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Risk Behaviors-General
Number of unique resources found: 60
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– Evaluation –
Description: This is a compendium of measurement tools intended for use with youths between the ages of 11 and 24 years. Tools included can be used to assess such factors as serious violent and delinquent behavior, conflict resolution strategies, social and emotional competencies, peer influences, parental monitoring and supervision, family relationships, exposure to violence, collective efficacy, and neighborhood characteristics. The compendium also contains a number of scales and assessments developed for use with children between the ages of 5 and 10 years, to measure factors such as aggressive fantasies, beliefs supportive of aggression, attributional biases, prosocial behavior, and aggressive behavior. When parent and teacher versions of assessments are available, they are included.
Author: Scott, Dawn
Description: Literature review, bibliographies, links, resources and evaluation measures relating to youth risk taking.
– General Information –
Body Piercing and Risky Behavior: Is There a Connection?
Description: Information for parents about body piercing and helping teens make decisions.
Description: The Dylan Blake Foundation for Adolescent Behaviors A Non-Profit Educational Organization founded when 11 year old Dylan A. Blake unexpectedly passed away in October 2005 from a tragic accident. Dylan's death was due to his participation in the dangerous asphyxiation activity known as the "Choking Game".
Fact Sheet on Latino Youth: Income & Poverty
Author: Brindis, C.; LT Valderrama; MA Biggs; AK Driscoll
Description: This fact sheet provides information and statistics about Latino youth income and poverty. Poor children are at greater risk than non-poor children for a host of negative outcomes. They are more likely to perform poorly in school, to become teen parents, and to be unemployed as adults. In addition to facing a greater risk of living in poverty, Latino children often confront additional challenges such as language and cultural barriers, and the stresses of adjusting to US society for immigrant families.
Fact Sheet on Mortality: Adolescents & Young Adults
Description: This four-page fact sheet provides statistics and information about adolescent mortality in the United States.
Fact Sheet on Unintentional Injury: Adolescents & Young Adults
Description: This fact sheet provides statistics and information about adolescent unintentional injury in the United States.
Families for Depression Awareness
Description: The mission and purpose of Families for Depression Awareness is to: help families recognize and cope with depressive disorders; help families recognize and manage the various forms of depression and associated mood disorders; reduce stigma associated with depressive disorder; and unite families and help them heal in coping with depression.
Games Adolescents Shouldn't Play (G.A.S.P.)
Description: Games Adolescents Shouldn't Play (G.A.S.P.) an international not-for-profit association founded for the purpose of putting an end to the Choking Game--an asphyxiation activity that causes the needless death of children and suffering of communities. To achieve this goal, GASP partners with other organizations that include Choking Game education as part of their overall message.
Study Finds Caffeine Abuse Among Young Americans
Description: Young Americans searching for a legal high or just trying to stay alert may be abusing caffeine pills, sending some to the hospital.The American College of Emergency Physicians said a review of records at the Illinois Poison Center in Chicago found more than 250 cases of medical complications from ingesting caffeine supplements, 12 percent of them requiring hospitalization, including treatment in intensive-care units.
Summer Safety Tip: Talk With Your Kids About Tough Issues
Description: This article reminds parents to talk with their kids “about some of the other challenges they may face during the upcoming months (and that they will face at some point in the upcoming years), like alcohol, drugs, sex, and violence. We don't immediately associate these dangers with summer. But they are risks that kids encounter more frequently when they have free and unsupervised time. So as you make sure that your children are ready for the pool and the park, take the opportunity to talk with them about other risks too.”
Talking with Kids About Tough Issues
Description: Talking With Kids About Tough Issues is a national initiative by Children Now and the Kaiser Family Foundation to encourage parents to talk with their children earlier and more often about tough issues like sex, HIV/AIDS, violence, alcohol, and drug abuse.
Technology Trend: Teens and Online Health Research 
Author: Nordby, Ann
Description: Teens research health issues online, but often do not know where to turn. Social networking sites do not offer expert information on teens' top health concerns and there is a need for a knowledgeable source.
The Campaign to Rescue and Restore Victims of Human Trafficking
Description: This site provides information and resources related to victims of human trafficking.
Description: This Connect with Kids page includes several articles about the choking game, including tips for parents about how to encourage their children and adolescents to make better decisions.
The Choking Game: Risky Youth Behavior
Description: This CDC page highlights the risks associated with the choking games and warning signs that a child or adolescent may be involved in the game.
Description: This article from Teenwire.com is addressed to teens and describes the dangers of the choking game and what to do if they suspect their friends are involved in the game.
Description: This CDC report compiled news media reports to estimate the number of deaths from the choking game from 1995-2007. Most of the deaths were among males, and the mean age was 13.3 years.
Description: Description of positive and negative youth outcomes.
Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System
Description: The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) is a voluntary system that includes a national survey and surveys conducted by state and local education agencies. The YRBSS provides vital information on risk behaviors among young people to more effectively target and improve health programs. The site contains fact sheets, reports, the questionnaires, results and data files.
– Links, Other Resources –
Description: A World of Prevention is a searchable directory of resources dedicated to the prevention of child and adolescent problems and the promotion of youth development in families, schools and communities. A World of Prevention offers links to online resources, including the best available prevention material, program descriptions, research reports, articles and books.
Adolescent Directory On-Line (ADOL) Counselor Resources
Description: A collection of links for counselors on adolescent risk behaviors and issues.
Adolescents and Driving: Factors Influencing Behavior
Description: The intent of this monograph is to give an overview of adolescence and driving, with particular attention to developmental factors and behaviors specific to adolescence that are associated with high risk driving.
Behaviors May Indicate Risk of Adolescent Depression
Description: New findings from a study supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institutes of Health, show that girls and boys who exhibit high levels of risky behaviors have similar chances of developing symptoms of depression. However, gender differences become apparent with low and moderate levels of risky behaviors with girls being significantly more likely than boys to experience symptoms of depression.
Buffalo State College Center for Studies in Creativity, Creativity Links!
Description: A comprehensive list of links to creativity sites on the web including creativity associations, consultants and trainers, educational and related programs, inventions, and other sites of interest.
Description: This is a manual about community monitoring systems. Monitoring the well-being of children and adolescents is a critical component of efforts to prevent psychological, behavioral, and health problems and to promote their successful development. Research during the past 40 years has helped identify aspects of child and adolescent functioning that are important to monitor. These aspects, which encompass family, peer, school, and neighborhood influences, have been shown to be associated with both positive and negative outcomes for youth. As systems for monitoring well-being become more available, communities will become better able to support prevention efforts and select prevention practices that meet community-specific needs.
Creative Partnerships for Prevention
Description: Resources, information, and ideas on how to use the arts and humanities to enhance prevention programs for youth.
Families for Depression Awareness
Description: The mission and purpose of Families for Depression Awareness is to: help families recognize and cope with depressive disorders; help families recognize and manage the various forms of depression and associated mood disorders; reduce stigma associated with depressive disorder; and unite families and help them heal in coping with depression.
Most Behaviors Preceding Major Causes of Preventable Death Have Begun By Young Adulthood
Description: By the time they reach early adulthood, a large proportion of American youth have begun the poor practices contributing to three leading causes of preventable death in the United States: smoking, overweight and obesity, and alcohol abuse. This finding is according to an NIH-funded analysis of the most comprehensive survey of adolescent health behavior undertaken to date.
Description: This site provides tips and resources for parents and educators to protect children from Internet dangers.
Teen Help Adolescent Resources: Support for Families with Teen Challenges
Description: Teen Help Adolescent Resources provides a national toll free hotline to assist parents, child care professionals, and others in locating appropriate resources for the treatment of adolescents struggling with making the best choices in their lives.
Description: By many measures, girls are on a roll. In terms of academic achievement, college attendance and completion, and the opportunities that are open to them, girls are poised for success. But some experts see worrying signs that girls are also facing new pressures and responding with violent behavior usually associated with boys.
Wisconsin Clearinghouse of Prevention Resources
Description: This web-based clearinghouse of information includes resources on various topics including prevention and youth development. Additionally, it includes sections on advocacy, evaluation, training, and funding.
– Programming Resource –
Description: ACT for Youth—Assets Coming Together for Youth —aims to strengthen community partnerships that promote positive youth development and prevent risky and unhealthy behaviors among young people, aged 10 to 19. The A C T for Youth initiative is a project of the New York State Department of Health, and was developed in cooperation with the Partners for Children.
Critical Issue: Using Prevention Principles to Develop Comprehensive Services
Description: This fact sheet developed by the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory provides a discussion of how the traditional prevention framework has shifted to include a more comprehensive focus. Additionally, this page includes video clips from experts, action steps for various types of stakeholders, case studies, and additional resources.
National Runaway Prevention Month Resources
Description: The Community Action Kit provides a step-by-step approach to planning and implementing runaway prevention activities in your community this month, which is National Runaway Prevention Month. This kit contains ideas for promoting runaway prevention which can be used by parents, teachers, police officers, nonprofits, governments, youth, coaches, and any other individuals or groups who are concerned about runaway youth.
Teen Risk-Taking: Promising Prevention Programs and Approaches
Author: Eisen, Marvin; Natalya Bolshun; Carolyn Bradner; Christina Pallitto
Description: This link to the guidebook and program compendium provides an essential first step in bridging the gap from "research to practice." It explores some of the practical issues associated with finding, choosing, and starting potentially effective prevention programs for at-risk preteens and teens.
