Thomas E. Keller

Comprehensive community care principles emphasize the importance of positive community-based activities for children with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD), and caregivers frequently indicate the need for recreation and after-school programs.This study examined the involvement of children with EBD in positive youth development programs and investigated factors associated with their participation. From a sample of children in an urban public mental health system, interviews with the child and primary caregiver assessed child behavior and mental health, family functioning, and social demographic status. At 6 month follow-up, caregivers reported child participation in structured recreational/educational activities. Participation was positively associated with parents' level of education and negatively associated with child problem behaviors. An interaction effect involving parent education and child externalizing behaviors was identified. Also, controlling for child behavior, activity participation was associated with the impact of the child's mental health condition on the family. Considerations for assessing and overcoming barriers to participation are discussed.

A small proportion of children exhibit extreme and persistent conduct problems through childhood. The present study employed the multiple-domain model of Greenberg and colleagues as the framework for person-oriented analyses examining whether parent–child attachment combines with parenting, family ecology, and child characteristics in particular configurations of risk that are linked to this problematic developmental pathway. Using prospective data from a community sample of adolescent mothers and their children, latent variable growth mixture modeling identified a normative trajectory with declining problem behaviors during the preschool period. Consistent with research on early-starter pathways, a distinct group of children featured a higher intercept and a positive slope, indicating an escalation in disruptive behaviors. Attachment security played a role in defining specific risk profiles associated with the probability of exhibiting this problem trajectory. Given particular patterns of risk exposure, secure attachment served a protective function. Avoidant, but not disorganized, attachment was associated with significantly higher likelihood of the disruptive problem trajectory. The results also indicated the general accumulation of risk was detrimental, but the particular configuration of risk made a difference. Overall, the findings suggest early attachment operates in conjunction with personal and contextual risk to distinguish the development of later problem behaviors. This research was supported by grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (DA05208) and the National Institute of Mental Health (MH52400, MH56599) and a National Service Research Award (MH20010). The authors thank Mary R. Gillmore, Diane M. Morrison, Steven Lewis, Mary Jane Lohr, Marilyn Gregory, the rest of the research team, and the study participants.

Conceptual and empirical work on youth mentoring naturally tends to focus on the relationship between mentor and child. However, the parent/guardian and agency caseworker also may contribute to the success or failure of the mentoring intervention, and program effects may be partially mediated by the child’s interactions with these individuals. This article presents a systemic model of mentoring depicting the interdependent network of relationships established between mentor, child, parent/guardian, and caseworker against the backdrop of agency policies and procedures. Numerous examples illustrate pathways of influence and patterns of communication in the context of this more holistic model of mentoring. Editors’ Strategic Implications: Drawing upon ecological and systems theories, the author provides a promising conceptual model that focuses on patterns of interpersonal exchange among several key individuals (but not the only possible ones). This model reminds researchers and practitioners that mentoring resides within a mutually reinforcing (or inhibiting) network of other relationships. This systemic thinking has implications for child welfare agency policies and practices.

Children of substance abusing parents have an elevated risk for experiencing disruptions in household composition and for engaging in problem behaviors. This study investigated whether multiple par...

This article examines the use of student debates to promote substantive knowledge and policy practice skills. The authors present a pedagogical rationale for student debates, describe the incorporation of debates into a child welfare policy course, and report the results of an evaluation. Students demonstrated significantly greater increases in self-reported knowledge of course topics when they participated in debates than when they observed debates or learned through standard forms of instruction. The majority of students reported satisfaction with the debates, reported that participation improved their policy skills and knowledge, and rated the educational value of debates higher than traditional assignments.