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Background: Maladaptive family environments harm child development and are passed across generations. Childhood interventions may break this intergenerational cycle by improving the family environments children form as adults. The present study investigates this hypothesis by examining follow‐up data collected 18 years after the end of the childhood Fast Track intervention designed to prevent externalizing problems. Methods: We examined whether Fast Track assignment from grades 1 to 10 prevented the emergence of maladaptive family environments at age 34. A total of 400 (n = 206 in intervention condition, n = 194 controls) Fast Track participants who were parents at age 34 were surveyed about 11 aspects of their current family environment. The hypotheses and analytic plan were preregistered at https://osf.io/dz9t5 and the Fast Track trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01653535). Results: Multiple group linear regression models revealed that mothers who participated in the Fast Track intervention as children had lower depression symptoms, alcohol problems, drug problems, corporal punishment use, and food insecurity compared to control group mothers. All effects were modest in magnitude. However, for these same mothers, the Fast Track intervention had no effect on cannabis problems, experiences of romantic partner violence, or maternal use of physical aggression or warmth with their children. Additionally, mothers in the Fast Track intervention group reported higher levels of family chaos than those in the control group, but this effect may be a byproduct of the higher number of children per household in the intervention group. No intervention effects were found for fathers who participated in the Fast Track intervention as children. Conclusions: Childhood assignment to Fast Track has some beneficial effects for girls, but not boys, on the family environments these individuals formed as adults 18 years later. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Topic: Mobile Health (mHealth) stands as a potential means to better reach, assess, and intervene with teens with socially complex needs. These youth often face overlapping adversities including medical illness and a history of experiencing adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Clinicians are faced with navigating ethical decisions when developing mHealth tools for teens who have socially complex needs. Many tools have been developed for adults from the general population. However, despite the development of thousands of mHealth interventions, developers tend to focus on designing for usability, engagement, and efficacy, with less attention on the ethical considerations of making such tools. Purpose: To safely move mHealth interventions from research into clinical practice, ethical standards must be met during the design phase. In this paper we adapt the Four Box Model (i.e., medical indications, preferences of patients, quality of life, and contextual features) to guide mHealth developers through ethical considerations when designing mHealth interventions for teens who present with a medical diagnosis and a history of ACEs. Sources: A review of language, inclusive features, data sharing, and usability is presented using both the Four Box Model and potential scenarios to guide each consideration. Conclusions: To better support designers of mHealth tools we present a framework for evaluating applications to determine overlap with ethical design and are well suited for use in clinical practice with underserved pediatric patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A population‐representative sample of young adolescents (N = 2,104, mean age 12.4) reported on digital technology use and relationships in 2015. A subsample (N = 388) completed a 14‐day ecological momentary assessment in 2016–2017 via mobile phone. Across the 2,104 adolescents, those who reported more social networking site engagement were more likely to live in families characterized by more family chaos and to report that their online experiences resulted in problems with their parents. However, when the subsample of adolescents was followed daily, there was little consistent evidence that adolescents' quantity of daily digital technology use detracted from the amount of time they spend interacting with close others (including parents) nor that adolescent daily technology use was associated with more negative or less positive parent–adolescent interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescents are spending an increasing amount of their time online and connected to each other via digital technologies. Mobile device ownership and social media usage have reached unprecedented levels, and concerns have been raised that this constant connectivity is harming adolescents' mental health. This review synthesized data from three sources: (a) narrative reviews and meta‐analyses conducted between 2014 and 2019, (b) large‐scale preregistered cohort studies and (c) intensive longitudinal and ecological momentary assessment studies, to summarize what is known about linkages between digital technology usage and adolescent mental health, with a specific focus on depression and anxiety. The review highlights that most research to date has been correlational, focused on adults versus adolescents, and has generated a mix of often conflicting small positive, negative and null associations. The most recent and rigorous large‐scale preregistered studies report small associations between the amount of daily digital technology usage and adolescents' well‐being that do not offer a way of distinguishing cause from effect and, as estimated, are unlikely to be of clinical or practical significance. Implications for improving future research and for supporting adolescents' mental health in the digital age are discussed. Read the Commentary on this article at doi: 10.1111/jcpp.13219 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescents' subjective social status (SSS) is associated with mental and behavioral health outcomes, independent of socioeconomic status (SES). Many previous findings, however, come from cross‐sectional studies. We report results from a longitudinal study with 151 adolescents identified as at risk for early substance use and behavioral problems sampled from low‐SES neighborhoods. We examined whether adolescent's SSS predicted mental health (depression, anxiety, and inattention/impulsivity) measured over 30 days via ecological momentary assessment and risk for substance use at an 18‐month follow‐up. Results showed that with each perceived step "up" the SSS ladder, adolescents experienced fewer mental health symptoms in daily life and lower future substance use risk after adjusting for objective SES and previous psychopathology. Implications of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The promise of digital tools and devices for spurring new discoveries in adolescence research is enticing. Notably, this special section draws attention to many of the advantages that mobile and wearable devices offer for ambulatory assessment research, which have now been realized. Despite such progress, digital tools have not yet delivered on their predicted revolution of adolescent health research. I offer four reasons for why digital devices have fallen short of this predicted promise. For each barrier, I suggest parallel strategies for ensuring adolescent research benefits from Ambulatory Assessment advances. To avoid being left behind, adolescence scholarship must develop in time with innovations in digital devices and platforms, which are moving forward to support basic science and interventions in mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Commercially available wearable devices are marketed as a means of objectively capturing daily sleep easily and inexpensively outside of the laboratory. Two ecological momentary assessment studies—with 120 older adolescents (aged 18–19) and 395 younger adolescents (aged 10–16)—captured nightly self‐reported and wearable (Jawbone) recorded sleep duration. Self‐reported and wearable recorded daily sleep duration were moderately correlated (r ~ .50), associations which were stronger on weekdays and among young adolescent boys. Older adolescents self‐reported sleep duration closely corresponded with estimates from the wearable device, but younger adolescents reported having an hour more of sleep, on average, compared to device estimates. Self‐reported, but not wearable‐recorded, sleep duration and quality were consistently associated with daily well‐being measures. Suggestions for the integration of commercially available wearable devices into future daily research with adolescents are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Children with conduct problems that persist into adulthood are at increased risk for future behavioral, health, and social problems. However, the longer term public service usage among these children has not been fully documented. To aid public health and intervention planning, adult service usage across criminal justice, health care, and social welfare domains is compared among all individuals from a representative cohort who followed different conduct problem trajectories from childhood into adulthood. Methods: Participants are from the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, a prospective, representative cohort of consecutive births (N = 1,037) from April 1972 to March 1973 in Dunedin, New Zealand. Regression analyses were used to compare levels of public service usage up to age 38, gathered via administrative and electronic medical records, between participants who displayed distinct subtypes of childhood conduct problems (low, childhood‐limited, adolescent‐onset, and life‐course persistent). Results: Children exhibiting life‐course persistent conduct problems used significantly more services as adults than those with low levels of childhood conduct problems. Although this group comprised only 9.0% of the population, they accounted for 53.3% of all convictions, 15.7% of emergency department visits, 20.5% of prescription fills, 13.1% of injury claims, and 24.7% of welfare benefit months. Half of this group (50.0%) also accrued high service use across all three domains of criminal justice, health, and social welfare services, as compared to only 11.3% of those with low conduct problems (OR = 7.27, 95% CI = 4.42–12.0). Conclusions: Conduct problems in childhood signal high future costs in terms of service utilization across multiple sectors. Future evaluations of interventions aimed at conduct problems should also track potential reductions in health burden and service usage that stretch into midlife. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Children growing up in poverty are at heightened risk for poor health. Researchers have identified some mechanisms responsible for this association but we know less about how children are affected by growing up in communities, schools, and countries with varying levels of income inequality. In this article, we summarize what is known about the association between children's well‐being and income inequality, and outline three challenges that increasing levels of income inequality may pose to children from low‐income families. We also discuss implications for research and policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescents are spending an unprecedented amount of time using digital technologies (especially mobile technologies), and there are concerns that adolescents' constant connectivity is associated with poor mental health, particularly among at-risk adolescents. Participants included 151 adolescents at risk for mental health problems (Mage  = 13.1) who completed a baseline assessment, 30-day ecological momentary assessment, and 18 month follow-up assessment. Results from multilevel regression models showed that daily reports of both time spent using digital technologies and the number of text messages sent were associated with increased same-day attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and conduct disorder (CD) symptoms. Adolescents' reported digital technology usage and text messaging across the ecological momentary assessment (EMA) period was also associated with poorer self-regulation and increases in conduct problem symptoms between the baseline and follow-up assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Young people exposed to violence are at increased risk for mental health and behavioral problems. However, very little is known about the immediate, or same-day, associations between violence exposure and adolescents' mental health symptoms or whether daily symptom or behavioral reactivity marks future problems. Methods Young adolescents were assessed three times a day for 30 consecutive days using mobile-phone-based Ecological