Author: Gengler, Colleen
Description: A fact sheet for parents about how to deal with teens and parties.
The Maltreatment and Adolescent Pregnancy and Parenting Program (MAPPP)
Description: The Maltreatment and Adolescent Pregnancy and Parenting Program (MAPPP) builds community awareness about the prevalence of violence in the lives of young women. The goal of MAPPP is to increase awareness of the violence that many females experience prior to, during and after an adolescent pregnancy. The MAPPP materials include a video and a manual with camera-ready overhead transparencies, talking points, an annotated bibliography, and suggested activities to do with community groups.
Description: A research brief about youth gangs and schools.
Youth Risk Taking Behavior: The Role of Schools
Description: "This brief covers (1) What Schools Do with Respect to Risk Taking Behavior, (2) Concerns about Current Approaches, (3) What Should School Do? including Recommendations for School Policy and Planning."
– Research –
Age of Risk Behavior Debut: Trends and Implications
Author: Smith, Anita
Description: This 17-page analysis of data on age of risk behavior debut and its impact on lifetime participation trends and overall risk, provides a critical component to those concerned about or working on youth risk behavior prevention. It explains the importance of including age of debut statistics in evaluations and analyses of youth risk behaviors, in addition to examining the participation rates.
An Ecological, Risk-factored Approach for Addressing Youth-At-Risk Issues
Author: Bogenschneider, Karen; David Riley; Stephen Small
Description: A research report that presents a prevention model, reviews current research on risk factors and protective factors that influence the well-being of youth, and suggests implications of this research for developing comprehensive, community-based, prevention programs.
Faith and Action: Implementation of the National Faith-Based Initiative for High-Risk Youth
Author: Branch, Alvia
Description: Public/ Private Ventures' long-standing interest in whether faith-based institutions could serve as vehicles for the delivery of social programming for youth who have committed juvenile or criminal offenses led to the development of the National Faith-Based Initiative for High-Risk Youth. Faith and Action. This report documents the efforts of the 15 faith-based organizations that participated in this initiative. These organizations entered into partnership with the justice community in order to recruit high-risk youth and provide them with services such as education, employment and mentoring. The report also documents the role that faith plays in the delivery of these services, and makes observations about the capacity of these organizations to implement programs for youth.
Feeling Ashamed Can Trigger Aggression in Adolescents with High Self-Esteem
Description: A study in the December issue of Child Development found that adolescents with high self-esteem are more likely to react aggressively when they feel ashamed than are their peers with lower self-esteem. Researchers found no support for the traditional theory that low self-esteem is an underlying cause of aggression; in fact, they found that high self-esteem increases the incidence of narcissistic, shame-induced aggression.
Individual and Contextual Variables Related to Risk Behaviors and Resiliency Among Diverse Youth
Author: Perkins, Daniel; Joanne Keith; Richard Lerner
Description: This study explored the interrelationships of six risk behaviors: Antisocial behavior/delinquency, alcohol use, hard drug use, soft drug use, sexual activity, and school misconduct. In turn, their relationships with adolescents' characteristics--age, gender, ethnicity, involvement in extracurricular activities, religiosity, and view of the future--and contextual characteristics--family support, parent-adolescent communication, peer group characteristics, and school climate--were examined.
Description: This is a compendium of measurement tools intended for use with youths between the ages of 11 and 24 years. Tools included can be used to assess such factors as serious violent and delinquent behavior, conflict resolution strategies, social and emotional competencies, peer influences, parental monitoring and supervision, family relationships, exposure to violence, collective efficacy, and neighborhood characteristics. The compendium also contains a number of scales and assessments developed for use with children between the ages of 5 and 10 years, to measure factors such as aggressive fantasies, beliefs supportive of aggression, attributional biases, prosocial behavior, and aggressive behavior. When parent and teacher versions of assessments are available, they are included.
Online Victimization: A Report on the Nation
Description: Produced in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and University of New Hampshire's Crimes Against Children Research Center, this groundbreaking national survey of 1,501 youth aged 10 to 17 documented their use of the Internet and experiences while online including unwanted exposure to sexual solicitation, sexual material, and harassment. And it includes recommendations to help make the Internet safer for children. 62 pp.
Potential protective effect of the community involvement asset on adolescent risk behaviors
Author: Rodine, Sharon; Roy F. Oman, Ph.D.; Sara K. Vesely, Ph.D.; Cheryl B. Aspy, Ph.D.; Eleni Tolma, MPH, Ph.D.; LaDonna Marshall; Janene Fluhr
Description: The potential of Community Involvement as a protective factor (youth asset) for eight adolescent risk behaviors was examined in this study.
