Background: Mental health is a priority for high schools, but extant programs often focus on symptom reduction rather than promoting adolescents' developmental assets. Objective: The goal of this study is to examine whether Art in Mind (AIM), a strengths-based after-school organized art activity tailored to fit the needs of adolescents with…

Introduction: The rising prevalence of depression and anxiety among adolescents is a public health concern. Early adolescence is a key developmental period to reduce risks for internalizing symptoms through primary prevention programs, yet additional research is needed on modifiable factors, such as coping skills, to target to mitigate risk…

As internalizing and externalizing problems often co-occur, the current study utilized a longitudinal dataset of 784 at-risk children (predominantly from low-income families and academically at-risk; 52.6% male) followed yearly from Grade 1 to Grade 12 to: (a) explore the heterogeneity in the codevelopment patterns of internalizing and…

Children must be empowered to find their unique path to personal pride and respect. The concept of empowering youth is widely touted but often misunderstood and underutilized. Young people cannot fully develop their strengths and independence without being empowered to take charge of their lives. The polar opposite of coercion, empowerment is…

Patterns of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) and their association with other psychological difficulties were studied in a community sample of young Swedish adolescents, by a two-wave longitudinal design with a 1-year interval. Hierarchical cluster analysis at T1 identified eight NSSI subgroups in each gender, of which five were clearly replicated…

Whereas non-suicidal self injury (NSSI) is reported in 13-23% of adolescents and is an increasingly studied topic, there has been little investigation into the pathophysiology behind self-injury. This commentary examines recent research into pain and emotional distress to discuss implications for the manner we should understand, research, and…

Background: Whereas much attention has been focused on adolescent risk behaviors such as substance use, much less has been devoted to self-injury in the general adolescent population. Purpose: This study had two purposes: (1) describe the prevalence of self-injury among early adolescents in the general middle school population, and (2) identify…

This state-of-the-art practitioner resource and course text provides a comprehensive view of adolescent development and spells out effective ways to help teens who are having difficulties. The book illuminates protective and risk factors in the many contexts of adolescents' lives, from individual attributes to family, school, neighborhood, and…

Objective: To ascertain the association between pubertal stage and deliberate self-harm. Method: Cross-sectional survey of 12- to 15-year-olds in 300 secondary schools in the U.S. state of Washington in February-April 2002 and the Australian state of Victoria in June-August 2002. A total of 3,332 students in grades 7 and 9 provided complete data…