Call for Submissions – Deadline October 31st, 2013

Special Issue on Children and Youth Suicide Prevention: Research, Policy, and Practic

Editorial

oai:journals.ub.uni-osnabrueck.de:article/15We are pleased to announce the launch of the Journal of Child and Youth Development (JCYD), an international, online, open access, peer reviewed journal that will encompass all aspects of personal and social development in childhood and adolescence. While the focus will be on peer-review articles, the journal will consider additional contributions that are scientifically sound and within its scope

Zur Bedeutung der Eltern-Kind-Beziehung für die physische Gewaltausübung jugendlicher Mädchen: Ergebnisse einer mixed-methods-Studie

"Im Mittelpunkt dieses Artikels steht die Frage nach dem Erklärungsgehalt der theoretischen Konstrukte Erziehungsverhalten und Beziehungsdynamik zwischen Eltern und Heranwachsenden für die Gewaltentwicklung weiblicher Jugendlicher. Über ein sequenzielles mixed-methods-Design werden unterschiedliche Datenquellen (Interviews und Fragebogen) und Analysemethoden (grounded theory und Korrespondenzanalyse)verbunden. Im Rahmen des gewählten mixedmethods-Designs werden die Ergebnisse aus der Analyse von Interviews mit gewaltorientierten Mädchen mit den korrespondenzanalytischen Einsichten aus einer Fragebogenstudie verglichen (n=243, Altersdurchschnitt=15.2, SD=1,91). Die Ergebnisse aus den Interviews und den Fragebogendaten zeigen eine hohe Heterogenität in der Art des Zusammenlebens von Familien Gewalt ausübender Mädchen. Es besteht ein starker Zusammenhang zwischen dem individuellen Gewalthandeln der untersuchten Mädchen und der spezifischen Dynamik des familiären Zusammenlebens. Der Einsatz unterschiedlicher theoretischer Konstrukte (Erziehungsverhalten und Beziehungsdynamik zwischen Eltern und Heranwachsenden) macht diese Dynamiken sichtbar und theoretisch reflektierbar." (Autorenreferat)"This article addresses the question: What is the explanatory power of the theoretical constructs 'parenting style' and 'parent-child relationship' for understanding violence among teenage girls? Using a sequential mixed-methods design, we combined data from different sources (interviews and questionnaires) analysed by different methods (grounded theory and correspondence analysis). Within this mixed-methods design, we compared the results of the qualitative analysis of interviews with violence-orientated girls with the results of the correspondence analysis of the cross-sectional survey (n=243, mean age= 15.2, SD=1,91). There is a strong relationship between the form of violence applied by the girls and the characteristics of the family dynamics. The utilization of different theoretical constructs (i.e., parenting style and parent-child relationship) reveals these dynamics and enables theoretical reflection on this subject." (author's abstract

Beliefs and Attitudes Toward Inclusion of Student Teachers and Their Contact With People With Disabilities

Inclusive schooling has been a key issue in special needs education for the last 20 years. In this context, teacher's attitudes toward inclusion is an essential factor in professional competence. It is therefore in the interest of an inclusive school system that inclusion-related beliefs and attitudes are cultivated in basic teacher education. Although some studies report positive effects of basic teacher education on successful inclusion processes and outcomes at school, the findings on attitude changes in teacher education are inconsistent. Multiple factors influence inclusion-related attitudes and beliefs. Among them, personal contact with people with disabilities is important. The present study at the University of Teacher Education in Zurich, Switzerland, examines the influence of previous contact with people with disabilities on attitudes toward inclusion after initial teacher training modules. An online survey (N = 443) was conducted before (T0) and after (T1) a training module on inclusive education/inclusive teaching. Validated scales on attitudes toward inclusion were used. The findings show that the student teachers report significantly more positive contact with people with disability than negative ones. At the same time, student teachers who are in contact with people with disabilities report a significantly more positive attitude toward inclusion at the beginning of the term, and a higher self-efficacy in dealing with disruptive behavior and interdisciplinary cooperation, as well as an individualizing teaching structure. They also report fewer concerns and negative attitudes than student teachers without such contact. Contact with people with disabilities was significantly related to an anticipated willingness to take on an inclusive class. However, no moderating effect of contact over the term was found. Additionally, we identify a considerable heterogeneity on positive attitudes toward inclusion within the respective groups (i.e., more positive or negative contact) via multigroup latent profile analysis. In particular, higher levels on self-efficacy in dealing with disruptive behavior and individualizing teaching structure were central indicators for positive attitudes toward inclusion; this held for both contact groups

