In national surveys of adolescents, Latina females have been found to have higher rates of suicidal ideation and attempts when compared to Latino males and to non-Latino White and Black males and females (Centers for Disease Control [CDC], 2014). The reasons for these gender and racial disparities in suicidal behavior have not been definitively established. Prior research indicates that suicidal behavior among adolescents is influenced by both individual-level psychological symptoms and by psychosocial risk factors (Bridge, Goldstein, & Brent, 2006; King & Merchant, 2008; Prinstein, Boergers, Spirito, Little, & Grapentine, 2000). Among Latina adolescents in particular, the interplay between cultural processes and family relationships has been identified as a key influence on suicidal behavior (Zayas, 2011). The purpose of this study was to build upon Zayas’s (2011) model of suicidality among adolescent Latinas by evaluating the relative effects of individual, family, and peer factors on suicidal ideation, plans, and attempts. A latent variable structural equation model (SEM) was developed and tested using a sample that included 946 Latinas aged 13 to 18 who were interviewed for a national psychiatric epidemiological survey, the National Comorbidity Survey – Adolescent Supplement (NCS-A; Kessler, 2013). The SEM model measured the direct and indirect effects of the latent variables of generation status, peer support, negative peer influence, family relationships, and depression on suicidality. Results of the study indicated that higher levels of depression, poorer family relationships, and higher levels of negative peer influence resulted in higher levels of suicidality. The influence of family relationships and negative peer influence on suicidality were partially mediated by depression; however, negative peer influence also had a substantial direct effect on suicidality. Results of this study support a clinical focus on multisystemic interventions for Latina adolescents that address functioning at individual, family, and peer levels, as well as further investigation into the pathways by which negative peer influence impacts suicidality in this population. / text

Functional health status, morbidity and mortality are determined partly by health behaviours (World Health Organization, 2002), which have determinants of their own. Personality traits, such as Conscientiousness, have a strong association with health behaviours (Bogg & Roberts, 2004). There is a less consistent and generally weaker association between traits and health outcomes (e.g. Neuroticism and mortality). The central problem in this thesis is how to measure, model, maximize, and extend trait-health associations. Conceptual issues associated with modelling traits and health are discussed in chapter one. The next three chapters concern such measurement issues about: personality traits (chapter two), health behaviours (chapter three) and health outcomes, with particular reference to functional health status (chapter four). These chapters are followed by a move to modelling (chapter five), with particular reference to the generalized latent variable modelling (LVM) framework (Muth´en & Muth´en, 1998–2007). The HAPPLE study is introduced (chapter six) which is used to model associations between Conscientiousness and health criteria within the LVMframework (chapter seven). Moving beyond self-reported outcomes, which are a mono-method approach, the role of multiple health behaviours in predicting cardiovascular mortality is considered (chapter eight). In a third section, cortisol is introduced, which is a biomarker of stress reactivity. The diurnal profile of cortisol output is described (chapter nine). Latent growth curve modelling is used to illustrate its association with Neuroticism, in a sample of student volunteers (chapter 10). Taken together, the results highlight the need for a general framework of modelling techniques, in personality-health research. I conclude that biopsychosocial models with excellent explanatory power, which are still parsimonious, can be achieved with LVM and its extensions. However, trait researchers will need to state more clearly the intended destinations of their work in order to attract contributions from, and share knowledge with, other disciplines.

This paper argues that the distinction between grey and non-grey (or white) literature will become less relevant over time, as online discovery options proliferate. In the meantime, the political success of the open access publishing movement has valuable lessons for proponents of increasing access to grey literature.

The behavior and patterns of recovery and processing of digital information by users is a recurring theme in the literature. The study of these behaviors are carried out through observation techniques and analysis of processes, actions and decisions undertaken by users in different situations. This paper presents the data resulting from the study of patterns of recovery and management of reference information of three consecutive courses of a specialized subject. The findings obtained showed a clear difference between patterns of information retrieval and obtained prior to the end of the training process, but there has been a significant change in the ultimate goal of users or appreciable changes in their prospects for application in other environments.

<p>Indonesia consistently records higher levels of maternal mortality than other countries in Southeast Asia with its same level of socioeconomic development. I use a quasi-experimental, difference-in-differences approach to understand whether the role of information on the risk of death in childbirth can change women’s reproductive behaviors. In the first two chapters, I use the Maternal Mortality Module from the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) in Indonesia to examine fertility and reproductive behavior responses to a sister’s death in childbirth. Fertility desires remain relatively unchanged but women take up behaviors in subsequent births that avert the risk of maternal death. In the last chapter, I combine population-representative data from the DHS with a village-level census (PODES) on service availability to understand how a village-level intervention to improve obstetric service use using a birth preparedness and complications readiness (BPCR) approach may improve obstetric service use. In this study, I find that the Desa Siaga intervention in Indonesia improved knowledge of the danger signs of complications among women but not among men relative to villages that did not get the program while controlling for endogenous program placement. More women got antenatal care due to the program but use of a skilled birth attendant and postpartum care did not change as a result of the intervention. Both genders report discussing a blood donor in preparation for delivery.</p> / Dissertation

Leading innovation is a difficult process because it is replete with tensions and paradoxes. Innovations require leaders to switch leadership styles depending on the context and the phase of innovation. This study used two leadership theoretical frameworks, transformational and transactional leaderships, to understand the leadership behaviors used to promote and manage the process of innovation. The purpose of this study was to explore leadership behaviors exhibited by evaluation team leaders during the process of innovation. The focus of the study was on leadership behaviors and study participants are individuals who identify as evaluators who led a team of two or more evaluators. This study used Critical Incident Technique (CIT) to better understand the leadership behaviors exhibited during the process of innovation. Through semi-structured interviews, participants described a specific innovation that he/she led during the past 24 months, the actions they took to lead and support their team, outcomes and their perspectives about the process. Contradictory behaviors were exhibited at all three key stages of innovation—insight, prototype, and adoption. Leaders described both transformational and transactional leadership behaviors at all the major innovation phases. Leaders were both people and task oriented in their leadership style.

