Longitudinal links between childhood family income and adult outcomes are well documented. However, research on childhood income volatility and young adult outcomes is limited. This study utilizes data from the NLSY (N = 6,410) to examine how childhood family income and income volatility relate to socioeconomic outcomes and mental/behavioral…

One Canadian school district, seeking to help ease the anxiety, stress, and depression issues their teens reported, piloted a program to include students in school climate survey data analysis. Small groups of teenagers, staff, and administrators from the district's schools meet twice a year to discuss the data and real-world solutions to bring…

Teen depression and suicidal behaviors are intricately intertwined, with untreated depression being a leading cause of adolescent suicide. Most depressed or suicidal teens tend to show warning signs and possess specific risk factors. A key component to preventing teen depression is for adults to remain aware of such warning signs and risk factors…

Historically, teen depression has been seen as a symptom of other problems such as anxiety, irritability, mood swings, somatic complaints, substance use, and poor school performance. These symptoms were often considered as part of "adolescent turmoil"--a normal, understandable, and even expected phenomenon. For a long time, this viewpoint masked…

Depression's effects on adolescent functioning and family burden are not well understood; there is also limited understanding of teens' and parents' attitudes and knowledge about depression, how these and other factors influence readiness for treatment, and the barriers to care that teens and their parents encounter. To address these knowledge…

Applicants from high-performing high schools routinely enter the college admission process overscheduled and overwhelmed. Stress and sleep-deprivation have reached epidemic proportions at competitive high schools, while rates of depression and anxiety among US teens and young adults have skyrocketed. For this generation of students, the stakes…

While adolescents tend to under-use professional mental health services for depression, they informally seek health-related information from parents and peers. In this study, we interviewed 15 adolescents to examine how the views and behaviours of others influence teens' decisions about seeking care for depression. Using a grounded theory…

Previous studies have demonstrated that various psychosocial risks are associated with poor cognitive functioning in children, and these risks frequently cluster together. In the current longitudinal study, we tested a model in which it was hypothesized that cumulative psychosocial adversity of mothers would have deleterious effects on children's…

We investigated the association between excessive video game/Internet use and teen suicidality. Data were obtained from the 2007 and 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), a high school-based, nationally representative survey (N = 14,041 and N = 16,410, respectively). Teens who reported 5 hours or more of video games/Internet daily use, in the…

Youth suicide is a serious public health issue in the United States. It is currently the third leading cause of death for youth aged 10 to 19. School-based prevention programs may be an effective method of educating youth and enhancing their help-seeking. Most school-based suicide prevention programs have not been rigorously evaluated for their…

Background: We evaluated the 12-month effects of the COPE (Creating Opportunities for Personal Empowerment) Healthy Lifestyles TEEN (Thinking, Emotions, Exercise, Nutrition) program versus an attention control program (Healthy Teens) on overweight/obesity and depressive symptoms in high school adolescents. Methods: A cluster randomized controlled…

A woman's behaviors during pregnancy can have a significant influence on her baby's healthy development. Women who smoke or drink alcohol during pregnancy, go without prenatal care or suffer from poor nutrition are more likely to experience complications during pregnancy or childbirth, and their babies are at increased risk for developing a number…

Research tells a bleak story of U.S. children and youth with unmet mental health needs (anxiety, depression, eating disorders, etc.). One-in-five children and adolescents experiences a mental health condition in a given year. One-in-ten high school students attempted suicide one or more times during the past year. And 59% of youth with major…

This dissertation was developed in response to a significant rise in stress, anxiety, and depression within the adolescent population during 2019-2021. The research was exploratory in nature to determine the feasibility of utilizing targeted social emotional mobile applications with high school students. A single case study design with changing…

Notes that by exploring Depression-era teens' letter writing, language arts teachers can enjoy more fruitful uses of nonfiction with their students. Discusses how reading, analyzing, and responding to the letters could help minimize the widening gap between the 1930s and the twenty-first century. Concludes that researching everyday Americans'…