Momentary Assessment ( EMA) ( N = 151 adolescents). Over 12,500 assessments and 4,329 person days were obtained via the EMA. Adolescents were recruited from low-income neighborhoods based on parent-reported risk for externalizing symptoms. Mental health symptoms were assessed via parent and child report at baseline, multiple times per day via EMA assessments of the adolescents, and again 18 months later when 93% of the adolescents were reinterviewed. Results Results from multilevel models illustrated that young adolescents were more likely to experience symptoms of anger ( OR = 1.74, CI: 1.31-2.30), depression ( OR = 1.66, CI: 1.26-2.19), and conduct problems ( OR = 2.63, CI: 1.71-4.04) on days that they were exposed versus not exposed to violence. Increases in depressive symptoms were also observed on days following violence exposure ( OR = 1.46, CI: 1.09-1.97). Adolescents with the highest levels of violence exposure across the 30-day EMA were less behaviorally reactive to violence exposures in daily life, and heightened behavioral reactivity predicted increased risk for substance use across early adolescence. Conclusions Findings support the need to focus on both the immediate and long-term associations between violence exposure and adolescents' mental health and behavior. Results also suggest that heightened behavioral reactivity during early adolescence may signal emerging substance use problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The creation of economically mixed communities has been proposed as one way to improve the life outcomes of children growing up in poverty. However, whether low-income children benefit from living alongside more affluent neighbors is unknown. Method Prospectively gathered data on over 1,600 children from the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study living in urban environments is used to test whether living alongside more affluent neighbors (measured via high-resolution geo-spatial indices) predicts low-income children's antisocial behavior (reported by mothers and teachers at the ages of 5, 7, 10, and 12). Results Results indicated that low-income boys (but not girls) surrounded by more affluent neighbors had higher levels of antisocial behavior than their peers embedded in concentrated poverty. The negative effect of growing up alongside more affluent neighbors on low-income boys' antisocial behavior held across childhood and after controlling for key neighborhood and family-level factors. Conclusions Findings suggest that efforts to create more economically mixed communities for children, if not properly supported, may have iatrogenic effects on boys' antisocial behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Children growing up in poor versus affluent neighborhoods are more likely to spend time in prison, develop health problems and die at an early age. The question of how neighborhood conditions influence our behavior and health has attracted the attention of public health officials and scholars for generations. Online tools are now providing new opportunities to measure neighborhood features and may provide a cost effective way to advance our understanding of neighborhood effects on child health. Method: A virtual systematic social observation (SSO) study was conducted to test whether Google Street View could be used to reliably capture the neighborhood conditions of families participating in the Environmental-Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study. Multiple raters coded a subsample of 120 neighborhoods and convergent and discriminant validity was evaluated on the full sample of over 1,000 neighborhoods by linking virtual SSO measures to: (a) consumer based geo-demographic classifications of deprivation and health, (b) local resident surveys of disorder and safety, and (c) parent and teacher assessments of children's antisocial behavior, prosocial behavior, and body mass index. Results: High levels of observed agreement were documented for signs of physical disorder, physical decay, dangerousness and street safety. Inter-rater agreement estimates fell within the moderate to substantial range for all of the scales (ICCs ranged from .48 to .91). Negative neighborhood features, including SSO-rated disorder and decay and dangerousness corresponded with local resident reports, demonstrated a graded relationship with census-defined indices of socioeconomic status, and predicted higher levels of antisocial behavior among local children. In addition, positive neighborhood features, including SSO-rated street safety and the percentage of green space, were associated with higher prosocial behavior and healthy weight status among children. Conclusions: Our results support the use of Google Street View as a reliable and cost effective tool for measuring both negative and positive features of local neighborhoods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although many studies suggest that family violence is associated with child psychopathology, multiple features of the home environment might account for this association, such as poverty and caregiver psychopathology. Studies are needed examining how change in psychopathology symptoms is affected by home violence, controlling for children’s own developmental symptom histories and other predictors of psychopathology. This study used latent difference score structural equation modeling to test if witnessing home violence and/or experiencing harsh physical discipline predicted changes in psychopathology symptoms among 2,925 youth aged 5-16 years previously exposed to violence. Results demonstrated that harsh physical discipline predicted child-specific changes in externalizing symptoms, whereas witnessing violence predicted child-specific changes in internalizing symptoms across time. Implications for research and policy are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article charts a strategic research course toward an empirical foundation for the diagnosis of conduct disorder in the forthcoming DSM-V. Since the DSM-IV appeared in 1994, an impressive amount of new information about conduct disorder has emerged. As a result of this new knowledge, reasonable rationales have been put forward for adding to the conduct disorder diagnostic protocol: a childhood-limited subtype, family psychiatric history, callous-unemotional traits, female-specific criteria, preschool-specific criteria, early substance use, and biomarkers from