This study gives attention to the effects of instability of placement, emotional disturbances, and at-risk behaviors on the academic performance of adolescents in foster care, specifically males. The purpose of this study was to examine the academic success of male adolescents in foster care and environmental influences that prevent many children from excelling. Data were extracted and analyzed (Chi-Square) from 50 of200 case files (active and discharged). The sample represented male residents (12 to 18 years of age) of a privately run, state licensed residential group home in Georgia. Academic performance was measured by grade point average. Twenty-eight percent did not function on grade level while 72% functioned on grade level. There was no statistical significance between academic achievement and instability of placement (X2= .577, p = .448), emotional disturbances(X2= .759, p = -.348), aggressive/violent behavior (X2= .020, p = .887), and sexual activity (X2=.732, p = .392). However, there was statistical significance found between academic achievement and substance use (X2= 4.095, p = .043). An additional key finding in this study was 74% of the adolescents had a mental health diagnosis but had only been in foster care less than one year. Therefore, additional research should be conducted to determine the preexisting conditions adolescents experience before entering foster care. The findings from this study can perhaps encourage the child welfare community to investigate other variables that may impact the academic achievement of adolescents in foster care.

Introduction: African American adolescents have a higher prevalence of risky sexual behavior compared to Hispanic and White adolescents. African American adolescents account for 65% of HIV diagnoses among individuals aged 13 to 24 years (Jackson et al., 2015). The rising rate of new STI and HIV cases remains a public health concern and the need for intervention in target populations is outstanding. The objective of this study is to measure the association between alcohol and other substance use and risky sexual behaviors in African American adolescents in the United States. Methods: Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) 2015 National Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey (YRBS) was used in this study. SAS 9.3 software package was used for descriptive analysis, univariate logistic regression, and multivariate logistic regression of assessing the relationship between alcohol and drug use with risky sexual behaviors in black adolescents in comparison with white adolescents. Results: When controlling for age, gender, and all other variables, African American adolescents that reported ever consuming alcohol were 2.2 (OR=2.2 95% CI=1.6-3.2 p= <.0001) times more likely to ever had sex, 3.8 (OR=3.8 95% CI= 2.9-4.9 p= <.0001) times more likely to have had sex with 4 or more people in the past 3 months, and 1.3 (OR=1.3 95% CI=0.8-2.1 p= <.0001) times more likely to have had sexual intercourse with at least 4 people in their lifetime. When asked if they ever used marijuana, adolescents that reported at least once were 4.5 (OR=4.5 95% CI= 3.2-6.5 p=<.0001) likely to have engaged in sexual intercourse, 3.8 (OR=3.8 95% CI=2.6-5.5 p= <.0001) times more likely to have had sex with four or more people in the past 3 months, and 6.1 (OR=6.1 95% CI=3.7-10.2 p= <.0001) times more likely to have at least 4 sexual partners in their lifetime. Conclusions: The findings of this study indicate that use of illicit substances does increase risky sexual behaviors in African American Adolescents. Further implications of this study can be utilized in the development of intervention programs. Intervention programs should target African American adolescents that engage in risky sexual behaviors and any substance use.

The purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which fifth-grade teachers, teachers in special education, and child psychiatrists hold similar views regarding the seriousness of commonly observed student behaviors. In addition, the views of these three groups are compared to research regarding which behaviors in children are predictive of future delinquency. The Wickman Scale, consisting of fifty commonly observed children's behaviors, and a fifteen-pair Semantic Differential Scale, designed for use in this study, were administered to a group of fifth-grade teachers, a group of special education teachers, and a group of child psychiatrists.

The purpose of the current study was to further our understanding of the subjective experience of middle-age African American women who are HIV+ and on highly active antiretroviral therapy, particularly how self-reported lipodystrophy (LD), levels of body dissatisfaction, body image quality of life, and engagement in disordered eating behaviors are related. Multiple regression, MANOVA, MANCOVA, ANOVA, and chi-square were utilized to test hypotheses. Results revealed that HIV+ and HIV- women did not differ significantly on their levels of body dissatisfaction or drive for thinness. When HIV+ women were examined in more detail a pattern emerged: women who self-reported fat hypertrophy had significantly higher levels of body dissatisfaction, bingeing, but not purging, and dietary restriction and fear of weight gain compared to women who did not self-report LD. About 75% of the sample was overweight or obese, and when BMI was controlled for, these differences persisted for body dissatisfaction and disordered eating behaviors for fat hypertrophy, but not fat atrophy. Overall, the findings indicate that the type of LD, specifically hypertrophy, is more related to body dissatisfaction and disordered eating behaviors, than LD in general. Clinical implications and limitations of these findings are discussed.