The Protective Role of School Adjustment Between Risky Neighborhood Environment and Adolescent Drinking and Smoking

Objective: To prevent adolescent drinking and smoking, this study proposed a strategy based on the ecological perspective. Methods: The study applied multilevel moderated logistic regression analysis on nationally representative individual-level (2,046 9th grade adolescents) and neighborhood-level (92 geographic areas) data. Results: There was a positive association between risky neighborhood environments (e.g., rate of smoking, drinking, and presence of saloon/bars accommodation) and rates of adolescent drinking and smoking. Furthermore, the interplay between risky neighborhood environments and school adjustment pointed to a possible protective effect of a high level of school adjustment in predicting smoking and drinking among adolescents. Conclusion: Findings highlighted the importance of considering multiple neighborhood social contexts surrounding adolescents to understand their risky behavior. Furthermore, positive intervention strategies that focus on adolescents' positive development within the school domain may act to protect adolescents from harmful neighborhood environments

Estimating the heterogeneous relationship between peer drinking and youth alcohol consumption in Chile using propensity score stratification

When estimating the association between peer and youth alcohol consumption, it is critical to account for possible differential levels of response to peer socialization processes across youth, in addition to variability in individual, family, and social factors. Failure to account for intrinsic differences in youth's response to peers may pose a threat of selection bias. To address this issue, we used a propensity score stratification method to examine whether the size of the association between peer and youth drinking is contingent upon differential predicted probabilities of associating with alcohol-consuming friends. Analyzing a Chilean youth sample (N = 914) of substance use, we found that youths are susceptible to the detrimental role of peer drinkers, but the harmful relationship with one's own drinking behavior may be exacerbated among youth who already have a high probability of socializing with peers who drink. In other words, computing a single weighted-average estimate for peer drinking would have underestimated the detrimental role of peers, particularly among at-risk youths, and overestimated the role of drinking peers among youths who are less susceptible to peer socialization processes. Heterogeneous patterns in the association between peer and youth drinking may shed light on social policies that target at-risk youths.We are extremely grateful to the youth and their families in Santiago, Chile for taking the time to participate in this study. This study received support from U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01 DAD21181), National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01-HD-074603-01), and the Vivian A. and James L. Curtis School of Social Work Research and Training Center, University of Michigan. (R01 DAD21181 - U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse; R01-HD-074603-01 - National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; Vivian A. and James L. Curtis School of Social Work Research and Training Center, University of Michigan

Associations of maternal and adolescent religiosity and spirituality with adolescent alcohol use in Chile: implications for social work practice

To inform social work practice with adolescents who may consume alcohol, we examined if alcohol use among Chilean adolescents varied as a function of their mothers’ and their own religiosity and spirituality. Data were from 787 Chilean adolescents and their mothers. Adolescent spirituality was a protective factor against more deleterious alcohol use. Parental monitoring and alcohol using opportunities mediated the associations. The practice of religious behaviors by themselves without meaningful faith were not associated with alcohol use among adolescents. Implications for social work practice are discussed.This research was funded by the US National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01 02118). The project also received support from the Curtis Research and Training Center of the School of Social Work at the University of Michigan and from the University of Michigan Substance Abuse Research Center Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award T32 DA007267. (R01 02118 - US National Institute on Drug Abuse; Curtis Research and Training Center of the School of Social Work at the University of Michigan; T32 DA007267 - University of Michigan Substance Abuse Research Center Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service

Corporal punishment and youth externalizing behavior in Santiago, Chile

OBJECTIVES: Corporal punishment is still widely practiced around the globe, despite the large body of child development research that substantiates its short- and long-term consequences. Within this context, this paper examined the relationship between parental use of corporal punishment and youth externalizing behavior with a Chilean sample to add to the growing empirical evidence concerning the potential relationship between increased corporal punishment and undesirable youth outcomes across cultures. METHODS: Analysis was based on 919 adolescents in Santiago, Chile. Descriptive and multivariate analyses were conducted to examine the extent to which parents' use of corporal punishment and positive family measures were associated with youth externalizing behavior. Furthermore, the associations between self-reported externalizing behavior and infrequent, as well as frequent, use of corporal punishment were investigated to understand how varying levels of parental use of corporal punishment were differently related to youth outcomes. RESULTS: Both mothers' and fathers' use of corporal punishment were associated with greater youth externalizing behavior. Additionally, increases in positive parenting practices, such as parental warmth and family involvement, were met with decreases in youth externalizing behavior when controlling for youth demographics, family socioeconomic status, and parents' use of corporal punishment. Finally, both infrequent and frequent use of corporal punishment were positively associated with higher youth problem behaviors, though frequent corporal punishment had a stronger relationship with externalizing behavior than did infrequent corporal punishment. CONCLUSIONS: Parental use of corporal punishment, even on an occasional basis, is associated with greater externalizing behavior for youth while a warm and involving family environment may protect youth from serious problem behaviors. Therefore, findings of this study add to the growing evidence concerning the negative consequences of corporal punishment for youth outcomes.R01 HD033487 - NICHD NIH HHS; R01 DA021181 - NIDA NIH HH

Gender differences in predictors of self-reported physical aggression: exploring theoretically relevant dimensions among adolescents from Santiago, Chile

Research findings remain unclear on whether different factors predict aggression for adolescent men and women. Given that aggression research is rarely conducted with Latin American populations, the current study used multiple imputation and linear regression to assess gender differences in levels and predictors of self-reported physical aggression among a community sample of young (ages 11 through 17) men (n=504) and women (n = 471) from Santiago, Chile. Results revealed that adolescent women reported engaging in higher levels of physical aggression than men. The variables found to be significantly associated with higher levels of reported aggression—younger age, less family involvement, less parental control, less positive relationships with caregivers, having more friends who act out and use substances, having fewer friends committed to learning, presence of dating violence, and more exposure to neighborhood crime—were not moderated by gender, implying that similar factors are related to aggression in adolescent men and women from Chile. Implications for prevention and intervention efforts to address high-risk adolescents and reduce aggression among Chilean youth are discussed.http://europepmc.org/backend/ptpmcrender.fcgi?accid=PMC3876925&blobtype=pdfAccepted manuscrip

Mental Health and Health-Risk Behaviors in Adolescence: An Examination of Social Relationships.

