The purpose of this study was to explore beliefs about what works in substance abuse treatment among adolescents. This was a qualitative study that was comprised of fourteen counselors who were interviewed regarding what works in substance treatment with adolescents. The study identified four themes that contribute to our knowledge about what works in substance abuse treatment among adolescents. The study recommends that future research explore further what works with adolescents in substance abuse treatment, including collaborating with family members, identifying strengths in adolescents, building an authentic rapport with adolescents, and using the latest evidence-based practices.

The purpose of this study was to determine what current Master of Social Worker Students in their advanced year know about adolescent gang affiliation, including statistics, predictive factors, and possible interventions. Adolescent gang involvement is a very serious issue that historically has had very problematic effects on society, as well as serious and troublesome effects on the life course of the individual. Despite the knowledge that has been gained in recent years regarding predictive factors of adolescent gang involvement, many intervention programs designed to address this issue are still rarely effective. Despite the fact that there are conflicting findings in the research on adolescent gang affiliation there is also much research that has claimed many similar predictive and preventive factors, such as relationships with family and school. This study will show if current social worker students are aware of the more common factors that lead to adolescent gang affiliation. This will help determine if social work students are just getting a little bit of education on juvenile delinquency and deviance or an abundance of education on the subject matter. The specific population that was surveyed was the Master of Social Work advanced year students at California State University, San Bernardino. Although there were few statistically significant findings in the study, the students for the most part had positive attitudes and perceptions regarding those involved with gang affiliation. The participants for the most part also agreed with factual statements regarding actual predictive factors of gang affiliation. The participants also overwhelmingly all agreed on a more rehabilitative approach when working with youth involved in gang affiliation as opposed to punitive approaches.

The purpose of this study was to determine what current Master of Social Worker Students in their advanced year know about adolescent gang affiliation, including statistics, predictive factors, and possible interventions. Adolescent gang involvement is a very serious issue that historically has had very problematic effects on society, as well as serious and troublesome effects on the life course of the individual. Despite the knowledge that has been gained in recent years regarding predictive factors of adolescent gang involvement, many intervention programs designed to address this issue are still rarely effective. Despite the fact that there are conflicting findings in the research on adolescent gang affiliation there is also much research that has claimed many similar predictive and preventive factors, such as relationships with family and school. This study will show if current social worker students are aware of the more common factors that lead to adolescent gang affiliation. This will help determine if social work students are just getting a little bit of education on juvenile delinquency and deviance or an abundance of education on the subject matter. The specific population that was surveyed was the Master of Social Work advanced year students at California State University, San Bernardino. Although there were few statistically significant findings in the study, the students for the most part had positive attitudes and perceptions regarding those involved with gang affiliation. The participants for the most part also agreed with factual statements regarding actual predictive factors of gang affiliation. The participants also overwhelmingly all agreed on a more rehabilitative approach when working with youth involved in gang affiliation as opposed to punitive approaches.

Finding the correct therapeutic intervention for a client can be difficult to determine, especially for certain populations like adolescents. The implementation of Table Top Role Playing Games (TRPGs) in therapy is slowly becoming a more widely utilized therapy intervention because of its ability to engage clients who may be apprehensive to engaging in therapy. Having a wide array of interventions in our therapeutic toolbelt is crucial for mental health social workers to flexibly implement interventions, like TRPGs, with clients. Unfortunately, there is little research determining whether this approach is beneficial to therapy or not. This exploratory research study sought to determine the effectiveness of this intervention using qualitative one-on-one interviews with mental health practitioners currently implementing this intervention with their clients. This study revealed certain themes such as: being able to apply TRPGs to clients of any age group, utilization of a client-tailored narrative through TRPGs, applicability of this intervention in a group setting, TRPGs as a form of safe exposure therapy. Certain risks regarding implementation of this intervention were also identified. The data gathered through this study show that TRPGs could prove to be extremely beneficial to therapeutic practices. Further studies into this intervention should be conducted to truly grasp the extent of this interventions benefits or to identify any unidentified drawbacks.

This research study examined the perspectives of social workers regarding the effects of domestic violence on adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17. Research has shown that adolescents who are exposed to domestic violence suffer from long-term psychological and behavioral issues; they exhibit many external and internal behaviors. This study gathered qualitative data by interviewing 13 social workers who have experience working with this demographic and hold a master’s degree in social work. These social workers were employed at a Foster Family Agency, located in Southern California, at the time of the interviews. Participants were asked 11 open and closed ended questions. The study found that adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 who witness domestic violence exhibit numerous external and internal behaviors with aggression/anger and depression being the top behaviors exhibited by adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17.

