Background: Many low- and middle-income countries have high levels of violence. Research in high-income countries shows that risk factors in the perinatal period are significant precursors of conduct problems which can develop into violence. It is not known whether the same early influences are important in lower income settings with higher rates…

Given prevalence rates and negative consequences that adolescents' perpetration of dating violence may have on an individual's well-being and future relationships, it is imperative to explore factors that may increase or reduce its occurrence. Thus, we aimed to identify how multiple contextual risk factors (individual, family, schools, and…

Although smoking initiation is rare in young adulthood, the progression to a higher level of smoking still occurs at this developmental stage. Thus, this study was aimed at exploring predictors of the transition from experimental to daily smoking in late teens and young adults using the 2nd and 3rd waves from the National Longitudinal Study of…

This study examines the predictive significance of late adolescent substance use groups (i.e., abstainers, experimental users, at-risk users, and abusers) for early adult adaptation. Participants (N = 159) were drawn from a prospective longitudinal study of first-born children of low-income mothers. At 17.5 years of age, participants were assigned…

Adolescent delinquency and academic underachievement are both linked with child and adolescent behavior problems. However, little is known about behavioral pathways leading to these adverse outcomes. Children's aggression, opposition, status violations, and property violations scores were collected at ages 5, 10, and 18. Delinquency and academic…

A study was conducted to evaluate whether prenatal smoking was only related to externalizing or both internalizing and externalizing problems in children from childhood to early adolescence. Results indicated that maternal smoking during pregnancy is an accurate predictor of internalizing and externalizing psychopathology among children.

Background: Previous theory and research suggest links between substance use and externalizing behavior problems, but links between substance use and internalizing problems are less clear. The present study sought to understand concurrent links among diagnoses of substance use disorders, internalizing disorders, and behavior disorders at age 18 as…

Background: Health risk behaviors like substance use (alcohol, tobacco, soft/hard drugs) and risky sexual behavior become more prevalent in adolescence. Children with behavior problems are thought to be prone to engage in health risk behaviors later in life. It is, however, unclear which problems within the externalizing spectrum account for these…

Objective: The main aim of this study was to examine the age-dependent remission from ADHD in girls transitioning through childhood into adolescence and early adulthood. Method: We conducted a 5-year prospective follow-up study of 123 girls with ADHD and 106 non-ADHD control girls aged between 6 and 17 years at ascertainment. ADHD was considered…

A 3-year follow-along study of 422 students with disabilities in their last year of high school and 1 year later found that students with serious emotional disturbances and demonstrated low personal/social achievement skills were more likely to be victimized than those with other disabilities. Prior victimization, gender, and arrest record also…