Racial Identity: Toward an Integrated Developmental Psychological Perspective

This article outlines current knowledge and lines of research regarding racial identity and, in particular, African American racial identity. A developmental psychological framework is proposed as a means of integrating and synthesizing 2 lines of racial identity research that have emerged within the existing literature: (a) the developmental line of research and (b) the adjustment outcome line of research. The proposed integration of the current racial identity research will emphasize the interdependency of developmental mechanisms, outcome processes, and identity trajectories among minority individuals, and highlight the significance of those identities for individuals across their life spans. Potential benefits of integrating these 2 lines of research within a developmental psychological framework are discussed regarding both scientific theory and practice-related applications

Abuse Experiences in a Community Sample of Young Adults: Relations With Psychiatric Disorders, Sexual Risk Behaviors, and Sexually Transmitted Diseases

This study documents significant associations among lifetime abuse experiences, psychiatric diagnoses, and sexual risk behaviors in a multiethnic community sample of young men and women (N = 1803) in South Florida. Self-report data were collected via structured interviews as part of a longitudinal follow-up of a larger school-based study. Participants were grouped according to extent of lifetime abuse experiences. Cumulative lifetime abuse experiences were associated with increased risk for a broad range of individual lifetime psychiatric disorders, as well as cumulative lifetime psychiatric disorders. Both cumulative abuse experiences and cumulative psychiatric disorders were independently associated with (a) higher levels of sexual risk behaviors and (b) higher risk for lifetime sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Implications for selective prevention of sexual risk behaviors and STDs among young adults with histories of abuse and psychiatric disorders are discussed

Software for the frontiers of quantum chemistry:An overview of developments in the Q-Chem 5 package

This article summarizes technical advances contained in the fifth major release of the Q-Chem quantum chemistry program package, covering developments since 2015. A comprehensive library of exchange–correlation functionals, along with a suite of correlated many-body methods, continues to be a hallmark of the Q-Chem software. The many-body methods include novel variants of both coupled-cluster and configuration-interaction approaches along with methods based on the algebraic diagrammatic construction and variational reduced density-matrix methods. Methods highlighted in Q-Chem 5 include a suite of tools for modeling core-level spectroscopy, methods for describing metastable resonances, methods for computing vibronic spectra, the nuclear–electronic orbital method, and several different energy decomposition analysis techniques. High-performance capabilities including multithreaded parallelism and support for calculations on graphics processing units are described. Q-Chem boasts a community of well over 100 active academic developers, and the continuing evolution of the software is supported by an “open teamware” model and an increasingly modular design

Relations among Externalizing Behaviors, Alcohol Expectancies and Alcohol Use Problems in a Multi-Ethnic Sample of Middle and High School Students

Background: Alcohol expectancies and externalizing behaviors, that is, aggression and rule-breaking behaviors, are associated with underage alcohol use. The interactive influence of these risk factors on problem alcohol use among minority adolescents is investigated in the present study. Objectives: This study examined the unique and interactive influences of alcohol expectancies and externalizing problems on specific measures of adolescents’ (a) past three-month binge drinking episodes and (b) negative consequences of alcohol use. Methods: Cross-sectional self-report data were collected in 2014 via tablet-based computerized assessments from a predominantly minority sample of 762 (404 females, Mage = 13.73 years, SDage =1.59) 6th, 8th, and 10th grade students recruited from public middle and high schools in Miami-Dade County, FL and Prince George’s County, MD. Students completed surveys on tablets in school settings regarding alcohol expectancies, expectancy valuations, externalizing problem behaviors, past 3-month binge drinking episodes, and experiences of alcohol-related negative consequences. Results: Zero-inflated negative binomial regressions indicated: (1) older adolescents were more likely to report binge drinking; and (2) a significant main effect for externalizing problem behaviors on binge use. Logistic regressions indicated (1) older adolescents were more likely to endorse an alcohol-related negative consequence and (2) the interaction between positive alcohol expectancies and externalizing behaviors was associated with endorsing an alcohol-related negative consequence. Conclusions: Engaging adolescents who exhibit serious externalizing behaviors and report positive alcohol expectancies via developmentally appropriate, tailored interventions is one feasible strategy to address escalation of binge alcohol use and related negative consequences among minority youth

Using the NIAAA brief alcohol screener in social work practice for selected prevention targeting youth

