William P. Evans

Extracurricular Activity and Ethnicity Creating Greater School Connection among Diverse Student Populations

A youth’s sense of connection to school has been theorized by several traditions to be an important predictor of school success and student behavior inside and out-side of school. Using a diverse sample of adolescents (N =1,755), this study focuses on the relationship between youth participation in extracurricular activities and a greater sense of school connection, particularly for non-European American students. In addition, we examined differences in participation rates for different categories of extracurricular activities. Results revealed that students who participated, regardless of ethnicity, had greater levels of school connection. Results also revealed that European American students had a significantly greater level of involvement, whereas Hispanic American students had significantly less involvement. These results are discussed in terms of creating accessible and attractive extracurricular activity opportunities for diverse students.

Sexual and physical abuse among incarcerated youth: implications for sexual behavior, contraceptive use, and teenage pregnancy

OBJECTIVE In the present study, physical and sexual abuse among incarcerated youth were examined with respect to sexual activity, contraceptive use, and pregnancy. METHOD The self-report survey data were collected from 62 females and 334 males who were incarcerated in Nevada youth correctional facilities in the summer of 1994. Of the males, 46.8% (n = 156) reported a history of physical abuse and 9.9% (n = 33) reported sexual abuse. A surprisingly high 73% (n = 46) of the females reported a history of physical abuse and 68.3% (n = 43) reported sexual abuse. RESULTS The analyses indicated that females who reported a history of sexual abuse had an earlier mean age of first intercourse than those who reported no sexual abuse. In addition, male and female respondents with a history of physical and/or sexual abuse reported using no method of contraception as compared to youth with no history of abuse. CONCLUSIONS Implications of these results for detention-based counseling and prevention programming are discussed.

Adolescent Suicide Risk and Peer-Related Violent Behaviors and Victimization

This exploratory study seeks to better understand the link between peer-related violence (perpetration and victimization) and suicide risk among youth. The study uses data gathered from Arizona, Nevada, and Wyoming, where the highest rates of adolescent suicide in the United States are found. The data derive from in-school surveys of eighth-grade students conducted during 1998 and 1999. Higher levels of reported suicide risk were prominent among the multiethnic, urban, and female respondents. Male and female respondents who perpetrated violence by initiating fights, threatening to use weapons, and using weapons to assault others were more likely to be classified in the high-risk suicide group than those who did not. General results were similar for victims and those witnessing violence. Implications for prevention programming and future research are discussed.

Risk and Protective Factors Predictive of Sense of Coherence during Adolescence

This brief report presents a study undertaken to better understand the factors that are related to sense of coherence (SOC) levels among youth. Middle school students (N = 1619) reported on risk and protective factors across ecological domains. Analyses revealed that social support, anger expression, family conflict and neighborhood cohesion were predictors of SOC for both males and females. Community views regarding gang membership was a predictor of SOC only for males, while age was a predictor of SOC only for females. The findings suggest a resiliency and ecological framework may be helpful in understanding SOC in youth.

Adolescent Victimization: Testing Models of Resiliency by Gender.

The present study examined how risk and protective factors were associated with adolescent victimization by testing four competing models from resiliency research—the compensatory, risk-protective, protective-protective, and challenge models. Models were tested separately by gender. The data for this study were based on a multistate project that surveyed 992 eighth-grade students between the ages of 12 and 15 years (54% female, 54% White) in at-risk urban and rural schools. Models incorporated family conflict, anger expression, external locus of control, witnessing violence, and involvement in risky behaviors as risk factors; protective factors included social connectedness, parental monitoring, and neighborhood cohesion. Results indicated support for the challenge model for both male and female early adolescents. Implications for prevention work and future research are discussed.

Academically Successful Drug Users: An Oxymoron?

The present study examines substance use among academically successful students. The data were collected in two discrete anonymous surveys of 2,288 ninth-grade and 2,653 eleventh-grade California students, and 1,043 ninth-grade and 862 eleventh-grade students from a large suburban county. Over 70 percent of the academically successful students from both samples reported some type of drug use. These successful students were divided for comparison into three groups according to their involvement with drugs: abstainers, conventional users, and high-risk users. The analyses indicated that the negative association between drug use and academic achievement may be counterbalanced by mediating factors identified in the study. These factors included high “educational aspiration,” “parent educational level,” and “emotional stability.”

Suicide ideation, attempts and abuse among incarcerated gang and nongang delinquents

The present study examines suicide ideation and attempts as well as reported levels of physical and sexual abuse among gang and nongang-involved incarcerated youth. The self-report survey data were collected from 334 males and 61 females who were incarcerated in Nevada youth correctional facilities in the summer of 1994. Over half (58.3 percent) of the males and nearly half (45.2 percent) of the females reported being gang members. Surprisingly high rates of abuse (more than 70 percent for both physical and sexual abuse) were found among the incarcerated females of this study. Females reported significantly more suicide attempts and were more likely to have been physically and sexually abused than males. Nongang males reported significantly more suicide attempts and were more likely to report sexual abuse than gang-involved males. Among the gang-involved delinquents, females reported significantly more suicide attempts than males. In addition, gang members who reported sexual abuse were more likely to have higher levels of suicide ideationand to have attempted suicide. Implications for youth correction specialists and social workers are discussed.

Youth perspectives on their relationships with staff in juvenile correction settings and perceived likelihood of success on release.

This study explored youth perspectives on their relationships with staff in juvenile correction settings and perceived likelihood of success on release. Surveys were administered to 543 youth committed to select facilities in Alaska, Idaho, Nevada, and Oregon. Youth were asked to nominate a staff they turn to most for help and advice, then report on the qualities of their relationship with that staff. Results indicate that youth have different types of key helping relationships with staff, and that youth forecasts about their future vary across these relationship types.

Are Rural Gang Members Similar to their Urban Peers? Implications for Rural Communities

This study investigated factors associated with gang involvement among rural and urban adolescents. The data were derived from a large self-report survey (N = 2,183) of 7th through 12th grade Nevada students. Surprisingly, there was no significant difference in gang membership or pressure to join gangs between the rural and urban samples. There were differences, however, on other gang and violence indicators between the rural and urban settings. Overall, urban students were significantly more likely to report they had friends in gangs and were threatened by gangs, and had significantly heightened concerns for personal safety, gangs, and violence in their schools and communities. Several rural/urban gender-related differences also were found. Implications for rural communities, prevention and intervention programming, and future research are discussed.

Decision Making and Perceived Postdetention Success Among Incarcerated Youth

This exploratory study seeks to better understand the link between decision-making skills and perceived postdetention success among incarcerated youth. The study uses data derived from surveys administered in 2001 of 197 incarcerated youth in two Nevada youth detention facilities. Results reveal that those youth possessing higher levels of decision-making competence scored higher on a postedetention success scale. This relationship was found while controlling for gender, age, ethnicity, number of arrests, and family conflict. Implications for detention-based education and prevention programming, as well as future research are discussed.