Early adolescence and the transition to middle school bring about many challenges for students and negative outcomes are not uncommon, including academic decline and social maladjustment. This developmental period is also marked by increased risk of mental health-related difficulties. Strengthening students' social and emotional competencies through the delivery of school-based Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) programs has been suggested as one strategy for promoting positive development and preventing negative outcomes. In particular, the delivery of developmentally appropriate and evidence-based SEL programs at the universal level of tiered supports has the potential to benefit many students. The current study presents findings from a randomized controlled trial of the Speaking to the Potential, Ability, and Resilience Inside Every Kid (SPARK) Pre-Teen Mentoring Curriculum for 357 students from two schools. Results revealed that students who received the curriculum showed significant improvements in knowledge of curriculum content and principles; communication, decision-making, and problem-solving skills; emotional regulation; and resilience compared to students in the comparison condition. Results provide initial evidence for the This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

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Ss made either a graphemic or a semantic decision concerning word pairs during a study phase. Pair relatedness effects were observed in behavioral measures for the semantic task only, but a physiological measure (event-related potential) showed relatedness effects for both study tasks. Relatedness at study helped subsequent memory for tests involving word generation (fragment completion and cued recall). These effects were independent of those of the level of processing on memory. The results support Graf and Mandler's (1984) two-process model of implicit and explicit remembering and demonstrate that automatically activated associations can have significant effects on both types of remembering.

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OBJECTIVE The study examined risk factors for readmission to acute care among Florida Medicaid enrollees with schizophrenia treated with antipsychotics. METHODS Medicaid and service use data for 2004 to 2008 were used to identify adults with schizophrenia discharged from hospitals and crisis units who were taking antipsychotics. Data were extracted on demographic characteristics, service use before admission, psychopharmacologic treatment after discharge, and readmission to acute behavioral health care. Cox proportional hazards regression estimated readmission risk in the 30 days after discharge and in the period after 30 days for participants not readmitted in the first 30 days. RESULTS The mean±SD age of the 3,563 participants was 43.4±11.1; 61% were male, and 38% were white. Participants had 6,633 inpatient episodes; duration of hospitalization was 10.6±7.0 days. Readmission occurred for 84% of episodes, 23% within 30 days. Variables associated with an increased readmission risk in the first 30 days were shorter hospitalization (hazard ratio [HR]=1.18, 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.10-1.27, p<.001), shorter time on medication before discharge (HR=1.19, CI=1.06-1.35, p=.003), greater prehospitalization use of acute care (HR=2.64, CI=2.29-3.05, p<.001), serious general medical comorbidity (HR=1.21, CI=1.06-1.38, p=.005), and prior substance abuse treatment (HR=1.58, CI=1.37-1.83, p<.001). After 30 days, hospitalization duration and time on medication were not significant risk factors. CONCLUSIONS Short hospital stays for persons with schizophrenia may be associated with risk of early readmission, possibly because the person is insufficiently stabilized. More chronic risk factors include prior acute care, general medical comorbidity, and substance abuse.

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Despite the increasing number of men and women with serious mental illness (SMI) incarcerated in America's jails, little research exists on the role gender may play in arrest among persons with SMI. This study examined correlates of arrests among offenders with SMI, specifically the role of gender. County criminal justice records, as well as county and statewide social service archival databases, were used to identify jail inmates with SMI in a large urban county in Florida. Of the 3,769 inmates identified, 41% were female. This study identified three distinct classes of male and female offenders within which persons had similar trajectories of arrests over the 4-year study period representing those with minimal, low, and high arrest rates. Findings suggest some important differences between women and men in risk factors for re-arrests. Attention to these factors may improve the ability to prevent future recidivism among men and women with SMI.