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Early exposure to abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction is linked to long-term detrimental effects on mental and physical health. In the mid-1990s, Kaiser Permanente and the CDC surveyed adults in the community and found a strong and cumulative relationship between the degree of exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and risk factors for leading causes of death in adulthood. At present, most research using ACE survey methodology examines community-based adult samples, and populations who experience the greatest number of adversities are largely ignored. An additional factor indicative of household dysfunction that has not been thoroughly explored in the context of ACE survey methodology is foster care placement. Further, little is understood regarding the impact of out-of-home placement on persons with disproportionately high ACE scores and subsequent difficulties with sexual and aggressive behavior. Studies investigating differential risk factors and outcomes could inform prevention, policy, and treatment. As such, the current study seeks to investigate the impact of childhood adversity and out-ofhome placement on the onset of aggression and problem sexual behavior using ACE survey methodology in a sample of juveniles receiving residential treatment for sexual misconduct. Data for this study were collected from archival records of children and adolescents who have received sexual offender treatment at a treatment center for male youth (N=120; 88% Caucasian) for periods ranging from one month to more than four years (M=13.68 months, SD=10.96). These participants have a mean age of 14.63 years (SD=1.56; Range: 11 to 17 years) at the time of first admission into the facility. As expected, the adolescents in this study have experienced higher rates of adverse childhood experiences than the general adult population and male adolescents involved in the juvenile justice system previously reported in the literature. Only 2.5% of the current sample experienced no ACEs and 74.2% faced four or more adversities, which is considered to be high risk in the literature. Participants had a mean age at first out-of-home placement of 9 years (SD=5.21) and had an average of 3.7 out-of-home placements at time of admission to the facility. The association of childhood adversities, the number of non-psychiatric out-of-home placements, and age at first out-of-home placement with earlier onset of aggressive and sexual offending behaviors will be investigated using Cox proportional hazard analyses. Behavioral outcomes (e.g., onset of sexual and aggressive behavior problems; substance use; arrest history; and, treatment length) between individuals who were placed in family members’ homes versus those placed in non-familial foster care will also be explored. Implications for prevention and environmental responsiveness will be addressed.

Adolescent type 2 diabetes (T2D) diagnoses are on the rise. Consistent with the adult literature, preliminary evidence in adolescents suggests that T2D is associated with reduced brain volume and white matter microstructural integrity. As part of the Cognitive Performance in Adolescents with T2D (CPAT2D) study, this project aimed to test whether T2D diagnosis is associated with poorer cognitive performance in adolescents. Five adolescents with obesity and T2D (60% female; body mass index [BMI] percentile 98.2 ± 2.0; age 16.7 ± 1.1 years) were recruited and matched to two control adolescents with obesity but without T2D (50% female; BMI percentile 99.9 ± 0.2; age 15.9 ± 1.3 years) on at least three of the following characteristics: age, sex, pubertal stage and habitual sleep duration. All participants wore a wrist actigraphy device for seven consecutive nights to measure sleep at home and then completed two neuromotor cognitive tasks at a laboratory testing session assessing motor preparation (simple reaction time task) and executive functioning (affective shifting task [AST]). Control data were available through the Sleep Manipulation in Adolescents at Risk of Type 2 Diabetes (SMART2D) study. Premotor reaction time outcomes in either task and proportions of commission and omission error trials in the AST were subsequently analyzed. Based on this preliminary participant sample, there is no evidence to suggest that adolescents with compared to without T2D perform differently on the neuromotor cognitive tasks. The results should be confirmed once the intended sample size is reached. In the meantime, clinicians should monitor for changes in cognitive function in adolescents with T2D, perhaps by asking about academic achievement. The majority of our sample exhibited sub-optimal movement behaviours; to preserve overall health, adolescents with obesity and/or T2D should strive to meet sleep, physical activity and screen time recommendations for their age group.

Victimization and rejection by peers leads to and exacerbates behavior problems in children and adolescents. Given the implications of problematic peer relations for adolescents who experience behavior problems, the present study examined factors that may be related to how adolescents perceive peers who exhibit such problems. Specifically, the present study examined the relationship of adolescent peer informants’ socioeconomic status, their prior exposure to psychopathology, their own social competence, and their own behavior problems to their perceptions of peer internalizing and externalizing behavior problems, their liking of individuals who exhibit such problems, and their attributions for the etiology of such problems when portrayed by fictitious adolescents of the same age. In particular, adolescents were asked to rate a set of vignettes that portray internalizing and externalizing behavior problems that are seen commonly in peers and to complete a set of brief questionnaires. Results revealed that adolescents are able to accurately detect the presence of both internalizing and externalizing behavior problems in vignette characters. Additionally, vignette characters who display behavior problems received significantly lower liking ratings. Finally, although adolescents endorsed both internal and external etiological factors, ratings were related to the gender of the depicted vignette character and the nature of the portrayed behavior problems. Participants’ own externalizing problems, social competence, and previous exposure to behavior problems in others related uniquely to adolescents’ perceptions of the vignette characters. Overall, this study provided additional evidence that, although peers can serve as valuable informants, they also tended to reject adolescents who display behavior problems.

