Life Skill Interventions with Homeless Youth,Domestic Violence Victims and Adults with Mental Illness

SUMMARY

This paper presents three exploratory studies of life skills interventions (employment, money management or food/nutrition) with 73 homeless individuals from four shelters and supportive housing programs located in the urban Midwest for youth, victims of domestic violence and adults with mental illness. The Ansell Casey Life Skills Assessment was administered prior to the eight group and individual sessions. Quizzes and posttests indicated clinical change in all groups, with statistical significance in the domestic violence group. The intervention implementation, challenges encountered, and strategies developed for implementing shelter-based interventions are discussed. Recommendations for successfully providing collaborative university-shelter clinical interventions are provided.     

Social capital as norms and resources: Focus groups discussing alcohol

The aim of this article is to analyse the relationship between peer-group social capital and the use of alcohol among young people – as this relationship is expressed in focus group interviews. The main point to be made is that social capital affects alcohol use in two different ways: it incites some forms of drinking (‘controlled drunkenness’) while restricting others (drinking alone, drinking ‘for the wrong reason’, losing control often). Furthermore, the idea behind this article is that social capital is both a background factor influencing participants’ relationship to alcohol and an effect of their drinking experience. We apply Coleman's micro-oriented perspective on local network mechanisms – with a specific focus on collective norms negotiated in the focus groups – in combination with Bourdieu's definition of social capital as resources. The data used in this article come from focus group interviews with 18–19-year-old Danes.     

To be one who continues to smoke: Construction of legitimacy and meaning in young adults’ accounts of smoking

This study analyses young smokers’ accounts of continuing to smoke in a context of increasing structural and symbolic pressure to quit. It explores the accounts in relation to issues of legitimacy, meaning and identity. A qualitative study was conducted with interviews with 21 male and female smokers aged 18–23 years. The interviewees described themselves in various ways as ‘in control’ of their smoking, discursively rejecting addiction. They also spoke about control in accounts of calculation of risk of ill health, and of compensating for smoking by other health promoting lifestyles. At the same time the interviewees talked about smoking in a way that opposed this rational discourse, highlighting pleasure and an emotional and metaphysical side of smoking. The material was interpreted using a discourse analytic framework, inspired by a Foucauldian understanding of discourse as impacting on the construction of subjectivity, selfhood and identity.     

The impact of church contextual factors on church-going youth's HIV prevention behaviour in Nairobi,Kenya: A cross-denominational study

Church doctrine about sexual behaviour has long been assumed to have an impact on aspects of the sub-Saharan AIDS epidemic, and evidence suggests that Pentecostal churches have a stronger influence THAN? on the sexual behaviour of their adherents. However, few studies have investigated the denominational differences in sexual attitudes and behaviour of youths, and virtually no empirical evidence is available regarding what specific aspects of the church environment are associated with differences in the response of youths to church messaging about sexual behaviour. This study examined those factors among church-going youth in Nairobi, Kenya. Separate focus groups with male and female youths were conducted in four mainline and three Pentecostal/evangelical (P/E) churches, and in-depth interviews were conducted with youth pastors or pastors of five of those churches. Content of church teaching as reported by youths and pastors did not differ between denominations. However, amount and context of teaching did vary, with P/E churches reportedly offering more teaching about sex to their youth. In addition, P/E churches appeared to provide a more intense experience of community than mainline churches, a situation that may create a context within which abstinence appears to be a reasonable life choice.     

Does stress mediate the development of substance use disorders among youth transitioning to young adulthood?

Background: Stress is a well-documented factor in the development of addiction. However, no longitudinal studies to date have assessed the role of stress in mediating the development of substance use disorders (SUD). Our previous results have demonstrated that a measure called Transmissible Liability Index (TLI) assessed during pre-adolescent years serves as a significant predictor of risk for substance use disorder among young adults. However, it remains unclear whether life stress mediates the relationship between TLI and SUD, or whether stress predicts SUD. Methods: We conducted a longitudinal study involving 191 male subjects to assess whether life stress mediates the relationship between TLI as assessed at age 10–12 and subsequent development of SUD at age 22, after controlling for other relevant factors. Results: Logistic regression demonstrated that the development of SUD at age 22 was associated with stress at age 19. A path analysis demonstrated that stress at age 19 significantly predicted SUD at age 22. However, stress did not mediate the relationship between the TLI assessed at age 10–12 and SUD in young adulthood. Conclusions and scientific significance: These findings confirm that stress plays a role in the development of SUD, but also shows that stress does not mediate the development of SUD. Further studies are warranted to clarify the role of stress in the etiology of SUD.     

A personal digital assistant for improving independent transitioning in adolescents with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder

Objective: This study evaluated the effectiveness of a personal digital assistant (PDA) on independent transitioning between activities in a day treatment centre for youth with high-functioning ASD.

Methods: Within a multiple baseline design across four participants, data were collected on participant's transitioning and staff's prompting behaviour. Intervention by staff consisted of one technical instruction session on use of the PDA and non-specific instruction following incorrect transitions while not using the PDA, in the natural setting.

Results: Analysis revealed a significant increase in percentage independent daily transitions, which resulted from the independent use of the PDA. The change in staff's prompt use during intervention was mainly the result of a significant decrease in the use of non-specific prompts in correcting participant's transition behaviour.

Conclusion: A brief intervention was effective in improving independent transitioning using a PDA. Findings are evaluated in light of their clinical implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Conceptions of Risk in the Lives of Club Drug-Using Youth

This paper describes current patterns of club drug use and local conceptions of risk among New York City area youth. The data is drawn from a NIDA-funded ethnographic study of club drug initiation among “Bridge and Tunnel” youth. The paper entails an examination of the harmony and discontinuity between folk models of risk within this population and professional models of risk. The author explores how club drug-using youth conceive of risks related to club drug use, specifically ecstasy, and how such conceptions compare and contrast with current professional models of risk. These conceptions of risk are crucial to understand, as they form an informal logic by which club drug practices are guided. Ultimately, the author examines how the relationship between folk models and professional models might inform health promotion efforts targeting youth.     

Project Towards No Drug Abuse (TND): Needs Assessment of a Social Service Referral Telephone Program for High Risk Youth

The purpose of this study was to conduct a needs assessment of a potential social service resource telephone program component among high risk youth who received the Project Towards No Drug Abuse (TND) classroom-based program (approximately 1 year earlier). Results supported youths' overwhelming receptiveness of a social service referral program. The vast majority of respondents indicated a strong desire for resource and referral information on vocational, educational, recreational, transportation, and mental health and drug counseling. Further research is needed to investigate the effectiveness of the provision of social service resource information on drug use among emerging adults.