Using semistructured interviews, we explored barriers and facilitators to school-based parent involvement (SBPI) in a sample of predominately African American parents (N = 44) whose children attended urban public middle schools. Barriers to SBPI (e.g., perceptions of hostile parent–teacher interactions and aggressive, disrespectful students in the school) were more commonly reported than facilitators (e.g., child invitations for involvement). Findings suggest that parents’ motivations for engaging in SBPI may be undermined by a variety of barriers, resulting in low participation. Implications and tailored strategies for enhancing SBPI in this population are presented.

Disproportionately lower educational achievement, coupled with higher grade retention, suspensions, expulsions, and lower school bonding make educational success among Black adolescents a major public health concern. Mental health is a key developmental factor related to educational outcomes among adolescents; however, traditional models of mental health focus on absence of dysfunction as a way to conceptualize mental health. The dual-factor model of mental health incorporates indicators of both subjective wellbeing and psychopathology, supporting more recent research that both are needed to comprehensively assess mental health. This study applied the dual-factor model to measure mental health using the National Survey of American Life-Adolescent Supplement (NSAL-A), a representative cross-sectional survey. The sample included 1170 Black adolescents (52% female; mean age 15). Latent class analysis was conducted with positive indicators of subjective wellbeing (emotional, psychological, and social) as well as measures of psychopathology. Four mental health groups were identified, based on having high or low subjective wellbeing and high or low psychopathology. Accordingly, associations between mental health groups and educational outcomes were investigated. Significant associations were observed in school bonding, suspensions, and grade retention, with the positive mental health group (high subjective wellbeing, low psychopathology) experiencing more beneficial outcomes. The results support a strong association between school bonding and better mental health and have implications for a more comprehensive view of mental health in interventions targeting improved educational experiences and mental health among Black adolescents.

Aggressive and weapons carrying behaviors are indicative of youth violence. The Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1991) is used in the current analysis to improve our understanding of violence-related behaviors. We examine the influence of perceived behavioral control (self-control and decision making) as a part of the overall framework for understanding the risk and protective factors for aggressive behaviors and weapons carrying. As the baseline assessment of an intervention trial, survey data were collected on 452 sixth grade students (50% girls; 96.6% African American; mean age 12.0) from urban middle schools. 18.4% carried a weapon in the prior 12 months with boys more likely to carry a weapon than girls (22.5% vs. 14.2%, p=0.02). 78.4% of youth reported aggressive behaviors with no significant differences found between girls (81.3%) and boys (75.5%). In logistic regression models, having peers who engage in problem behaviors was found to be a significant risk factor. Youth with peers who engaged in numerous problem behaviors were 5 times more likely to be aggressive than those who reported little or no peer problem behaviors. Teens who reported that their parents opposed aggression (OR: 0.76; CI: 0.66, 0.88) and who used self-control strategies (OR: 0.59; CI: 0.39, 0.87) were found to report less aggressive behaviors. For weapons carrying, being a girl (OR: 0.56; CI: 0.32, 0.97) and self-control (OR: 0.52; CI: 0.29, 0.92) were protective factors. This study demonstrated that the TPB may provide a useful framework for the development of violence prevention programs.

No abstract

Young mothers in foster care face considerable challenges above and beyond that of their non-foster care peers. Child welfare workers have few resources to guide them in the selection of evidence-informed programs, models, and strategies that address the unique risk factors and needs of youth in foster care who are at risk for rapid repeat pregnancy and inadequate parenting practices. Workers need knowledge of the evidence about which programs are most likely to improve key health and well-being outcomes. The article assesses the evidence-based programs identified and yields a list that reflects the best evidence for efficacy and effectiveness.