No abstract

Little is known about how the challenges faced by caregivers influence the variation in social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) outcomes of youth placed in kinship versus non-relative foster care. This study examined SEB symptoms among youth in kinship and non-relative foster care settings, hypothesizing that changes in caregiver depression would modify children's change in behavior over time. Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) assessments of 199 children placed with kinship and non-relative foster care providers in a Mid-Atlantic city were conducted at time of placement and 6-12 months post-placement. Linear regression estimated CBCL change scores for youth across placement type and caregiver depression trajectories. Kinship caregivers were more likely to become depressed or remained depressed than non-relative foster caregivers. Youth in kinship care always exhibited better change in SEB outcomes than youth in non-relative foster care, but these positive outcomes were principally observed among families where caregivers demonstrated a reduction in depression over time or were never depressed. Adjusted change scores for non-relative foster care youth were always negative, with the most negative scores among youth whose caregivers became depressed over time. Caregiver well-being may modify the influence of placement setting on SEB outcomes for youth placed into out-of-home care. Findings lend to policy relevance for child welfare systems that seek kinship settings as a panacea to the challenges faced by youth, without allocating resources to address caregiver needs.

To describe the first case of the treatment of a corneoscleral cyst by distilled water injection into a corneal cyst. The anterior wall of a cyst of the limbal communication was punctured with a surgical blade. Aspiration and irrigation of the contents of the cyst with a 27-gauge anterior chamber cannula were performed repeatedly, three times. Distilled water, instead of balanced salt solution, was injected into the collapsed cyst, and was then aspirated completely after 5 minutes. The injection and aspiration of distilled water was repeated once more. The scleral cyst was surgically excised. Twelve months after surgery, several small white granular opacities, presumably epithelial cell nests, were observed on the interface of the collapsed cyst cavity, but there was no recurrence of the cyst. The best spectacle-corrected visual acuity (BSCVA) was 1.0 with a correction of +1.25-2.00 X 45. No significant change in central corneal endothelial cell density was noted. We suggest that this simple technique may represent an alternative method for the management of corneal cysts, and may have less risk of developing a corneal opacity or causing other serious damage to surrounding tissues.

No abstract

The etiology of poor mental health outcomes among foster care alumni of color remains largely unknown. We examined the influence of a subset of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), placement instability, and childhood disability in uniquely predicting mental health outcomes among racially diverse foster care alumni from a private foster care agency. Multiple group path modeling was used to examine direct and indirect relationships between the individual level risk factors, mediators (perceived agency helpfulness), and past-year psychiatric disorder. Results showed that while the overall model was moderated by race/ ethnicity, no significant group differences occurred in which ACEs increased the likelihood of psychiatric diagnoses. However, there were racial/ethnic differences in whether perceived agency helpfulness mediated the relationship between a subset of ACEs and diagnosis with a psychiatric disorder. Implications for future research to inform the development and implementation of effective services and supports that can promote positive developmental outcomes among racially diverse alumni are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to examine the cumulative impact of parental nonstandard work schedules (NWS) on adolescent alcohol and cigarette use, with a focus on the mediating role of parent-child communication. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 and its Child Supplement, our path analyses revealed that (a) parental NWS affected adolescent alcohol and cigarette use via the openness of parent-child communication rather than the frequency of parent-child communication and (b) the pattern and directionality of the mediating effects differed by who worked NWS, when parents worked NWS, and what types of NWS parents worked. Implications and directions for future studies are discussed.

No abstract

Recent efforts have been devoted to understanding the conditions by which research evidence use (REU) is facilitated from the perspective of system leaders in the context of implementing evidence-based child mental health interventions. However, we have limited understanding of the extent to which outer contextual factors influence REU. Outer contextual factors for 37 counties in California were gathered from public records in 2008; and child welfare, juvenile justice, and mental health system leaders' perceptions of their REU were measured via a web-based survey from 2010 to 2012. Results showed that leaders with higher educational attainment and in counties with lower expenditures on inpatient mental health services were significantly associated with higher REU. Positive relationships between gathering research evidence and racial minority concentration and poverty at the county level were also detected. Results underscore the need to identify the organizational and socio-political factors by which mental health services and resources meet client demands that influence REU, and to recruit and retain providers with a graduate degree to negotiate work demands and interpret research evidence.