In the past 40 years, paternal imprisonment has been transformed from an event affecting only the most unfortunate children to one that one in four African American children experience. Although research speculates that the stigma, strain, and separation resulting from paternal incarceration cause the poor outcomes of children of incarcerated fathers, evidence regarding these mechanisms is lacking. In this article, we use an experimental vignette design to provide causal evidence regarding how the stigma of paternal incarceration affects third- to fifth-grade teachers’ expectations of students in a large southwestern school district (N = 107). We then replicate this experiment using an online Qualtrics panel of third- to fifth-grade teachers (N = 314). The results indicate that the stigma of paternal incarceration shapes teachers’ expectations of students, leading to a 10 percent to 40 percent increase in teachers’ expectations of children’s behavioral problems.

Teachers in urban schools experience significant stressors that can impact their effectiveness, well-being, retention, and ability to meet the needs of their students. The current mixed methods study explored 160 urban teachers' thoughts and feelings in response to challenging classroom situations, factors that predicted the prevalence of these reactions, and teachers' help-seeking attitudes. Results revealed the most prevalent thoughts that emerged were inability to resolve the situation, problem-solving, factors beyond the classroom, wanting a break, and personal locus of control. The most prevalent feelings that emerged were anger, anxiety, sadness, emotional exhaustion, incompetence, positivity, and confusion. The amount of professional and social-emotional support teachers received predicted a greater prevalence of productive thoughts and fewer negative emotions. Additionally, teachers related a relative openness to pursuing professional psychological services. Taken altogether, the findings suggest that urban teachers can be supported via forms of professional and social-emotional support in managing stressors in their workplace. Implications for professional development and teacher education programs are discussed. K E Y W O R D Steacher stress, teacher thoughts and emotions, urban teachers

Although preventive screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment for adolescent substance use is recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics, primary care providers inconsistently address substance use with their pediatric patients (AAP Committee on Practice and Ambulatory Medicine and AAP Bright Futures Periodicity Schedule Workgroup, 2017). Further research on provider perceptions about addressing adolescent substance use may help identify and address some barriers to screening. However, there are few validated measures of provider perceptions toward patient substance, and none are specific to pediatric patients. This study (conducted in Maryland, 2015–2017) examines the internal consistency and factor structure of an adapted measure to assess perceptions of adolescent substance use. Internal consistency was assessed using responses from a sample of 276 healthcare practitioners (87.7% women, 12.3% men). Their professions included the following: Certified Medical Assistants (10.9%), Registered Nurses (17.8%), Nurse Practitioners (8.3%), Physician Assistants (3.6%), Medical Doctors (13.8%), Clinical Therapists (10.9%) and Other (21.0%). A four-factor solution was identified and initial evidence suggests the adapted measure is appropriate for use with health care providers. A subsample of 181 participants who reported direct interaction with adolescent patients in a provider role was also used to assess convergent validity with self-reported screening practices and effectiveness. Provider-reported frequency of alcohol and drug use assessment for pediatric patients was significantly related to positive perceptions about adolescent substance use on all subscales. The adapted measure could prove useful for assessing provider readiness to receive adolescent substance use screening training and could be further adapted to include items unique to adolescent care, including parental involvement.

The federal definition of emotional disturbance (ED) has been heavily criticized as vaguely defined and poorly operationalized yet there has not been a formal analysis of the reliability of the ED criteria. This study examined the reliability of the federal criteria for a special education designation of ED. A total of 179 school psychologists reviewed a mock special education report, made an eligibility determination, and provided information about their eligibility decision. In all, 56 participants found the student met ED eligibility criteria using 16 different combinations of the five criteria. Krippendorff's α, a statistic preferred for content analysis, was calculated as a measure of criterion reliability. Results indicated extremely poor reliability (α = 0.2011). These findings demonstrate the importance of redefining the existing criteria.

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