Risk-taking is statistically normative during adolescence, yet is associated with adverse outcomes including substance use. The present study draws the distinction between protective factors (effective for those identified as high risk takers) and promotive factors (effective for all) against substance use, focusing on parental monitoring, school bonding, and sports participation. A total of 36,514 8th and 10th grade participants in the national Monitoring the Future study were included. Although parental monitoring was associated with lower alcohol and marijuana use among all adolescents (i.e., promotive effect), these effects were strongest among the highest risk takers (i.e., protective effect) and females. School bonding was associated with lower levels of both alcohol and marijuana use among all groups of adolescents, but these promotive effects were weak. Sports participation was associated with higher levels of alcohol use among all males and among 8th grade females who did not identify as high risk takers. Despite being a risk factor for alcohol use, sports participation did demonstrate a promotive effect against marijuana use among 10th grade females only, and especially so for high risk-taking females (i.e., protective effect). Overall, these findings suggest that of the three mechanisms studied, parental monitoring emerged as the most promising entry point for substance use prevention and intervention across groups, particularly for females and high risk-taking adolescents.

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Preterm birth and low maternal education increase children's risk of failure of first-grade standardized tests. Promoting women's academic achievement and reduce rates of preterm birth may be important to achieving gains in elementary school performance.

This study examined the effects of the two facets of authoritative teaching-high academic press and caring for students-on student interest and achievement in mathematics for middle and high school students (N ϭ 3,602 in 198 classrooms), and whether those effects are moderated by students' ethnicity (Hispanic, Vietnamese, and Caucasian Non-Hispanic). Tested with hierarchical modeling, a trend suggested that the authoritative teaching style predicted higher levels of interest for Hispanic students; however, the trend for caring was approaching significance, which suggests that future research should be conducted to determine whether authoritative and authoritarian teaching styles truly have different effects on interest for this group. Authoritarian teaching (high press and low caring) was positively related to interest for Vietnamese students. Results for Caucasian students did not differ from Hispanic students, but should be interpreted with caution due to small sample size. For all students, authoritarian teaching was positively associated with achievement gains. Results are discussed in terms of the relationships between teaching style and different academic outcomes among particular student groups, as informed by the parenting style and teaching style literatures.

Students with limited English proficiency (LEP) make up one of the fastest growing segments of the student population; however, LEP status is often related to poor academic and behavioral outcomes. Teacher-reported behavioral rating scales can be informative measurements to screen and identify students at risk for behavioral and emotional problems. Given the focus on early identification and the changing demographics in schools, it is important to research the validity of screening instruments, as well as more comprehensive assessments, among LEP students. Items on a teacher-rated screener and a comprehensive behavioral rating scale were evaluated for invariance across two language groups. Results showed that the majority of items could be considered invariant across groups. This study also examined how behavioral ratings on invariant measures differed at the mean level between LEP and non-LEP students. LEP students were rated as having more learning problems and fewer adaptive skills; no significant differences were found for internalizing and externalizing problems. Results highlight the need for further research on this topic.

Early identification of behavioral and emotional risk has been identified as one strategy to help decrease rates of childhood behavioral and emotional problems. This study compares two methods for early identification (teacher nomination and universal screening) to determine how each strategy may differentially identify at-risk students. A sample of 849 elementary and middle school students was assessed on a number of behavioral and academic outcomes to determine differences among identification methods. Results indicate that universal screening identified a higher number of students than teacher nomination, and those identified by universal screening had lower reading grades. Both approaches identified more males than females. Although students identified as at risk by both methods had significantly more office discipline referrals, and lower study habits and cooperation grades than students not identified as at risk, there were no significant differences in these variables between the early identification methods. Implications and future research needs are discussed.

The practice of screening students to identify behavioral and emotional risk is gaining momentum, with limited guidance regarding the frequency with which screenings should occur. Screening frequency decisions are influenced by the stability of the constructs assessed and changes in risk status over time. This study investigated the 4-year longitudinal stability of behavioral and emotional risk screening scores among a sample of youth to examine change in risk status over time. Youth ( N = 156) completed a self-report screening measure, the Behavioral and Emotional Screening System, at 1-year intervals in the 8th through 11th grades. Categorical and dimensional stability coefficients, as well as transitions across risk status categories, were analyzed. A latent profile analysis was conducted to determine if there were salient and consistent patterns of screening scores over time. Stability coefficients were moderate to large, with stronger coefficients across shorter time intervals. Latent profile analysis pointed to a three-class solution in which classes were generally consistent with risk categories and stable across time. Results showed that the vast majority of students continued to be classified within the same risk category across time points. Implications for practice and future research needs are discussed.

The BASC-2 Behavioral and Emotional Screening System Teacher, Child/Adolescent Form (BESS Teacher Form C/A; Kamphaus & Reynolds, 2007) is a brief teacher-report rating scale designed to identify students who are at-risk for behavioral and emotional problems. The aim of this study was to describe the latent dimensions that underlie the responses to the BESS Teacher Form C/A. Exploratory factor analyses (EFA) and confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) across two random subsets of a nationally representative sample of 2,582 children aged 6 to 12 years suggested that the BESS Teacher Form C/A contains a four-factor latent structure consisting of Externalizing Problems, Internalizing Problems, School Problems, and Adaptive Skills.