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Discipline Problems (discipline + problem)
Selected AbstractsAdult versus adolescent onset of smoking: how are mood disorders and other risk factors involved?ADDICTION, Issue 8 2009Vladeta Ajdacic-Gross ABSTRACT Aims To examine the strength of association between smoking and mood disorders and the association between smoking and its traditional risk factors, comparing those who started smoking in adolescence with those who started smoking in early adulthood. Design and participants The analyses relied on prospective data from the Zurich Study. This longitudinal community study started in 1979 with a stratified sample of 591 participants aged 20/21 years, weighted towards those with mental disorders. Follow-up interviews were conducted at ages 23, 28, 30, 35 and 41. Measurements In this analysis the adult versus adolescent onset of smoking was regressed on the cumulative prevalence of mood disorders, personality characteristics measured by the Freiburg Personality Inventory, common risk factors such as parental smoking, conduct and school problems, troubles with the family and basic socio-demographic variables (sex, education). Findings In the Zurich Study cohort we found that 61.6% were former or current smokers, of whom 87% started smoking before the age of 20 and 13% after the age of 20. Adolescent onset of smoking was associated strongly with later major depression, dysthymia or bipolar disorders and, furthermore, with parental smoking, extroverted personality and discipline problems and rebelliousness in youth. However, only depression and dysthymia were associated with adult onset smoking and other risk factors associated with smoking were not so associated in this group. Conclusions Correlates of smoking onset in adolescence are mainly not applicable to the onset of smoking in young adulthood. Smoking onset beyond adolescence is an open research issue. [source] Student and Teacher Perceptions of School Climate: A Multilevel Exploration of Patterns of DiscrepancyJOURNAL OF SCHOOL HEALTH, Issue 6 2010Mary M. Mitchell PhD BACKGROUND: School climate has been linked with improved academic achievement and reduced discipline problems, and thus is often a target of school improvement initiatives. However, few studies have examined the extent to which student and teacher perceptions vary as a function of individual, classroom, and school characteristics, or the level of congruence between teachers' and their students' perceptions of school climate. METHODS: Using data from 1881 fifth-grade students and their 90 homeroom teachers, we examined parallel models of students' and teachers' perceptions of overall school climate and academic emphasis. Two additional models were fit that assessed the congruence between teacher and student perceptions of school climate and academic emphasis. RESULTS: Multilevel analyses indicated that classroom-level factors were more closely associated with teachers' perceptions of climate, whereas school-level factors were more closely associated with the students' perceptions. Further analyses indicated an inverse association between student and teacher ratings of academic emphasis, and no association between student and teacher ratings of overall climate. CONCLUSIONS: Teacher ratings were more sensitive to classroom-level factors, such as poor classroom management and proportion of students with disruptive behaviors, whereas student ratings were more influenced by school-level factors such as student mobility, student-teacher relationship, and principal turnover. The discrepancy in ratings of academic emphasis suggests that while all of the respondents may have shared objectively similar experiences, their perceptions of those experiences varied significantly. These results emphasize the importance of assessing both student and teacher perceptions in future research on school climate. [source] Primary and secondary prevention of behavior difficulties: Developing a data-informed problem-solving model to guide decision making at a school-wide levelPSYCHOLOGY IN THE SCHOOLS, Issue 1 2007Ruth A. Ervin This article focuses on the development and implementation of primary and secondary behavior supports at a schoolwide level. The approach described is consistent with previous efforts to address behavior at a systems level (e.g., G. Sugai, R.H. Horner, & F.M. Gresham, 2002). In this article, we illustrate this process through a school-based example. This example is drawn from a larger project in which area regional school-district consultants and university researchers partnered with four elementary schools in an effort to enhance each school's capacity to implement evidence-based practice and decisions at primary (i.e., universal or school-wide), secondary (i.e., targeted efforts for selected groups of students and/or settings), and tertiary (i.e., individual-student) levels to promote behavioral competence. The project incorporated promising strategies and tools designed to promote and sustain the use of evidence-based practices and data-driven problem solving. Continuous progress monitoring of systemic variables and student behavioral outcomes (e.g., office-referral data) helped to guide systemic reform efforts. Reductions were noted in the number of student discipline problems, and improvements were noted in critical features of school-wide effective behavior support at a systems level. Results are discussed with an emphasis on implications for practice, lessons learned from this project, and directions for additional research. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 44: 7,18, 2007. [source] Risk and protective factors for poor school adjustment in lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) high school youth: Variable and person-centered analysesPSYCHOLOGY IN THE SCHOOLS, Issue 2 2005Tamera B. Murdock This study examined the relations between school climate and school adjustment among 101 lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) high school students and the moderating influence of social support on those relations. Students completed surveys to assess three aspects of the school climate (the school's exclusion/inclusion of LGB people, personal victimization in school for being LGB, and social support from teachers) as well as social support from family and close friends. Criterion variables were GPA, school belonging, and discipline problems. School climate variables explained significant amounts of variance in all criterion variables, after controlling for prior GPA, and there were no moderating effects of parent or friend support. Cluster analyses revealed one small group (n = 14) of highly vulnerable youth who were the least adjusted, most victimized, and least supported. Implications for teachers, counselors, and future research are discussed. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 42: 159,172, 2005. [source] Barriers to Integration in the Mississippi Delta: Could Charter Schools Be the New Vehicle for Desegregation?ANALYSES OF SOCIAL ISSUES & PUBLIC POLICY, Issue 1 2006Suzanne E. Eckes This study explored the barriers to educational integration in the rural Mississippi Delta region. In Delta County,1students have generally been divided between a black public school and an all white private academy. An earlier study (Eckes, 2005) revealed that white parents in Delta County chose not to send their students to the traditional public school because they perceived greater discipline problems, less challenging academics, and fewer extracurricular opportunities ("the barriers"). The black parents, however, were choosing not to send their children to the private academy because it did not, in fact, offer greater educational opportunity. Black parents contended that the three articulated barriers were actually euphemisms for racism. In this current case study, the researcher sought to learn whether a new high-performing charter school, where the three barriers were not present, would encourage racial integration in Delta County. Specifically, the new public charter school offered parents a third option in addition to the private academy and public school. Through interviews and observations, the current case study explored whether the barriers articulated by white parents in the earlier study were simply rhetoric. The current study found that white parents were still not choosing the charter school, even though no barriers were present. [source] | ||||||||||