Profile of Runaway Youths from Residential Care Centers: Variation in Risk-Taking Propensity.

During runaway episodes, adolescents engage in various high-risk behaviors and are exposed to various dangers. This situation is even more pronounced among runaway youths from residential care centers, given their personal and familial backgrounds that place them at risk. The current study attempted to disentangle the heterogeneous characteristics of runaway youths while considering the adolescent risk-taking literature. A latent profile analysis was performed among 112 runaway youths from residential care centers based on runaway characteristics (number, duration, context of return). The Parent involvement, Independent and Police involvement runaway youth profiles were compared on various characteristics involved in risk-taking, their high-risk behaviors and mental health problems. The clinical implications for these three runaway profiles are discussed.

The Use of Restraint and Seclusion in Residential Treatment Care for Youth: A Systematic Review of Related Factors and Interventions.

Children placed in residential treatment centers (RTCs) typically present challenging behavior including aggression. In this context, restraint and seclusion (R&S) are seen as "last resort" strategies for educators to manage youth aggression. The use of R&S is controversial, as they can lead to psychological and physical consequences for both the client and the care provider and have yet to be empirically validated as therapeutic. The objectives of this systematic review are to identify the factors related to R&S use in RTCs for youth and to review the interventions aiming to reduce the use of R&S. The identification of these factors is the first step to gaining a better understanding of the decision-making process leading to the use of R&S and ultimately to reducing the use of these strategies to a minimum. Thus, the present systematic review was conducted by searching PubMed, CINAHL, ERIC, and PsycNET for articles published between 2002 and 2017. Key words used were synonyms of R&S, youth, and RTCs. Thirty-one studies met the inclusion criteria: must report on factors affecting the use of R&S in RTCs, must be conducted in RTCs for youth under the age of 21, and must report on original and empirical data. Factors related to the characteristics of the client, the care provider, and the environment, as well as to the implementation of programs for the reduction of R&S, were found to influence the use of R&S in RTCs. A conceptual model is presented. The implementation of programs to reduce R&S use is discussed.

Worker and perceived team climate factors influence the use of restraint and seclusion in youth residential treatment centers: Results from a mixed-method longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: Restraint and seclusion (R&S) are controversial methods of intervention aimed at protecting children from immediate harm in residential treatment centers (RTC). Previous studies have mainly focused on situational factors and youth characteristics to predict its use. OBJECTIVES: This study sought to evaluate the role other potential predictors could play in the decision to use R&S, namely characteristics of residential workers and their perceived team climate. METHODS: For two months, a total of 132 residential workers from different RTC in the greater Montreal area completed weekly diaries of standardized questionnaires. Using an explanatory sequential design (i.e., mixed methods), this study aimed at exploring the role of residential workers' characteristics (e.g., exposure to client aggression, stress and fatigue) and aspects of their perceived team climate (e.g., order and organization, communication and openness) as predictors of R&S use. Survey results were later also presented to four focus groups for discussion. RESULTS: Results indicated that exposure to verbal violence from youths was associated with the increased use of R&S. Meanwhile, perceived communication and openness were associated with lower rates of R&S use. Participants shared that repeated exposure to verbal violence diminished their level of tolerance while teamwork provided them with the emotional space needed to focus on the needs of youths and find alternatives to R&S. CONCLUSION: This study sheds light on the complex role of human emotions in the decision to use of R&S. Specifically, intense momentary emotions during crisis interventions had a greater influence on the use R&S than chronic states, such as fatigue.

The thin line between protection and conviction: Experiences with child protection services and later criminal convictions among a population of adolescents.

Relying on official data provided by the Québec City Youth Center, Canada, we explore the nature and intensity of officially known criminality for all youth (N = 5399) found guilty under the provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act between 2003 and 2012 and assess the relationship between criminality and previous episodes of child maltreatment. This article proposes to further verify the general hypothesis stating that there are empirical links between these two phenomena. The results suggest that those youth victims of specific types of child maltreatment (physical abuse, sexual abuse) seem to be found guilty of criminal acts that are significantly in line with these earlier episodes of maltreatment. These results might help to prevent potential occurrences of such a phenomenon and also contributes to the ongoing development of psychological and criminological theories assessing why and to what extent a child victim of maltreatment might later commit criminal offenses.

Prevalence and screening of mental disorders in short-term correctional facilities.

A majority of people incarcerated in correctional facilities have been affected by mental problems at least once in their lifetime. Among them, 12 to 25% suffer from severe and persistent mental disorders at the time of admission. Certain "profiles" are more likely to be detected than others. This is why the main objectives of this research are to establish, in both male and female offenders admitted in short-term detention facilities, the rate of those who have received medical diagnoses of mental disorders, the rate of screening for "mental health problems" at admission and the psychiatric diagnoses (last five years) most strongly associated with a positive screening. Using computerized medical and prison files, it can be established that 61% of the 671 offenders sent to a short-term correctional facility received, during 2002-2007, at least one diagnosis for mental disorder. A total of 227 subjects (33.8%) obtained a positive score to the indicator of mental health problem." In the case of men, correctional services workers identified as mental health problems: psychotic disorders, adjustment reactions, "neurotic"/anxiety disorders, being coupled to drug dependence. Positively detected women tend to exhibit problems of anxiety, personality disorder and substance related disorders. This study highlights, the difficulties faced by correctional services workers in detecting recent depressive disorders both in men and women offenders and also difficulties to detect recent affective psychoses.

[Prescription of psychotropic medication in inmates of Québec's correctional facilities]. / La prescription de médicaments psychotropes aux personnes incarcérées dans les prisons provinciales du Québec.

In this article, the authors attempt to better examine the practice of prescription of psychotropic medication of inmates of Québec's correctional facilities. Although prescription of this medication is considered the most widespread "psychiatric treatment," studies on the prevalence of these prescriptions remain scarce. The study includes a sample of 671 inmates, 500 men and 171 women. Globally, 40,3 % of inmates have received at least one prescription for psychotropic medication in the period between 2002 and 2007. Results show that women are more likely than men to have been prescribed medication. Inmates who have received at least one prescription are older than other inmates. Most prescriptions have been given by physicians and the cases of polypharmacy are numerous. On a period of five years, the class of medication the most widely prescribed is the following: anxiety/hypnotic medication, antidepressants and antipsychotic medication. The authors conclude that further analysis of factors associated with prescription of this class of medication of this population is needed.

Partial Resistance of Pepper to Bacterial Wilt Is Oligogenic and Stable Under Tropical Conditions.

Genetic analysis of resistance of pepper to bacterial wilt was performed in the doubled haploid progeny from a cross between a resistant parental line PM 687 and a susceptible cultivar Yolo Wonder. After artificial inoculation with a local isolate of Ralstonia solanacearum, the progeny consisting of 90 lines was transplanted into a naturally infested field in Guadeloupe, Lesser Antilles. The 2 years of experimentation resulted in repeatable results, with a high heritability of the resistance, attesting the reliability of the evaluation procedure and the stability of the resistance over years. Two to five genes with additive effects were estimated to control the resistance, indicating an oligogenic control as observed in tomato sources of resistance. Relationships with resistance to other soilborne or tropical diseases were examined. Susceptibility to Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) and to nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) were significantly linked with resistance to bacterial wilt, whereas neither resistance to Phytophthora capsici nor to Leveillula taurica were linked. The similarity of the genetics of resistance to bacterial wilt in pepper and tomato and linkage with TMV resistance locus warrant the comparative mapping of the resistance quantitative trait loci in the genomes of the two species.