Effectiveness of an attachment-focused manualized intervention for parents of teens at risk for aggressive behaviour: The Connect Program

Aggressive, violent and antisocial behaviour in children and adolescents is a growing concern across the globe. Targeting parent-teen relationships is critical in reducing problem behaviour. ‘Connect’ is a manualized ten-week program for parents or alternative caregivers of at-risk teens that focuses on the building blocks of secure attachment: parental sensitivity, cooperation, reflective capacity, and effective dyadic affect regulation. Through didactic and experiential activities, parents develop the competence necessary to identify, understand and respond to the needs of their teen in a manner that provides structure and safety while safeguarding the quality of the parent-teen relationship. In Study 1, twenty parents reported significant increases in perceived parenting satisfaction and efficacy and reductions in adolescents\u27 aggression, antisocial behaviour and other mental health problems following completion of Connect as compared to a waitlist control period. These effects were sustained and additional small effects were noted in decreases in conduct problems, depression and anxiety at a 12-month follow-up. The program was then transported to 17 communities serving 309 parents through standardized training and supervision of group leaders. Study 2 summarizes significant pre- to post-treatment reductions in teen externalizing and internalizing problems; enhanced social functioning; and improvements in affect regulation. Parents also reported significant increases in parenting satisfaction and perceived efficacy and reductions in caregiver burden

Shifting internal parent-child representations among caregivers of teens with serious behaviour problems: An attachment-based approach

Attachment theory provides a rich framework for the development of interventions for trauma. This study examined processes underlying treatment outcomes of an attachment-based program (Connect; Moretti, Braber, & Obsuth, 2009) for parents of teens with severe behavior problems. Caregivers completed the Parenting Representations Interview and the Child Behavior Checklist prior to and following treatment. Results confirmed significant reductions in teens\u27 problem behavior and changes in parental representations of the parent, teen, and parent–teen relationship. Shifts in parenting representation were significantly related to reductions in teen problem behavior, consistent with the view that changing attachment representations underlies therapeutic effects

Exposure to maternal versus paternal partner violence, PTSD and aggression in adolescent girls and boys

Adolescents who witness interparental violence (IPV) are at increased risk for perpetrating aggressive acts. They are also at risk for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In this study, we examined the relation between exposure to maternal vs. paternal physical IPV and adolescent girls\u27 and boys\u27 aggressive behavior toward mothers, fathers, friends, and romantic partners. We also assessed the influence of PTSD (as assessed by the Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents-IV (DICA-IV)) on the relation between exposure to IPV and aggressive behavior. Participants were 63 girls and 49 boys, ages 13-18, consecutively admitted to a youth correctional facility or assessment facility designated to serve aggressive and delinquent youth. Structural equation modeling was used to estimate unique relations between exposure to maternal vs. paternal IPV and youth aggression in relationships. Girls who observed their mothers\u27 aggressive behavior toward partners were significantly more aggressive toward friends. Similarly, boys who witnessed their fathers\u27 aggression were significantly more aggressive toward friends. Adolescent girls and boys who observed aggression by mothers toward partners reported significantly higher levels of aggression toward their romantic partners. Approximately one third of our sample met PTSD criteria; the relation between exposure to parental IPV and aggression was stronger for individuals who met criteria for PTSD. The implications of understanding the relations between parents\u27 and their daughters\u27 and sons\u27 use of aggression are discussed within the context of providing support for families in breaking intergenerational patterns of violence and aggression

No Evidence That Substance Use Causes ADHD Symptoms in Adolescence

There is a robust association between attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms and elevated substance use. Several plausible causal pathways from ADHD to substance use have been articulated and supported empirically. In this study, we tested the recent suggestion that substance use could also influence levels of ADHD symptoms. Using the three most recent waves of data from the Zurich Project on the Social Development of Children and Youth (z-proso), we found significant and strong cross-lagged effects of ADHD symptoms on substance use but no significant effects in the opposite direction. This suggests that individual differences in substance use are not related to increases in ADHD symptoms in adolescence. Adolescent-onset symptoms of ADHD are thus unlikely to be caused by substance use, and targeting substance use problems is unlikely to reduce ADHD symptoms.Funding from the Jacobs Foundation (Grant 2010-888) and the Swiss National Science Foundation (Grants 100013_116829 & 100014_132124) is gratefully acknowledged

Violent Poly‐Victimization: The Longitudinal Patterns of Physical and Emotional Victimization Throughout Adolescence (11–17 Years)

In this study, we aimed to characterize developmental patterns of poly‐victimization in a normative sample of adolescents by applying longitudinal latent class analysis. Using the four most recent waves of data from the Zurich Project on the Social Development of Children and Youths (z‐proso), we identified three classes, or separate groups, of youths with distinct patterns of victimization from age 11 to 17. The largest class represented young people who were least likely to be victimized in any way and at any time. The two smaller groups represented different types of poly‐victimization—a non‐parental and a long‐term parental victimization group. Adolescents in the two groups differed both in the number as well as type of victimization that they experienced at different times. Moreover, class membership also had implications for different mental health outcomes

Shaping aggressive personality in adolescence: Exploring cross-lagged relations between aggressive thoughts, aggressive behaviour and self-control

