Cheryl L. Somers

Individual and Social Factors Related to Urban African American Adolescents' School Performance

The purpose of this study was to examine factors related to the academic success of urban, African American youth. Participants were 118 African American male and female ninth graders from a large urban high school in the Midwest. A majority of students at the school receive free or reduced lunch. Factors studied were social support from five sources (parent, peer, teacher, classmate, close friend) and six educational attitudes and behaviors (educational intentions, educational behavior, personal control, persistence, and understanding of the personal and financial value of educational attainment). The major purpose of this study was to examine the role of these various sources of social support in the educational attitudes and behaviors and academic achievement of this sample of African American youth. Results indicated that social support was mildly correlated with better grades, with parent and peer support relatively the more important forms of support. Moderate and strong correlations were found between the five support variables and most of the educational attitudes and behaviors variables, with support from parents, teachers, and peers most strongly related. The combination of all predictors explained a large proportion of variance in achievement, with educational intentions and personal persistence the strongest contributors. Detailed results and implications of the results are discussed.

Sources and timing of sex education: relations with American adolescent sexual attitudes and behavior

The purpose of this study was to explore the comparative contribution that (a) multiple sources of education about sexual topics (peers, media, school and other adults), and (b) the timing of this sex education, make on American adolescent sexual attitudes and behavior. Participants were 672 ethnically and economically diverse male and female, high‐school adolescents. Regression analyses revealed that earlier learning from most sources and more learning from schools about various sexual topics, including the importance of using birth control and consequences of teen pregnancy, were generally significantly predictive of less frequent oral sex and sexual intercourse. Other sources of sex education (peers, media, other adults) seemed to be less important in influencing outcomes. Ethnic/racial and gender variations also resulted.

Is Earlier Sex Education Harmful? An Analysis of the Timing of School-Based Sex Education and Adolescent Sexual Behaviours

What should be taught and when are frequently asked questions. A fair amount of research has explored the influences of sex education on the initiation and frequency of sexual intercourse. The rationale behind formal instruction in sex education is that knowledge about human reproduction, sexual behaviour, and contraception could dispel misconceptions, myths, and half-truths while encouraging more informed, responsible decision making about individual sexual behaviour. A variety of studies have evaluated the effectiveness of school sexual education programmes in terms of their impact on adolescent sexual knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours. However, the results have not been consistent, some finding positive effects and others finding no influence. Some studies have shown education programmes to influence students’ sexual knowledge in a positive way. For example, Kirby (1980) found that instruction in sexual education increases sexual knowledge. This finding was consistent across all studies reviewed (Dawson, 1986; Finkel and Finkel, 1985; Melchert and Burnett, 1990; Shelly, 1981), although the degree of significance varied, with some finding small and some finding large influences. The research on sexual attitudes is less positive. Although one study (Hoch, 1971) concluded that courses on sexuality increase the tolerance of the students’ attitudes towards the sexual practice of others, many studies have found that sex education did not make a difference in adolescents’ attitudes. Parcel and Luttman (1981) found that most programmes did not change the direction of students’ attitudes toward pre-marital sex, birth control, or other issues of sexuality. Finkel and Finkel (1985) also found that the programmes did not have a measurable impact on adolescents’ attitudes toward sexuality. Similarly, studies have looked at how sex education has impacted sexual behaviours. In most of those studies, formal sex education was found to have little or no impact on sexual behaviours (Dawson, 1986; McKay, 1993; Maslach and Kerr, 1983; Zelink and Kim, 1982). However, sexual behaviour has commonly been defined as sexual intercourse and it may be important to consider other definitions. These inconsistent findings in the literature warrant further investigation if Is erlier ex edcation harm ul?

Attachment Disruptions, IQ, and PTSD in African American Adolescents: A Traumatology Perspective

Attachment disruptions, other traumas, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and intelligence quotient (IQ) were measured in a sample of 181 African American adolescents. Path analysis was utilized to test the effects of different types of attachment disruptions on IQ and PTSD. Findings supported that mother and father abandonments and being in foster care are associated with decreased perceptual reasoning, processing speed, and working memory, and increased discrepancy between perceptual and verbal toward decreased perceptual reasoning. Such suppression and discrepancy contribute to poor academic achievement. Results validated the traumatology perspective on attachment disruptions as traumas that are associated with PTSD, suppression of most IQ potentials, and with potential brain hemispheric desynchronization. The ramifications of these results for helping African American adolescents are discussed.

