Behavioral and emotional disorders in childhood can have lasting impacts in areas such as education and future employment, often extending into adulthood. Identifying the potential disorders in children's early grades is beneficial to provide proactive assistance. In this study, we employed a well-validated scale - the Strengths and Difficulties…

This multiple-manuscript dissertation explored the measurement invariance (MI) testing with multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis (MG-CFA) approach from different perspectives. Study 1 explored MI from a theoretical perspective by conducting a systematic review study on MI practices in education. The findings of this study indicated…

There is considerable variability in the extent to which young people with developmental language disorder (DLD) experience mental health difficulties. What drives these individual differences remains unclear. In the current article, data from the Twin Early Development Study were used to investigate the genetic and environmental influences on…

Dual-factor models of mental health are increasingly supported but little is known about longitudinal trends in dual-factor mental health. The current study used latent profile analysis (LPA) to empirically identify dual-factor mental health classes at each of Grades 9 through 12 and latent transition analysis (LTA) to examine stability of classes…

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are stressful or traumatic events that place children at risk of negative health, mental health, and behavioral outcomes. The Center for Youth Wellness (CYW), working in partnership with the Bayview Child Health Center (BCHC), pioneered ACE screening for children and adolescents. This article describes the…

The present article aims to show how to model longitudinal change in cohort sequential data applying latent true change models using Mplus' multi-group approach. The underlying modeling ideas are described and explained in this article. As an example, change in internalizing problem behaviors between the age of 8 and 13 years is modeled and…

Group homes are a frequently used but controversial treatment setting for youth with mental health problems. Within the relatively sparse literature on group homes, there is some evidence that some models of treatment may be associated with more positive outcomes for youth. This article explores this possibility by examining differences across…

Developmental screening of young children is important in all populations, especially underserved communities with known health care disparities. The American Academy of Pediatrics created guidelines and a toolkit for pediatricians to conduct developmental surveillance and screening, yet these guidelines are not uniformly implemented within…

Key concerns about the psychometric properties of the 25-item version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) have consistently been raised in the literature. The present study aimed at examining the meaningfulness of an alternative model to the SDQ in which 7 problematic items are excluded. French-speaking parents of 262 boys and…

School nurses collect data to report to their school district and state agencies. However, there is no national requirement or standard to collect specific data, and each state determines its own set of questions. This study resulted from a joint resolution between the National Association of State School Nurse Consultants and the National…

More knowledge is needed about the characteristics of mental health problems among deaf or hard of hearing (D/HH) children. This study investigates the factor structure of one of the most widely used screening tools, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), and the prevalence of mental health problems among D/HH children. Our data were…

The current study identified psychosocial variables associated with AUDIT-C hazardous drinking risk status for male and female college students. Logistic regression analysis revealed that AUDIT-C risk status was associated with alcohol-related negative consequences, injunctive norms, and descriptive norms for both male and female participants.…

Recognition of the benefits to trauma-informed approaches is expanding, along with commensurate interest in extending delivery within school systems. Although information about trauma-informed approaches has quickly burgeoned, systematic attention to integration within multitiered service delivery frameworks has not occurred yet is essential to…

Recognition of the benefits to trauma-informed approaches is expanding, along with commensurate interest in extending delivery within school systems. Although information about trauma-informed approaches has quickly burgeoned, systematic attention to integration within multitiered service delivery frameworks has not occurred yet is essential to…

Background: Changes in reward processing are thought to be involved in the etiology of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), as well as other developmental disorders. In addition, different forms of therapy for ADHD rely on reinforcement principles. As such, improved understanding of reward processing in ADHD could eventually lead to…