Background: Nearly 750,000 adolescents and emerging adults with special health care needs (AEA-SHCN) enter into adulthood annually. The linkages to ensure the seamless transfer of care from pediatric to adult care and transition to adulthood for AEA-SHCN have yet to be realized. Purpose: The purpose of this systematic review was to investigate the state of the science of health care transition (HCT) service models as described in quantitative investigations. Methods: A four-tier screening approach was used to obtain reviewed articles published from 2004 to 2013. A total of 17 articles were included in this review. Discussion: Transfer of care was the most prominent intervention feature. Overall, using the Effective Public Health Practice Project criteria, the studies were rated as weak. Limitations included lack of control groups, rigorous designs and methodology, and incomplete intervention descriptions. Conclusion: As the findings indicate, HCT is an emerging field of practice that is largely in the exploratory stage of model development.

Background: Health care transition (HCT) for adolescents and emerging adults (AEA) with special health care needs is an emerging field of interdisciplinary field of practice and research that is based upon an intergenerational approach involving care coordination between pediatric and adult systems of health care. Informed understanding of the state of the HCT science pertaining to this group of providers is needed in order to develop and implement service programs that will meet the comprehensive needs of AEA with special health care needs. Methods: The authors conducted a systematic review of the literature on the transition from child to adult care for adolescents and emerging adults (AEA) with special health care needs from 2004 to 2013. Fifty-five articles were selected for this review. An adaptation of the PRISMA guidelines was applied because all studies in this review used descriptive designs. Results: Findings revealed lack of evidence due to the limitations of the research designs and methodology of the studies included in this systematic review. Study findings were categorized the following four types: adult provider competency, provider perspectives, provider attitudes, and HCT service models. The discipline of medicine was predominant; interdisciplinary frameworks based upon integrated care were not reported. Few studies included samples of adult providers. Conclusions: Empirical-based data are lacking pertaining to the role of providers involved in this specialty area of practice. Evidence is hampered by the limitations of the lack of rigorous research designs and methodology.

Background: A better understanding of the needs of adolescents and emerging adults with special health care needs (AEA-SHCNs) is essential to provide health care transition services that represent best practices. The purpose of this systematic review was to evaluate the research on health care transition for AEA-SHCNs from their perspectives. Methods: A comprehensive literature review of research publications since 2005 was performed using the PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and EBSCO databases. Thirty-five studies met the final review criteria. Results: The process of transition from child to adult for AEA-SHCNs is complex. Individuals experiencing the transition desire to be a part of the process and want providers who will listen and be sensitive to their needs, which are often different from others receiving health care at the same facility. Conclusions: More research that considers the voice of the AEA-SHCNs related to transition from pediatric to adult care is needed.

The purpose of this study was to better understand the current culture of marriage preparation among emerging adults and the primary factors that influence their attitudes about marriage and family life. A total of 254 students from five universities in the United States completed questionnaires on criteria for marriage readiness and criteria for adulthood. The results indicate that we are witnessing the formation of a unique culture of marriage preparation in the rising generation of educated young adults in comparison to the one experienced by their parents and grandparents. This study supports the notion that marriage still matters for the majority of young people and that they are both planning and expecting to marry in the future. Although they continue to maintain a strong marriage ideal, it appears that a growing number of emerging adults believe that they will not be ready for marriage until they go through an extended period of single adulthood that permits them to explore and experiment in various areas of life. In addition, the results indicate that emerging adults may be as much preparing for divorce as they are preparing for marriage during this period of exploration and experimentation. Most importantly, the findings from this study present evidence that some emerging adults are taking certain pathways to marriage readiness that result in unintended consequences. Indeed, this study suggests that the single period of life known as emerging adulthood may be contributing to attitudes and behaviors that will be problematic for marriage readiness. Emerging adults may be establishing unstable foundations for their later marriages and scholars need to pay more attention to this critical period in order to prepare better emerging adults for marital success and family life.

he purpose of the current study was to evaluate the use of behavior skills training via telehealth to teach job interview skills to emerging adults with ASD. Additionally, the study examined if following intervention, skills were able to generalize to new interviewers. 2 undergraduate and 1 graduate student with ASD participated in the study, and received intervention for 3 behaviors: (1) appropriately answering questions, (2) asking appropriate questions, and (3) engaging in appropriate body language. The current study used a multiple baseline design across behaviors. Results from the study indicated BST via telehealth was effective in teaching job interviews skills. Each participant remained at mastery during generalization and did not require a booster session. Social validity ratings completed by each participant indicated they found the intervention method to be fair, effective, and efficient for the identifed need. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.

The purpose of this research was to explore the relationship between exposure to media variables and emerging adults' attitudes toward women and sex. Previous research indicated that exposure to media variables can influence the thoughts, behaviors, and attitudes of those exposed. The current study examined how age at exposure to media variables impacted attitudes about sex and attitudes toward women. Six-hundred and ninety four college students were given a questionnaire containing an attitudes toward women scale, a sexual attitudes scale, and a media viewing questionnaire. ANOVAS and linear regressions were performed on the data and results for the study were significant. Results indicated that age of media exposure impacted sexual attitudes and attitudes toward women.

Within the last few decades there has been an abundant increase in the amount of violent video games and movies shown within the media. Many of these violent videogames and movies include reckless driving behaviors or certain car scenarios that engross the viewer into wishing to imitate the actions they see on the screen. With that being said, majority of these viewers are adolescents or emerging adults who are beginning to drive and are prone to replicating what they see as adequate driving behaviors. The intent of this thesis is to indicate whether or not the amount of risky driving behaviors an adolescent or emerging adult is exposed to, the more likely they are to replicate these scenarios. Through the UCF sona system participants answered questions related to risky driving behaviors, safety habits, and how often they viewed or played certain videogames and movies. Overall, the results of the study indicate that participants exposed to risky driving behaviors in the media replicate these actions themselves. Further research and results should be taken into effect in order to raise awareness among adolescents and emerging adults who are at their early stages of driving.

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