Despite varying perceptions and indicators of risk, some children and adolescents labeled at risk are successful in academic endeavors and in life and could be characterized as resilient (Barone, 1999, 2004; Benard, 2004; Waxman, Padron, & Gray, 2004; Wolin & Wolin, 1993). Using a multiple case study design, the purpose of this study was to explore literacy habits and everyday experiences of three African American, female adolescents, who were labeled at risk, yet displayed resilience. Data were collected throughout their senior year of high school, both inside and outside of school, and included observations, interviews, and document analysis. Data collection and analysis were grounded in a social theoretical framework, comprising theories of adolescent literacy, resilience, and identity. Analysis of the individual cases contextualized their unique experiences providing an in-depth understanding of the ways in which the participants enacted their resilient identities. Further, this analysis revealed the complex nature of literacy in their lives and their tremendous literacy growth. The cross case analysis examined overarching themes found across the three participants, which provided a more holistic lens for understanding resilience and literacy by juxtaposing their resilient characteristics and literacy practices with their lived experiences. The findings are discussed, and implications for educators and researchers are provided in an effort to better understand and serve students with at-risk labels.

Objetivos: Determinar a prevalência das maloclusões, sua gravidade e necessidade de tratamento em adolescentes e adultos jovens entre 15 e 24 anos de idade do interior do Uruguai e sua associação com variáveis demográficas, sociais e de qualidade de vida e alguns indicadores de risco. Métodos: Foi realizado um estudo transversal com dados da "Primeira Pesquisa Nacional de Saúde Bucal da população jovem e adulta uruguaia", realizada entre 2010 e 2011. 438 pessoas foram examinadas. Análise estatística: As diferenças na prevalência de maloclusões entre as categorias de co- variáveis foram testadas com o teste do qui-quadrado para heterogeneidade com linearização de Taylor. Resultados: A prevalência das maloclusões foi de 33,8% no período. Maloclusões mostraram associação com qualidade de vida. Conclusões: Os resultados deste estudo são os primeiros realizados com uma amostra representativa dessa população e, portanto, de interesse para os gestores de saúde pública e outros pesquisadores no campo. / Objectives: Determine the prevalence of malocclusion, their severity and need for treatment in adolescents and young adults between 15 and 24 years of age outside the capital of Uruguay and its association with social demographic and quality of life variables, and risk indicators Methods: A cross sectional study was performed using data from the "First National Survey of Oral Health in young and adult Uruguayan population" conducted between 2010 and 2011. It was examined 438 people. Statistical analysis: The differences in prevalence of malocclusion among categories of covariates were tested with the chi-square test for heterogeneity with Taylor linearization. Results: The prevalence of malocclusion was 33,8 % in the period. Malocclusions showed association with quality of life. Conclusions: The results of this study are the first ones conducted with a representative sample in this population and therefore of interest for public health managers and other researchers in the field.

Objetivos: Determinar a prevalência das maloclusões, sua gravidade e necessidade de tratamento em adolescentes e adultos jovens entre 15 e 24 anos de idade do interior do Uruguai e sua associação com variáveis demográficas, sociais e de qualidade de vida e alguns indicadores de risco. Métodos: Foi realizado um estudo transversal com dados da "Primeira Pesquisa Nacional de Saúde Bucal da população jovem e adulta uruguaia", realizada entre 2010 e 2011. 438 pessoas foram examinadas. Análise estatística: As diferenças na prevalência de maloclusões entre as categorias de co- variáveis foram testadas com o teste do qui-quadrado para heterogeneidade com linearização de Taylor. Resultados: A prevalência das maloclusões foi de 33,8% no período. Maloclusões mostraram associação com qualidade de vida. Conclusões: Os resultados deste estudo são os primeiros realizados com uma amostra representativa dessa população e, portanto, de interesse para os gestores de saúde pública e outros pesquisadores no campo. / Objectives: Determine the prevalence of malocclusion, their severity and need for treatment in adolescents and young adults between 15 and 24 years of age outside the capital of Uruguay and its association with social demographic and quality of life variables, and risk indicators Methods: A cross sectional study was performed using data from the "First National Survey of Oral Health in young and adult Uruguayan population" conducted between 2010 and 2011. It was examined 438 people. Statistical analysis: The differences in prevalence of malocclusion among categories of covariates were tested with the chi-square test for heterogeneity with Taylor linearization. Results: The prevalence of malocclusion was 33,8 % in the period. Malocclusions showed association with quality of life. Conclusions: The results of this study are the first ones conducted with a representative sample in this population and therefore of interest for public health managers and other researchers in the field.

