Many issues related to children and families make their way into today's headlines: violence in schools, child poverty, adolescent smoking, and the impact of violent television and movies on behavior, to name a few.
Children, Youth, and Family Background, an ongoing series of reports published by the University of Pittsburgh Office of Child Development, offers summaries of what research reveals about these and other issues. Reports include a narrative overview of the topic and references to key sources of information. The series, published as a research tool for journalists, is available free to anyone interested in learning about these complex issues.
Permission is granted to publish or otherwise reproduce the reports or any portion of a report. The University of Pittsburgh Office of Child Development appreciates being cited as a source, when appropriate.
The following reports are available as portable document files (.pdf). The reports can be viewed using Adobe Acrobat Reader version 4 or higher. If you do not have Acrobat Reader 4 or higher installed on your computer, the program can be downloaded for free from Adobe's web-site:
2007
- #101 December 2007 Child Victims No Longer An Afterthought: More emergency response plans recognize the needs of children.
- #100 December 2007 Tracking Child Reforms In Post-Soviet Era: Agencies seek understanding of child welfare in developing nations.
- #99 December 2007 Teachers' Education And Quality Learning. Elementary Questions: Teacher quality regulations not driving improvements.
- #98 December 2007 Teachers' Education And Quality Learning. Raising Preschool Quality: Teachers' degrees don't guarantee better classrooms.
- #97 December 2007 Autism Exposed: A Growing Public Concern. Demand For Services Rising: Awareness also contributing to advances in research.
- #96 December 2007 Autism Exposed: A Growing Public Concern. Autism Gains the Spotlight: Advocacy, spike in prevalence help raise awareness.
- #95 December 2007 Active, Involved (Overbooked?) Children. Participation in activities among children may be high, but overscheduling is not a problem.
- #94 December 2007 Child Care Benchmarks Low Among States.
- #93 December 2007 Families Find Affordable Child Care Scarce.
- #92 December 2007 Race, Ethnicity & The Developing Child. Impact of Racial Socialization: Racial-ethnic messages may influence child outcomes.
- #91 December 2007 Race, Ethnicity & The Developing Child. How They Learn About Race: Racial-ethnic messages vary among minority families.
2006
2005
2004
2002
- #54 December 2002 - Family Support: Families Supporting Families: Movement Improves Child Outcomes By Helping Families Help Themselves. (December 2002)
- #53 December 2002 - School Readiness: Starting School Ready Or Not: Efforts In Pennsylvania To Prepare Children For School Get Mixed Reviews. (December 2002)
- #52 December 2002 - Early Childhood Care & Education: A Time For A Change: Access And Quality Rank High On Task Force List. (December 2002)
- #51 December 2002 - Early Childhood Care & Education: Recruiting Woes: Few College Graduates Choose Early Childhood. (December 2002)
- #50 December 2002 - Early Childhood Care & Education: In The Care Of Others: More Children In Early Services Than Ever Before. (December 2002)
- #49 December 2002 - Early Childhood Care & Education: Too Few Good Programs: Shortage Of Quality Early Services Is Deepening. (December 2002)
- #48 December 2002 - Early Childhood Care & Education: Born Ready To Learn: Making The Case For Early Childhood Services. (December 2002)
- #47 December 2002 - Early Childhood Care & Education: Missed Opportunities: Wider Access To Quality Early Education Urged. (December 2002)
- #46 December 2002 - Understanding Research: How Credible Is A Study? Knowing Certain Factors Can Help You Decide. (December 2002)
- #45 December 2002 - Family Tax Credits: Unclaimed Millions: Tax Credits Can Save Families Serious Money, But Many Don't Claim Them. (December 2002)
- #44 December 2002 - Neighborhoods: Circumstances That Count: How Neighborhoods Affect Child Outcomes. (December 2002)
- #43 December 2002 - Neighborhoods: Why Neighborhoods Matter: Some Characteristics Linked To Child Outcomes. (December 2002)
2001
- #44 December 2001 - Welfare Reform and America's Children: When Working Pays Off: Children Do Better If Family Income Increases. (December 2001)
- #43 December 2001 - Helping Children Cope With Terror - Comfort, Talk, Assure: Adults Key To Recovery After Traumatic Event. (December 2001)
- #42 December 2001 - Helping Children Cope With Terror - Trauma's Emotional Toll: Risks To Children Depend On Many Factors. (December 2001)
- #40 December 2001 - Bullying - Getting Pushed Around: Bullying Survives Generations As A Common Problem. (December 2001)
- #38 May 2001 - Raising Non-Violent Chidren - Family Matters: Improving conditions at home may curb violence. (May 2001)
- #37 May 2001 - Pennsylvania's Children Update: Children of Reform: Some measures of child well-being improve in Pennsylvania following welfare reform. (May 2001)
- #36 May 2001 - Teen pregnancy: Children Having Children Teen pregnancies down, but U.S. rate still among the highest. (May 2001)
- #35 May 2001 - When Fathers Don't Father: Children suffer unless fathers become active parents. (May 2001)
- #34 May 2001 - Early Head Start: Getting A Head Start: Poor children benefit from early developmental interventions. (May 2001)
- #33 May 2001 - Parenting 101: Teaching parents to be better parents to improve child well-being. (May 2001)
2000
- #32 June 2000 - Juvenile Crime Update (Part 1): After the Storm: Crime rates fall steadily following 1993 peak. (June 2000)
- #31 June 2000 - Juvenile Crime Update (Part 2): Facts vs. Perceptions: "Superpredator" theory belies crime data. (June 2000)
- #30 June 2000 - Dating Violence (Part 2): Reasons for Conflict: Why some are at greater risk of being harmed. (June 2000)
- #29 June 2000 - Dating Violence (Part 1): Dangerous Relationships: Dating can turn violent for many adolescents. (June 2000)
1999
- #28 November 1999 - Youth Smoking (Part 2): Studies identify promising prevention strategies.
