Direct, mediated, moderated, and cumulative relations between neighborhood characteristics and adolescent outcomes

Using data from the 1990 Survey of Children and Parents, we explored direct and indirect associations between neighborhood conditions and adolescents' well-being. Analyses of data from 348 parents and their 14- to 17-year-old children indicated that neighborhood characteristics were directly related to adolescent outcomes (i.e., psychological adjustment and school problems). Second, parenting behaviors and peer characteristics significantly mediated this association. Third, the relative adaptiveness of parenting behaviors and peer attributes was contingent on neighborhood characteristics. Finally, neighborhood, parenting, and peer variables each had a unique contribution to adolescent outcomes; thus, stress across these domains was additive and posed cumulative risk for adolescents' well-being.     

Use of Ifá as a Means of Addressing Mental Health Concerns Among African American Clients

African Americans underuse counseling services because of factors such as cultural mistrust, stigma, and culturally incongruent treatment interventions. As a result, this population relies on informal healing networks. The foundations of these networks have been outlined within the professional literature. However, limited attention has been given to the indigenous healing methods used by African Americans in lieu of counseling. This article explores the conceptual, diagnostic, and treatment strategies of the indigenous healing system, Yorùbá‐based Ifá.     

The Quality Implementation Framework: A Synthesis of Critical Steps in the Implementation Process

Implementation science is growing in importance among funders, researchers, and practitioners as an approach to bridging the gap between science and practice. We addressed three goals to contribute to the understanding of the complex and dynamic nature of implementation. Our first goal was to provide a conceptual overview of the process of implementation by synthesizing information from 25 implementation frameworks. The synthesis extends prior work by focusing on specific actions (i.e., the “how to”) that can be employed to foster high quality implementation. The synthesis identified 14 critical steps that were used to construct the Quality Implementation Framework (QIF). These steps comprise four QIF phases: Initial Considerations Regarding the Host Setting, Creating a Structure for Implementation, Ongoing Structure Once Implementation Begins, and Improving Future Applications. Our second goal was to summarize research support for each of the 14 QIF steps and to offer suggestions to direct future research efforts. Our third goal was to outline practical implications of our findings for improving future implementation efforts in the world of practice. The QIF's critical steps can serve as a useful blueprint for future research and practice. Applying the collective guidance synthesized by the QIF to the Interactive Systems Framework for Dissemination and Implementation (ISF) emphasizes that accountability for quality implementation does not rest with the practitioner Delivery System alone. Instead, all three ISF systems are mutually accountable for quality implementation. Special Issue: Advances in Bridging Research and Practice Using the Interactive System Framework for Dissemination and Implementation; Guest Editors: Abraham Wandersman, Paul Flaspohler, Catherine A. Lesesne, Richard Puddy; Action Editor: Emilie Phillips Smith     

INTRODUCTION TO SYMPOSIUM ON “JUST HOW SPECIAL ARE HUMANS?”

We here introduce the Zygon Symposium on “Just How Special Are Humans?” This collection is based on a symposium at Harvard University in 2020 that brought together world leaders on the study of human nature from science, theology, and philosophy. They shared their research and perceptive insights on this key topic of great contemporary interest from quite different disciplines and viewpoints. The present Symposium contains articles further developed from the presentations, as well as two additional contributions from experts specializing in theological ethics and philosophy of religion.