Youth and Parent Participation in Transition Planning in the U.S.A.: Findings from the National Longitudinal Transition Study 2012 (NLTS 2012)

The purpose of this study was to use data from the United States' National Longitudinal Transition Study 2012 (NLTS 2012) to present descriptive information on youth and parent participation and youth's role in required Individualized Education Program (IEP)/transition planning meetings by disability category and age groupings (14-22 year olds, 14-15 year olds, and 16-22 year olds). The study found that youth and parent attendance in IEP/transition planning meetings was high across disability categories, but the extent to which youth and parents met with teachers to discuss transition goals was much lower. Data from NLTS 2012 and a previous U.S. study, the National Longitudinal Transition Study 2 (NLTS2), were compared for youth's participation with school staff in discussing transition goals. A significant decline in participation was found over the past decade. Logistic regression analyses illustrated differences in youth and parent participation and youth's role by disability category.

Parent Expectations, Deaf Youth Expectations, and Transition Goals as Predictors of Postsecondary Education Enrollment

This study used the National Longitudinal Transition Study–2 (NLTS2) data set to determine the effects of expectations and transition planning goals on the postsecondary education enrollment of deaf youth. Propensity scoring modeling results indicated that high expectations held by deaf youth and their parents significantly predicted postsecondary education attendance at 2- and 4-year college, and career and technical education (CTE) school. College enrollment as a transition planning goal for deaf youth also significantly predicted enrollment in all three types of postsecondary education institutions. Postsecondary CTE school attendance as a transition plan goal for deaf youth did not make a difference in enrollment outcomes for CTE and 2-year college, and significantly reduced their odds of attending 4-year college. Implications regarding expectations and transition plan goals are discussed.

Youth in transition: Study protocol of a prospective cohort study into the long-term course of addiction, mental health problems and social functioning in youth entering addiction treatment

Background Substance use disorders (SUDs) are prevalent in the general population, tend to follow a chronic course, are associated with many individual and social problems, and often have their onset in adolescence. However, the knowledge base from prospective population surveys and treatment-outcome studies on the course of SUD in adolescents is limited at best. The present study aims to fill this gap and focuses on a subgroup that is particularly at risk for chronicity: adolescents in addiction treatment. We will investigate the rate of persistent SUD and its predictors longitudinally from adolescence to young adulthood among youth with DSM-5 SUD from the start of their addiction treatment to 2 and 4 years following treatment-entry. In addition to SUD, we will investigate the course of comorbid mental disorders, social functioning, and quality of life and their association with SUD over time. Methods/design In a naturalistic, multi-center prospective cohort design, we will include youths (n = 420), who consecutively enter addiction treatment at ten participating organizations in the Netherlands. Inclusion is prestratified by treatment organization, to ensure a nationally representative sample. Eligible youths are 16 to 22 years old and seek help for a primary DSM-5 cannabis, alcohol, cocaine or amphetamine use disorder. Assessments focus on lifetime and current substance use and SUD, non-SUD mental disorders, family history, life events, social functioning, treatment history, quality of life, chronic stress indicators (hair cortisol) and neuropsychological tests (computerized executive function tasks) and are conducted at baseline, end of treatment, and 2 and 4 years post-baseline. Baseline data and treatment data (type, intensity, duration) will be used to predict outcome – persistence of or desistance from SUD. Discussion There are remarkably few prospective studies worldwide that investigated the course of SUD in adolescents in addiction treatment for longer than 1 year. We are confident that the Youth in Transition study will further our understanding of determinants and consequences of persistent SUD among high-risk adolescents during the critical transition from adolescence to young adulthood. Trial registration The Netherlands National Trial Register Trial NL7928. Date of registration January 17, 2019.

Digital Citizenship: Technology Access and Use for Youth With and Without Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Technology is integral to the lives of youth who, as digital citizens, use technology to participate in social and civic action to improve their communities. Using a digital citizenship framework and National Longitudinal Transition Study of 2012 data, we explored technology access and use between youth with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). We found youth with IDD have less access and less participation across four digital citzienship elements putting them at greater risk for digital social isolation and community disengagment. Given the COVID-19 pandemic, which has thrust employment, school, health, and social lives to online spaces, we situate our findings on digital access, opportunity, and support and call for individual and systems-level investment in digital citizenship to support full participation.

Antisites driven magnetic transition study in La2NiMnO6

La2NiMnO6 is a unique compound of multiferroics that exhibits two magnetic transitions of Curie points TC1 and TC2 below room temperature on a partial conversion of charge carriers, Ni2+ → Ni3+ and Mn4+→ Mn3+, stabilized with O2- vacancies in distorted octagons in a double perovskite of a spin cluster (glass), wherein the spins freezing at a critical Tg point at lower temperatures. The peak temperature and irreversibility temperature shifted to the lower temperature. The dc magnetization M (T) measurements indicate random ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic interactions and multiple magnetic transitions. The critical slowing properties signify the spin-glass nature proved by the thermomagnetic relaxation measure.

Growth and adrenarche: findings from the CATS observational study

BackgroundThere is increasing evidence that patterns of pubertal maturation are associated with different patterns of health risk. This study aimed to explore the associations between anthropometric measures and salivary androgen concentrations in pre-adolescent children.MethodsWe analysed a stratified random sample (N=1151) of pupils aged 8–9 years old from 43 primary schools in Melbourne, Australia from the Childhood to Adolescence Transition Study. Saliva samples were assayed for dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), DHEA-sulfate and testosterone. Anthropometric measures included height, weight, body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference. Associations between (1) anthropometric measures and each androgen, and (2) hormone status with obesity and parental report of pubertal development were investigated using linear regression modelling with general estimating equations.ResultsGreater height, weight, BMI and waist circumference were positively associated with higher androgen concentrations, after adjusting for sex and socioeconomic status. Being overweight or obese was associated with higher testosterone and DHEA concentrations compared with the normal BMI category. Those who were obese were more likely (OR=2.7, 95% CI 1.61 to 4.43, p<0.001) to be in the top tertile of age-adjusted androgen status in both sexes.ConclusionThis study provides clear evidence for an association between obesity and higher androgen levels in mid-childhood. The adrenal transition may be a critical time period for weight management intervention strategies in order to manage the risk for metabolic problems in later life for high-risk individuals.