Addressing Adolescent Relationship Abuse in the Context of Reproductive Health Care

Adolescent relationship abuse (ARA) is a significant public health issue that includes physical, sexual, psychological and cyber abuse, reproductive coercion, and/or sexual exploitation within an intimate relationship in which one or both partners is a minor. ARA is associated with numerous negative outcomes that include all domains of health. Many negative outcomes of ARA are related to reproductive and sexual health (RSH); thus, reproductive health care providers must be equipped to recognize and address ARA. This article will review the epidemiology and outcomes of ARA, followed by a discussion of means to robustly address ARA in health care settings. We recommend a strengths-based approach that promotes healthy adolescent relationships, connects adolescents experiencing ARA to harm reduction resources, and equips adolescents to serve as a resource for their peers.

Self-Reported Effects of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Stewardship Organizations and Their Activities in Southeast New England, USA

In many communities, regions, or landscapes, there are numerous environmental groups working across different sectors and creating stewardship networks that shape the environment and the benefits people derive from it. The make-up of these networks can vary, but generally include organizations of different sizes and capacities. As the Covid-19 pandemic (2020 to the present) shuts down businesses and nonprofits, catalyzes new initiatives, and generally alters the day-to-day professional and personal lives, it is logical to assume that these stewardship networks and their environmental work are impacted; exactly how, is unknown. In this study, we analyze the self-reported effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on stewardship groups working in southeast New England, USA. Stewardship organizations were surveyed from November 2020 to April 2021 and asked, among other questions, “How is Covid-19 affecting your organization?” We analyzed responses using several qualitative coding approaches. Our analysis revealed group-level impacts including changes in group capacity, challenges in managing access to public green spaces, and altered forms of volunteer engagement. These results provide insights into the varied effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and government responses such as stay-at-home orders and social distancing policies on stewardship that can inform the development of programs to reduce negative outcomes and enhance emerging capacities and innovations.

Do Childhood Conduct Problems Predict Negative Outcomes in Adolescence? A Longitudinal Analysis

The primary purpose of this study was to conduct a prospective ­­­examination of the relationship between childhood conduct problems and five outcomes in adolescence– namely, Physically violent offenses; Non-violent offenses; Deviant lifestyle; Consumption of tobacco, cannabis, or alcohol; and Meeting the symptom count diagnostic criteria for Conduct Disorder (CD) – while controlling for a series of sociodemographic factors, family characteristics and adolescent experiences. Logistic regression analyses were used to determine if childhood conduct problems in the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) Cycle 1 contributed to negative outcomes in adolescence in NLSCY Cycle 4. This was a prospective, population-based study of 3,725 adolescents (12-15 years old) in the NLSCY Cycle 4 (2000-2001) who were 6-9 years old in NLSCY Cycle 1 (1994-95). Childhood conduct problems were found to be associated with Non-violent offenses and Consumption of tobacco, cannabis, or alcohol in adolescence, but they were not found to be associated with Physically violent offenses or Deviant lifestyle in adolescence. Furthermore, children with conduct problems before the age of 10 were more likely to meet the symptom count diagnostic criteria for CD in adolescence.

The Dehumanising Consequences of Gamification

While gamification represents one of the largest technology trends of the last decade, only a limited selection of literature exists that explores the negative outcomes of contemporary gamified services, applications, and systems. This chapter explores the consequences of gamified systems and services, investigating contemporary implementations of gamification and acknowledging the ethical concerns raised by researchers towards contemporary gamified services. This chapter further explores these ethical concerns through a critical instance case study of China's Social Credit System and arrives at informed observations on the potential for gamified cycles of reward and punishment to encourage unethical activity within organisations as well as legitimise ideological objectives that violate fundamental human rights. Recommendations are then made for researchers to explore this potential further, while recognising how gamification may justify the authority and practices of organisations, particularly those engaged in unethical and dehumanising behaviour.

Diversity and Equity in Healthcare

Overcoming diversity and equity challenges in healthcare is no small feat for healthcare facilities, professionals, and the healthcare industry at large. This chapter will bring awareness to healthcare disparities that transpire because of the lack of equity which can occur when diversity is finite. It will identify and explore how diversity and equity have been omitted from medical facilities and look at the impact of the presence of diversity and equity on both consumers and medical personnel. In addition, it will uncover factors that contribute to negative outcomes at the virtual level and uncover ways to reduce inefficiencies and negative outcomes caused by the lack of diversity and equity in healthcare.

Essays on the Economics of Education: Policies for Academic Transitions

This doctoral thesis builds on a rich literature investigating how education policy affects students’ learning, motivation, investment, and decisionmaking— all of which are determinants of the productivity of education systems. Over the past decades, the education field has yielded one of the most prolific strands of literature within applied economics research (Machin, 2014). In part this reflects a growing demand for an evidencebased design of education policy. Rigorous and thoughtful economic research can often produce such evidence, which may guide policymakers in the policy-design process (Hanushek et al., 2016). Policy questions are ubiquitous in the education domain. In particular, many dimensions of a child’s environment in school are determined by policymakers, ranging from the small and specific (such as the number of students in each class or the books used) to the large and general (such as the length of compulsory education, financing, and tracking). Another prevalent structural feature of the schooling process determined by policymakers are the transitions from one educational stage to the next. These milestone moments not only involve the replacement of one set of education policies by another, but have evolved into rites of passage in children’s lives, signifying the end of one stage of development and the beginning of the next (Bharara, 2020; Evans et al., 2018). Like more traditional rites of passage, these academic transitions are often costly. Because of the institutional discontinuities they represent, they are disruptive and challenging for many students (Anderson et al., 2000; Curson et al., 2019; Rice et al., 2015; Rice, 2001; Symonds and Galton, 2014), forcing them to navigate a new educational context that often involves a new school, new peers, and new teachers. Further, at each new stage, students not only face new and challenging academic demands but also heightened expectations of their independence and ability to assume responsibility for their own schooling. Not surprisingly, these transitions represent a period of particular vulnerability for many young people. An extensive research literature has consistently found associations with negative outcomes such as a decline in academic engagement and motivation, a decline in grades, and an increased risk of dropout (see, e.g., Bharara, 2020; Eccles et al., 1993; Evans et al., 2018; Galton et al., 1999 or Mizelle and Irvin, 2000).1 Because the number, timing, and structure of transitions are all the result of policy, and imposed on students by policymakers, there is a need for a solid base of evidence—particularly causal—on how students navigate and prepare for them that can inform policy design so as to minimize the negative outcomes associated with those transitions (Rice, 2001; van Rens et al., 2018). My aim for the thesis is to contribute to that evidence base. Empirical studies, such as those in the following chapters, can provide insights for policy on how best to prepare students for transitions, and how best to support them in making well-informed choices. For example, ensuring that students are adequately prepared for subsequent stages of schooling is an important step in making the education system more efficient and productive. Understanding how children and adolescents make investments and choices in their schooling can help policymakers identify areas where interventions might reduce inequalities in (opportunities for) human capital accumulation. Indeed, support and preparedness have been identified in the education literature as key elements for effective transitions (Anderson et al., 2000; Bharara, 2020).