School-age children with overweight or obesity continue to be problematic in the United States, and are associated with many health, social, and financial problems. Schools provide an excellent venue in which to promote healthy weight in students, and school nurses are well-positioned to play an essential role in controlling obesity. The number of…

Using a quasi-experimental design with no control groups, this pilot study aimed to test the effectiveness of a universal mental health promotion program for elementary school students in an underserved United States-Mexico border community. A total of eighty-five fifth and sixth grade students participated in this program and completed the…

Early adolescence is a time of rapid cognitive, psychosocial, and physical development, and an array of contextual factors, such as systemic racism, exert significant influence. Universal behavioral health screening data of 4,234 middle school students were examined to explore the influence of demographic (e.g. ethnicity, race) and contextual…

Introduction: Schools have become a primary setting for providing mental health care to youths in the U.S. School-based interventions have proliferated, but their effects on mental health and academic outcomes remain understudied. In this study we will implement and evaluate the effects of a flexible multidiagnostic treatment called Modular…

Children of Mexican immigrants are exposed to multiple ecological risks that heighten their likelihood of experiencing depressive symptoms. In previous studies, affirming parent-child communication has been found to be protective against depressive symptoms in Hispanic youth. Interventions focused on enhancing communication between parents and…

This article provides background on school mental health (SMH) programs in Baltimore and efforts to integrate evidence-based preventive interventions into the schools served by these programs. We describe the triangular model of SMH promotion, building at the base from environment and relationship enhancement, followed by universal and selective…

Young adolescents, age 10-15 years, have increasing psychosocial and biomedical health care needs, yet are some of the lowest users of conventional health services. In eastern North Carolina, school-based health centers (SBHCs) provide primary health care to thousands of school-age children in the most rural, medically underserved areas. SBHCs…

Background: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's "Strategies for Addressing Asthma Within a Coordinated School Health Program" recommends a consulting physician for schools to help manage asthma. The literature examines the effects when a school nurse is present, but the addition of a consulting physician is not well understood. The…