The Importance of Family and School Protective Factors in Preventing the Risk Behaviors of Youth.

The aim of this study was to examine cross-sectional associations of protective factors within a family and school context with adolescent risk behaviors. The study was conducted among adolescents (n = 9682) from five cities in Croatia. Mean age of participants was 16.2 years (SD = 1.2), and 52.5% were female. Multigroup structural equation modeling was used to examine relations between school attachment, school commitment, family communication, and family satisfaction with gambling, substance use, violence, and sexual risk behavior. Data analyses were conducted in two sets, the first using the full sample, and the second using a subsample (excluding Zagreb) for which there was data on sexual risk behavior. In the first model, school attachment was negatively associated with gambling and violence, while school commitment was negatively associated with students' gambling, substance use, and violence. Gambling was also associated with family satisfaction in this model. Results from the subsample model were similar with regards to school and family factors associated with gambling, substance use, and violence, with a few exceptions. In this model, family protective factors were found not to be significantly related with any risk behavior. These study results emphasize the importance of strengthening school protective factors, school attachment, and school commitment in preventing risk behaviors in adolescents.

Positive Youth Development in Croatia: School and Family Factors Associated With Mental Health of Croatian Adolescents.

INTRODUCTION: A framework for understanding the interrelationship of individual and environmental factors that influence adolescent health and well-being, as well as opportunities for policy-level interventions, is known as Positive Youth Development (PYD). The current study represents one of the largest studies of Croatian adolescents to date, and aimed to examine associations between school and family factors linked to PYD, and mental health outcomes experienced by Croatian youth. METHODS: A multi-site survey study was conducted among adolescents (N = 9,655) residing in the five most populous cities in Croatia, with the aim of examining cross-sectional associations of family and school factors with adolescent mental health. The mean age of participants was 16.3 years (SD = 1.2), and 52.5% of participants were female. School and family factors included school attachment, school commitment, family communication, and family satisfaction. Depression, anxiety, and stress were assessed as outcomes. Multigroup structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine relations of interest among female and male adolescents. RESULTS: Among school factors, increased school attachment was found to be significantly associated with reduced depression, anxiety, and stress for female adolescents, and with decreased depression and stress for male adolescents. Increased school commitment was significantly associated with decreased depression and anxiety for female adolescents; conversely, an increase in school commitment was associated with an increase in anxiety and stress for male adolescents. Increases in family communication were significantly associated with reduced depression, anxiety, and stress only for male adolescents, while increased family satisfaction was significantly associated with reduced depression, anxiety, and stress for female adolescents and with decreased depression and stress for male adolescents. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest that interventions for mental health promotion and prevention of internalizing problems should address both school and family contexts, and may be more effective when accounting for differing developmental experiences of female and male adolescents.

PATHS in Croatia: A school-based randomised-controlled trial of a social and emotional learning curriculum.

This study represents the first rigorous evaluation of a social-emotional learning curriculum, PATHS (Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies; Kusché & Greenberg, 1994), in elementary schools in Croatia. This study randomly assigned 29 schools to receive the universal preventive intervention or continue with usual practices. Within those schools, this study included 57 classrooms and 568 children. Teachers rated nine child behaviours in the middle of first grade (pre-intervention) and near the end of second grade (post-intervention). Hierarchical linear models, nesting children within classrooms, revealed few changes in behaviour across the sample as a whole or among higher risk children. However, there were changes on eight of the nine behaviours for lower risk children. The findings are considered in the context of the classroom culture and teachers' preparation and readiness to implement a social-emotional learning curriculum in Croatia. This study highlights the need to supplement universal preventive interventions with selective preventive interventions that can provide more intensive and targeted skill practice for higher risk children. This study also highlights the nuanced effects of a universal preventive intervention in helping different children in different ways.

Assessing the quality of mental health promotion and prevention in Croatia: the case of Istria.

While the availability of mental health promotion and prevention programs worldwide is growing, there is divergence in their level of effectiveness that has led to increasing interest in the development of 'effect management' strategies. Mental health promotion and prevention science and practice has a relatively young history in Croatia, but major investments towards its development have been made over the last decade. This paper reports on a research project that took place within the Istrian Region. The long-term goal of the initiative is to establish quality assurance indicators for mental health promotion and prevention interventions. The current study involved adapting the Dutch Preffi 2.0 instrument for use in Croatia. The content of the Preffi reflects the literature regarding research-based effect predictors. An instrument allows users to assess whether programs have been designed and implemented in ways that maximize their ability to be effective. The Preffi scores can be used for improving a program and the quality with which it is implemented. The first aim of the study is to determine if independent researchers can use the Preffi reliably as a quality assessment instrument. The second aim is to use the Preffi to describe the quality of one cohort of mental health promotion and prevention programs. The study represents the first steps toward developing a strategy for quality assurance that strengthens community capacity for effective service delivery and that could inform other countries whose mental health promotion and prevention efforts are in early stages of development.