This article discusses the use of brief screeners in social work practice to identity adolescents in need of selected interventions for alcohol and other drug use problems. Brief screeners can increase access to alcohol or other drug intervention services and promote the diffusion of evidence-based interventions to underserved communities when integrated in Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) initiatives. The two-item NIAAA Brief Alcohol Use Screener is discussed as a developmentally tailored assessment tool that can be integrated into SBIRT in social work practice to improve detection of early-stage alcohol problems among adolescents who lack routine access to preventative health care. The use of brief, empirically supported alcohol screeners in trainings for social work students and new professionals can enhance their preparation and competence to offer child and adolescent clients appropriate selected intervention options to reduce harms associated with underage alcohol use

Validation of Two Methods of Data Collection of Self-Reported Medicine Use Among the Elderly

The accuracy of medicine use information was compared for a telephone interview and mail questionnaire, using an in-home medicine check as the standard of assessment The validity of medicine use information varied by data source, level of specificity of data, and respondent characteristics. The mail questionnaire was the more valid source of overall medicine use information. Implications for both service providers and researchers are provided

Public Schools' Identification and Management of Underage Alcohol Use: A Qualitative Study

Objective: In this qualitative study, we investigated how public schools in the Miami-Dade County School District identify and manage students' underage alcohol use and to explore the benefits and challenges of systematic screening for underage alcohol use in district schools. Methods: We conducted face-to-face interviews with 16 school officials directly responsible for addressing underage alcohol use incidents at district middle and high schools. These individuals included assistant principals, guidance counselors, social workers and school-based health-care professionals. A grounded-theory approach was used to code and synthesize informants' responses. Results: No informants reported systematic screening for underage alcohol use at their schools, although their middle and high schools employed a range of intervention strategies. Emergent themes reflected common ways by which students using alcohol were identified, factors influencing underage alcohol use, and barriers to screening intervention implementation. Lack of access to acute intoxication events, differing policies across schools, inadequate resources, and reliance on administrator discretion rather than explicit policy mandates appear to undermine the development of consistent strategies for addressing suspected or reported underage alcohol use. Conclusion: Public schools may serve as key implementation contexts for future universal or selected screening initiatives to identify and manage cases of underage alcohol use. The benefits and challenges perceived by school staff and administrators – especially for implementing consistent policies across schools – are critical to the development of acceptable, feasible, and sustainable alcohol screening initiatives

Brief Underage Alcohol Use Screener Scores Predict Health Risk Behaviors

The aim of this study was to determine if adolescents’ scores on a two-item underage alcohol use screener predict risky consequences of past-year alcohol use and other health risk behaviors in a non-clinical, school-based sample of adolescents. A predominantly minority sample of 756 middle and high school students completed in-school tablet-based surveys on past-year underage alcohol use and a range of health risk behaviors. Higher scores for Self Alcohol Risk and Peer Alcohol Risk were associated with higher risk for past year riding with a drunk driver, and past 90-day measures of cigarette use, marijuana use, unplanned sex and unprotected intercourse. The NIAAA Brief Alcohol Screener is a useful tool for school-based service providers, including school nurses, to identify and address the needs of adolescents at high risk for the development of alcohol use disorders, as well as a range of preventable health risk behaviors

Preliminary Evaluation of the NIAAA/AAP Brief Alcohol Use Screener

To assess the concurrent validity of the two-item NIAAA/American Academy of Pediatrics Brief Alcohol Use Screener, a developmentally sensitive assessment instrument, in a school-based sample of adolescents. The sample consisted of 756 adolescents (53% girls; Mage = 13.7 years; SD = 1.6 years) in the 6th (n = 192), 8th (n = 283), and the 10th (n = 281) grades from Miami-Dade County, FL and Prince George's County, MD. Adolescents completed the NIAAA/AAP Brief Alcohol Use Screener, which consists of two items asking about adolescents' alcohol use and about peers' alcohol use during the last year. Peer-Risk is categorized into 'No Peer-Risk' versus 'Heightened Concern'; Self-Risk is categorized into 'No-Risk,' 'Low-Risk,' 'Moderate-Risk' or 'High-Risk,' based on alcohol use patterns and age. Adolescents also completed measures of recent alcohol use and four previously validated screener instruments. Relative to the self-use 'No-Risk' category, adolescents classified into the 'Low-,' 'Moderate-' and 'High-Risk' categories reported progressively greater alcohol use and misuse during the last 90 days. Similar patterns were observed between the Peer-Risk categories. Combined, the two NIAAA/AAP screener items were positively related to recent alcohol use and outperformed the other screeners examined. Results from the present study support the concurrent validity of the single and combined items of the NIAAA/AAP Brief Alcohol Use Screener, as well as the measure's favorable concurrent validity compared to four previously validated screener instruments. The current results support the concurrent validity of the single and combined items of the NIAAA/AAP Brief Alcohol Use Screener, as well as the measure's favorable concurrent validity compared to four previously validated screener instruments, in a school-based sample of adolescents