School-Based Harm Reduction with Adolescents: A Mixed Methods Pilot Study

A pilot study of the Safety First: Real Drug Education for Teens curriculum showed significant results pre to post with high school freshmen. Negative outcomes of drug education are linked to failure to engage students because of developmentally inappropriate material or activities are too unrelated to young people to be meaningful. A few harm reduction studies showed significant increase in student's drug related knowledge. Students were less likely to consume substances and less likely to consume to harmful levels. More studies are necessary to evidence harm reduction efficacy in the classroom. The goal of this study was to measure harm reduction knowledge, attitude and behaviors, including drug policy advocacy, before and after Safety First. Data was analyzed using AVOVA, linear regression, t-tests and thematic coding. Survey results, corroborated by the qualitative findings, showed a significant change (p <.05) in high school freshmen knowledge, attitudes and behaviors in relationship to substance use pre to post class. These findings have implications for replication of the curriculum to other sites. Institutional Review Board approval was granted before the study was conducted with human subjects. The file number is 2017-0746. The date of initial registration was June 29 th , 2017, and continued approval has been granted through August 8 th , 2022.

Information Seeking and Use by Grade 9 Students: More and Less Savvy Than You Might Think

This paper presents the findings of a survey administered to 939 high school freshmen (Grade 9, approximately 14 years old) in five schools in the greater Seattle, Washington (USA) area. Responses indicate that students use a wide range of information resources, including books, the Web, and other people, but underutilize subscription databases and periodical literature. Furthermore, there appears to be some confusion over what these databases contain, their utility, and credibility among young people. This paper also introduces a novel survey technique using Personal Response Systems (PRS) for data collection, and suggests that similar researcher-practitioner collaborations can enhance evidence-based practice in teacher-librarianship.

Dual Credit Courses and Legislation: Does Public Policy Align with Academic Outcomes?

The opportunity to earn college credit while in high school is an attractive option for high school students to start a college career. The process is referred to as dual credit courses. In 2015 Texas law from House Bill 505 allows for high school freshmen and sophomores to take college courses to increase certificate and degree completion, thus meeting the goals of the Texas higher education masterplan. The purpose of the study was to examine how student characteristics among 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th-grade high school students relate to academic success in a dual credit environment. However, results showed a lack of participation grounded in the foundation of House Bill 505. Results of statistical and policy analyses show the law falls short of its intended outcomes and may have adverse effects.

Correlates of the Mental Fitness of Female High School Freshmen: Focus on Multidimensional Empathy and Brain Function

We examined the association between multidimensional empathy, brain function, and mental fitness and identified correlates of mental fitness. In total, 146 female high school freshmen from a South Korean school participated in this cross-sectional study. Data were collected from March to April 2019, using a self-report questionnaire and quantitative electro-encephalographic data (QEEG). Instruments included the Interpersonal Reactivity Index and the Mental Fitness Scale, to access multidimensional empathy and mental fitness. Prefrontal cortex brain function was assessed with the brain quotient measure from the QEEG during free time after school. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, and multiple regression analysis. Mental fitness had statistically significant relationships with multidimensional empathy (r = 0.36, p < 0.001) and brain quotient (r = 0.23, p = 0.005). Demographic factors affecting mental fitness included satisfaction with school life (β = 0.23, p = 0.001) and economic status (β = 0.17, p = 0.024). Factors from the subscales of multidimensional empathy included perspective taking (β = 0.26, p = 0.001), fantasy (β = 0.22, p = 0.004), and personal distress (β = −0.19, p = 0.010); and the brain function factor was brain quotient (β = 0.14, p = 0.038). The explanatory power of the model was 49.4% (F = 14.44, p < 0.001). There is a need for a concrete and objective understanding of mental fitness in adolescents to develop intervention programs for freshmen with various maladaptation problems.

Brief Report: Preliminary evidence that co-rumination fosters adolescents’ depression risk by increasing rumination

Mounting research shows that the tendency to co-ruminate with peers regarding ongoing problems increases adolescents’ depression risk; however, the means by which this interpersonal process fosters risk has not been identified. This said, theorists have proposed that co-rumination increases depression risk, in part, by increasing one’s tendency to ruminate when alone. We tested this hypothesis in a study of 201 high-school freshmen who completed two assessments, six months apart. Supporting the proposed model, co-rumination predicted prospective increases in rumination and rumination predicted increases in depressive symptoms. The direct effect of co-rumination on depressive symptom change was not significant. Results indicate that co-rumination with friends may serve to increase rumination, which in turn increases depression risk.