High risk youth

OBJECTIVE: Evidence-based guidance of clinical decision-making for the management of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is lacking, particularly for co-occurring psychiatric symptoms. This review evaluates treatment evidence for six common symptom targets in children/adolescents with ASD and provides a resource to facilitate application of the evidence to clinical practice. METHOD: A systematic search identified randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and high-quality systematic reviews published between 2007 and 2016, focused on: social interaction/communication impairment, stereotypic/repetitive behaviours, irritability/agitation, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms, mood or anxiety symptoms, and sleep difficulties...

INTRODUCTION: Noncarbonated sugar-sweetened beverages, such as fruit drinks, sports drinks, and sweetened teas are increasingly promoted to and consumed by youth. These beverages may be perceived as healthier options than soda. To educate consumers about beverages high in added sugar, several cities and states have proposed policies mandating health warning labels on sugar-sweetened beverages. METHODS: In 2015, a total of 2,381 parents were randomized to a no label, calorie label, or warning label condition...

PROBLEM: Health-risk behaviors contribute to the leading causes of morbidity and mortality among youth and adults in the United States. In addition, significant health disparities exist among demographic subgroups of youth defined by sex, race/ethnicity, and grade in school and between sexual minority and nonsexual minority youth. Population-based data on the most important health-related behaviors at the national, state, and local levels can be used to help monitor the effectiveness of public health interventions designed to protect and promote the health of youth at the national, state, and local levels...

BACKGROUND: Youths with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are at risk for developing anxiety and depressive symptoms with a reported 20%-50% prevalence rate. AIMS: This prospective study aimed to: (1) describe the prevalence and severity of anxiety and depressive symptoms in a large Dutch cohort of young IBD patients, and (2) identify demographic and clinical risk factors for anxiety and depression. METHODS: IBD patients (n = 374; 10-25 years) were screened for anxiety, depression and quality of life using validated age-specific questionnaires...

Objectives This study aimed to examine the prevalence of weight misperception and to explore the association of weight perception with physical activity and dietary intake. Methods A population-based, nationally representative cross-sectional survey was conducted of 920 Thai adolescents aged 13 to 24 years. Respondents were selected using stratified multistage sampling. Respondents who agreed to participate were asked to complete the Youth Risk Behavior Questionnaire. Results Females were more likely than males to misperceive themselves as overweight (21...

Although high socioeconomic status (SES) is traditionally conceptualized as a health protective factor, recent literature has documented positive associations between SES (e.g., income) and depression among Blacks, including Black youth. To extend the results of this recent literature, the current study used the Family and Community Health Study (FACHS) data to examine the multiplicative effects of gender, place, and SES on average depressive symptoms of Black youth over a long period of time. FACHS, 1997⁻2017, followed 889 Black children aged 10⁻12 years old for up to 18 years...

BACKGROUND: Adolescence is a peak time for uptake of both tobacco and marijuana (dual use). This study aimed to identify clusters of lifetime tobacco and marijuana use patterns and associated risk factors, and to determine whether dual tobacco and marijuana use is uniquely associated with greater risk than use of either tobacco or marijuana alone. METHOD: High school students participated in a survey during Fall 2014 (N = 976; 68% Hispanic; 57% parental education < high school)...

BACKGROUND: There is considerable evidence that exposure to alcohol marketing increases the likelihood of adolescents initiating and engaging in alcohol consumption. There is a paucity of research, however, specifically examining industry generated alcohol marketing occurring on social media/networking platforms. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this investigation was to analyze the content of promotional advertisements by alcohol brands on Instagram. METHODS: For a 30-day period, Instagram profiles of 15 distinct alcohol brands were examined...

BACKGROUND: The region of central and eastern Europe is estimated to have high rates of premature mortality due to mental disorders. However, epidemiological evidence is scarce and insufficient to inform policy actions and health system development. We aimed to assess mortality associated with mental disorders in the Czech Republic. METHODS: We did a nationwide, register-based, retrospective cohort study using routinely collected health data from two nationwide registries in the Czech Republic: the register of inpatient discharges (from Jan 1, 1994, to Dec 31, 2013) and the causes of death registry (from Jan 1, 1994, to Dec 31, 2014)...

E-cigarettes are electronic devices used to vaporize a flavored liquid resulting in aerosols to be inhaled by the user. The high variety of e-cigarettes and liquids makes it difficult to assess the health effects of e-cigarette use. The ingredients of the liquids - apart from nicotine - are generally recognized as safe for oral and dermal use, however, toxicological data on health effects upon chronic inhalation are missing. Studies have detected several harmful substances in e-cigarette aerosol, including carcinogens, but in lower concentrations than tobacco smoke...

