This article reviews current research findings and presents a conceptual framework for better understanding the relationship between bullying victimization (hereafter referred to as victimization) and substance misuse (hereafter referred to as SM) among adolescents. Although victimization and SM may appear to be separate problems, research suggests an intriguing relationship between the two. We present a brief, empirical overview of the direct association between victimization and adolescent SM, followed by a proposed conceptual framework that includes co-occurring risk factors for victimization and SM within family, peer, and school/community contexts. Next, we discuss potential mediators linking victimization and SM, such as internalizing problems, traumatic stress, low academic performance, and school truancy/absence. We then identify potential moderating influences of age, gender/sex, social supports, and school connectedness that could amplify or abate the association between victimization and SM. Finally, we discuss practice and policy implications.

At a time when there is increasing attention being given to systematically integrating the well-being of children with the goals of safety and permanence in child welfare, little is known about the psychosocial functioning of foster youth transitioning to adulthood from substitute care. This article systematically reviews 17 peer-reviewed articles and/or research reports to identify lifetime and past year prevalence rates of mental health disorders and service utilization. At ages 17 or 18, foster youth are 2 to 4 times more likely to suffer from lifetime and/or past year mental health disorders compared to transition aged youth in the general population. Findings show that mental health service use declines at ages when the prevalence rate of mental health disorders is peaking. The findings of this review suggest the need to focus future efforts in three main areas: 1) Setting a common research agenda for the study of mental health and service use; 2) Routine screening and empirically supported treatments; and 3) Integration and planning between child and adult mental health service systems.

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) are likely to benefit from regular exercise, but physical inactivity is more common among people with MS than among the general population. This small randomized study evaluated whether motivational interviewing (MI) affects adherence to and personal experience in an exercise program. Inactive people with MS participating in an eight-week exercise program were randomized to either three brief MI (n = 7) or three health coaching (n = 6) sessions. Session attendance for both conditions was high, and MI fidelity was rigorously and reliably measured using the Motivational Interviewing Treatment Integrity Scales. The feasibility of using this approach was demonstrated with a small sample. Large effects favoring the MI condition were found for physical exertion, affect during exercise, and fatigue, but no effects were found for adherence to the exercise program. Treatment integrity measures of MI were correlated with outcomes in expected directions. Although this study demonstrated the feasibility of this MI approach, the large effect sizes found should be viewed with substantial skepticism and replicated in sufficiently powered studies using objective measures of exercise adherence.

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One-fifth of all public treatment admissions are emerging adults, and few studies have considered whether treatments are developmentally appropriate. This study compares outcomes between substance use-disordered adolescents and emerging adults that received the Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach (A-CRA). Propensity score matching was used to create a weighted comparison group of adolescents (n=151) that had similar demographic characteristics, clinical severity, and treatment retention as the group of emerging adults (n=152). We examined age differences in abstinence and other psychosocial outcomes at the last available follow up. Emerging adults and adolescents both reduced their substance use at follow-up. However, emerging adults were less likely to be abstinent and in remission, and had more days of alcohol use when compared to adolescents. This study’s findings are consistent with prior work on emerging adults. Additional research should examine features of interventions that are most effective in addressing the developmental needs of emerging adults.

Emerging adults have the highest prevalence rate of alcohol and drug use and represent a large proportion of treatment admissions in the United States. Those who do not attend college experience higher rates of use and may not have similar advantages as those attending college. A systematic review included studies investigating prevention and treatment outcomes among emerging adults in non-college settings. We included studies reporting an average age between 18 and 25 conducted outside of college settings. We extracted data for experimental effects (experimental group compared to control), and contrasted treatments with active and no intervention controls. We also examined several moderators. Fifty studies were meta-analyzed, including 32 prevention and 18 treatment studies. Overall, our experimental weighted mean effect size was d = .17 for both prevention and treatment studies. Comparisons across treatment types typically yielded nonsignificant results. Across prevention and treatment studies, smaller effects existed for studies delivering personalized feedback interventions. For treatment studies only, the percent of students included in the sample was a significant moderator. Overall effects were similar to current meta-analyses on college drinking. However, personalized feedback may be a less effective prevention strategy in non-college settings, and the field should prioritize increasing the effectiveness of treatments targeting non-college students. (PsycINFO Database Record

The Camino ICP sensor remains one of the most popular ICP monitoring devices for use in patients with traumatic brain injuries. However, our recent in-house assessment demonstrated the robustness of the device to be less than adequate during routine practice. In this study, more than 50% exhibited zero drift greater than 3 mmHg, which is unacceptable in a catheter tip ICP monitoring device in which zero drift and calibration cannot be checked in vivo. A review of the literature revealed that other available ICP monitoring devices may prove to be more reliable and thus more appropriate for routine clinical measurement of ICP.