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The quality of adolescent dating relationships is an outcome of developmental importance for young people exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV) in childhood. As adolescents explore romantic interests for the first time, it is important to consider whether youth who have witnessed IPV have an increased likelihood of adolescent dating violence (ADV) victimization and/or perpetration. This systematic review seeks to synthesize empirical literature on ADV victimization and perpetration outcomes in youth exposed to IPV, examine mechanisms that may explain ADV outcomes in IPV-exposed youth, and summarize methodological factors that influence interpretation of findings. Seven bibliographic databases were searched through August 2020 for a broader evidence and gap mapping (EGM) project examining published empirical studies on child outcomes of IPV exposure. Following de-duplication, 350 empirical studies on child IPV exposure outcomes were identified and categorized into child outcome themes, including 29 studies that examine ADV victimization and/or perpetration among IPV-exposed youth. The association between IPV exposure and ADV perpetration and victimization varies widely, with factors such as gender, mental health symptoms, beliefs about violence, and emotion regulation differentially influencing outcomes. Inconsistencies in measurement of IPV, ADV, and sample ages make cross-study comparisons challenging. Practice and research implications are addressed, including the importance of examining strengths-based youth assets and resilient trajectories of healthy dating relationships among IPV-exposed youth., Author(s): Kylie E. Evans [sup.1] , Hyunjune Lee [sup.1] , Katie N. Russell [sup.1] , Megan R. Holmes [sup.1] , Kristen A. Berg [sup.1] [sup.2] , Anna E. Bender [sup.1] [...]

The article discusses the call for social work professionals to develop their Disability cultural competence with priorities on inclusion and antiableism as of January 2023. Topics covered include social work's alignment with the intersectional Disability Justice movement, ableism integration with social work education, and four steps to realize antiableism. Also noted are the steps of ableism recognition, generation of relevant data, supporting leadership, and promoting partnerships.

Sexual and gender minority youth (SGMY) are overrepresented in the foster care system and experience greater foster-care-related stressors than their non-SGM peers. These factors may further elevate their risk of anxiety/depressive, post-traumatic stress disorder, self-harm, and suicidality. The system currently produces unequal and disproportionate adverse mental health outcomes for SGMY and needs points of intervention to disrupt this status quo. This article provides an empirically grounded conceptual–theoretical model of disproportionate representation and burden of psychological comorbidities experienced by SGMY in the foster care system. We apply findings from an integrated literature review of empirical research on factors related to overrepresentation and mental health burden among SGMY to minority stress theory to explicate how and why the foster care system exacerbates mental health comorbidities for SGMY. Searches were conducted in June 2020 in PubMed using MeSH terms and title/abstract terms for foster care, sexual or gender minorities, and psychological comorbidities. Inclusion criteria are studies conducted in the United States, published in English, focused on mental illness, and published between June 2010 and 2020. Developmental/intellectual and eating disorders were excluded. The initial search returned 490 results. After applying inclusion criteria, 229 results remained and are utilized to build our conceptual–theoretical model. We assert that the phenomenon of disproportionate psychological comorbidities for SGMY in foster care is best represented as a complex and dynamic system with multiple feedback loops. Extant empirical and theoretical literature identifies three critical areas for intervention: family acceptance, community belonging and queer chosen/constructed family, and affirming and nondiscriminatory child welfare policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim/Purpose This descriptive study examines indicators of well-being and sources of emotional connection for social work doctoral students at American institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic, including symptoms of depression, anxiety, work-related burnout, emotional connection to others, and changes in child care among parent respondents. This study also explores if particular groups of doctoral students experience heightened risks to well-being during the pandemic. Background Social isolation strategies associated with the COVID-19 pandemic present challenges for doctoral student well-being, mental health, professional relationships, and degree persistence. Of particular concern is the potentially disproportionate impact the pandemic may have on the well-being of students who already face additional barriers to degree completion, such as parents and caregivers, as well as those who face obstacles associated with structural oppression, including persons of color, women, and sexual minority (SM) students. Methodology Baseline data was used from a longitudinal survey study conducted by the authors on social work doctoral student well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants (N = 297) were recruited through the Group for the Advancement of Doctoral Education in Social Work's (GADE's) publicly available list of 89 member institutions in the United States. The majority of respondents identified as women (80.1%), 35% of the sample identified as a person of color and/or non-White race, 30% identified as a sexual minority, and 32% were parents of children under 18 years of age. Contribution This study contributes to the larger body of literature on factors associated with risk, resilience, and