Child Psychology Commons^™

Using Photovoice To Understand And Amplify Youth Voices To Prevent Sexual And Relationship Violence, Victoria Banyard, Katie Edwards, Ramona Herrington, Skyler Hopfauf, Briana Simon, Linda Shroll

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Aims: Efforts to improve prevention of sexual and relationship violence (SRV) among adolescents call for more centering of youth voices, experiences, and skills to design prevention programs that incorporate youth engagement rather than those that are designed by adults for youth. Amplifying the voices of historically marginalized youth are especially needed. Photovoice (PV) is a participatory action method that can empower youth and generate prevention knowledge.

Methods: The current project used PV to engage youth in late middle and early high school to discuss how they could work to prevent SRV in their community. A convenience sample of nine youth …

Video-Based Approach To Engaging Parents Into A Preventive Parenting Intervention For Divorcing Families: Results Of A Randomized Controlled Trial, Emily B. Winslow, Sanford Braver, Robert Cialdini, Irwin Sandler, Jennifer Betkowski, Jenn-Yun Tein, Lisa Hita, Mona Bapat, Lorey Wheeler, Monique Lopez

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

The public health impact of evidence-based, preventive parenting interventions has been severely constrained by low rates of participation when interventions are delivered under natural conditions. It is critical that prevention scientists develop effective and feasible parent engagement methods. This study tested video-based methods for engaging parents into an evidence-based program for divorcing parents. Three alternative versions of a video were created to test the incremental effectiveness of different theory-based engagement strategies based on social influence and health behavior models. A randomized controlled trial was conducted to compare the three experimental videos versus two control conditions, an information-only brochure and an …

Adolescent Perceptions Of Dating Violence: A Qualitative Study, Sarah Taylor, Carrie A. Calkins, Yan Ruth Xia, Rochelle L. Dalla

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Scholars have identified dating violence as a public health issue among adolescents. Yet, minimal research has detailed adolescents’ perceptions of dating violence, specifically gender differences in perceptions. Research suggests that in order for dating violence prevention and intervention to be effective, services need to be delivered in a manner that is understood by adolescents. Therefore, this study used a qualitative phenomenology study to investigate adolescents’ perceptions of dating violence, including gender differences in adolescents’ perceptions. Thirty adolescents between the ages of 14 and 19 from a Midwest public high school participated in focus groups. Focus group participants were asked semistructured …

Engaging Youth In Bullying Prevention Through Community-Based Participatory Research, Jen Gibson, Paul D. Flaspohler, Vanessa Watts

Faculty Scholarship

Few studies that engage youth in community-based participatory research (CBPR) focus on issues of safety/violence, include elementary school-aged youth, or quantitatively assess outcomes of the CBPR process. This article expands understanding of CBPR with youth by describing and evaluating the outcomes of a project that engaged fifth-grade students at 3 schools in bullying-focused CBPR. Results suggest that the project was associated with decreases in fear of bullying and increases in peer and teacher intervention to stop bullying. We conclude with implications for the engagement of elementary school-aged youth in CBPR to address bullying and other youth issues.

Program Evaluation Of The Strong Start Curriculum As A Selected Intervention For Early Elementary Students, Katherine A. Meyer

Doctoral Dissertations

Consistent with the need for implementation research and prevention programming for students in schools, the current study evaluated the implementation and outcomes of Strong Start, a social-emotional learning program, as a supplemental intervention for students in kindergarten through second grade at risk for developing emotional and behavioral problems. This intervention took place during the first year of a county-wide restructuring of mental health supports and was part of a multi-tiered system of supports provided in schools. A mixed method program evaluation was conducted to examine four areas of interest. First, the contextual factors related to program adoption were examined; …

Establishing School Safety: Lessons Learned From A High Needs School, Jacqueline Lau

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Various social determinants hinder children's optimal functioning, particularly, poverty. This study explored students’ perceptions of school safety, bullying behaviour, and school programming in a high needs school. Student responses on the Safe Schools Survey were analyzed and the effect of poverty on students’ perceptions of school safety and bullying behaviour were tested. The school’s bullying initiatives were assessed with the Safe Schools Checklist to determine the degree to which provincial- and board-level as well as evidence-based recommendations for safe schools were met. Three themes emerged from interviews with school personnel: 1) The school’s knowledge on the impact of the community …

Randomized Trial Of A Broad Preventive Intervention For Mexican American Adolescents, Nancy A. Gonzales, L. E. Dumka, R. E. Millsap, A. Gottschall, D. B. Mcclain, J. J. Wong, M. German, A. M. Mauricio, Lorey A. Wheeler, F. D. Carpentier, S. Y. Kim

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Objective—This randomized trial of a family-focused preventive intervention for Mexican American (MA) adolescents evaluated intervention effects on adolescent substance use, internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and school discipline and grade records in 8th grade, one year after completion of the intervention. The study also examined hypothesized mediators and moderators of intervention effects. Method—Stratified by language of program delivery (English vs. Spanish), the trial included a sample of 516 MA adolescents (50.8% female; M =12.3 years, SD=.54) and at least one caregiver that were randomized to receive a low dosage control group workshop or the 9-week group intervention that included …