Active tracking measures: Providing targets for youth alcohol use and health behavior interventions.

This study seeks to use examine the utility of recently published, developmentally informed measures of parental active tracking for work on youth health behaviors. Information on parental active tracking and health behaviors were collected in six independent survey studies (n's = 157-408). A series of empirical questions regarding parental active tracking were examined. The recently published measures of parental active tracking in high school and college were shown to have sufficient internal consistency, to be well described by single latent factors, to be empirically distinct from helicopter parenting, to be inconsistently linked with youth risk behaviors, and to demonstrate closer linkages with youth substance use when accounting for parental motivations for tracking. The measures of parental active tracking employed provide face valid, psychometrically sound, and empirically supported indices for use examining parental influences during adolescence and young adulthood.

Age Moderates the Association of Community Connectedness and Psychological Distress among LGBTQ+ Youth and Adults.

High levels of psychological distress present a major public health issue among LGBTQ+ youth and adults; however, research has repeatedly identified community connectedness as an important protective factor for mental health in LGBTQ+ populations. The aim of the present study was to examine whether age moderates the association of community connectedness on psychological distress in a community sample of LGBTQ+ people. In the present exploratory study, we analyzed secondary cross-sectional data from a sample of LGBTQ+ youth and adults (n = 292) in a semi-rural community in the Western United States. Participants completed a measure of community connectedness, the K6, and the PHQ-4. The results of two moderation models showed that the negative association of community connectedness on psychological distress was strongest among youth, weaker among young adults, and nonsignificant among older middle-aged adults and older adults. These results provide further evidence for the potential buffering role of community connectedness on psychological distress for LGBTQ+ youth and young adults.