RESUMEN
PURPOSE: Screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment interventions have been shown to positively impact alcohol use. These programs utilize motivational interviewing techniques in an effort to reduce risky substance use among those at elevated risk of developing a disorder. However, there is a dearth of research assessing positive impacts above and beyond changes in alcohol use. This study examines potential benefits of brief interventions, utilizing motivation interviewing, on mental and physical quality of life. METHODS: The present quasi-experimental study examined changes in health-related quality of life among individuals presenting at urban emergency departments. The analyses included the use of propensity score matching to minimize potential biases resulting from differences between groups at baseline. RESULTS: The results indicated that the intervention group experienced significant increases in perceptions of mental health over those of the comparison group, regardless of changes in substance use. CONCLUSIONS: These findings have implications for practice, as they suggest that brief substance abuse interventions delivered in the emergency department settings may have effects beyond those targeted by the intervention. Specifically, brief substance abuse interventions may positively impact mental health, thus enhancing the quality of life among targets of the intervention.
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Tamizaje Masivo/métodos , Calidad de Vida/psicología , Trastornos Relacionados con Sustancias/psicología , Adulto , Servicio de Urgencia en Hospital , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Trastornos Relacionados con Sustancias/patologíaRESUMEN
Since the 1980s, volunteering has been studied as an avenue for positive development in adolescents. Reviews in the early 1990s were mixed regarding the benefits of volunteering, questioning the ability to transfer volunteer skills to other aspects of life as well as the true reduction in risky behaviors the adolescent will go on to undertake. This article addresses the gaps in the prior reviews and looks more closely at the benefits of volunteering. The author suggests that adolescent volunteers develop fewer problem behaviors in their later teens, enjoy a sense of connection to their community, maintain a better work ethic, and show a greater concern for the welfare of others. There are innumerable options for integrating volunteering into the life of an adolescent. This article offers many options, reviews some of the most popular, and suggests conditions that may increase the success of a volunteering program.
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Conducta del Adolescente , Psicología del Adolescente , Voluntarios , Adolescente , HumanosRESUMEN
Previous research has shown that the Interpersonal Concerns factor of the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (DEQ; Blatt, D'Affliti, & Quinlan, 1976, 1979; Depressive Experiences Questionnaire for Adolescent [DEQ-A]; Blatt, Schaffer, Bers, & Quinlan, 1992) assesses 2 levels of interpersonal relatedness in young adults and older adolescents: neediness and relatedness. However, studies investigating the relation of the DEQ and DEQ-A with social functioning have not used the Neediness and Relatedness subscales of the Interpersonal Concerns factor. This study investigated (a) whether the Neediness and Relatedness subscales can be differentiated in a sample of early adolescents and (b) how the 2 subscales are differentially associated with indexes of social functioning. Results indicate that this differentiation of Neediness and Relatedness, and their associations with social functioning, emerges in early adolescence, especially for girls.
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Relaciones Interpersonales , Pruebas Psicológicas , Ajuste Social , Adolescente , Estudios Transversales , Depresión/psicología , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , New York , Grupo Paritario , Análisis de Regresión , Autoimagen , Autoeficacia , Deseabilidad SocialRESUMEN
Gender differences observed in interpersonal and self-critical vulnerabilities, reactivity to stressful life events, quality of relationships, and self-concepts inform a multivariate theoretical model of the moderating effects of gender on internalizing and externalizing problems in adolescence. To test this model, data were collected in a 1-year prospective study from an ethnically diverse sample of 460 middle school students. Increases in girls' internalizing symptoms, compared with boys', were partly explained by greater stability in girls' interpersonal vulnerabilities and greater magnitude in coefficients linking girls' relationships with parents and peers and internalizing problems. Boys' risks for externalizing problems, compared with girls', were partly explained by the greater stability in boys' vulnerability to self-criticism. Coefficients for most pathways in the model are similar for boys and girls.
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Conducta del Adolescente/psicología , Adolescente , Niño , Femenino , Humanos , Relaciones Interpersonales , Masculino , Estudios Prospectivos , Psicología del Adolescente , Autoimagen , Factores Sexuales , Estrés Psicológico/psicología , Encuestas y CuestionariosRESUMEN
To explore the meaning and function of attachment organization during adolescence, its relation to multiple domains of psychosocial functioning was examined in a sample of 131 moderately at-risk adolescents. Attachment organization was assessed using the Adult Attachment Interview; multiple measures of functioning were obtained from parents, adolescents, and their peers. Security displayed in adolescents' organization of discourse about attachment experiences was related to competence with peers (as reported by peers), lower levels of internalizing behaviors (as reported by adolescents), and lower levels of deviant behavior (as reported by peers and by mothers). Preoccupation with attachment experiences, seen in angry or diffuse and unfocused discussion of attachment experiences, was linked to higher levels of both internalizing and deviant behaviors. These relations generally remained even when other attachment-related constructs that had been previously related to adolescent functioning were covaried in analysis. Results are interpreted as suggesting an important role for attachment organization in a wide array of aspects of adolescent psychosocial development.
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Conducta del Adolescente/psicología , Apego a Objetos , Psicología del Adolescente , Adolescente , Adulto , Trastorno de la Conducta/diagnóstico , Trastorno de la Conducta/psicología , Estudios Transversales , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , AutoimagenRESUMEN
The present study provides a descriptive analysis of four areas of African American women student athletes' college life experiences: academic performance; alienation and abuse; perceived social advantage as the result of athletics; and life satisfaction. Multivariate comparisons were made between the four areas of college life experiences of 154 African American women student athletes and 793 White women student athletes, 250 African American women nonathletes, and 628 African American men student athletes from a national sample of 39 NCAA Division I universities. Overall, African American women student athletes are performing adequately academically, integrating socially within the university, perceiving some social advantage as the result of being athletes, and are fairly satisfied with their life. Their experiences seem most consistent with African American women nonathletes. Results are discussed in the context of potential policy recommendations as well as the need for more research on this particular population.
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Negro o Afroamericano/psicología , Escolaridad , Satisfacción Personal , Calidad de Vida , Deportes , Mujeres/psicología , Adulto , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Alienación Social/psicología , Factores SocioeconómicosRESUMEN
Explored the mechanisms by which a well-validated intervention to prevent school failure, suspension, and teenage pregnancy produces its effects, using site-level data from 66 sites involving over 1,000 students participating in national replication of the Teen Outreach Program. Multiple informants provided data on operating characteristics of each site. These were then used to explain differences across sites in levels of success in reducing youth problem behaviors using a pre-post design and a well-matched comparison group. In accord with predictions from developmental theory, middle school sites that promoted student autonomy and relatedness with peers and with site facilitators achieved significantly greater levels of success in reducing problem behaviors. Offering volunteer experiences perceived as teaching middle school students new skills and leaving them real choices about the type of work they did was also linked to program success. Although the program was equally successful with students from a wide range of sociodemographic backgrounds, links of program factors to site-level outcomes were found only for middle school but not high school sites. Implications of these findings for the development of programmatic interventions targeted at adolescents are discussed.