In response to COVID-19, educators rapidly pivoted to new and innovative ways of delivering lecture material. The ability to host synchronous lectures on platforms like Zoom gave students continued access to classroom material in the face of an ongoing pandemic. The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences in exam scores between…

This study examines the intersection of sexual and gender identities among adolescents, including the prevalence of these groups and rates of emotional distress and bullying victimization. Data come from a large population-based sample; two measures of sexual orientation and gender identity create eight identity groups. Youth who report…

Juvenile recidivism is a serious public health concern. Using statewide administrative data, this study examined the independent predictive value of childhood maltreatment on repeat offending and compared risk factors for recidivism between 698 first-time juvenile offenders with maltreatment and their propensity score matched sample of 698 without…

Objective: Sleep is vital for healthy development, yet most adolescents do not meet recommended nightly hours. Although racial/ethnic minorities often experience relatively worse sleep outcomes compared with White peers, little is known about how the sleep-mental health relationship holds across diverse groups or how family relationships affect…

Communication with sexual partners about protection against sexually transmitted infections (STIs) is associated with safer sexual behaviors among general populations of youth, but little is known about partner communication among American Indian youth. We assessed the prevalence of adolescents' communication with sexual partners about STI…

Social determinants of health (SDOH)--conditions in which children live, learn, and play--affect child health and well-being. Publicly funded services in education and child welfare systems are important resources to support child well-being, but cross-system coordination is rare. Leveraging integrated administrative data from 60,287 6th graders…

The connection between brain rhythms at rest and cognition remains poorly understood. This is especially true during early childhood in which neuroimaging data are relatively scarce. We developed a new method for collecting eyes closed and eyes open resting state electroencephalography (EEG) suitable for young children. We report results…

Using a sample of 982 late adolescents and tracking them throughout young adulthood, this study investigated whether marital attitudes held during the last year of high school were predictive of union transitions to both cohabitation and marriage during young adulthood. Results using both logistic regression and discrete event history models found…

Research confirms the positive effect of collaborative learning environments when students are considered as one homogeneous group. Little has been done to provide a detailed view of the performance of subgroups of students within collaborative settings. This quantitative and longitudinal study uses survey responses to explore differences in the…

Various personal dimensions of students--particularly motivation, self-efficacy beliefs, and epistemic beliefs--can change in response to teaching, affect student learning, and be conceptualized as learning dispositions. We propose that these learning dispositions serve as learning outcomes in their own right; that patterns of interrelationships…

The purpose of this study was to explore possible causal factors for level of teachers' adoption of technology in teaching and learning. Furthering the understanding of the factors related to teachers' technology adoption may facilitate increased levels of technology integration in the teaching and learning process. Based on previous research and…

Multiple factors are likely to influence adult literacy regarding the natural environment and environmental issues, but very little research has been carried out in this area. The research presented in this article is intended to help address this information gap, by investigating influences on adult environmental literacy using data from a…

Because one in three children is already overweight or obese, school-based interventions targeting secondary obesity prevention merit consideration. This study assessed parent interest in participating in a school-based, school nurse-led weight management program for young school-aged children. A random sample of parents ("n" = 122) of…

Despite recognition that youth civic engagement is multidimensional, different modeling approaches are rarely compared or tested for measurement invariance. Using a diverse sample of 2,467 elementary, middle, and high school-aged youth, we measured eight dimensions of civic engagement: social responsibility values, informal helping, political…

The population of Spanish-speaking preschoolers in the United States continues to increase and there is a significant need to develop psychometrically sound early language and literacy screening measures to accurately capture children's ability in Spanish. In this paper, we describe the innovative design and calibration process of the new…