- #27 November 1999 - Youth Smoking (Part 1): First Time = Lifetime: Most adult smokers first lit up in adolescence.
- #26 November 1999 - Pennsylvania's Children (Part 2): Losing ground: Child poverty continues to climb; death rates up.
- #25 November 1999 - Pennsylvania's Children (Part 1): Signs of improvement: Fewer abuse cases among encouraging trends.
- #24 Spring 1999 - Abstinence: Little evidence found to suggest programs to discourage sexual activity prevent teen pregnancy.
- #23 Spring 1999 - Early Reading: Futures At Stake (Part 3): Promising strategies head off reading problems.
- #22 Spring 1999 - Why Children Struggle: Risks at Home and School Trip Young Readers
- #21 Spring 1999 - Early Reading: Futures At Stake (Part 1): Learning to read: Today, success demands higher reading skills.
- #20 Winter 1999 - Juvenile Crime: When Schools Take A Stand (Part 4): Ineffective strategies: Some common crime preventions don't work.
- #19 Winter 1999 - Juvenile Crime: When Schools Take A Stand (Part 3): Prevention that works: Several strategies effective in reducing crime.
- #18 Winter 1999 - Juvenile Crime: When Schools Take A Stand (Part 2): Crime & delinquency: Schools well suited to curb lingering problem.
- #17 Winter 1999 - Juvenile Crime: When Schools Take A Stand (Part 1): Prevention strategies: Deepening concern broadens school choices.
1998
- #16 Summer 1998 - Witness to violence: Physical harm isn't the only threat to children exposed to violence.
- #15 Summer 1998 - Closing the school readiness gap: Some districts embrace early education to ready children for school.
- #14 Summer 1998 - Early Childhood Education
- #13 Spring 1998 - Childhood demographics: Shifting landscape: How demographic change has redefined the childhood experience.
- #12 Spring 1998 - Brain development: The role experience plays in shaping the lives of children.
- #11 Spring 1998 - Brain development: Recent research sheds light on this incredible phenomenon.
- #10 Spring 1998 - Preventing youth violence: Hope seen in promising interventions for children and families.
- #9 Winter 1998 - Path to violence: Seeds of delinquency and violent crime are planted in childhood.
- #8 Winter 1998 - In the custody of others: Abuse and neglect are compelling reasons to remove children from their parents. But moving them into temporary homes has its own set of risks.
- #7 Winter 1998 - Resilient children: Poor and dangerous neighborhoods offer children abundant opportunities to grow up aggressive and violent. Why is it that most do not?
- #6 Winter 1998 - Responding to suicide: School-based intervention is found to be effective in easing recovery and preventing suicidal behavior from spreading among classmates.
- #5 Winter 1998 - Adolescent suicide: Complex factors put adolescents at risk of committing acts of self harm.
1997
- #4 Fall 1997 - TV violence: It's a mean world, stay tuned: Mass media violence and how it affects children.
- #3 Fall 1997 - Sleep disorders: Up all night: Poor sleep habits come easily to adolescents and are hard to break.
- #2 Fall 1997 - School transition: Bigger school, bigger adjustment: Moving from elementary to middle school can be a struggle for early adolescents.
- #1 Fall 1997 - Child poverty: When children grow up poor: Why poverty threatens the outcomes of children and families.
Further Reading