Arnett (2002) has suggested the development of a typology similar to one that has become popular in the ethnic identity literature (Berry, 1993; Phinney, 1990) whereby people are surveyed in terms of strength of identification with both the dominant national culture and their particular sub-group minority culture. Based on this typology, we have developed a paper and pencil measure, the Global Identity Survey (GIS), which asks participants about the degree to which they identify with either the local or global culture. A new typology is proposed, with behaviors and attitudes falling into one of the four following categories: "locally encapsulated" (high in local identification, low in global identification), "globally assimilated" (low in local identification, high in global identification), "alienated" (low in both local and global identification), or "bicultural" (high in both local and global identification). The Global Identity Survey (GIS) was administered to a sample of 713 undergraduate students (mean age = 20.33, sd = 5.67) from a Chinese university (n= 102), two Indian universities (n=231), a Colombian university (n=103), a U.S. university in Florida (n=75), and a U.S. university in Tennessee (n=202). Our first hypothesis was partly confirmed that the urban USA sample would be significantly higher in exposure to global factors, identity exploration, and openness than the other samples. Also, they would have higher percentages of bi-cultural, and globally assimilated, while the other samples would have higher percentages of locally encapsulated. Our second hypothesis was also confirmed by our study, which revealed that the bicultural group as a whole had the lowest level of identity distress and the least amount of psychological symptoms. Further analyses will be discussed.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of selected sport skills-oriented programs of physical education on the self-concept and body-image of boys in grades ten. An individual/couple (tennis) and a team (soccer) sport skills-oriented program of physical education was developed on the basis of related literature, observations, and personal experience. The programs were critically judged by a jury of five persons who suggested changes, additions, or deletions that were deemed unnecessary. [TRUNCATED] / 2031-01-01

Youth mental illness is significantly on the rise, as statistics reveal that “1 in 6 U.S. youth aged 6-17 experience a mental health disorder each year” (Mental Health By The Numbers, 2020, para 3). Rates of youth with severe depression increased from 5.9% in 2012 to 8.2% in 2015 (Nguyen, Hellbuyck, & Halpern, 2018). Despite these staggering statistics, the evidenced literature suggests that school systems have not successfully implemented mental health best practice interventions to promote youth mental health (Searcey van Vulpen, Habegar, & Simmons, 2018). Barriers that have impacted implementation of school-based mental health programs include: insufficient number of school mental health professionals, lack of staff training, lack of funding, and lack of parent support programs and prevention programs (Reinke, Stormont, Herman, Puri, & Goel, 2011). Furthermore, occupational therapy practitioners are not being utilized in intermediate and secondary schools or within school-based mental health. Occupational therapy can play a critical role in early identification of children’s mental health needs and provide strategies that would allow students to participate in academic and social activities alongside their peers (Chan, Dennis, Kim, & Jankowski, 2017). PromOTe Youth Mental Health is a comprehensive, self-paced online professional development education program that provides school personnel with fundamental knowledge and strategies to substantially improve school-based mental health programs. The program has the potential to increase occupational therapy practitioner’s distinct and valuable role in school mental health, hence significantly enhancing school-based mental health programs and irrefutably promoting youth mental health.

Despite the fact that much information is available in the literature regarding adolescents with a substance abuse problem, little exists that focuses on the parents' personal experience dealing with this problem. Not many researchers actually interviewed parents--when they did, it was usually for parents' observations of their adolescent or their views of treatment success--and seemingly none did so for the purpose of allowing parents to tell their own story in their own words. Furthermore, most of the existing literature has tended to see such parents in terms of their deficits, even when advocating the importance of their being included in the treatment process. Through the lens of a Family Systems perspective and by allowing parents to speak for themselves, this preliminary study explores what it was like for three parents to have had their sons go through a residential substance abuse treatment program. Six categories emerged from the semi-structured interviews: initial departure, settling in, homecoming, resources, costs and losses, and advice to other parents and professionals. The findings expand the primarily negative view of such parents to include a richer and more complex understanding. / Master of Science

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of ABC on adaptive functioning in high school males. Specifically, a pretest/posttest, experimental design (N = 46; Caucasian = 26, Hispanic = 20) was used to examine the changes in adaptive and maladaptive functioning in ABC participants (n = 21) compared to those in a control/waitlist group (n = 25) as measured by the Behavior Assessment System for Children, second edition (BASC-2). Participants randomly assigned to the treatment group engaged in 10 ABC sessions. In order to better understand group process in ABC, I had experimental group participants complete the Group Climate Question Short form (GCQ-S) three times during the intervention. A mixed between/within subjects ANOVA of the BASC-2 scores revealed a statistically significant increase in adaptive functioning for both groups, F(1, 33) = 8.58, p < .01, with a partial eta squared of .21 indicating a large effect. There was no statistically significant difference between the experimental and control/waitlist groups, F(1, 33) = .064, p = .80, and a very small effect size (partial eta squared < .01). A repeated measures ANOVA of the GCQ-S scores revealed a statistically significant increase in engagement, F(2, 38) = 4.067, p = .025, with an eta squared of .21, indicating a large effect. Limitations of the study, implications of the results for practice, and recommendations for future research are presented.

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2031-01-01