genetics, neuroimaging, and physiology research. This article reviews the evidence for these and other potential changes to the conduct disorder diagnosis. We report that although there is a great deal of exciting research into each of the topics, very little of it provides the precise sort of evidence base required to justify any alteration to the DSM-V. We outline specific research questions and study designs needed to build the lacking evidence base for or against proposed changes to DSM-V conduct disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Females have recently become an important population in research related to serious and violent juvenile offending. Although a small body of research exists on girls in the deep end of the system, very few studies have examined the degree of heterogeneity within high-risk female samples. This study applied latent class analysis (LCA) to identify subgroups of female juvenile offenders based on their self-report of offending profiles (N=133). Results supported a three-class solution with subgroups characterized by patterns of ‘violent and delinquent’, ‘delinquency only’, and ‘low’ offending patterns. The LCA solution was replicated in an independent sample of high-risk females. The ‘violent and delinquent’ class was characterized by significantly higher rates of DSM-IV diagnoses for internalizing disorders, affect dysregulation, exposure to violence (within the home, school and neighborhood), and familial histories of criminality. Implications for future research, policy and clinical practice are discussed. Aggr. Behav. 33:339–352, 2007. ©2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescents who witness interparental violence (IPV) are at increased risk for perpetrating aggressive acts. They are also at risk for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In this study, we examined the relation between exposure to maternal vs. paternal physical IPV and adolescent girls' and boys' aggressive behavior toward mothers, fathers, friends, and romantic partners. We also assessed the influence of PTSD (as assessed by the Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents-IV (DICA-IV)) on the relation between exposure to IPV and aggressive behavior. Participants were 63 girls and 49 boys, ages 13–18, consecutively admitted to a youth correctional facility or assessment facility designated to serve aggressive and delinquent youth. Structural equation modeling was used to estimate unique relations between exposure to maternal vs. paternal IPV and youth aggression in relationships. Girls who observed their mothers' aggressive behavior toward partners were significantly more aggressive toward friends. Similarly, boys who witnessed their fathers' aggression were significantly more aggressive toward friends. Adolescent girls and boys who observed aggression by mothers toward partners reported significantly higher levels of aggression toward their romantic partners. Approximately one third of our sample met PTSD criteria; the relation between exposure to parental IPV and aggression was stronger for individuals who met criteria for PTSD. The implications of understanding the relations between parents' and their daughters' and sons' use of aggression are discussed within the context of providing support for families in breaking intergenerational patterns of violence and aggression. Aggr. Behav. 32:385–395, 2006. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last decade rates of violence among adolescent girls have increased. Within high-risk contexts, urgent calls for assessment options have resulted in the extension of adult and male-based instruments to adolescent females in spite of the absence of strong empirical support. The current study evaluates the downward extension of psychopathy within a population of female juvenile offenders (N = 125). The convergent and predictive validity of the Psychopathy Checklist—Youth Version (PCL-YV) were evaluated within a structural equation modeling (SEM) framework. Results indicated that while a specific component of psychopathy, deficient affective experience, was related to aggression, the effect was negated once victimization experiences were entered into the models. In addition, PCL-YV scores were not predictive of future offending, while victimization experiences significantly increased the odds of re-offending. Implications for research, policy, and clinical practice are discussed. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A population-representative sample of young adolescents (N = 2,104, mean age 12.4) reported on digital technology use and relationships in 2015. A subsample (N = 388) completed a 14-day ecological momentary assessment in 2016-2017 via mobile phone. Across the 2,104 adolescents, those who reported more social networking site engagement were more likely to live in families characterized by more family chaos and to report that their online experiences resulted in problems with their parents. However, when the subsample of adolescents was followed daily, there was little consistent evidence that adolescents' quantity of daily digital technology use detracted from the amount of time they spend interacting with close others (including parents) nor that adolescent daily technology use was associated with more negative or less positive parent-adolescent interactions., (© 2021 Society for Research on Adolescence.)

Commercially available wearable devices are marketed as a means of objectively capturing daily sleep easily and inexpensively outside of the laboratory. Two ecological momentary assessment studies-with 120 older adolescents (aged 18-19) and 395 younger adolescents (aged 10-16)-captured nightly self-reported and wearable (Jawbone) recorded sleep duration. Self-reported and wearable recorded daily sleep duration were moderately correlated (r ~ .50), associations which were stronger on weekdays and among young adolescent boys. Older adolescents self-reported sleep duration closely corresponded with estimates from the wearable device, but younger adolescents reported having an hour more of sleep, on average, compared to device estimates. Self-reported, but not wearable-recorded, sleep duration and quality were consistently associated with daily well-being measures. Suggestions for the integration of commercially available wearable devices into future daily research with adolescents are provided., (© 2018 Society for Research on Adolescence.)