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A growing body of literature suggests that youth with severe obesity are engaging in substance use. The purpose of the present study was to examine profiles of substance use among adolescents with severe obesity and examine how these profiles are associated with depressive symptomology using data from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System. The sample included 597 girls and 626 boys who self-reported height and weight and alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and illicit substance use. Latent profile analysis revealed four distinct groups ranging from non-users to polysubstance users with non-users reporting the highest depressive symptoms. These results suggest those with severe obesity might be using substances to self-medicate to treat poor mental health; however, longitudinal research is necessary to examine pathways to substance use among severely obese youth.

Students who repeat a grade are at a higher risk of dropping out of high school. Previous research has examined this in a methodologically aggregated way (e.g., repeated any grade versus never repeated) or only specific grades/grade ranges (e.g., Kindergarten or elementary) leaving questions about which grades are more detrimental to repeat with respect to school dropout. This study uses data from the National Center for Education Statistics (N = 9,309) to comparatively examine which grades, when repeated, show the strongest associations with dropping out. Overall, those who repeated sixth or seventh had the highest odds of dropping out of high school with unique patterns by gender and race/ethnicity. These grades are typically when youth transition into middle school. When examined through a developmental lens, these results highlight the important impact that grade retention while youth experience other normative physical, cognitive, and social changes.

Teacher expectations of students have been consistently linked with student academic achievement. What is less known is how students' actual behaviors and performance shape teachers' perceptions of them, particularly when considering student gender and race/ethnicity. A diverse dyadic sample of 1,653 seventh graders with 63 reporting teachers was used to examine how teaching experience, student behavioral citations, and grade point average were related to teachers' perceptions of each student's antisocial behavior, academic motivation, and likelihood of graduating high school. Results showed that more experienced teachers perceived students more positively, which in turn shaped more favorable perspectives of student graduation. Unsurprisingly, when students were cited for behavioral disruptions, they were perceived more negatively by teachers. Similarly, when students were more academically successful, teachers perceived them more positively. However, several nuances were found based on student gender and race/ethnicity that point to a potentially significant role of teacher expectations in student outcomes.

Activation of host T cells that mediate allograft rejection is a 2-step process. The first occurs in secondary lymphoid organs where T cells encounter alloantigens presented by host DCs and differentiate to effectors. Antigen presentation at these sites occurs principally via transfer of intact, donor MHC-peptide complexes from graft cells to host DCs (cross-dressing) or by uptake and processing of donor antigens into allopeptides bound to self-MHC molecules (indirect presentation). The second step takes place in the graft, where effector T cells reengage with host DCs before causing rejection. How host DCs present alloantigens to T cells in the graft is not known. Using mouse islet and kidney transplantation models, imaging cytometry, and 2-photon intravital microscopy, we demonstrate extensive cross-dressing of intragraft host DCs with donor MHC- peptide complexes that occurred early after transplantation, whereas host DCs presenting donor antigen via the indirect pathway were rare. Cross-dressed DCs stably engaged TCR-transgenic effector [CD8.sup.+] T cells that recognized donor antigen and were sufficient for sustaining acute rejection. In the chronic kidney rejection model, cross-dressing declined over time but was still conspicuous 8 weeks after transplantation. We conclude that cross-dressing of host DCs with donor MHC molecules is a major antigen presentation pathway driving effector T cell responses within allografts., Introduction Allograft rejection is unique among immune responses in that it enlists 1%-10% of the total T cell repertoire, a proportion that is 100- to 1000-fold greater than that observed [...]

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of gender, current relationship status, and the interaction between gender and relationship status on the acceptability of marital violence among college men and women. Participants completed a questionnaire containing measures of marital violence acceptability and current relationship status. Findings revealed that female college students are less accepting of marital violence, regardless of the sex of the perpetrating spouse. Current relationship status of both men and women does not appear to be a significant predictor of marital violence acceptability. However, there is an interaction between gender and current relationship status which indicates females who are not currently in a relationship are more accepting of wife-perpetrated marital violence than female college students currently in a dating relationship. This study lends insight into the mechanisms that make men and women more accepting of violence among marital partners. (Contains 3 tables.)

