Multiple studies have shown that Multisystemic Therapy (MST) is, at group level, an effective treatment for adolescents showing serious externalizing problem behavior. The current study expands previous research on MST by, first, examining whether subgroups of participants who respond differently to treatment could be identified. Second, we investigated if the different trajectories of change d...

Title of Document: AMBIGUOUS LOSS, NUMBER OF FOSTER CARE PLACEMENTS, CHILD AGE AND CHILD SEX AS PREDICTORS OF THE BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS AND POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS SYMPTOMS OF CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE. Lisa JoAnn Benson, Master of Science, 2006 Directed By: Associate Professor Jacqueline Wallen, Department of Family Studies This study examined four factors that may predict the behavior problems and pos...

The primary purpose of this study was to further research and theory development in the area of risk and resilience by exploring factors associated with academic success among former foster youth--a group at high risk for developmental failure. Using data obtained from in-depth qualitative interviews with 14 former foster youth currently attending a 4-year university, the study described in thi...

a r t i c l e i n f o The absence of parents for foster children in residential treatment undermines the known positive effects of parental visits during treatment on children's permanency. To date, little attention has been given to the scope and role of visitation by non-parental adults. This study utilized clinical data from a residential treatment center for children to examine the patterns...

A recent study indicated a suicide attempt rate of 41 % among trans (e.g., trans, transgender, transexual/transsexual, genderqueer, two-spirit) individuals. Although this rate is alarming, there is a dearth of literature regarding suicide prevention for trans individuals. A vital step in developing suicide prevention models is the identification of protective factors. It was hypothesized that s...

OBJECTIVES To review the protective factors and causal mechanisms which promote and enhance Indigenous youth mental health in the Circumpolar North. STUDY DESIGN A systematic literature review of peer-reviewed English-language research was conducted to systematically examine the protective factors and causal mechanisms which promote and enhance Indigenous youth mental health in the Circumpola...

This article closes the special issue of this journal about an international review of out-of-home child care, principally family foster care and residential care, tough several aspects related to adoption were included as well. Although a comparison on some data about residential and foster care, or kinship and non-kinship care, is carried out, the article tries above all to make a reflection ...

Anecdotal evidence suggests that care farming practices have the potential to provide positive outcomes for young people in foster-care and residential care environments. A systematic review (searching; CINAHL, Web of Knowledge, PsychInfo) was conducted to explore how participation in care farming initiatives impacts attachment in children in foster-care and what aspects of care farming initiat...

Based on the human ecological model, this study hypothesized that individual competence in empathy, prosocial moral reasoning, and social influence from parents, peers, and school are the key determinants of prosocial behavior among Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong. We recruited a sample of high school students who engaged in volunteering activities regularly (N = 580). They completed a self-ad...

Resiliency theory posits that some youth exposed to risk factors do not develop negative behaviors due to the influence of promotive factors. This study examines the effects of cumulative risk and promotive factors on adolescent violent behavior and tests two models of resilience-the compensatory model and the protective model-in a sample of adolescent patients (14-18 years old; n = 726) presen...