Acne is one of the most common skin conditions worldwide, affecting 80% of people between the ages of 11 and 30 with over $3 billion dollars spent annually on treatment in the United States alone. While the visible symptoms of acne (comedones and inflammatory lesions) are well-known, acne is more than skin-deep. Up to 85% of adolescents with acne will experience a negative psychosocial outcome related to their skin condition. The most common negative outcomes are anxiety, depression, body dysmorphic disorder, decreased self-esteem, and decreased quality of life. These comorbidities can be extremely detrimental if unrecognized and untreated; acne is the second-most common skin condition to end in suicide. One of the major difficulties in providing well-rounded care for the acne patient beyond their dermatologic needs has been the identification of these psychosocial comorbidities. There is no current standard for evaluating for the presence of these symptoms and they can be difficult to elicit in a pediatric population. While surveys can screen for symptoms (the Children’s Dermatology Life Quality Index; the Cardiff Acne Disability Index), they are infrequently used. Subsequently, necessary treatment for these symptoms is foregone when the problem goes unrecognized. In order to better identify and treat the negative psychosocial impacts of acne, a multidisciplinary approach involving a concurrent medical and psychological approach is recommended. Examples include support groups, educational interventions, and multidisciplinary clinics. The aim of this proposed study is to evaluate the utility of a multidisciplinary behavioral health clinic in which patients are seen by a dermatologist and a psychologist at the same session. With this model, the dermatologist can evaluate the patients’ skin and encourage them to discuss how their acne may be impacting their life. Then, the psychologist can offer advice on what may help each patient’s individual symptoms. This advice may include coping strategies or referrals to specialists for further support. Patients will attend the clinic monthly and their progress will be recorded via Children’s Dermatology Life Quality Index scores, acne severity, and psychological diagnoses made at the clinic. It is predicted that the multidisciplinary behavioral health clinic will reveal previously undiagnosed psychological conditions in acne patients, improve patients’ quality of life, and improve the severity of their acne. This is clinically significant in providing a comprehensive treatment approach to the pediatric acne patient, recognizing that the symptoms and outcomes of acne are more than skin deep.

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The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships among the following perspectives: perception of family disharmony, parent-child relationships, disharmonious family relationships, and adolescent cigarette smoking. Participants from a southeastern university reported about whether they smoke daily, weekly, monthly, never, or no longer smoke. The independent variable was smoking status of participants. Four to eight rating scales served as dependent variables for the three perspectives. Independent groups (smoking status) multivariate analyses of variance with unequal cell sizes were performed on the rating scale measures. Because none of the comparison tests were significant, the results were interpreted to suggest that no association between perception of family disharmony, parent-child relationships, disharmonious family relationships, and adolescent cigarette smoking exists.

Studies show that family structure is an important factor in explaining delinquency among adolescents (Price & Kunz, 2003). There is a lack of research, however, pertaining to cohabitation. The main goals of this study are to determine if there are variations in delinquency between cohabitating and other family types, and to examine the extent to which parental social control measures account for the variation in delinquency by family structure. Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) are used for the purposes of this study (n = 4,389). While there are no significant differences in violent delinquency between cohabitating families and other family types, results indicate that adolescents from cohabitating families have a greater odds of engaging in nonviolent delinquency compared to those from 2- biological-parent families, although reaching only marginal significance. This difference, however, is explained once parental social control factors are accounted for in the models.

Excerpt: The study by Black (2011) concluded that pets may be valuable in reducing loneliness among adolescents based on the finding that pet owners had lower loneliness scores. As appealing and logical as this conclusion may appear, there are a number of shortcomings in the study that prevent it from actually supporting this conclusion.

Book Summary: This book is really a reflection of the past more than 20 years of work with teens and suicide prevention in the state of Kentucky. The work to establish the “Stop Youth Suicide Campaign (SYS)” has resulted in contact with many young adults, and we have found that the most important thing for all of them was finding a caring person they trust and can talk to. Because of the constant need, the SYS went from a goal of being a one year awareness campaign to becoming a major community resource, working with the state and local governments and state legislators to add as many resources as possible. We have witnessed for the first time a drop of youth suicide rates below the national average, according to the 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance done biannually by the Center for Disease Control. In this book, we will tackle various topics and specific populations in relation to suicide written by people who work with teens and care about them.

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