The White House’s Council of Economic Advisers has released a report on closing opportunity gaps for disadvantaged youth that highlights two promising programs: One Summer Jobs Plus (OSP) and Becoming a Man (BAM). With Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention-supported evaluation grants, the University of Chicago Crime Lab is currently testing both youth-focused delinquency […]
Archives for July 2015
Summer Jobs Reduce Violence among Disadvantaged Youth
Every day, acts of violence injure more than 6000 people in the United States. Despite decades of social science arguing that joblessness among disadvantaged youth is a key cause of violent offending, programs to remedy youth unemployment do not consistently reduce delinquency. This study tests whether summer jobs, which shift focus from remediation to prevention, […]
Mental Illness Drives Hospitalizations for Detained California Youth
Hospitalization for mental health problems is far more common among kids behind bars than among children and teens in the general population, a new study finds. Juvenile inmates also have longer hospital stays, which suggests they have more serious underlying mental health problems, according to the Stanford University School of Medicine researchers. “We know young […]
Persistent Complex Bereavement Disorder Checklist — Youth Version
Everybody grieves the death of a loved one, and the process helps most mourners adjust to their loss. “Charlie Brown was right,” said Christopher Layne, a psychologist and researcher at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA. “There is good grief.” But for some people, bereavement becomes a problem in itself, prolonging […]
Effect of Attention Training on Attention Bias Variability and PTSD Symptoms
A computerized attention-control training program significantly reduced combat veterans’ preoccupation with – or avoidance of — threat and attendant PTSD symptoms. By contrast, another type of computerized training, called attention bias modification – which has proven helpful in treating anxiety disorders – did not reduce PTSD symptoms. NIMH and Israeli researchers conducted parallel trials in […]
Early Childhood Internalizing Problems in Mexican- and Dominican-Origin Children: The Role of Cultural Socialization and Parenting Practices
Authoritarian parenting can lead to depression and somatization in young Mexican American and Dominican American children, according to new research from The University of Texas at Austin’s School of Social Work. The study, led by social work professor Esther Calzada and published in the Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, examined the prevalence of […]