Youth mental health and health-risk behaviors that are left unattended may have detrimental consequences for personal and social wellbeing in the long-run. Thus, the examination of social relationships associated with adolescent behavioral health conditions is critical, as it can present knowledge to effectively guide prevention and intervention programs. In response to such research needs, this three-essay dissertation analyzes two unique panel datasets concerning first and second generation immigrant youth in the U.S. and adolescents in South Korea. Grounded in the ideas of social stress theory, Chapter 2 explores the plausibility of the presence of a systematic relationship between exposure to perceived discrimination and the mental health response to discrimination among youth of immigrant backgrounds. In the study, adolescents who were most likely to be exposed to perceived discrimination showed a smaller mental health response, possibly through mechanisms of adjustment, coping, and resiliency development. Results underscored the need to tailor interventions such that they incorporate mechanisms that effectively account for differential response to stressors across youth. Chapter 3 investigates the different magnitudes of the marginal change in conditional depressive symptoms scores associated with the experience of perceived discrimination among a sample of immigrant youth. Results suggested that estimates of the discrimination-depression association that focus on the average individual would have understated the potential harm of perceived discrimination on depressed moods in the high end of the conditional depression distribution. Findings may provide important implications for understanding stressful social relationships and its association with depressive symptoms particularly in the most marginalizing conditions. Finally, Chapter 4 examines the role of social capital—an informal mechanism of social control embedded in youth relationships with the family and community—in preventing the onset of health-risk behaviors among Korean adolescents. The strong association between family-level social capital and youth outcomes highlighted the importance of informal family-based prevention and intervention practices. Relational resources in the community were also proven important, but only for health-risk behaviors that often occur in communal areas. Results underscored the value of informal family and community mechanisms of control, alongside formal legislative forms of control in preventing the onset of youth health-risk behaviors.PHDSocial Work and Social ScienceUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/93992/1/yshan_1.pd

Relationship between discordance in parental monitoring and behavioral problems among Chilean adolescents

This study investigated the role of discrepancies between parent and youth reports of perceived parental monitoring in adolescent problem behaviors with a Chilean sample (N= 850). Higher levels of discordance concerning parental monitoring predicted greater levels of maladaptive youth behaviors. A positive association between parent-youth discordance and externalizing problems indicated that large adult-youth disagreement in parental monitoring may impose a great risk, despite protective efforts of parental monitoring. Although the direct relationship between parental monitoring and youth internalizing behaviors was not significant, parent-youth incongruence in monitoring was associated with greater levels of internalizing behaviors. Therefore, differing assessments of parental behaviors, as an indicator of less optimal family functioning, may provide important information about youth maladjustment and may potentially provide a beginning point for family-focused intervention.R01 DA021181 - NIDA NIH HHS; R01 DA021181-05 - NIDA NIH HHS; R01 HD033487 - NICHD NIH HH

The Role of Gender Dynamics in the Relationship between Parental Maltreatment and Juvenile Theft in South Korea

Juvenile theft is the leading crime among adolescents in Korea and is a serious social concern. The present study is an examination of youth theft in the framework of general strain theory, which asserts that criminal behavior occurs as a response to various strains, such as parental abuse and neglect. To test the role of parent-youth gender dynamics in the relationship between parental strain and youth theft, the current study analyzed a community-based sample of youth offenders and non-offenders in Korea (N = 374) using multivariate logistic regression models with interaction terms. Paternal physical abuse and maternal neglect predicted greater youth involvement in theft behavior. Regarding parent-youth gender dynamics, there was no difference in the role of maternal or paternal maltreatment in predicting theft behavior in sons or daughters. The exception was fathers' neglect, in which daughters showed higher odds of theft engagement than did sons who experienced even greater paternal neglect. The findings underscored the distinct and detrimental role of parental maltreatment in adolescent theft. The results supported the need to reach out to parents in consideration of the youth's gender and provided important implications for guiding current social services in preventing juvenile theft in Korea

Estimating the Heterogeneous Relationship between Peer Drinking and Youth Alcohol Consumption in Chile Using Propensity Score Stratification

When estimating the association between peer and youth alcohol consumption, it is critical to account for possible differential levels of response to peer socialization processes across youth, in addition to variability in individual, family, and social factors. Failure to account for intrinsic differences in youth’s response to peers may pose a threat of selection bias. To address this issue, we used a propensity score stratification method to examine whether the size of the association between peer and youth drinking is contingent upon differential predicted probabilities of associating with alcohol-consuming friends. Analyzing a Chilean youth sample (N = 914) of substance use, we found that youths are susceptible to the detrimental role of peer drinkers, but the harmful relationship with one’s own drinking behavior may be exacerbated among youth who already have a high probability of socializing with peers who drink. In other words, computing a single weighted-average estimate for peer drinking would have underestimated the detrimental role of peers, particularly among at-risk youths, and overestimated the role of drinking peers among youths who are less susceptible to peer socialization processes. Heterogeneous patterns in the association between peer and youth drinking may shed light on social policies that target at-risk youths