- Browse by Author
Browsing by Author "Hunt, Abby"
Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Parent-Child Sexual Communication Among Middle School Youth(Elsevier, 2018-08) Edwards, Laura L.; Hunt, Abby; Cope-Barnes, Doug; Hensel, Devon J.; Ott, Mary A.; Pediatrics, School of MedicineMiddle school youth (N=1472) in Central Indiana completed a survey about parent-adolescent sexual communi-cation. Being older, female, mixed race, ever had sex, ever arrested, and higher HIV knowledge were associatedwith more frequent sexual communication.Item Risk and Protective Factors for Bullying Victimization and Perpetration among System-Involved Youth(American Public Health Association, 2019) Katz, Amy; Hunt, Abby; Zaban, Leigh; Hensel, Devon; Ott, Mary A.Item The role of trauma and positive youth development in polysubstance use among rural middle school students: a latent class analysis(BMC, 2022-12-14) Zervos, Andrew P.; Hensel, Devon J.; James, Rebecca; Hunt, Abby; Ott, Mary A.; Pediatrics, School of MedicineBackground: Rural youth often begin developing polysubstance use and other risk behaviors during middle school. However, little polysubstance use research focuses on rural middle school youth. Our research uses Latent Class Analysis to understand existing patterns of rural middle school polysubstance use and risk and protective factors associated with polysubstance use. Methods: We used survey data from a rural middle school pregnancy prevention program (N = 2,708). The survey included measures of demographics, lifetime substance use, trauma (adverse childhood experiences and bullying victimization) and aspects of youth development (parent communication on drugs and alcohol, parent connectedness and school connectedness). We used latent class analysis to produce participant polysubstance use profiles and multinomial regression to examine associations between polysubstance use, demographics, trauma and aspects of youth development. Results: We categorized our participants into four latent classes. Our analysis classified 2.2% of participants as Regular Polysubstance users, 6.9% as Polysubstance experimenters, 19% as Vape + Alcohol experimenters and 71.9% as Non-Users. More adverse childhood experiences were associated with greater risk of polysubstance use and experimentation. Bullying was positively associated with greater risk of vape and alcohol experimentation. Higher reported parental and school connectedness were associated with lower risk of high frequency polysubstance use. Higher reported school connection was also associated with lower risk of polysubstance experimentation. Conclusion: Rural substance use prevention programs should begin during middle school, as polysubstance use development is common among rural middle schoolers. These programs should be trauma informed and focus on connectedness as a modifiable factor to reduce risk of polysubstance use development.Item Youth Connectedness Mitigates the Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) on Adolescent Substance Use in a Rural Midwest County(APHA's 2019 Annual Meeting and Expo (Nov. 2-Nov. 6), 2019) Cope-Barnes, Doug; Hensel, Devon; Katz, Amy; Zaban, Leigh; Hunt, Abby; Ott, Mary A.Background: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) increase the risk of adolescent substance abuse. Positive youth connections may mitigate these negative effects. We test whether and how home and school connectedness influences adolescent substance use. Methods: Youth (N=1651 6 th to 8 th graders, N=565, 10 th graders) from a rural, Midwestern low to middle income school district completed a baseline questionnaire prior to a health education program. The outcome, substance use, was a mean index of eight reported substance use behaviors (tobacco, electronic vapor, alcohol, any marijuana [organic or synthetic], prescription pills, inhalants, IV injection; all 6 categories: never to 40+ times). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to evaluate both the direct and indirect relationships between ACEs (middle school (MS), α =.700; high school (HS), α=.740), school- (MS α =.805; HS α=.833) and parent- connectedness (MS α =.923; HS α=.942) and substance use (Stata, 15.1). Results: Higher ACEs was directly associated with lower school connectedness (MS: B=-0.29, p<.000; HS: B=- 0.27, p<.000) and lower parent connectedness (MS: B=-0.16, p<.000; HS: B=-0.23, p<.000). Higher school connectedness (MS: B=-0.19; p<.000; HS: B=-0.14, p<.000), higher parent connectedness (MS: B=-0.09; p<.000; HS: B=-0.209, p<.000) and lower ACEs (MS: B=0.27; p<.000; HS: B=-.17, p<000) all directly associated with lower substance use. The impact of ACEs on substance use was mitigated indirectly through higher school connectedness (MS: B=0.01, p<.000; HS: B=0.03, p<.000) and parent connectedness (MS: B=0.03, p<.000; HS: B=-=0.01, p<.000). Conclusion: Prevention programs should be trauma-informed and incorporate parent-youth and teacher-student components.