The overall suicide rate among children between the ages of five and 11 was stable during the 20 years from 1993 to 2012, but that stability obscured racial differences that show an increase in suicide among black children and a decrease among white children. For a study published by JAMA Pediatrics, researchers led by Jeffrey […]
POPULATION(S) OF FOCUS
Prompting Discussions of Youth Violence Using Electronic Previsit Questionnaires in Primary Care
This study aimed to determine the efficacy of an electronic previsit questionnaire (PVQ) in prompting youth violence (YV) discussions. The authors found that, overall, 30 percent of adolescents reported some YV involvement. Sixty-five percent of the intervention group and 42 percent of the control group reported discussing YV during their visit. Thirty-one percent of adolescents […]
Building the Evaluation Capacity of Local Programs Serving American Indian/Alaska Native Populations
This report describes the activities of 34 tribal communities served by the Center for the Application of Prevention Technologies (CAPT) under SAMHSA’s Science to Service Initiative conducted between 2010 and 2014. The locally-developed programs addressed substance abuse and associated factors both causal (primarily historical trauma) and consequential (primarily suicide). The report discusses evaluation processes, results, challenges […]
Racial and Ethnic Disparity and Disproportionality in Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice
Overrepresentation of children of color in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems has been statistically proven in various studies over the years. Though this fact has been generally accepted and effort has been made to reduce disproportionality within both systems, much work remains to be done. In March 2008, a symposium titled “The Overrepresentation […]
Prognostic Significance of Depression in African Americans With Heart Failure
Depression seems to increase the risk of hospitalization and death in black heart failure patients, a new study finds. Researchers assessed depression symptoms — such as difficulty with concentration, a lack of energy and feelings of hopelessness or helplessness — in nearly 750 black patients with heart failure. About one-third of them had symptoms of […]
Feasibility and Perception of Using Text Messages as an Adjunct Therapy for Low-Income, Minority Mothers With Postpartum Depression
The objective of the study was to evaluate the feasibility of sending supportive text messages to low-income mothers of racial and ethnic minority backgrounds with postpartum depression and gauge the perception of receiving such message for depression. Mothers found to be at risk received supportive text messages four times a week for six months, in […]