High rates of missed appointments and attrition are common barriers to treatment for adolescents attending outpatient mental health treatment. Such figures indicate a need for innovative strategies to engage youth in treatment. The current quasi-experimental pilot study examined the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of text message (TM) appointment reminders to improve attendance in a sample of 48 adolescents attending outpatient therapy. The sample was approximately 46% Latino and 40% African American with an equal number of males and females. Adolescents receiving TM reminders demonstrated significantly higher rates of attendance (65%) than a historical control group (49%) (p < .05). Participants in the TM group received reminders for the majority (88%) of their scheduled sessions with only 4% of reminders not received due to phone-related problems. Additionally, TM reminders received high patient satisfaction ratings. Findings from the present study suggest that TM reminders may be a cost-effective and developmentally appropriate strategy for engaging adolescents in treatment.

The analyses suggest that usage patterns of individual club drugs such as methamphetamine, ecstasy, and GHB among gay and bisexual men are highly related across time. These findings hold implications for the treatment approaches that are utilized to address substance abuse in this segment of the population, and suggest that practitioners focus on the totality of the substance abuse behaviors and not necessarily individual drugs which are administered.

The purpose of the analyses was to examine the associations between methamphetamine and other club drug use with sexual risk taking across time in cohort of gay and bisexual men. Data were collected from a community-based sample. Assessments of unprotected anal intercourse with casual partners, and use of methamphetamine and other illicit drugs, were assessed at baseline, and at 4-month intervals over the course of a year, and were analyzed using hierarchical linear modeling. Methamphetamine use was related to the frequency of unprotected insertive and receptive intercourse with both HIV-positive and status unknown casual partners across time. The association between methamphetamine use and unprotected acts also was more pronounced for HIV-positive participants. These findings suggest that methamphetamine, and unprotected anal intercourse are co-occurring risk behaviors, that potentially heighten the risk of HIV transmission among gay and bisexual men. HIV prevention and intervention should concurrently target both these behaviors.

The image of the model minority dominates scholarly and public discourse on Asian American children and adolescents. However, recent research has shown that despite their high levels of educational achievement Asian American students report poor psychological and social adjustment. Using an ecological framework, this article sought to explore the family and peer experiences of Chinese American adolescents as these are the two most critical contexts influencing adolescents' psychological and social adjustment. Drawing on longitudinal data collected from two studies conducted in Boston and New York on 120 first- and second-generation Chinese American students, our analyses suggested that many Chinese American adolescents feel alienated from their parents and peers. The alienation from parents was due to factors such as language barriers, parenting work schedules, and high parental educational expectations. Alienation from peers was due to ongoing peer discrimination from both Chinese and non-Chinese peers. Implications and future research are also discussed.

ABSTRACT. Objective:Few studies have analyzed the use of powder cocaine over time and its relation to psychosocial states. The purpose of the present analysis was to examine trajectories of powder cocaine use among club-drug using gay and bisexual men in New York City. Method: A purposive sample of 355 powder cocaine using men was surveyed four times over a period of 12 months. We analyzed natural trajectories of cocaine use and examined use in relation to demographic and psychosocial variables. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to examine associations of use at baseline and over time. Results: Frequency of use at baseline was negatively related to sexual sensation seeking and positively related to triggers of unpleasant emotions, physical discomfort, and the desire for pleasant times with others. Men who reported using cocaine to avoid physical discomfort or to enhance pleasant times with others were also more likely to decrease their frequency of use during the yearlong investigation. Conclusions: The antecedents that explained cocaine use in this sample indicate the need for treatment and prevention programs that consider the interplay between emotions and behaviors related to use of this drug. (J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs 69: [806][807][808][809][810][811][812][813] 2008)