Adolescent girls often face barriers to fulfill their educational aspirations after childbearing. Unfulfilled goals tend to be associated with low educational attainment and other adverse outcomes for the young mothers, their children, and society. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of Barbadian young women who parented as adolescents and struggled to graduate from formal secondary school. The goal was to understand their perceptions of support for their educational aspirations by their peers and significant others. Social constructionism was the conceptual framework. Moustakas’ transcendental method guided data collection and analysis. Data were collected by conducting in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 8 Barbadian women who bore children in their teen years and who struggled to complete formal high school. Rich descriptions emerged from the essence of their experiences and provided insight into the academic and emotional needs of school-age mothers. The analysis revealed that they experienced challenges balancing motherhood and being a student, stigma, hopelessness, and determination to reach their aspirations. They also experienced support by their friends, school personnel, and their families but they experienced little support from the fathers of their children. This study has implications that could affect positive social change by informing educators and families of the importance of meeting the unique needs of this vulnerable group. Educational leaders and policymakers could use these findings to guide programs aimed at empowering pregnant or parenting girls to achieve educational success and long-term socioeconomic well being.

The primary goal of this study was to explore whether individual resiliency factors measured by the Resilience Scale (RS) influence academic success for Bermudian foster care adolescents, a population previously unstudied in the literature. Academic vulnerability is a concern for foster care adolescents, and more empirical studies need to be conducted to increase understanding of the variables that affect academic success for this population. Resiliency is a conceptual framework based on a positive developmental focus. The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the relationship between resilience and academic success among 51 Bermudian foster care adolescents who attended Bermuda public schools. Achievement scores and grade point average (GPA) were used to ascertain participants' levels of academic success. This study employed a nonexperimental correlational design using a multiple regression to analyze the relationships. Results revealed a statistically significant positive relationship between resiliency and reading achievement but no relationship between resiliency and GPA and resiliency and math achievement. The finding of the positive relationship between resiliency and reading could influence policymakers to reexamine current education policies to stress the importance of ensuring that all at-risk adolescents identified in Bermuda Public Schools acquire adequate reading skills.

Many adolescents with substance use disorders have ongoing problems with abuse and/or dependence throughout their lives. Little research has been conducted examining the differences among adolescents who do and do not continue to have difficulties. This study compared adolescents who recidivate versus those who do not recidivate after receiving treatment for substance abuse. Adolescents were compared on four categories of variables: (a) demographic variables, (c) delinquency /substance use history, ( c) social/educational support, and ( d) treatment history. It was found that the most powerful predictors of recidivism within these categories were criminal history severity, age at intake, and treatment completion. The implication of this finding is discussed. It may be possible in the future for treatment providers to identify adolescents most at risk for recidivism, as these teens should perhaps receive more intensive treatment, a different type of treatment, and/or more intensive monitoring during and after treatment.

This study investigated the construct of power in adolescent romantic couples using multiple measures. The project examined gender differences in power, created models of powerlessness for each gender, and examined relations between power and aggression and relationship quality. Participants were 90 heterosexual couples, aged 14-18 years old, living in rural areas in Utah and Arizona. Couple members completed surveys assessing attitudes and behaviors in their relationships and a video-recall procedure in which partners rated their own and their partner's behaviors during problem solving discussion. Few gender differences emerged in reports of perpetration of aggression, but boyfriends reported higher levels of emotional vulnerability and lower levels of resource control for several power-related outcomes. Structural equation modeling yielded models that appeared to capture the construct of powerlessness, with different models emerging for boyfriends and girlfriends. Finally, stepwise regressions revealed strong associations between measures of power and relationship outcomes with interesting gender differences.

Multiple studies investigating the validity of the tripartite model of affect in youth have been supportive of the model; however, few studies have examined the model in narrow age bands or large clinical samples. The current study examined the structure of affect in a sample of psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents. Structural equation modeling was used to examine two-factor (negative affectivity [NA] and positive affectivity [PA]) and three-factor models (NA, PA, and physiological hyperarousal [PH]) with item level data from the Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale (RADS) and Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS), and from the Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory (MACI), RADS, and RCMAS. Analyses were completed for the overall sample and for depressive, anxiety, comorbid depression, and anxiety, and other diagnostic groups. With data from the RADS and RCMAS, both the two- and three-factor models provided an equally good fit to the data for the overall sample. However, when tested for invariance across diagnostic groups, the two-factor model was invariant across groups, while the three-factor model yielded inadmissible solutions for the comorbid group, suggesting the two-factor solution provided the best fit to the data. For the data from the MACI, RADS, and RCMAS, one-, two-, and three-factor models were tested, but it was not possible to identify a model of acceptable fit. The t tests were used to examine the patterns of construct scores across diagnostic groups to determine if they were consistent with the tripartite model. Using data from the RCMAS and the RADS, the depressive and anxious diagnostic groups demonstrated similarly high levels of NA, while the anxious group demonstrated significantly higher levels of PA than the depressive group. Similar analyses could not be completed for the data from the MACI, RADS, and RCMAS because of the small sample size for the anxious diagnostic group. While the results of SEM and t-test analyses demonstrate support for the tripartite model and the associated constructs of NA and PA, support was not demonstrated for PH. Results suggest that the tripartite model may be dependent on the instruments used to assess it. Limitations of this study and implications and directions for future research are discussed.