Unemployment and Mental Health: A Longitudinal Perspective

Using longitudinal data, the current study examined the relation between mental health and unemployment. It was assumed that these concepts would mutually influence each other—that is, while the perceived characteristics of the situation of being unemployed affect mental health, mental health may also influence the intention to look for a job, amount and type of job-searching behavior, and the chances of finding a job. Drawing on partly longitudinal data from 229 unemployed Dutch youth, a model relating mental health, perceptions of the unemployment situation, job-searching behaviors, and employment status was tested using structural equation modeling and logistic regression analysis. While the expectations were largely supported, there were also several unexpected results, most notably that participants who felt powerless were more likely to be active job seekers, while only mental health (and not job-seeking behavior) was (weakly) related to the likelihood of finding a job.     

School pupils' perceptions of the police that visit schools: Not all police are ‘pigs’

This paper presents data concerning young people's perceptions of the police taking part in a police—schools liaison programme. Eighty-one 14-year-old school pupils took part in 28 semi-structured group discussions concerning their perceptions of the ‘typicality’ of police officers working in their schools. Pupils clearly differentiated between these and those ‘on the street’. Central to this differentiation was the issue of police power; the perceived atypicality of the police in schools was intimately bound up with pupils' perceptions of the qualitatively different social relations that obtain between young people and the police ‘in the school’ and ‘on the street’. The implications of these data for the literatures concerning the ‘contact hypothesis’ and police—schools liaison are discussed.     

Teaching generalization of purchasing skills across community settings to autistic youth using videotape modeling.

Three young autistic adults were trained to purchase items. Training was conducted in one setting with concurrent generalization probes taken in three community stores. Training in one setting failed to produce generalization to the three probe settings. Generalization training, which consisted of viewing videotapes of models who purchased items in the probe settings and answering questions about the models'' responses, was then introduced. Training with the videotapes resulted in generalization to the three community stores. Results of the use of videotapes as a cost-effective means to program generalization in community training programs are discussed.     

Marital Conflict Among Parents: Implications for Family Therapy with Adolescent Conduct Disorder

Conduct disorder is associated with several causative and maintaining factors, with family functioning being an important one. This is especially true in the Indian context, where a lot of the problem behaviors manifested by adolescents with conduct disorders are in the family context. Marital relationship of the parents is a key aspect of family functioning, affecting a number of other dimensions of family functioning, including adolescent adjustment. The paper highlights the role of parents’ marital conflict in the emergence and maintenance of adolescent conduct problems. The importance of family therapy in managing adolescent conduct disorder is discussed through case examples from India. Shalini Anant, MPhil, PhD Scholar, Department of Clinical Psychology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore 560029, India. Ahalya Raguram, PhD, Additional Professor, Department of Clinical Psychology, NIMHANS, Bangalore 560029, India. Address correspondence to Shalini Anant (shalinianant@gmail.com).     

Exploring the effects of a youth enrichment program on academic motivation and engagement

This study explores the effects of a youth enrichment program on academic motivation and engagement. Fifty-three students aged 14–16 years participated in the Rotary Youth Program of Enrichment (RYPEN). Embedded within the program were workshops revolving around the Student Motivation and Engagement Wheel [Martin (2003a). How to motivate your child for school and beyond. Sydney: Bantam] and strategies aimed at enhancing students’ academic motivation and engagement. Motivation was measured using the Student Motivation and Engagement Scale [Martin (2001). Australian Journal of Guidance and Counselling 11, 1–20; Martin (2003b) Australian Journal of Education, 14, 34–49] at the outset of the program, towards the end of the program, and again 6–8 weeks later. Data showed that there were gains on key facets of students’ motivation by the end of the program – gains that were sustained 6–8 weeks later. These gains were demonstrated by boys and girls. Moreover, when compared to a larger weighted sample (2769 high school students), by Time 2 and also by Time 3, significant declines in motivation had been reversed and any pre-existing advantages or parallel strengths of the RYPEN sample over the weighted sample were maintained. Five facets of the program proposed to have contributed to its effectiveness are: the optimistic expectations held by adults, the program’s focus on mastery, the climate of cooperation and the ensuing sense of belonging, the positive relationships that developed amongst students and between students and adults, and embedding school-related elements within a broader enrichment program. Each of these is discussed.     

TRAINING AND GENERALIZATION OF AFFECTIVE BEHAVIOR DISPLAYED BY YOUTH WITH AUTISM

The purpose of this study was to teach contextually appropriate affective behavior to 4 youths with autism. Treatment consisted of modeling, prompting, and reinforcement introduced in a multiple baseline design across response categories of affective behavior. During treatment, verbal praise and tokens were delivered contingent on appropriate affective responding during training trials. Modeling and verbal prompting were used as correction procedures. Each youth received treatment in either three or four response categories. Treatment systematically increased responding within the response categories for all 4 participants, with effects being specific to the affective response categories under treatment. Treatment effects occurred across untrained scenarios, therapists, time, and settings, suggesting that generalization had occurred.     

National leadership for children and youth with serious emotional disturbance: Progress and prospects

Despite the federal mandate to identify and provide appropriate educational and related services to children and youth with serious emotional disturbance (SED), the national profile portrays exceptionally low rates of identification; unacceptably low rates of school completion; high rates of placement in segregated environments; evidence that economic and demographic factors substantially affect identification, placement, and school completion; and a mixed, although mostly discouraging picture of outcomes after leaving the educational system. Recent national leadership, comprised of strategic planning, research, and demonstration initiatives has attained considerable momentum and is intended to improve outcomes for children with SED. Significant changes are anticipated as a result of the upcoming reauthorization of the statute governing special education and related services. These changes reflect a 20 year perspective regarding the benefits and shortcomings of current eligibility criteria and discretionary initiatives for improving outcomes for children with disabilities. The manner in which these changes may affect prospects for better serving children with SED is discussed.     

Self-Efficacy and Job-Seeking Activities in Unemployed Ethnic Youth

Abstract

The authors examined variables predicting the self-efficacy and the job-seeking activities of 103 unemployed ethnic youth from diverse cultural backgrounds. Whereas self-esteem and acceptance by the host culture were significant predictors of self-efficacy, the major predictors of job seeking were (a) the extent to which the ethnic youth felt accepted by members of the dominant culture and (b) the difference between their cultural backgrounds and the dominant host culture. Implications of these findings for enhancing the employment of ethnic youth are discussed.