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Community-based youth shelters represent the primary method of intervention for runaway youths and are mandated to reunify youths with their families. The study discussed in this article pursued two research questions: (1) What are the differences among runaway-homeless, throwaway, and independent youths? (2) What youth demographics, personal characteristics, and family factors predict youth's reunification? The Runaway Homeless Youth Management Information System (RHYMIS), a comprehensive, automated information system developed to assist federally funded youth shelters nationwide, was used. The final sample included 17,790 youths using shelter services during 1997. Chi-square and logistic regression demonstrated that the three groups differed significantly on a variety of characteristics. Among runaway-homeless youths, family characteristics were most important for youths' reunification; among throwaway youths, problem behaviors predicted not returning home, and among independent youths, only individual demographics predicted reunification. Key words: families; runaway youths; typology; throwaway youths; youth services Runaway youths remain one of the most needy and understudied adolescent populations (Kipke, Montgomery, Simon, & Iverson, 1997; Whitbeck, Hoyt, & Ackley, 1997). Estimates suggest that the number of these youths is increasing and, that between 575,000 and 1 million youths in the United States run away or are forced to leave their parental homes each year (Finkelhor, Hotaling, & Sedlak, 1990; Greene, Ringwalt, Kelly, Iachan, & Cohen, 1995; Herin & Rudy, 1991). Research has shown that these youths often have a variety of problems, such as school failure, substance abuse, criminality, and unprotected sexual activity (Greene, Ringwalt, & Iachan, 1997). These troubled adolescents come from diverse, multiproblem living situations and give many reasons for running away or leaving their homes (Whitbeck, Hoyt, & Yoder, 1999). They frequently report high levels of family conflict, including parental abuse, criminality, and substance abuse (Kipke, Palmer, LaFrance, & O'Connor, 1997; Stiffman, 1989; Whitbeck et al., 1997). In addition, these families have histories of unstable housing situations and often are characterized as emotionally unavailable and lacking effective parenting skills (Bass, 1992; Whitbeck et al., 1999). Because runaway adolescents typically lack the skills and education necessary to obtain and maintain gainful employment, they often are forced into prostitution, drug dealing, and other criminal behavior to survive (Greene et al., 1997). Life on the street also can have "deadly consequences" because these adolescents are at significantly increased risk of serious health problems such as malnutrition, sexually transmitted diseases, and premature death resulting from suicide, murder, and drug overdose (Powers, Eckenrode, & Jaklitsch, 1990). To disentangle the heterogeneity of this population, researchers have divided runaway youths into three categories (Bass, 1992; Ringwalt, Green, & Robertson, 1998; Zide & Cherry, 1992). A recent study confirmed the distinctiveness of these subgroups and encouraged future research focusing on developing services and interventions specific to these unique groups of youths (Zide & Cherry): * runaway-homeless youths--stay away from home at least overnight without the permission or knowledge of their parents or guardians * throwaway youths--leave home because their parents have encouraged them to leave or have locked them out of the house * independent youths--feel that they have no home to return to because of irreconcilable conflicts with their families, have lost contact with their families, or have families that are homeless (Bass; Kurtz, Jarvis, & Kurtz, 1991). Community-based youth shelters are the primary method of intervention designed to meet the complex needs of adolescents who leave home before possessing skills to live autonomously. …

Project Opportunity is a prevention program for low-income, urban adolescents. It tests an innovative conceptual model that utilizes the workplace both to access teens who are dependents of low-wage employees and to provide services to the youths and parents at the site. Methodological lessons learned from implementing the Project are presented. Research considerations in selection of subjects, measures, and procedures must be adapted to match the specific challenges facing these families. Additional considerations not typically reported are critical, including establishing credibility among the various constituents, negotiating for access to families, and building staff commitment to an evaluation.

The concept of the self is an important construct in psychoanalytic theory and clinical practice. Contemporary theorists are interested in how the sense of self develops and what comprises psychological health. This paper reviews the theoretical and empirical literature which suggests that the tension between autonomous and relational strivings is a critical aspect of personality development. The authors describe this dilemma from its first appearance in toddlerhood. The paper concludes with two clinical examples to illustrate how the clinician's understanding of the ongoing tensions between these two needs can alter and enhance dynamic understanding of the patient.

This article raises the question: should EAPs be responsive to the needs of working parents with teenagers? Today's youth face challenges that are greater than previous generations. Moreover, there has been an increase in single-parent families and families with two working parents, situations that may impede parents' ability to provide care and supervision for their adolescents. Few studies have explored the concerns of these working parents. Towards this end, this article presents data from an employee survey, and offers recommendations about the kinds of questions that should be included in EAP needs assessments for employees with adolescents.