School Staff Perspectives on the Challenges and Solutions to Working With Court‐Involved Students

BACKGROUND Court-involved students, such as those in foster care and the juvenile justice system, generally experience high incidences of both acute and chronic trauma, adversely impacting their educational well-being and overall academic trajectory. Utilizing perceptions of teachers and other school staff, this study explores the challenges and needs of school personnel working with this student population. METHODS Participants were school personnel employed at a Midwest, urban, public charter school during the 2012-2013 academic year. Focus groups explored the perceptions of school staff members working with court-involved students to develop a staff training curriculum. Focus groups also were conducted after the training intervention to get feedback from participants and identify remaining challenges. Focus group data were analyzed and results were member-checked with study participants. RESULTS Findings included 7 major themes (14 subthemes) regarding student behaviors that were challenging for school staff to manage. Themes included trauma-related behaviors, attachment-related behaviors, staff preintervention needs, intervention feedback, and staff postintervention needs. CONCLUSIONS Teachers and school staff can play a role in the educational well-being of court-involved youth. However, they need trauma-specific knowledge and resources to be effective.

Evaluation of a trauma-informed school intervention with girls in a residential facility school: student perceptions of school environment

In response to the high nationwide prevalence of psychological trauma among court-involved youth who have been exposed to abuse and neglect and the associated far-reaching adverse consequences, there are calls to develop a trauma-informed workforce across the various systems (child welfare, juvenile justice, mental health, and education) designed to serve this population. We describe a pilot test of a modified version of the Heart of Teaching and Learning (HTL) curriculum, an intervention designed to increase trauma-informed practices in education settings. This program was implemented in a public charter school that exclusively serves court-involved youth placed in residential treatment. The intervention was associated with decreases in trauma symptoms experienced by youth. Because student perceptions of teachers were high both before and after implementation of the curriculum, no statistically significant changes were observed. The article concludes with a discussion of the ways in which the curriculum can be used to help prepare a national education workforce capable of implementing trauma-informed evidence-based practices in school settings.

Does bullying victimization suppress IQ? The effects of bullying victimization on IQ in Iraqi and African American adolescents: a traumatology perspective

This study explored the effects of bullying victimization (BV), as a Type II traumatic stressor, on intelligence quotient (IQ), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and complex PTSD symptoms. Participants were 390 African American and Iraqi refugee adolescents. Measures of BV, cumulative life trauma, PTSD, discrimination, and IQ were administered. Correlational, multilevel regression, and path analyses were conducted. BV, independent of cumulative trauma, and discrimination were found to have significant direct effects on increased PTSD symptoms and significant direct and indirect negative effects on perceptual reasoning, processing speed, and working memory. BV was also associated with increases in the discrepancy between perceptual reasoning and verbal comprehension. The implications of these results for the prevention and treatment of bullying victims are discussed.

The Linear and Nonlinear Associations between Multiple Types of Trauma and IQ Discrepancy Indexes in African American and Iraqi Refugee Adolescents

Extreme stress resulting from various types of trauma is associated with changes in some brain structures that may affect IQ parameters. To assess relationships between multiple types of trauma and traumas, 390 African Americans and Iraqi refugee adolescents were studied. Nonlinear relationship between severe abuse, abandonment, parents divorce, age when adopted, witnessing domestic violence, and decreased verbal IQ, and between frequency of being in foster care, age when experienced death of close relative, and decreased perceptual IQ was found. Additionally, nonlinear relationships between extreme stresses resulting from such traumas and IQ discrepancy indexes were found.

Use of the Monarch Room as an Alternative to Suspension in Addressing School Discipline Issues Among Court-Involved Youth

Suspension is commonly used in schools, yet these practices can adversely affect students’ education well-being and do not improve student behavior. This study assesses the use of the Monarch Room (MR) intervention, a trauma-informed alternative to school discipline suspension policies, among 620 court-involved girls placed in residential care and enrolled in an urban-located public charter school. Teachers readily utilized the intervention as a first response to dealing with problematic behavior, and as a result, MR use significantly decreased reliance on suspension practices. Multiple stays in residential treatment and race were significant predictors of MR use.

Parents’ attitudes about adolescents’ premarital sexual activity: The role of inter-parent consistency/inconsistency in sexual outcomes

Objective: Parents’ values about sexuality and about premarital sex play unique roles in the development of adolescents’ sexual attitudes and behaviours. However, research is scarce on the role of consistent versus inconsistent values transmission. The purpose of the present study was to examine the association between parental consistency/inconsistency of values toward adolescents’ premarital sexual activity and adolescents’ own premarital sex attitudes and behaviours. Method: The full sample included 293 adolescents in the 9th through 12th grades (aged 13–19 years), primarily African American, Hispanic, and Caucasian, from three high schools in suburban and urban school districts in the Midwest of the USA. Results: First, analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were run to see where differences between groups may lie. A multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was then run with parental values as independent factor, and the six sexuality variables (sexual attitude, frequency of oral sex, frequency of sexual intercourse, age of first sexual intercourse, number of sexual partners and personal sexual values) as dependents, while controlling for gender, grade and race differences. Univariate analyses were run to determine direction of effects. Results indicated that adolescent sexuality outcomes varied by consistency of parents’ values. ANCOVA results revealed that adolescents’ sexual attitudes, frequency of oral sex, frequency of sexual intercourse, and number of sexual partners all varied by parents’ values status. Conclusion: Parental sexual attitudes and consistency in parental communication contribute significantly to successful development in young people.