Objetivos: Determinar a prevalência das maloclusões, sua gravidade e necessidade de tratamento em adolescentes e adultos jovens entre 15 e 24 anos de idade do interior do Uruguai e sua associação com variáveis demográficas, sociais e de qualidade de vida e alguns indicadores de risco. Métodos: Foi realizado um estudo transversal com dados da "Primeira Pesquisa Nacional de Saúde Bucal da população jovem e adulta uruguaia", realizada entre 2010 e 2011. 438 pessoas foram examinadas. Análise estatística: As diferenças na prevalência de maloclusões entre as categorias de co- variáveis foram testadas com o teste do qui-quadrado para heterogeneidade com linearização de Taylor. Resultados: A prevalência das maloclusões foi de 33,8% no período. Maloclusões mostraram associação com qualidade de vida. Conclusões: Os resultados deste estudo são os primeiros realizados com uma amostra representativa dessa população e, portanto, de interesse para os gestores de saúde pública e outros pesquisadores no campo. / Objectives: Determine the prevalence of malocclusion, their severity and need for treatment in adolescents and young adults between 15 and 24 years of age outside the capital of Uruguay and its association with social demographic and quality of life variables, and risk indicators Methods: A cross sectional study was performed using data from the "First National Survey of Oral Health in young and adult Uruguayan population" conducted between 2010 and 2011. It was examined 438 people. Statistical analysis: The differences in prevalence of malocclusion among categories of covariates were tested with the chi-square test for heterogeneity with Taylor linearization. Results: The prevalence of malocclusion was 33,8 % in the period. Malocclusions showed association with quality of life. Conclusions: The results of this study are the first ones conducted with a representative sample in this population and therefore of interest for public health managers and other researchers in the field.

Magister Psychologiae - MPsych / This study ultimately aimed to explore children' and adolescents' perceptions of exposure to community violence. More specifically, the study investigated the meanings that adolescents assign to personal safety and security and the extent to which these assignations explain child and adolescent well-being. At a methodological level, the study followed a qualitative methodological framework and collected data from 14 adolescents between the ages of 14 and 15. Two focus groups were used to collect the data which consisted of seven participants each. Participants were purposively selected from a high school located in a low income community in Cape Town. Thematic analysis was used to analyse and interpret the findings and the study was framed using Bronfenbrenner's ecological framework and the theoretical perspectives of Bulhan's theory of violence, social identity theory, psychological theories, social learning theory, and social disorganization theory. Key findings indicated that the participants were exposed to violence, both through witnessing and being subjected to it within their school, home, and community. Some children perceived a lack of safety within the environments with which they interacted. Data further indicated that exposure to violence created feelings of insecurity, such as fear and anxiety. Similarly, exposure to violence was perceived to have various detrimental effects on the well-being of a child and adolescent. These effects included injury, poor academic performance, post traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, fear, hopelessness, and many others. In addition to this, and based on these results, this study is significant because it taps into the realities faced by many children so that an awareness can be created and a safe space provided for these children to be children. / South Africa

Therapeutic alliance is an umbrella term referring to core aspects of the interaction and relationship between patient and practitioner during treatment. It has long been considered an important component of success in psychological and medical treatments. A survey of practitioners in child mental health (Kazdin, 1997) found that 95% thought that the relationship with the patient was the most important predictor of treatment outcome; there is research evidence suggesting the significant impact of alliance quality on outcome in adults and children, for both psychological (Martin et al., 2000, Shirk and Karver, 2003; Shirk, Karver and Brown, 2011) and general medical (Burkitt-Wright et al., 2004) treatments. Alliance, however, has been relatively little researched in childhood and until recently the emphasis (in both research and training) has been much more on the protocol details of treatment methods as opposed to detailed understanding of treatment process and the practitioner-patient relationship. Studies reporting associations between therapeutic alliance and treatment outcome have often been weakened by methodological difficulties in measurement and have failed to settle the direction of causality between symptom change and alliance (Kazdin and Nock, 2003). In treatment trials, alliance is often only measured in the experimental arm; this makes analysis of its effect difficult (Dunn and Bentall, 2007, and Emsley et al., 2010).This study represents an exceptional opportunity to address these limitations. It makes use of data collected during one of the most rigorous recent studies done in child mental health in the UK (Goodyer et al., 2007). This enables detailed study of the therapeutic relationship during treatment and allows testing of the effects of this relationship on the success of treatment. Sessional audiotapes were available within both arms of this trial. Purposeful selection of tapes from both arms of the trial during treatment were transcribed and rated for treatment alliance. Other data already collected in the trial was included in an analysis to address questions of direction of causality of alliance in relation to symptom change during treatment and the way that alliance may explain treatment effect heterogeneity.The results indicate a complex effect of alliance upon outcome. There is a relationship between early alliance score and clinical improvement, but the relationship is not straightforward and the predictive effect of alliance appears to depend on differences in patient groups and therapist effects. Analysis of treatment effect heterogeneity suggests that therapeutic alliance is associated with the individual treatment effect and implies that with poor alliance, more treatment may be detrimental. The complexities of the results are discussed with reference to implications for further research in this area as well as clinical practice.

