Developmental Timing of Onsets of Disruptive Behaviors and Later Delinquency of Inner-City Youth

A longitudinal sample of 306 males were followed with annual interviews over 4 years to evaluate the role of the timing of onset of different types of disruptive behaviors in predicting later arrest rates. In particular, we applied the Developmental Pathways model to explain progressions from less serious to more serious behaviors and progression along three types of disruptive pathways defined as Overt, Covert, and Authority Conflict behaviors. Results indicated that the sequences and the prognostic properties hypothesized for the model were supported. Most youth showed a progression from behaviors expected to occur earlier to those expected to come later according to the model. In addition, these results showed that onset timing of most types of behavior as well as rapidity of reaching more serious behavior related to arrest rate. This cross-validation extends the model to a high risk inner-city population and to Latino youth. One notable exception to the general trend found was that violence did not always follow earlier involvement in less serious offenses and did not seem to show the same onset timing relation to risk for arrests. Social-ecological differences in the precipitants of violence in the inner-city compared to other developmental settings, as well as the possibility that multiple forms of violence have differing underlying causes, may explain this exception. The model's generality suggests it has utility for guiding and discriminating risk better than simply noting the frequency, seriousness, or onset timing of delinquency.     

Implementing skill-based treatment within a classroom setting for an adolescent with autism

Research exists to support the efficacy of the Interview-Informed Synthesized Contingency Analysis (IISCA) and skill-based treatment (SBT) to address problem behavior within a clinical setting. However, limited research is available to support their use in a classroom setting and especially as a tool to avoid the display of problem behavior altogether. In the current study, the IISCA, informed by an open-ended interview, was conducted with a single participant in the classroom after a prolonged absence from school due to COVID-19. Results of the IISCA were used to determine the multiple contingencies that were likely to evoke problem behavior upon re-introduction of academic task demands. A skill-based treatment was then developed based on these contingencies, which involved teaching the participant functional communication, delay tolerance, and following academic instruction in relevant contexts. After 25 treatment sessions, the participant had acquired and maintained all of these skills, including the ability to functionally communicate, tolerate removal of preferred items, and follow educational instructions within the typical classroom routine. This study shows the applicability of the IISCA and SBT when implemented within the classroom setting and when used to reintroduce educational instruction to an individual with autism after a prolonged break from school.     

Change Pathways in Indigenous and Nonindigenous Youth Suicide

Multivariate dynamic relationships among suicide attempts, anxiety and/or depressive symptoms, hope, and help‐seeking were examined across time in Native Hawaiian and non‐Hawaiian adolescents, using data from a 5‐year longitudinal cohort study (N = 7,317). The rate of suicide attempts decreased over time, but this reduction was significantly less among Native Hawaiian youth than their non‐Hawaiian peers. There were also significant differences between groups in hope and help‐seeking, with Native Hawaiian youth increasing help‐seeking and decreasing hope to a greater degree. Youth‐centered, cultural approaches to suicide prevention are essential in enhancing well‐being in indigenous communities.     

Concerns of Older Veteran Callers to the Veterans Crisis Line

When the Veterans Crisis Line (VCL) was implemented, it was uncertain if veterans, and particularly older male veterans, would utilize the service. We examined VCL use by a growing group of veterans at increased risk for suicide: those aged 60 and older. Real‐time clinical data were gathered from a weekly random sampling of calls. Approximately 25% of calls were from veterans aged 60 or older; over 80% reported benefit from the call. Several significant differences in presenting concerns between older and younger callers were found. Targeted outreach to encourage older veterans to use the VCL is suggested.     

Book Review: Lost Boys: Why Our Sons Turn Violent and How We Can Save Them,by James Garbarino,Anchor Books, 1999, 274 pp.

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis -     

Interpreting Surrogate Consent using Counterfactuals

Philosophers such as Dan Brock believe that surrogates who make health care decisions on behalf of previously competent patients, in the absence of an advance directive, should make these decisions based upon a substituted judgment principle. Brock favours substituted judgment over a best interests standard. However, Edward Wierenga claims that the substituted judgment principle ought to be abandoned in favour of a best interests standard, because of an inherent problem with the substituted judgment principle. Wierenga's version of the substituted judgment principle and his counterexample to the principle's successful interpretation of valid surrogate consent is presented. A new version of what is meant by the substituted judgment principle is advanced. The new version is not beset with the problems Wierenga initially ascribed to the substituted judgment principle.     

Optimism, perceived risk of breast cancer, and cancer worry among a community-based sample of women.

Optimism is frequently inversely associated with distress; however, less is known about the mechanisms underlying this relationship. Optimism can be defined as having a generalized positive expectancy about the future. The authors hypothesized that a specific expectancy might mediate the relationship between optimism and distress. That model was tested using perceived risk of breast cancer as a specific measure of expectancy and cancer worry as a measure of distress in a community-based sample of 1,366 women. It was hypothesized that optimism would be inversely associated with cancer worry and that perceived risk of breast cancer would mediate the relationship between optimism and cancer worry. Multiple regression analyses revealed that perceived risk partially mediated the relationship between optimism and cancer worry.