School belonging is crucial for students' identity development and academic motivation. It enhances educational success and predicts mental well-being, particularly during secondary school years. A supportive school environment is vital for fostering student engagement and overall development in early adolescence. This study culturally adapts the…

Objective: This study examined the associations between COVID-19-related financial strain and the stress, mental health, physical health symptoms, and health behaviors of American university students. Participants: Online data were collected from 485 participants between May 2020 and March 2021. Participants were majority female and majority…

Objective: To assess demographic, substance use, and mental wellbeing factors associated with high-intensity drinking (HID; 10+ drinks on one occasion) among college- and non-college young adults, to inform prevention and intervention efforts. Participants: A total of 1,430 young adults (819 in college and 611 not attending college) in a…

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly influenced substance prevention work, exacerbating existing challenges and providing new opportunities for community-based substance prevention networks (CSPNs). CSPNs are interorganizational networks that include various providers, such as nonprofits and government agencies, that collaborate to provide…

Background: Exercise has been recognized as a promising and emerging treatment for individuals recovering from addiction. The purpose of this article was to systematically review scientific studies using exercise as a means to improve, sustain, or treat addictions, and to provide suggestions for the future use of exercise as a treatment method for…

Purpose: Psychometrically sound parenting instruments are a critical aid in guiding clinical assessments of adolescent behavioral outcomes, particularly among clinical samples of adolescents. However, there is a paucity of research on these parenting instruments among adolescents with histories of substance use disorders (SUDs) who represent a…

Wraparound programs that provide comprehensive evidence-based outpatient treatment, transportation, social services, and housing supports have shown promise for improving clinical behavioral health-related outcomes to reduce the need for institutionalized care; however, the majority of evidence is based on wraparound programs for children. This…

Childhood adversities have been linked to externalizing problems in adolescence. However, studies focusing on early adolescence are rare. Even less empirical attention has been given to the unique and joint influences of children's and maternal childhood adversity on children's externalizing behavior, particularly with a keen focus on the nature…

Drug misuse among people living with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is associated with higher mortality. It is a frequently observed reason for treatment abandonment, with people who misuse drugs showing a 10 to 25 times higher risk of HIV than the general population. The authors conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the…

College aged students have one of the highest rates of suicidality, however, research on suicidality often negates the experiences of college students of color. The sample included 122,465 college students of color and explored the relationship between suicidality and variables such as academic distress, clinician initial assessment of…

Higher education students face various challenges that often negatively impact their retention rates. Combining multiple challenges leads some students to focus less on academic priorities and their potential retention. Some students begin using drugs and/or alcohol to cope with the stresses, sometimes negatively affecting retention. The negative…

This article discusses concepts related to character strengths and positive youth development and how these ideas can be applied to improve outcomes among gifted young people. A theory with roots in public health, The Theory of Triadic Influence (TTI), is discussed with examples applied to gifted populations. Practitioners and researchers from…

Annually, the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) collects, analyzes, and reports to the Governor and Legislature on disciplinary infractions and their consequences, as reported by school districts, to meet the requirements of the Public School Safety Law, N.J.S.A. 18A:17-46 through 48. This report includes statewide information on…

Background: School-based substance use prevention is important, yet many educators are not trained in the curriculums. The purpose of this study was to assess changes in educators' knowledge about substances and confidence in delivering drug education before and after participating in educator trainings, as well as overall perceptions of the…

This study explores trends and disparities in school discipline during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on the persistence of racial gaps in exclusionary practices. Using student-level data from Arkansas from 2017/18 to 2022/23, we study how disciplinary outcomes relate to student race while controlling for factors such as the type and frequency of…