Purpose: The metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a cluster of metabolic abnormalities including high waist circumference and blood pressure, elevated triglyceride, glucose, and, insulin concentrations and low high density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations. The prevalence of MetS in overweight and obese adolescents ranges from 10 to 66% depending of the definition used and the population studied. Obese adolescents are more prone to have MetS, highlighting the necessity of designing effective none pharmacological interventions targeting the specific needs of adolescents and to improve the management of the metabolic syndrome. Objectives: The objectives of this thesis were first, to perform a secondary data analysis of the Healthy Eating Aerobic and Resistance Training in Youth (HEARTY) trial to determine the effects of different modalities of exercise training on the prevalence of the MetS and second, to do a critical analysis of the literature surrounding the MetS concept and diagnostic for the pediatric population. Methods: Among the 304 participants of the HEARTY trial, 65 (21%) participants were classified as having MetS by the International Diabetes Federation. Measures of waist circumference, blood pressure, fasting plasma concentrations of lipids, glucose and insulin and prevalence of MetS were compared to baseline and post-6 months intervention (Aerobic training, Resistance training, Combined aerobic and resistance training and Control). Results: There were no significant changes in the prevalence of MetS within and between Aerobic, Resistance, Combined aerobic and resistance and Control groups after the 6-month intervention. However, significant improvements in MetS parameters were observed from baseline to post-intervention within groups. Aerobic and Resistance training alone significantly decreased waist circumference and systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Combined aerobic and resistance significantly decreased triglyceride concentrations and increased high density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations whereas Control significantly decreased systolic blood pressure and insulin levels. Conclusions: Exercise, regardless of the modality, and diet counseling were not statistically effective for reducing the prevalence of MetS but did improve some of the independent MetS parameters. The absence of statistical difference in the prevalence of the MetS may be due to a lack of statistical power. Moreover, the critical analysis of the MetS literature bring us to conclude that the first step towards a standard definition of MetS for the adolescent population is to define the true clinical purpose of a MetS diagnostic in the pediatric population.

Prosociality describes the tendency to engage in behaviours that aim to enhance or maintain the well-being of others, for example, sharing and co-operating. In children and adolescents this trait is often viewed as a core aspect of social competence and an important developmental outcome. Prosociality may also play an important role in how young people navigate their increasingly complex social world. This raises the question of whether individual differences in prosociality are related to young peoples’ well-being, such as their risk of developing psychological problems. The goal of the current series of research was to explore this question. A series of four studies was designed to answer this question. This research made use of pre-existing survey data, including the “mental health of children and young people in Great Britain, 2004” survey (Papers 3 & 4) and the “Understanding Society” survey (Paper 2), enabling access to large sample sizes. In Paper 1, a meta-analysis was undertaken to determine the nature of the relationship between prosociality and two important clinical outcomes, internalizing disorder and low self-esteem. This review identified a significant but small relationship between greater prosociality and reduced internalizing disorder or low self-esteem. In Paper 2, a longitudinal study explored the relationship between prosociality and well-being over a 1-year-period in children and adolescents. This study did not identify any prospective effect of prosociality upon subsequent changes in well-being. Two further studies explored the factors that may influence whether prosociality is linked to well-being. In Paper 3 the possibility that existing measures of prosociality may partly account for the small or null relationships observed so far (Papers 1 & 2) was explored by developing and validating a new measure of prosociality. This new measure appeared psychometrically robust and demonstrated advantages over pre-existing scales of prosociality. In Paper 4, a cross-sectional study was undertaken to explore whether the discrepancy in young peoples’ self-ratings and parental ratings of prosociality has a relationship with emotional problems (i.e., depression and anxiety). A moderator analysis found that self-rated and parent-rated prosociality may interact to determine risk of psychological problems in young people. This study suggested that the discrepancy in ratings of prosociality may be more important in predicting psychological problems than overall ratings by individual informants. Results support the relevance of prosociality to well-being in young people and highlight how factors such as the measurement of prosociality and the interpersonal context within which it occurs impact upon this relationship.