The purpose of this study was to examine how online social networking facilitates adolescent grieving following the sudden death of a peer. Researchers reviewed 20 profiles authored by adolescents who had died between 2005 and 2007 collecting information from commentary posted to the profiles posthumously. Observed themes included adolescent Internet users directing comments to the deceased, posting memorial sentiments, indicators of coping strategies, current events and memories, comments about the act of commenting, cause of death, comments from distal or unknown peers, religious beliefs, and attending the funeral. In addition to prolonging an attachment with the deceased, online social networking also facilitates teenagers' coping in a way that grants unlimited freedom and opportunity to reflect back over their relationship with the deceased.

Using a sample of 7,881 African American (915 males and 1,073 females) and White (2,864 males and 3,029 females) adolescents from Waves 1 and 3 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, this study examined the psychosocial consequences that obese adolescents encounter as they reach young adulthood. Results indicate that obesity among adolescent females is associated with a lower status attainment in young adulthood than normal weight adolescent females. In addition, obese adolescent females have more depressive symptoms in young adulthood than normal weight females, even after controlling for prior depressive symptoms in adolescence. Obesity status among adolescent males is not associated with poorer psychosocial outcomes in young adulthood. We did not find evidence of an interaction between obesity status and race, indicating no significant differences in psychosocial outcomes for obese White compared to obese African American adolescents.

This study explored content posted and interactions taking place on adolescent online social networking profiles. Although "blogging" continues to soar in popularity, with over half of teenagers online participating in some form, little research has comprehensively explored blog communication within the context of adolescent development. Content was qualitatively coded from 100 randomly selected profiles authored by adolescents between the ages of 16 and 18. Rich thematic elements were identified including family and social issues, risk behaviors, disclosure of personally identifiable information, and frequent peer interaction. Results indicate adolescent blogs frequently contain appropriate images, positive comments about parents and peers, athletics, a variety of risk behaviors, and sexual and profane language. In addition, school type was examined (public versus private, religious) as a potential factor in understanding the differences in content posted by adolescents; however, no significant differences were found. Implications for parental monitoring and intervention are discussed as well as direction for future research. Adolescents' online profiles contain a wealth of intimate, candid, and publicly available information on a wide range of social issues pertinent to adolescence that contribute to the understanding of adolescent development and well-being. (Contains 4 tables.)

Maturation of T cell-activating APCs directly links innate and adaptive immunity and is typically triggered by microbial infection. Transplantation of allografts, which are sterile, generates strong T cell responses; however, it is unclear how grafts induce APC maturation in the absence of microbial-derived signals. A widely accepted hypothesis is that dying cells in the graft release 'danger' molecules that induce APC maturation and initiate the adaptive alloimmune response. Here, we demonstrated that danger signals associated with dying cells are not sufficient to initiate alloimmunity, but that recognition of allogeneic non-self by the innate immune system is required. In WT as well as in T cell-, B cell-, and innate lymphoid cell-deficient mice, allogeneic grafts elicited persistent differentiation of monocytes into mature DCs that expressed IL-12 and stimulated T cell proliferation and IFN-γ production. In contrast, syngeneic grafts in the same mice elicited transient and less pronounced differentiation of monocytes into DCs, which neither expressed IL-12 nor stimulated IFN-γ production. In a model in which T cell recognition is restricted to a single foreign antigen on the graft, rejection occurred only if the allogeneic non-self signal was also sensed by the host's innate immune system. These findings underscore the importance of innate recognition of allogeneic non-self by monocytes in initiating graft rejection., Introduction The mammalian innate immune system recognizes non-self molecules unique to microbial organisms (1,2). This recognition step triggers a rapid inflammatory response and, of paramount importance to the survival of [...]

The migration of effector or memory T cells to the graft is a critical event in the rejection of transplanted organs. The prevailing view is that the key steps involved [...]

Women's interests in bondage, discipline, dominance/submission, and sadism/masochism (BDSM) behaviors are one of the most poorly understood research topics, even though erotica novels-typically read by women-are increasingly including these activities. The present study explored potential links between women's engagement in BDSM behaviors, consumption of erotica literature, relationship communication and satisfaction, and overall well-being using a multi-study approach. Results from three exploratory studies using multiple methodologies revealed a positive association between erotica, BDSM behaviors, and physical satisfaction, but brought attention to the relatively little information available for women who are interested in practicing alternative sexual behaviors. Practical suggestions for social scientists and mental health professionals are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]