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Biomedical subjects

Emily J Ozer

Publications and source records attributed to Emily J Ozer.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

The effects of school gardens on students and schools: conceptualization and considerations for maximizing healthy development.

There are thousands of school gardens in the United States, and there is anecdotal evidence that school garden programs can enhance students' learning in academic, social, and health-related domains. There has been little rigorous research, however, on the effects of school gardens or on the factors that promote the sustainability of these programs. This review draws on ecological theory to conceptualize school gardens as systemic interventions with the potential for promoting the health and well-being of individual students in multiple interdependent domains and for strengthening the school environment as a setting for positive youth development. This review (a) summarizes the small literature regarding the impact of school garden curricula on student or school functioning, (b) provides a conceptual framework to guide future inquiry, (c) discusses implications of this conceptualization for practice, and (d) suggests further research needed to better inform practice.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Contextual effects in school-based violence prevention programs: a conceptual framework and empirical review.

This paper reviews the theoretical and practical importance of studying contextual factors in school-based violence prevention programs and provides a framework for evaluating factors at the classroom, school, and community/district level. Sixty-two published papers describing 38 different programs were reviewed; of these 16 were identified that reported data on contextual effects or discussed possible contextual effects on the intervention. The small number of studies precludes definitive conclusions regarding contextual effects in school-based violence prevention programs, but suggests (a) some evidence for contextual effects on program outcomes, and (b) interdependence of context and implementation factors in influencing outcomes.Editors' Strategic Implications: This review suggests that contextual effects are important to school violence prevention, as context can influence outcomes directly and through interactions with implementation factors. Consequently, characteristics of the classroom, school, and community contexts should be considered by practitioners when implementing prevention programs and measured by researchers studying the processes and outcomes of these programs.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Exposure to violence and mental health among Chinese American urban adolescents.

PURPOSE: This cross-sectional study examined exposure to violence as a predictor of mental health and perpetration of violence in a sample of 71 Chinese American young adolescents from nine urban middle schools. METHODS: Separate hierarchical multiple regressions were used to predict self-reported symptoms of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), perpetration of violence, and teacher-reported symptoms of anxiety, depression, and adaptive functioning. RESULTS: After controlling for daily hassles, exposure to violence uniquely predicted higher self-reported PTSD and depressive symptoms. After controlling for prior academic achievement and daily hassles, exposure to violence uniquely predicted more perpetration of violence. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that exposure to violence is associated with worse mental health and more perpetration of violence among Chinese American adolescents living in urban areas.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Preschooler witnesses of marital violence: predictors and mediators of child behavior problems.

This paper describes a conceptual approach to understanding the impact of marital violence on preschoolers, examines the predictors and mediators of child behavioral problems in a clinical sample of multiethnic preschoolers who witnessed their mothers' battering by their father figure, and presents empirical evidence supporting the use of relationship-based therapeutic modalities in treating preschoolers exposed to violence. We find that exposure to violence and maternal life stress are each predictive of child behavior problems, and that the impact of maternal life stress on child behavior problems is mediated by maternal psychopathology and the quality of the mother-child relationship.

Child Behavior Disorders↗
PubMed2004

Violence perpetration across peer and partner relationships: co-occurrence and longitudinal patterns among adolescents.

PURPOSE: To examine the co-occurrence and consistency over time of peer violence, sexual aggression, and dating violence among European American and Mexican-American adolescent boys and girls. METHODS: One-hundred-twelve girls and 135 boys who were either European American or Mexican-American were recruited from a large health maintenance organization. They were interviewed by telephone at baseline (at ages 16 to 20 years) and at one-year follow-up. Variable-centered and person-centered analyses examined the co-occurrence of violent behavior across domains, and whether adolescents who engaged in violent behavior at baseline also engaged in violent behavior during the following year. RESULTS: Results indicated that adolescent boys who engaged in violence in one domain were more likely to engage in violence in other domains during the same time period. Results for girls were less consistent. For boys but not girls, perpetration of either sexual aggression or peer violence was a significant predictor of the same behavior at follow-up. Person-centered analyses indicated that boys who perpetrated both peer violence and sexual aggression at baseline were most likely to perpetrate later violence. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that adolescent boys who engage in peer violence are also at risk for perpetrating sexual aggression or dating violence. Boys who perpetrate peer violence and sexual aggression are at high risk for later violence. Interventions with a dual focus on peer and partner violence may be valuable.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Urban adolescents' exposure to community violence: the role of support, school safety, and social constraints in a school-based sample of boys and girls.

This study examined recent exposure to violence in the community and in other settings, protective factors, and current psychological functioning among 349 young adolescents from 9 urban middle schools. The majority (76%) of adolescents reported witnessing or being victimized by at least 1 violent event in the prior 6 months. Nearly half of adolescents who had talked about their experience of a violent event reported feeling constrained from sharing their thoughts or feelings because of others' reactions. After controlling for daily hassles, more exposure to violence was associated with more self-reported posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depressive symptoms. Exposure to violence was not a significant predictor of teachers' ratings of adaptive functioning or internalizing symptoms. Support from specific individuals, perceived school safety, and lower constraints for discussing violence showed protective effects in the relation between exposure to violence and specific dimensions of psychological functioning. The implications of this research for school-based interventions are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Abortion among adolescents.

In most countries, adolescents' access to abortion is limited by restrictions on legal abortion. Abortion is legal in the United States, but many states require parental consent or notification. Legislation mandating parental consent has been justified by several assumptions, including high risk of psychological harm from abortion, adolescents' inability to make an adequately informed decision, and benefits of parental involvement. Empirical data raise questions about the first 2 assumptions: Studies suggest a relatively low risk associated with abortion, and adolescents seeking abortion appear to make an informed choice. Less is known about effects of parental involvement. The authors review available research and discuss policy debates over parental consent in the United States and the international context.

Abortion, Induced↗
PubMed2003

Predictors of posttraumatic stress disorder and symptoms in adults: a meta-analysis.

A review of 2,647 studies of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) yielded 476 potential candidates for a meta-analysis of predictors of PTSD or of its symptoms. From these, 68 studies met criteria for inclusion in a meta-analysis of 7 predictors: (a) prior trauma, (b) prior psychological adjustment, (c) family history of psychopathology, (d) perceived life threat during the trauma, (e) posttrauma social support, (f) peritraumatic emotional responses, and (g) peritraumatic dissociation. All yielded significant effect sizes, with family history, prior trauma, and prior adjustment the smallest (weighted r = .17) and peritraumatic dissociation the largest (weighted r = .35). The results suggest that peritraumatic psychological processes, not prior characteristics, are the strongest predictors of PTSD.

Adult↗