Promoting Social, Emotional, and Academic Learning in Schools
Description: In this paper, the authors discuss links between 'school-based prevention programming' and 'the broader challenges of educational reform and improvement' (p. 466). They propose that there is a need for a comprehensive system of school-based prevention programming, based on coordinated social, emotional, and academic learning, for all ages of children from preschool to high school. They review research on the outcomes of different types of prevention programs (positive youth development, mental illness prevention, substance abuse prevention, and programs to address school nonattendance and problem behaviors) and consider issues for the future of school-based interventions. (Scroll down to Abstract #87 and click on link to PDF)
Protecting Adolescents from Risk
Description: This 62-page transcript of a Capitol Hill briefing on findings from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health features the following presentations: Youth Violence: What Predicts? What Protects? by Michael D. Resnick, Ph.D.; Reducing the Risk: Recent Lessons from Add Health on Adolescent Sexuality by Robert Wm. Blum, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D.; The Influence of the Mother by Clea Sucoff McNeely, Dr. P.H.; The Effects of Family Structure and Family Processes on Adolescent Risk Behavior by Kathleen Mullan Harris, Ph.D. The transcript includes both presentation narrative and graphics.
Research FACTs and Findings: Adolescents and the Internet
Author: Louge, Nathalie
Description: Computer use among adolescents has skyrocketed. More than 80% of American youth use the Internet, and nearly half log on daily. In this new, often intimate social environment, adolescents may explore identity formation, sexuality, and self-worth in a virtual world. This fact sheet explores the benefits and risks of Internet use for youth, and offers strategies for safe navigation of the Internet.
Research FACTs and Findings: Risk, Protection, and Resilience
Description: Why is it that some youth are able to survive difficult upbringings that place them at-risk and become productive, responsible adults, while others cannot?
Research Spotlight: Mike Males and the Panic Over Girls
Author: Nordby, Ann
Description: Teens today are just as well behaved and safe as ever, according to researcher Mike Males. He says that adults' worries about violent crime and drug use are not based on statistics, but on fear of a society that is changing so quickly that it scares them. Males' critics disagree with some of his statistics.
Resilience: What it is and how children and young people can be helped to develop it
Author: Maclean, Kirstie
Description: This briefing paper aims to assist the development of a positive and hopeful resilience perspective and to provide some pointers as to how it might be put into practice.
Description: The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) shows a strong association between school connectedness and a variety of risk factors, researchers say. A Congressionally mandated, Federally funded study, Add Health is the largest, most comprehensive survey of adolescents ever undertaken in the United States.
Selected Risk and Protective Factors Related to Teen Violence in a Rural Nevada Community
Author: Smith, Marilyn; Marcia Bandera; Geoffrey Leigh; Bill Evans
Description: Presents data were compiled at the request of one rural school district to help identify the strengths and concerns of local youth.
The Maltreatment and Adolescent Pregnancy and Parenting Program (MAPPP)
Description: The Maltreatment and Adolescent Pregnancy and Parenting Program (MAPPP) builds community awareness about the prevalence of violence in the lives of young women. The goal of MAPPP is to increase awareness of the violence that many females experience prior to, during and after an adolescent pregnancy. The MAPPP materials include a video and a manual with camera-ready overhead transparencies, talking points, an annotated bibliography, and suggested activities to do with community groups.
The NSDUH Report: Substance Use Treatment Need among Adolescents, 2003-2004
Description: This Short Report, The NSDUH Report: Substance Use Treatment Need among Adolescents, 2003-2004, is based on SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). The NSDUH is conducted by the Office of Applied Studies (OAS) in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use and Health is the primary source of information on the prevalence, patterns, and consequences of drug and alcohol use and abuse in the general U.S. civilian non institutionalized population, age 12 and older. The NSDUH also provides estimates for drug use by State.
Author: Turner, Susan; Terry Fain; Amber Sehgal
Description: Describes RAND’s validation of the San Diego Risk and Resiliency Checkup (SDRRC), an assessment tool meant to objectively measure the risk and needs of the risk and needs of juvenile probationers in Los Angeles County. A youth’s SDRRC “resiliency score” was found to be significantly related to 12-month recidivism rate.
Views of some protective factors that help reduce negative behavior among Native American youth
Author: Smith, Marilyn
Description: A report looking at the results of a survey of 8th, 10th, and 12th grade youth at the Owyhee school on the Duck Valley Indian Reservation. The survey asks teens their opinions about issues facing youth today. Results are presented here in an ecological perspective including community, school, and parent issues.
Youth Facts: Interconnections—Emerging Patterns in Youth Risk Behavior
Author: Erickson, Kimberly
Description: Through graphs and data, this seven-page report explains the interconnections between the youth risk behaviors of alcohol, drugs, sex, tobacco and violence. This information explains IYDÂ’s comprehensive risk-avoidance approach to youth risk behavior prevention, based on these proven interconnections.
Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System: Surveillance Summaries 2006
Description: Comprehensive results and fact sheet from the YRBSS.