Background:

Purpose We evaluate the efficacy of a short family intervention in reducing sexual risk behavior, drug use, and delinquent behaviors among homeless youth. Methods A randomized controlled trial of 151 families with a homeless adolescent aged 12 to 17 years. Adolescents were recruited from diverse sites in southern California from March 2006 through June 2009 and assessed at recruitment (baseline), 3, 6, and 12 months later. Families were randomly assigned to an intervention condition with five weekly home-based intervention sessions or a control condition (standard care). Main outcome measures reflect self-reported sexual, substance use and delinquent behaviors over the last 90 days. Results Sexual risk (e.g., mean number of partners) (p < .001), alcohol use (p = .003), hard drug use (p < .001), and delinquent behaviors (p = .001) decreased significantly more over 12 months in the intervention condition compared to the control condition. Marijuana use, however, significantly increased in the intervention condition compared to the control condition (p < .001). Conclusion An intervention to re-engage families of homeless youth has significant benefits in reducing risk over 12 months.

The purpose of this study was to examine the severity of behavioral and emotional problems among adolescents with poor and typical single word reading ability (N = 188) recruited from public schools and followed for a median of 2.4 years. Youth and parents were repeatedly assessed to obtain information regarding the severity and course of symptoms (depression, anxiety, somatic complaints. aggression, delinquent behaviors, inattention), controlling for demographic variables and diagnosis or ADHD. After adjustment for demographic variables and ADHD, poor readers reported higher levels of depression, trait anxiety, and somatic complaints than typical readers, but there were no difference, in reported self-reported delinquent or aggressive behaviors. Parent reports indicated no difference, in depression, anxiety or aggression between the two groups but indicated more inattention, somatic complaints, and delinquent behaviors for the poor readers. School and health professionals should carefully assess youth with poor reading for behavioral and emotional symptoms and provide services when indicated.

The purpose of this study was to examine the risk of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts and school dropout among youth with poor reading in comparison to youth with typical reading (n = 188) recruited from public schools at the age of 15. In a prospective naturalistic study, youth and parents participated in repeated research assessments to obtain information about suicide ideation and attempts, psychiatric and sociodemographic variables, and school dropout. Youth with poor reading ability were more likely to experience suicidal ideation or attempts and more likely to drop out of school than youth with typical reading, even after controlling for sociodemographic and psychiatric variables. Suicidality and school dropout were strongly associated with each other. Prevention efforts should focus on better understanding the relationship between these outcomes, as well as on the developmental paths leading up to these behaviors among youth with reading difficulties.

Research on disclosure among heterosexual adult person(s) living with HIV (PLH) was reviewed, omitting disclosure of parental HIV to children. Disclosure has been studied within five additional relational contexts: with partners, family members, friends, healthcare professionals and in work settings. Disclosure is higher among women than men, among Latino and white compared to African-American families, and among younger compared to older HIV-positive adults. Most PLH disclose to their sexual partners and family members, yet there is a significant minority who do not disclose. Similarly, rates of disclosure to employers range from 27-68%, suggesting broad variability in perceived consequences of employment disclosures. Of concern, 40% of PLH do not consistently disclose to their healthcare professionals. Rather than examine HIV disclosures in the context of relationships, it is possible to understand disclosures around personal identity. Disclosure decisions are often made to tell everyone (making HIV status a central attribute of one's identity), no one (requiring strategies for securing social support while remaining anonymous) or some people (requiring strategic decisions based on context). Given that disclosure decisions are central to personal identity, future data on disclosure and interventions designed to increase disclosure or comfort with disclosure must focus on communication strategies adopted by PLH to present a coherent identity.

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Clinicians should examine risk of rehospitalization before discharge, especially for younger patients and those with depression. Future research must focus on methods of intervention for this high-risk group.

This article tested a contingency-oriented perspective to examine the dynamic relationships between in-the-moment borderline personality disorder (BPD) symptom events and in-the-moment triggers. An experience sampling study with 282 adults, including 77 participants with BPD, obtained reports of situational triggers and BPD symptom events five times daily for two weeks. Triggers included being rejected, betrayed, abandoned, offended, disappointed, having one’s self-concept threatened, being in a boring situation, and being alone. BPD was associated with increased situational triggers. Multilevel models revealed significant within-person associations between situational triggers and BPD symptoms for the average participant in the study, with significant individual variance in the strength and direction of trigger-symptom contingencies. Most trigger-symptom contingencies were stronger for individuals with higher borderline symptomatology, suggesting that triggers are meaningfully related to BPD. These findings highlight possible proximal mechanisms that maintain BPD and help explain the course of a disorder often described as chaotic and unpredictable.