My study is a sub-study of the Resilient Youth in Stressed Environments (RYSE) Project (ethics clearance, UP17/05/01). The RYSE project focuses on gaining a more thorough understanding of the resilience of youth living in communities that are dependent on the petrochemical industry, as well as the associated risks. The purpose of my qualitative sub-study was to explore how older adolescents from the eMbalenhle community explain resilience in the face of unemployment. The current literature tends to be reliant on academic understandings of resilience. In order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of resilience, it is important to recognise the perspectives of resilience of adolescents who live in a highly stressed environment that is confronted by multiple risks. In order to achieve the purpose of my study, I assumed an interpretivist approach. This approach is appropriate for developing an understanding of adolescents’ individual experiences and perceptions of resilience in a petrochemical community and in the face of unemployment. To guarantee that my question was answered, I utilised a phenomenological research design. The RYSE Project has established a Community Advisory Panel (CAP), and the CAP purposively sampled the participants involved in my study. Seven adolescents (all male) between the ages of 18 and 24 were recruited from eMbalenhle in the Govan Mbeki municipality in Mpumalanga. An Arts-based activity (draw and talk) and an informal group discussion were used to generate data. An inductive, thematic analysis of the data was conducted in order to identify themes. Ungar’s (2011) Social Ecology of Resilience Theory (SERT) provided the theoretical framework for my study. The main themes that emerged from the data, regarding resilience enablers among adolescents in the face of unemployment, were: Having a vision, appropriating opportunities, and drawing on social support. The themes that arose from the adolescents’ explanations of resilience support the SERT. I think these themes are important for educational psychologists who work with adolescents challenged by unemployment in eMbalenhle because they highlight the importance of social support and community in interventions. In addition, these themes provide possible individual strategies, from the perspective of adolescents, that could allow for positive adaptation despite adversity. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Educational Psychology / MEd / Unrestricted

<div> <div> <div> <p>Incidence rates of adolescents with type 2 diabetes are increasing rapidly; there was an increase of 30% between 2019 and 2009. Even more alarming is that studies show that the most effective treatment, metformin monotherapy, is only effective at maintaining glycemic control in approximately 50% of individuals. Additionally, adolescents with diabetes may experience serious microvascular and macrovascular complications sooner than adults, which can impact the quality of life of young adults across the globe. Therefore, diabetes in adolescents is a public health concern, and there is very little research to guide treatment and prevention. It is widely known that adolescents have a very poor dietary pattern, characterized by increased intakes of added sugars from refined grains, and minimal amounts of fruits, vegetables, and fiber. There is conflicting evidence in the literature connecting increased added sugar intake to insulin resistance and diabetes development. Considering the very poor diets consumed by adolescents, and that nutrition is a modifiable risk factor for diabetes, we aimed to examine the associations between added sugar consumption, glycemic values, and measures of insulin resistance and beta-cell function. This pilot study analyzed dietary and glycemic data from participants that were screened for an ongoing randomized control trial which is an adolescent diabetes prevention program that uses health coaching to improve diet and physical activity behaviors called the Dietary Intervention for Glucose Tolerance in Teens (Dig It) Study. Fasting blood glucose, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), and 2-hour glucose concentrations were collected during an oral glucose tolerance test that was used to screen adolescents with obesity for diabetes. Consumption of added sugar and other dietary intake data were collected from food records created by the Technology Assisted Dietary Assessment (TADA) application. The homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) was calculated from glucose and insulin concentrations in the fasting state (1) obtained from an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Whole-body insulin sensitivity index (WBISI), and the oral disposition index (DI) were calculated from measures obtained during oral glucose tolerance testing(2, 3)</p></div></div></div><div><div><div><p> Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software and included independent t-tests and Pearson correlations. Of the 48 participants included in this analysis, 59.2% were female, 32% were African American, 57% were white, and 8.2% were more than one race. The mean age was 16.20 ± 2.7 years, and 42% had prediabetes. Those with normoglycemia consumed 11.0 ± 5.1% of energy from added sugars, compared to 9.4±5.1% energy from added sugars for individuals with prediabetes. There was no significant correlation between HbA1c and percent calories coming from added sugar (R= -0.237, P=0.063), percent calories coming from added sugar and fasting blood glucose (R= 0.208, P= 0.090), or percent calories from added sugar and 2-hour glucose (R= 0.017, P= 0.457). There were no significant correlations found between percent calories from added sugar and HOMA-IR (R= 0.129, P= 0.234), percent calories from added sugar and WBISI (R= -0.069, P= 0.350), or percent calories from added sugar and DI (R= -0.118, P= 0.253). There were also no significant differences between the mean values of HbA1c, fasting glucose, or 2-hour glucose between individuals that consumed high vs. low amounts of added sugar, as measured by an independent t-test. The p-values were 0.634, 0.434, and 0.234 respectively. To examine the extent to which % calories from added sugar predicted variances in glycemic values, hierarchical multiple regression analyses were performed. Once energy, physical activity, BMI Z-Score, and age were entered into the model, % energy from added sugar accounted for an additional 9.6% variance in HbA1c. In conclusion, we did not find significant associations between consumption of added sugar and glycemic and insulin resistance or beta-cell function outcomes in adolescents who are obese, however our study lacked sufficient power. While our findings were not definitive, studies to identify dietary factors that promote or prevent hyperglycemia and insulin resistance are needed to inform dietary intervention strategies that may be effective at decreasing T2D in adolescents. </p> <p>12 </p> </div> </div> </div>