Adolescent Problem Behavior - Essay Example

Adolescent problem behavior of the of the Research The research “Suicidal behaviors in depressed adolescents:role of perceived relationships in the family” was conducted in France between 15th of March and 31st of March, when the National Defense Preparation Day took place in France. At that day all adolescents who have already turned 17, are required to pass special exams (it can be entrance qualification tests or driving license test). Several days were selected in order to give adolescents a possibility to fill out a Survey on Health and Behavior. The survey, which is usually called Escapad by French, is considered to be one the most exact ways to determine the level of suicidal predisposition of the adolescent. The test takes 35 minutes in order to be fully completed; the questions are mostly connected with family and interpersonal; relationships, socio-demographic factor, and suicidal behavior. The total amount of adolescents who took part in this research was 36,757; almost equal amount of girls and boys. Inclinations for depressive mood, suicidal thoughts and attempts were analyzed for males and females separately. Chi-square tests were implicated in order to measure interrelations between potentially inclined to suicide group of adolescents and influence of family. Besides, the researchers used multivariable regression in order to measure and analyze the abovementioned interrelation using the following factors: level of education, repetition of year in educational institution (which is very common for France), inclination to bad habits ( usage of tobacco, alcohol). As a results of the research, it was explored, that every tenth adolescent in France had a depression; more than 15% of them had suicidal ideation during last year; less than 10% obtain suicide predisposition during their whole life. The abovementioned factors (usage of alcohol, tobacco, repetition of year in educational institution) were defined as one of the basic elements that influence the development of the suicide liability of adolescents. Also there was an interesting fact explored that girls are more likely to commit suicide that boys. After the analysis of the results, all adolescents were divided into separate groups according to the severity of their suicide ideations. There were 4 groups (0 to 3): 1 – depressed, but without noticed suicide inclination; 2 – depressed but with predisposition to commit suicide; 3 – the existence of depression is observed as well as attempt to commit suicide; 0 – group of control. The results showed that family relationships are one of the main reasons for suicidal attempts. The research results proved that parental separation does not provoke adolescents for suicide; family harmony and interrelations are much more important, no matter whether parents live together or separately. Most of the adolescents who have committed suicide came from families, which already had histories of suicide in previous generations, which is referred to as family psychopathology. Also, factors that usually contribute to the development of suicide behavior among adolescents are: death of relative or close friend, sexual violence in childhood, physical violence; the ones who come from non-intact families are also more liable to suicide. The results of this research are extremely necessary for the development of strategy of treatment for adolescents who have suicide attempts (usually called suicide – attempters). Clinical practitioners whose main activity is connected with treatment of depression and suicide behavior took into account the results of the research and included family factor as one the key reasons for such behavior. Now, besides medical treatment (antidepressant medication), the parental and individual sessions are included in order to fully analyze reasons of adolescent’s suicide behavior and to treat it. Empirical proof of the effectiveness of parental therapy already exists, this method has proved to be the most resultant. Research #2 The research “Assessing change in the behavior of children and adolescents in youth welfare institutions using goal attainment scaling” was conducted in Germany, in order to give the adequate analytical assessments of German welfare institutions, which greatly influence the development of individuality of adolescents and children. This research is of significant importance for the formations of new generation as it involves working with young people, their problems and future expectations. The other reason why the conduction is so important for state authorities in principal is because they allocate a great amount of money from the state budget, especially for child day care, and financial reports require the proof of necessity of these allocations. Within the frame work of the research, changes in behaviors of adolescents, who are members of youth welfare institution, were analyzed. Not only standard surveys were implied, but also a special goal attainment scales method. These methods of research meant to analyze the objectives of social and pedagogical workers, as well as personal aims of adolescents, who are in youth welfare institutions. Goal attainment scaling was created by Kiresuk and Sherman in social organizations and agencies. Since then, this method was subject for several adaptations, where settings changed with regard to necessary objectives of the researches. Nowadays these settings include: the practice of social activity, psychology of children, health factors, and pediatrics. This method is conducted in several steps: firstly, major problems of the client should be identified, then it is necessary to transform these problems into goals, choose an appropriate and adequate indicator for improvement for every chosen before goal, predict the possible outcome, then specify which outcome would considered to be somewhat higher or somewhat lower than expected, and significantly higher and significantly lower than expected. The most effective way to conduct this research is together with the client, as it would be easier to discuss and review all possible questions and aspects. After some period of time, social worker defines the actual outcome using the goal attainment scale to define the level of personal change. GAS (goal attainment scale) was used to determine changes in behavior of adolescents and children. Several hundreds of adolescents took part in this research (if to be more specific, it was 433 young people, ages 6 to 18); 25 youth welfare institutions from the whole country expressed their desire to be related to this particular scientific research. Among these 25 institutions mostly day and residential care centers were represented. Communal and personal aims were ranked by adolescents and their social assistants together, a minimum of two occasions were analyzed. Also, such factors as mental ability and behavior were examined in order to study possible problems of young people who took part in the research. Results have showed, that most adolescents and children (41 – 87%) have constantly experienced crucial negative moments in life; they had problems in communication with their peers, family, relatives; also mental stability and behavior were defined to be in critical condition. Nevertheless during the time that they stayed in youth welfare institutions, their condition changed tremendously, significant improvements were noticed in social aims of adolescents, especially in those who has previously experienced deficit as far as mental ability and problems of behavior are concerned. The main results that are obvious from this research, conducted in 25 youth welfare institutions in Germany, is that adolescents and children, is that youth welfare institutions are of great importance for Germany and the state authorities should continue allocate budget for them, as these institutions influence positively the developments of children and adolescents, all of those who took part in the research experienced significant improvements. Conclusion To conclude, it is necessary to mention that specifically these two articles were chosen by me, as they contain scientific researches concerning problems of adolescents, the development of their individuality and personality; hardships they experience during this period and what are the measures to overcome them. On my opinion, this topic is tremendously important for the development of the whole new generation, as adolescents are the representatives of this generation, and our future depend on them and their personal actions. The influence on real world and everyday life is truly significant as it explores the inner world of each adolescent, and solves their problems, whether with family, friends, or problems of different kind. These researches have practical application, as during the conduction of each of them improvements and positive dynamics were noticed. The further research on this topic should, on my mind, be focused on adolescent’s parents, as it was examined that bad family relations are the basic factor that provokes adolescents and causes hardships in their lives. The future article should contain more recommendation on how parents should encourage their children, become an example for them. The same methods that were used for adolescents are also possible in analyzing behavior of parents, that would be effective as interrelation of results would be able to show the difference between them and propose was to communicate adequately. References Consoli, A., Peyre, H., Speranza, M., Hassler, C., Fallisard, B., Touchette, E., et al. (2013, January 1). Suicidal behaviors in depressed adolescents: role of perceived relationships in the family. ReadCube for Researchers. Retrieved January 1, 2013, from http://www.capmh.com/content/pdf/1753-2000-7-8.pdf Kleinrahm, R., Keller, F., Lutz, K., & Kohl, M. (2013, January 1). Assessing change in the behavior of children and adolescents in youth welfare institutions using goal attainment scaling. ReadCube for Researchers. Retrieved January 1, 2013, from http://www.readcube.com/articles/10.1186/1753-2000-7-33 Read More