Ryan D. Heath

Syracuse University | SU · School of Social Work

Amid growing recognition that strong academic skills alone are not enough for young people to become successful adults, this comprehensive report offers wide-ranging evidence to show what young people need to develop from preschool to young adulthood to succeed in college and career, have healthy relationships, be engaged citizens, and make wise ch...

After a long period of emphasis on academic skills, researchers have recently shown growing interest in the importance of noncognitive skills as drivers of life outcomes for poor children. “Grit” and “hope” are among the more popular focal points in this research. This article argues terms like these are most useful when they are thought of as a pa...

Increased political and research interest in extracurricular activities stems, in part, from the claim that these programs especially benefit disadvantaged youth. However, little literature has synthesized studies across types of disadvantage to assess this claim. This article reviews research on disadvantaged youth in extracurricular programs, inc...

Children who grow up outside the care of their biological parents—e.g., those in adoptive, foster, or kinship (AFK) care—experience poorer educational outcomes than their peers. However, the protective factors that could mitigate any risks of AFK care have received less attention. One understudied area is the participation of AFK youth in organized...

During adolescence, youth may receive social support from multiple sources, including families, school staff, peers, and organized activities during out-of-school time (OST). Drawing from theories of social support and optimal matching, this study aimed to identify patterns of adolescents’ social support across four social contexts, and the associa...

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) studies reveal the profound impacts of experiencing trauma and hardships in childhood. However, the cumulative risk approach of treating ACEs obscures the heterogeneity of ACEs and their consequences, making actionable interventions impossible. latent class analysis (LCA) has increasingly been used to address th...

Purpose: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer-identified (LGBTQ) youth of color face poorer psychosocial health outcomes than their non-LGBTQ peers. Research suggests school-based and community activities promote psychosocial health for LGBTQ youth, but study samples are predominantly White. This study tested whether school enrollment an...

Background Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) profoundly influence child development. Different patterns of ACEs among boys and girls may be associated with different developmental trajectories. Objective This study aimed to identify patterns of ACEs at age three and tested the associations of these patterns with child behavioral health problems...

Background Middle school victimization and problem behaviors often co-occur, but little is known about patterns of co-occurrence, or how long effects persist into adulthood.Objective Drawing on general strain theory, this study aimed to identify sex-specific profiles of victimization and problem behaviors during middle school, and their association...

Black sexual minority men (BSMM) in the USA navigate a range of factors that may influence the extent to which they disclose or conceal their sexual identity in various social contexts. To date, few studies have investigated the correlates of sexual identity disclosure or concealment among BSMM across multiple life domains. Guided by a minority str...

| --- INTRODUCTION --- | Youth in nonparental care (e.g., foster care) often experience substantial challenges in their relational and environmental permanence (e.g., disrupted social networks, poor family relationships, limited parental resources) (Stott & Gustavsson, 2010). In addition, youth in nonparental care often experience poorer educationa...

Victimization and problem behaviors during middle school detrimentally influence student learning. However, less is known about how they may cooccur and collectively affect high school graduation and whether the interrelationships vary by gender. Using data from a nationally representative cohort of seventh-grade students from the National Longitud...

Latino youth are the fastest growing group of ethnic minority adolescents in the United States, but their educational needs remain underserved. Although research exploring academic engagement has expanded in recent years, the majority of research examining academic engagement among Latino youth has been cross-sectional. Using data from the National...

Western models of youth development emphasise a holistic view of youth and identify the individual factors, social relationships, and institutional support that are necessary for a successful transition to young adulthood. Such models may be applicable to at-risk populations, including youth in institutionalised care. Institutional care is a docume...

Purpose: Sexual minority youth (SMY) are at higher risk for victimization and suicide than are heterosexual youth (HY). Relatively little research has examined which types of victimization are most closely linked to suicide, which is necessary to develop targeted prevention interventions. The present study was conducted to address this deficit. M...

School problem behaviors during adolescence are often detrimental to educational outcomes, whereas extracurricular participation is associated with positive educational outcomes. Although students are likely to engage in both school problem behaviors and extracurricular activities simultaneously, it remains unknown how the two sets of behaviors co-...

Purpose: This study seeks to identify profiles of middle school victimization and problem behaviors, and understand their association with school experience and high school graduation. Extant studies identifying profiles of middle school-aged problem behaviors have primarily focused on individual indicators such as peer victimization (Nylund et al....

Background and Purpose: Latino MSM are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS. Among Latino MSM, homeless youth may be especially vulnerable as research has observed high rates of victimization, poor mental health, substance use, and survival sex. Although structural inequalities have emerged as key drivers of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, these factors...

Background and Purpose: Latino adolescents are the largest and fastest growing youth population in the U.S., and a growing body of research suggests that these adolescents are at academic risk. Promoting school engagement among Latino youth is a promising point of intervention: school engagement is not only linked to academic performance but has be...

Adventure therapy is a technique found to impact multiple outcomes for underserved youth. Social skills and resiliency are two such psychosocial outcomes, and they also serve as protective factors against a variety of longer term outcomes. However, urban and low socioeconomic status youth often lack access to natural settings and adventure programs...

Inter-alpha inhibitor proteins (IaIp) are serine proteases inhibitors that modulate endogenous protease activity and have been shown to improve survival in adult models of sepsis. We evaluated the effect of IaIp on survival and systemic responses to sepsis in neonatal mice. Sepsis was induced in 2-d-old mice with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), Escherich...