Sozio-emotionale Resilienzentwicklung im Jugendalter trotz Miterleben verbaler elterlicher Paargewalt. Ein transitionsanalytischer Zugang über zwei Wellen

In der vorliegenden Studie wurde anhand einer Stichprobe von 933 (Welle 1; 7. Klasse) und 776 (Welle 2; 8. Klasse) Sekundarschüler:innen in der Nordwestschweiz untersucht, inwiefern sich das Miterleben verbaler elterlicher Paargewalt in unterschiedlichen Mustern sozial-emotionaler Entwicklung ausdrückt. Aus resilienztheoretischer Perspektive wurde die Resilienzentwicklung von Jugendlichen domänen-, entwicklungsphasen- und widrigkeitsspezifisch operationalisiert und als sozio-emotionale Gewaltresilienz umgesetzt. Mithilfe einer latenten Transitionsanalyse über zwei Wellen konnten die Jugendlichen in vier verschiedene sozio-emotionale Entwicklungsmuster eingeteilt werden: resilient, antisozial-internalisierend, prosozial-internalisierend und antisozial-externalisierend. Regressionsanalysen ergaben, dass sich männliches Geschlecht und prosoziales Verhalten auf Klassenebene als protektive Faktoren und Dissoziation sowie Migrationshintergrund als Risikofaktoren für sozio-emotionale Resilienz erwiesen. Dass prosoziales Verhalten auf Klassenebene die Zugehörigkeit zur resilienten Gruppe charakterisiert, ist besonders für Fragen der Prävention ein wichtiges Ergebnis, da sich dieser Faktor in der Schule beeinflussen lässt. Die erfolgte Identifikation vulnerabler Subgruppen kann zur Entwicklung massgeschneiderter Interventionen und Programme für Jugendliche und das gesamte System Schule beitragen. (DIPF/Orig.

On the complex relationship between resilience and hair cortisol levels in adolescence despite parental physical abuse: a fourth wave of resilience research

IntroductionTo understand the family’s role in adolescents’ mental health development and the connection to neurodevelopmental disorders related to experienced parental physical abuse, we first explored resilience pathways longitudinally and secondly, connected the identified patterns to adolescents’ hair cortisol levels that are rooted in the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis as the main stress response system and connected brain structure alterations.MethodsWe analyzed longitudinal online questionnaire data for three consecutive high school years (from seventh to ninth grade) and four survey waves from a representative sample of n = 1609 high school students in Switzerland on violence–resilience pathways. Furthermore, we collected students’ hair samples from a subsample of n = 229 at survey wave 4. About 30% of the participating adolescents had been physically abused by their parents. Out of the overall sample, we drew a subsample of adolescents with parental abuse experiences (survey wave 1 n = 509; survey wave 2 n = 506; survey wave 3 n = 561; survey wave 4 n = 560).ResultsDespite the odds, about 20–30% of adolescents who have experienced parental physical abuse escaped the family violence cycle and can be called resilient. By applying a person-oriented analytical approach via latent class and transition analysis, we longitudinally identified and compared four distinct violence–resilience patterns. We identified violence resilience as a multidimensional latent construct, which includes hedonic and eudaimonic protective and risk indicators. Because resilience should not solely be operationalized based on the lack of psychopathology, our latent construct included both feeling good (hedonic indicators such as high levels of self-esteem and low levels of depression/anxiety and dissociation) and doing well (eudaimonic indicators such as high levels of self-determination and self-efficacy as well as low levels of aggression toward peers).DiscussionThe present study confirmed that higher cortisol levels significantly relate to the comorbid pattern (internalizing and externalizing symptoms), and further confirmed the presence of lasting alterations in brain structures. In this way, we corroborated the insight that when studying the resilience pathways and trajectories of abused adolescents, biological markers such as hair cortisol significantly enhance and deepen the understanding of the longitudinal mechanisms of psychological markers (e.g., self-determination, self-esteem, self-efficacy) that are commonly applied in questionnaires