well-being among doctoral students, and it offers a specific exploration of these factors within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study deepens our understanding of social work doctoral students in particular, who have higher rates of doctoral enrollment by women and persons of color than many other academic disciplines. Findings Emotional connection to loved ones was significantly correlated with lower levels of depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and work-related burnout. Outcomes varied by race, with Black and Asian respondents indicating higher levels of emotional connection to loved ones as compared to White respondents, and Black respondents indicating lower levels of anxiety and depression compared to White respondents. SM respondents indicated significantly lower levels of emotional connection and higher levels of depression and anxiety, as compared to heterosexual respondents. Parents reported receiving substantially less child care assistance than they were before the pandemic, but also reported lower levels of anxiety, depression, and work-related burnout compared to childless respondents. Recommendations for Practitioners Recommendations for doctoral program directors and chairs include implementing a purposive communication strategy, faculty modeling self-care and boundaries, creating opportunities for connection, scheduling value-added activities driven by student interest and needs, approaching student needs and plans of study with flexibility, and creating virtual affinity groups to help students connect with those facing similar challenges. Recommendations for Researchers Outcome evaluation studies of doctoral program initiatives and policies to promote student well-being--both during and in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic--is warranted. Impact on Society The COVID-19 pandemic presents complex financial, interpersonal, and programmatic challenges for doctoral faculty and program directors, many of which affect the well-being and mental health of their students. Findings and recommendations from this study may be used to address the needs of doctoral students and support their path to doctoral degree completion. Future Research Future studies should include measures that tap a broader range of indicators of depression, anxiety, and emotional connection, and additional domains of well-being. Multivariate analyses would permit predictive conclusions, and follow-up qualitative analyses would offer deeper insights into doctoral students' well-being, coping skills, and experiences within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined the reciprocal relationships among positive future expectations, expected threats to future safety, depression, and individual substance use and delinquency using 4 waves of data (N = 248-338) from African American and Latino adolescent male participants in the Chicago Youth Development Study. Individual positive future expectations and expected threats to safety were assessed at each wave and modeled as latent constructs. Individual substance use and delinquency were assessed at each wave and represented as ordinal variables ranging from low to high. Categorical autoregressive cross-lagged structural models were used to examine the hypothesized reciprocal relationships between both aspects of future expectations construct and risk behavior across adolescence. Analyses show that future expectations has important effects on youth substance use and involvement in delinquency, both of which in turn decrease positive expectations and increase expectation of threats to future safety across adolescence. Similarly, low positive expectations for the future continued to predict increased substance use and involvement in delinquency. The expected threats to safety construct was significantly correlated with delinquency within time. These effects are observed across adolescence after controlling for youth depression and race. Findings support the reciprocal effects hypothesis of a negative reinforcing cycle in the relationships between future expectations and both substance use and involvement in delinquent behavior across adolescence. The enduring nature of these relationships underscores the importance of future expectation as a potential change mechanism for intervention and prevention efforts to promote healthy development; vulnerable racial and ethnic minority male adolescents may especially benefit from such intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perceptions of neighborhood safety are positively associated with perceptions of neighborhood violence. However, research has yet to examine whether this relationship is moderated by specific types of violence, such as sexual violence, that are more salient for women. Using street-intercept interviews with 343 adults in 9 neighborhoods of a U.S. city with high rates of poverty, unemployment, and crime, we examine the relationship of perceived neighborhood violence to perceived safety in the context of gender while controlling for neighborhood assets that moderate perceptions of neighborhood safety and violence. We hypothesized that gender would moderate the relationship between perceived neighborhood violence and safety, and that women's perceptions of neighborhood safety would be significantly influenced by neighborhood sexual violence, but not other types of violence. Although women and men in these high crime, urban neighborhoods did not differ in their perceptions of neighborhood safety or violence, perceived sexual violence did significantly moderate safety by gender; women's perceptions of neighborhood sexual violence predicted perceived safety in their neighborhood. Importantly, gender did not moderate perceived safety for other types of violence. These results illustrate the importance of taking gender and perceived sexual violence into account to understand neighborhood safety in adults, particularly women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]