This study explored developmentally salient cognitive and emotional facets of personality during adolescence and their contribution to psychological functioning in young adulthood. Specifically, we examined the of relations among two kinds of actual-ideal self-discrepancies, expressed negative emotions, and self-dissatisfaction during midadolescence and assessed their longitudinal contribution to young adult symptoms of hostility and depression, as well as self-worth. We drew upon a dataset that included both a group of youngsters who had been psychiatrically hospitalized at age 14 and a normative comparison group of high school students studied over an 11-year period. Findings demonstrated that the magnitude of particular actual-ideal discrepancies, expressed negative emotions, and self-dissatisfaction differed between the groups. Contrary to expectation, actual-ideal self-discrepancies were not related to expressed negative emotions during midadolescence. For the psychiatric group, however, both self-discrepancies and expressed negative emotions made unique contributions to individuals' general sense of self-dissatisfaction. Moreover, particular types of actual-ideal self-discrepancies, specific expressed emotions, and self-dissatisfaction differentially predicted symptoms of hostility and depression, as well as diminished self-worth in young adulthood, albeit differently for the two groups. The importance of cognitions and emotions in the course diverse developmental pathways and future directions of the study are discussed.

The number of adolescents spending significant amounts of nonschool hours in the workplace is increasing. In the past, policymakers and educators argued that part-time employment facilitated transition into adult’ hood. Systematic investigations, however, have raised serious concerns about the benefits and costs of youth work. The authors explore the empirical literature regarding the impact of part-time employment on various aspects of adolescent development and discuss the implications of these findings for social work practice and future research.

In this article, we investigate associations between ego development and emotion communication during adolescence, using a newly constructed coding system for scoring these affect dimensions from clinical research interviews with early adolescent subjects. One overarching question frames our inquiry: How does an adolescent's ego development influence his or her communication of emotional experience? To follow special combinations of emotion communications, diversity of communication and conflict within communication were operationally defined. Findings revealed that both these more complex combinations were present in a higher number of speeches for adolescents at higher levels of ego development. In terms of specific emotions, Pearson correlation analyses indicated that enthusiasm, affection, anxiety, and neutrality were directly associated with higher stages, whereas sadness and anger were inversely correlated with ego development. These associations were similar for both genders. The findings are discu...

This paper examines how the unique dilemmas of inner‐city life (substandard housing, inferior schools, and deteriorating neighborhoods) affect the socioemotional development of adolescents. Those protective factors within individuals or their environments that either promote successful development or buffer them from the risk factors that might otherwise compromise development are described. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of this information for social work practice and future research initiatives.

This article presents a newly constructed observational coding system which assesses emotional expression operationalized through voice cues and speech content. In order to explore its interrater reliability and validity, the coding system is applied to clinical interviews of two groups of young people: psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents and high school students. The subjects are participants in a longitudinal project examining ego development and familial interactions from early adolescence through the later adolescent years. Specific findings demonstrated the differential effects of psychiatric status and gender on emotional expression. Moreover, adolescents'emotion scores were significantly associated with a theoretically related, independent measure-ego development. These findings lend initial supportfor the validity of this coding method. Future directions of the study are also discussed.

This study investigated how pubertal development may influence the relation between aspects of the family environment and diabetes adjustment. Subjects were 49 youngsters with newly diagnosed insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) and their parents. Pearson correlations between aspects of the family environment and diabetes adjustment revealed many significant findings for the total sample and separately by pubertal development. Tests of differences between these correlations revealed support for our hypotheses in expected directions. These results suggest the adoption of a developmental perspective when considering how family life is related to a youngster's diabetes adjustment.

The biology of AIDS, including a selective review of the immune system, is discussed so that social workers may better understand what happens once the virus becomes activated. Because social workers increasingly will encounter clients who are anxious about possibly developing AIDS or who already have contracted the disease, a thorough understanding of the etiology of AIDS will become essential for practice. An informed social worker can help clients to evaluate rapidly changing medical information and to regain a sense of control through practicing safer behavior and obtaining information about the disease.

In five families with an apparent excess of breast cancer, four women elected prophylactic mastectomy to prevent breast cancer, and nine others sought counseling to explore possible means of control. Counseling addressed the women's risk factors (the largest being family history), the treatment and prognosis of the tumor, and a comparison of medical surveillance and prophylactic surgery. Personalized relative risk estimates, defined for individual factors by epidemiologic studies, were summarized as the probability of developing breast cancer within five years and ranged from 0.2% to 24%. In 1- to 12-year follow-up, none developed breast cancer. Of those counseled, the five who elected subcutaneous mastectomy with implantation and the four who chose surveillance had similar magnitude and recall of risk estimates and knowledge of control options. None of those choosing surveillance had, in fact, followed a regular program of examination. Controlling breast cancer may be possible through individualized counseling of high risk women.

Epidemiologic reseach has revealed a wide spectrum of etiologic information concerning childhood cancer. Often, important clues have come from observations made by alert practitioners. The school health professional can help further progress in cancer research by observing peculiarities of environmental exposures as well as the family's medical history when cancer affects a child. Any unusual findings should be referred to an appropriate research center for evaluation.