Research Project
7571085
[unreadable] Description (Provided by Applicant) [unreadable] Importance: The goal of Healthy Teens is to increase scientific understanding of different levels [unreadable] of risk and protective factors that influence the developmental pathways (i.e., patterns of [unreadable] continuity or patterns of change over time) that children and young adolescents follow from 6th [unreadable] through 12th grade, in relation to dating violence and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Healthy [unreadable] Teens differs from much of the extant research literature in that it: a) is a longitudinal study of a [unreadable] large sample (cohort of approximately 700 students); b) uses multiple methods (student [unreadable] surveys, teacher ratings, archival data on academic achievement and discipline, focus groups, [unreadable] and interviews; c) includes two samples of students (random and high-risk); d) evaluates a large [unreadable] number of violence-related constructs and behaviors, including risk and protective factors at [unreadable] multiple levels of an ecological framework; and e) includes students who dropped out of school. [unreadable] The unique, comprehensive design of Healthy Teens will serve to enhance our comprehension [unreadable] of the development of dating violence and its interrelation with suicidal thoughts and behaviors [unreadable] and, thus, provide a firm foundation to enhance prevention strategies. [unreadable] Objectives: Specific objectives are to: a) evaluate developmental trajectories from middle to [unreadable] high school in relation to dating and dating violence victimization and perpetration and its interrelation [unreadable] to suicidal thoughts and behaviors; b) evaluate the risk and protective factors that [unreadable] influence these developmental trajectories; and c) explore the context and meaning of dating [unreadable] violence from students' perspectives. [unreadable] Study Design: Healthy Teens is a mixed-method study that began when students were in the [unreadable] 6th grade; they are currently in the 11th grade. This study proposes to complete one more year of [unreadable] data collection (12th grade-Year 1) so that that there will be complete, comprehensive data set [unreadable] of this cohort from middle through high school. Data analyses will be conducted during Years 1, [unreadable] 2 and 3 of the proposed study. This study will employ the same data collection strategies used [unreadable] since students were in the 6th grade, that is: a) student self-reported assessments; b) teacher [unreadable] behavioral ratings of students (BASC); and c) archival data. Additionally, individual interviews [unreadable] will be conducted with a purposeful, maximum variation sample of students who have been [unreadable] victims and/or perpetrators of dating violence. [unreadable] Setting: Healthy Teens researchers will work cooperatively with school administration and staff [unreadable] to collect data in the schools, as in years past. When this is not possible (e.g., student who has [unreadable] dropped out of school), data will be collected in students' homes or another convenient location [unreadable] (e.g., public library). [unreadable] Participants: Healthy Teens has followed a cohort of approximately 700 students (currently in [unreadable] the 11th grade) in eight Northeast Georgia high schools. When students were in the 6th grade (9 [unreadable] middle schools), two types of samples were recruited: a random sample and a high-risk-foraggression [unreadable] sample. The random sample (676 students) represented the student population of [unreadable] each school; the high-risk sample (213 students) consisted of students who were considered by [unreadable] their teachers to be aggressive and influential with peers. A small number of students (107) in [unreadable] the random sample were also selected for the high-risk sample. [unreadable] Outcome Measures: All students have completed questions on dating violence norms, dating, [unreadable] and dating violence behaviors; high school students have completed questions related to [unreadable] feelings of sadness and hopelessness and suicidal thoughts and attempts. In addition, all [unreadable] students have completed an array of measures of risk and protective factors at the individual, [unreadable] family, peer, and school levels. Census data on individual neighborhood characteristics are also [unreadable] available. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]