Existing research on neighborhood environment and gestational weight gain (GWG) focuses on point-in-time measures of neighborhood context. This precludes understanding how long-term exposure to adverse neighborhood environments influences GWG. We estimated associations between average exposure to and trajectories of long-term neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation and risk of inadequate or excessive GWG. Using data from 5690 full-term, singleton pregnancies in the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, we estimated associations between cumulative deprivation and GWG, overall and by race/ethnicity, controlling for individual and residential covariates...

This paper examines problem drinking, alcohol-related violence, and homelessness among youth living in the slums of Kampala&mdash;an understudied population at high-risk for both alcohol use and violence. This study is based on a cross-sectional survey conducted in 2014 with youth living in the slums and streets of Kampala, Uganda ( n = 1134), who were attending Uganda Youth Development Link drop-in centers. The analyses for this paper were restricted to youth who reported current alcohol consumption ( n = 346)...

Acculturation strategy, a varying combination of heritage and mainstream cultural orientations and one of the significant determinants of youth development, has been understudied with Asian American youth and particularly at a subgroup-specific level. This study used person-oriented latent profile analysis (LPA) to identify acculturation strategy subtypes among Filipino American and Korean American adolescents living in the Midwest. Associations between the subtypes and numerous correlates including demographics, family process and youth outcomes were also examined...

The Human Research Council's National HIV Prevalence, Incidence and Behavior Survey ranks South Africa first in HIV incidence in the world with 400,000 new infections in 2012 and found the HIV incidence rate among female youth aged 15 to 24 years to be 2.5% that year. The objective of this study was to compare the pattern and predictability of sexual activity between HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected young South African women. Sexually active young women between the ages of 16 and 21 years old completed a study survey between October 2012 and 2014 at two Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation centers...

BACKGROUND: Little is known about how adolescents who smoke both cigarettes and cigar products obtain and use these products. This study sought to explore cigarette and cigar acquisition and situational use among high school smokers. METHODS: Data are drawn from the 2011 Cuyahoga County Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Analysis was limited to youth who smoke cigarettes as well as cigars, cigarillos, and little cigars (CCLC) in the past month (N = 649). Consumption of both products was calculated and used to create four subtypes of users based on high or low use of each product (Dual High, Dual Low, High CCLC/Low Cigarette, and Low CCLC/High Cigarette users)...

BACKGROUND: Risky sexual behaviors adversely affect the health of youth and young adults exposing them to sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS and unwanted pregnancy to females that in turn lead to deleterious health, social and economic consequences. Youth centers inform their clients on sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS, unwanted pregnancy, high risk abortion, and other reproductive health problems. Therefore, this study was designed to assess the prevalence of risky sexual behaviors among youth center reproductive health clinic users and non-users in Addis Ababa...

CONTEXT:   Injury risks in professional and community rugby union have been extensively described; however, less is known about injury epidemiology at the schoolboy level. OBJECTIVE:   To investigate the injury risk in English schoolboy rugby union matches, comparing an elite competition (Achieving Academic and Sporting Excellence [AASE]) with subelite matches (non-AASE). DESIGN:   Retrospective cohort study. SETTING:   Rugby union academy, consisting of 16- to 19-year-old males, based at an elite sports college in England...

BACKGROUND: We examined how mothers' protective parenting and alcohol use influenced changes in offspring's heavy drinking among a sample of African American youth. The conceptual model also tested indirect effects of mothers' behaviors, through changes in the youths' social images (i.e., prototypes) of heavy drinkers, derived from the prototype willingness (PW) model. METHODS: Participants were 686 emerging adults (55% female) from the Family and Community Health Study (FACHS), an ongoing prospective study of African American families...

Bioecological models of developmental psychopathology underscore the role of familial experiences of adversity and children's individual-level characteristics in heightening risk for pediatric anxiety through direct, combined, and interactive effects. To date, much of the existing research dedicated to pediatric anxiety disorders has largely been examined in bioecological models of diathesis-stress using community samples. This study extends our understanding of children's differential responsiveness to familial adversity by examining the diathesis-stress interaction of cumulative risk and children's individual-level vulnerabilities (negative affectivity and coping efficacy) within a clinic-referred treatment study for pediatric anxiety disorders...

Purpose Ukraine has one of the fastest growing HIV epidemics globally. Due to their engagement in high-risk behaviors, adolescents and emerging adults involved with the penitentiary system are at a particularly high risk of HIV-acquisition. To address the epidemic, young males (aged 14 to 20 years) in penitentiary institutions across Ukraine participated in a ten-week, group-based HIV-prevention intervention (STEPS). The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach The authors analyzed clinical and programmatic services data collected as part of an evaluation of the STEPS intervention...