26:T4b7,

BACKGROUND: “Systems of care” are strengths-based approaches to treating adolescents and others with disruptive disorders. However, little is known about why some adolescents improve and others do not. OBJECTIVE: To examine changes in personal strengths and family functioning as predictors of behavioral and social functioning among adolescents with disruptive disorders who participated in a system of care program. DESIGN: Secondary analyses of data from 114 adolescents (12-17 years of age) with disruptive disorders and their caregivers who participated in the Dawn Project Evaluation Study. Caregivers completed in-depth interviews conducted by trained data collectors using standardized questionnaires. Baseline and 12- month data are reported here. RESULTS: Improvement in personal strengths was a significant predictor of improvement in adolescent behavioral and social functioning, controlling for demographics (p < .001). CONCLUSION: In adolescents with disruptive disorders, psychiatric nurses should focus on enhancing adolescents’ personal strengths to improve behavioral and social functioning.

27:T553,

Background: Research suggests that lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) populations experience higher prevalence of school bullying than heterosexuals. Objectives: We examined if (a) verbal versus physical bullying were differentially associated with physical health among sexual minorities and (b) if sexual identity (i.e., homosexual [i.e., lesbian/gay] vs. bisexual) moderated the association of bullying on physical health. Design: LGB adults aged 18 to 66 years (n = 463) were recruited online. Participants reported high school experiences of verbal and physical bullying and physician-diagnosed health conditions. Results: Physical and verbal bullying were related to physical health conditions (ps < .01). Physical bullying had a significant negative impact on physical health for bisexual persons (p < .001) but not for gay/lesbian persons. Conclusions: Experiencing bullying in high school was associated with physical health problems in adulthood. Bullying had a different relationship with health problems for bisexually identified individuals compared to lesbian/gay individuals. Future research should strive to disentangle potential differences in the relationship between bullying and health within sexual minority groups.

28:T135f,