Background: Mental health care is critical to improving mental health but factors associated with student utilization are poorly understood. Methods: Data were from high school students (N = 2933; mean age = 15.7 ± 0.6) enrolled in a California cohort. We examined associations of sociodemographic factors, substance use, and mental health symptoms…

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected adolescent mental health due to school closures, isolation, family loss/hardships, and reduced health care access. Methods: We compared adolescent mental health in Rhode Island before versus during the pandemic, separately among middle and high schoolers. This serial cross-sectional study used…

Background: The school climate concept has been promising, but has long-standing critiques that have not been adequately addressed to date. The "School as a Protective Factor" approach represents one attempt to offer a new approach that builds on and extends beyond the concept of school climate while addressing previously identified…

Background: Bullying and poverty are each associated with poor health in adolescents. We examined socioeconomic differences in the association of bullying and health. Methods: The 2017/2018 Canadian Health Behaviour of School-aged Children study surveyed 21,750 youth (9-18 years). We used linear regression models to investigate interactive effects…

Background: We examined trends in mental health service utilization before, during, and in the immediate return to in-person learning throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Retrospective chart review was assessed for changes in odds of any visit being a mental health encounter from five school-based health centers from the 2018-2019 to the…

BACKGROUND: Lockdown drills are mandated within many educational settings in the US; they may contribute to adverse mental health and there is little to suggest their effectiveness. We describe factors associated with post-drill anxiety and perceived effectiveness of drills. METHODS: We surveyed youth-caregiver dyads presenting to the pediatric…

Background: Given the documented benefits of later school start times on adolescents' mental health, the aim of the current study was to examine if the association between school start times and depressive symptoms differed across adolescents from families of different socioeconomic status levels. Methods: Using a cross-sectional design, the…

Background: Developmental assets foster positive health outcomes among adolescents, but have not been studied in adolescents with chronic illness or depression, two conditions that impact behaviors in school. We examined parent-reported assets in a national sample of adolescents and compared the number and types of assets by health statuses.…

Background: Adolescent dating violence (ADV) continues to be a health concern. Most previous research has examined physical and or sexual ADV with little attention to verbal violence. Methods: Drawing on the social-ecological framework, the current study examined the moderating influence of school adult connectedness on experiences of verbal only,…

Background: Schools play an important role as providers of mental health services for adolescents; however, information on the broader picture of utilization of mental health services in educational versus other settings is limited because of the lack of national-level data. Methods: Using multinomial logistic regression models based on…

Background: Children and adolescents exposed to chronic trauma have a greater risk for mental health disorders and school failure. Children and adolescents of minority racial/ethnic groups and those living in poverty are at greater risk of exposure to trauma and less likely to have access to mental health services. School-based health centers…

Background: In 2020, schools shifted to remote learning in response to mitigating COVID-19. Since then, students have fluctuated between in-person and remote learning environments. Changes to instructional models raise questions about the impact on health. Methods: This study leveraged a statewide surveillance system (Healthy Kids Colorado Survey)…

Background: School-based health centers (SBHCs) provide health care to vulnerable youth. The purpose of the study was to identify characteristics of youth who use SBHCs with the highest frequency to understand their health needs and receipt of health services. Methods: This study examined cross-sectional survey data from adolescents in 3 urban…

Background: teen Mental Health First Aid (tMHFA) is an Australian school-based universal program for grade 10 to 12 students. tMHFA teaches teens how to recognize and respond to a peer in crisis or experiencing mental health concerns. Methods: Schools implementing tMHFA in 2019 and 2020 were propensity score matched, yielding a sample of…

Background: Internalizing problems have increased among Swedish adolescents. We examined whether classroom disorder was associated with internalizing problems and whether it explained the trends in internalizing problems. Furthermore, we examined whether school contextual factors were associated with internalizing problems and whether they…