Aggressive ideations can be defined as thoughts, daydreams or fantasies of harming another. They feature intheoretical models of aggressive behaviour causation and are used in violence risk assessments. Little isknown, however, about long term relations between aggressive ideations, aggressive behaviour and relatedvariables such as self-control. We examined cross-lagged associations between these variables in the most recenttwo waves of the Zurich project on social development (z-proso) when the participants were aged 15 and 17. Wefound that aggressive ideations were highly stable across this time span. The only significant cross-lagged effectswere between aggressive behaviour at age 15 and self-control and aggressive ideations at age 17. Results are consis-tent with the strength model of self-control in which changes in specific self-controlled behaviour can producegeneralised changes in self-control. They are also consistent with the hypothesis that aggressive ideations aremore a reaction to or a reflection of shared causes with, rather than a cause of, aggressive behaviour. Future studiesshould aim to integrate measurements across short and long time scales in order to further understand the causalinteractions between aggressive ideations and behaviours as they play out across at the state and trait level

The developmental relation between aggressive behaviour and prosocial behaviour: A 5-year longitudinal study

BACKGROUND: Past research has shown links between both children's aggressive behaviour and a lack of prosocial behaviour to later maladaptation. Both types of behaviours have also been identified as crucial in children's social and emotional development and later (mal)adaptation. However, little is known about the way they predict each other over time. METHODS: We utilised a large, ethnically diverse, longitudinal population sample of girls and boys (N = 1,334) to examine the bidirectional cross-lagged links between aggressive and prosocial domains of behaviour from age seven to eleven. Teacher, parent and child self-reports were utilised to assess aggressive behaviour and prosocial behaviour. RESULTS: The results revealed that aggressive behaviour measured one year predicted decreases in prosocial behaviour in the following year. Conversely, prosocial behaviour did not predict changes in aggressive behaviour in the subsequent year. Furthermore, peer difficulties were examined and found to be an important mediator of the link between aggressive and prosocial behaviour. Specifically, peer difficulties mediated the links between aggressive behaviour and prosocial behaviour one year later, particularly during the first three years of school attendance. CONCLUSIONS: Implications of the findings for the design of intervention strategies to reduce children's aggressive behaviour are discussed

Situating violent ideations within the landscape of mental health: Associations between violent ideations and dimensions of mental health

Violent ideations occur more frequently in individuals with mental health problems. They may be of interest in clinical contexts as possible indicators of dangerousness, as corollaries of mental health problems, as candidate treatment targets and as potentially playing a role in perpetuation or onset of symptoms. In spite of their relevance to mental health, some fundamental questions about their place within the broader landscape of mental health problems remain unanswered. To provide a basic characterisation of the relations between violent ideations and dimensions of mental health and provide a foundation for future research in this area we factor analysed a measure of violent ideations and an omnibus measure of mental health dimensions in a normative sample of 1306 youth (at age 17). Results supported a separate dimension of violent ideations with a small to moderate correlation with five other dimensions of mental health: internalising, prosociality, ADHD, indirect/proactive aggression, and physical/reactive aggression. Controlling for comorbidity among mental health dimensions, all but ADHD had unique relations with violent ideations. This suggests that violent ideations are potentially of broad relevance to mental health and related behaviours and there should be a greater research effort aimed at understanding their possible role in mental health

Long-term labour market and economic consequences of school exclusions in England: evidence from two counterfactual approaches

Background: Previous research suggests that school exclusion during childhood is a precursor to social exclusion in adulthood. Past literature on the consequences of school exclusion is, however, scarce and mainly focused on short-term outcomes such as educational attainment, delinquency, and mental health in early adolescence. Moreover, this evidence is based primarily on descriptive and correlational analysis, whereas robust causal evidence is required to best inform policy. Aims: We aimed to estimate the mid-to-long-term impact of school exclusion on labour market and economic outcomes. Sample: The sample included 6,632 young people who at the age of 25/26 in the year 2015 participated in the Next Steps survey of whom 86 were expelled from school and 711 were suspended between the ages of 13/14 and 16/17. Method: Using high quality existing longitudinal data, we utilized four approaches to evaluate the impact of school exclusion: logistic regression-adjustment models, propensity score matching, school fixed-effects analysis, and inverse propensity weighting. The latter two counterfactual approaches were used to estimate causal effects. Results: We found that school exclusion increased the risk of becoming NEET at the age of 19/20, and then remaining economically inactive at the age of 25/26, as well as experiencing higher unemployment risk and earning lower wages also at the age of 25/26. Conclusion: School exclusion has pervasive negative effects into adulthood. Policy interventions should focus on both prevention and mitigating its negative effects. Interventions aimed at re-integrating excluded individuals into education or vocational training could be key in reducing the risk of poor socio-economic outcomes and social exclusion.</p

Teacher-Student Relationships in Childhood as a Protective Factor against Adolescent Delinquency up to Age 17: A Propensity Score Matching Approach

In this paper we examined the impact of the quality of teacher-student relationships at age 10 on young people’s delinquency at ages 13, 15, and 17 utilizing propensity-score matching. The young people were matched based on 105 characteristics, measured at ages 7 to 10. The sample comprised 1483 (49.4% female) adolescents representing around 80 different countries of origin, residing in Zurich, Switzerland. We found that young people who reported a better relationship with their teacher at age 10, engaged in fewer delinquent acts at ages 13, 15, and 17. These findings suggest that when young people perceive a better relationship with their teachers this serves as a protective factor against their engagement in delinquency up to 7 years later. </jats:p