a crime prevention or reduction strategy. Engaging the community to maintain vacant lots in their neighborhood reduces costs and may increase the sustainability of the program.HighlightsBlighted and abandoned properties generate substantial costs and risk for postindustrial cities.Communityâ engaged maintenance of properties can reduce blight and increase social cohesion.We compare levels of crime on streets with â greenedâ versus unmaintained vacant lots.Community greened lots may reduce blight and crime at lower cost to cities and build social capital.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146412/1/ajcp12270_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146412/2/ajcp12270.pd

Perpetrating Cyber Dating Abuse: A Brief Report on the Role of Aggression, Romantic Jealousy and Gender

There is increasing evidence that the use of elec-tronic communication technology (ECT) is being integrated into romantic relationships, which can be used as a medium to control a romantic partner. Most research focuses on the vic-tims of cyber dating abuse, however, we focused on the factors that predict perpetration of cyber dating abuse. We explored whether aggression (verbal aggression, physical aggression, anger and hostility), romantic jealousy (emotional, cognitive and behavioral jealousy), and gender predicted perpetration of cyber dating abuse (n = 189). We found that hostility, behav-ioral jealousy and gender significantly predicted perpetration of cyber dating abuse. The findings of this study contribute to our understanding of the psychological factors that drive cyber dating abuse in romantic relationships

Tracking preschool children with developmental delay: Third grade outcomes

Abstract Educational outcomes were evaluated for 2,046 preschool children identified with developmental delay. Results indicated that at third grade, 26% were in regular education and the remaining 74% were receiving special education services. The most common disability classifications at outcome were specific learning disabilities and educable mentally handicaps. Regular education, but not special education, children had higher retention rates than did the general population. The presence of one or more secondary exceptionalities in preschool was more common for special education than regular education children. Regular education and special education children did not differ on other factors studied. This study highlights the importance of developmental delay as an exceptionality category and advances our understanding of the long-term implications of such delay

Identification of Early Risk Factors for Developmental Delay

Statewide birth certificate and preschool exceptionality records were integrated to identify risk factors for developmental delay (DD). Epidemiological methods were used to investigate both individual-level and population-level risk for DD associated with a number of child and maternal factors. Infants born with very low birth weight were at the greatest individual-level risk for DD, whereas prematurity (gestational age less than 37 weeks) and low maternal education posed the greatest population-level risk. For comparative purposes, individual-level risk for speech disability and other developmental disabilities was also determined. The individual-level risk associated with nearly all factors was significantly greater for DD than for speech disability or other developmental disabilities. The present study suggests that information available from birth certificate records can be used to target screening and early intervention services for children at high risk with the goal of reducing the incidence of DD and subsequent associated disabilities

Early Risk Factors for Speech and Language Impairments

Developmental epidemiological methods were used to identify risk factors for speech impairment (SI), specific language impairment (SLI), and combined speech and language impairment (CSLI) in a statewide sample of preschool-age children. Level of risk was determined by comparing the rate of occurrence of factors between 12,799 children with SI, SLI, or CSLI and a comparison group of 946,177 children. Multiple birth, presence of a newborn condition, presence of a congenital abnormality, maternal age greater than 35 years, and presence of a maternal medical history factor were associated with increased risk for SI, SLI, and CSLI. Prematurity and very low birthweight were significant risk factors for SLI and CSLI but not for SI. Prenatal exposure to alcohol was a significant risk factor for SI but not SLI and CSLI. Low maternal education and unwed marital status were associated with a decreased risk for speech and/or language impairments, indicating a potential identification bias. The study presented here demonstrates the potential for identifying children at birth who are at increased risk for speech and language impairments