Early childhood educators (ECEs) face several workplace challenges, including young children's difficult behavior and mental health needs, workplace stress, low systemic support, and high levels of burnout. Both education and perceived confidence are often cited as important buffering factors, yet neither is well studied in the existing…

National Teacher of the Year Sydney Chaffee discusses her struggle with anxiety and how it opened her eyes to the stigma of teacher mental health.

Background: At least half of children and adults with Down syndrome have a major mental health concern during their life but few studies ask people with Down syndrome directly about their experience. We used a co-research model to explore anxiety, stress, and coping in adults with Down syndrome. Methods: Our group of researchers and adults with…

Mental health is a rising concern in higher education, with increasing numbers of students experiencing mental health challenges. Stress is a common experience for undergraduate students and the first semester of college can be especially stressful for students as they navigate new coursework and surroundings and being without familiar supports.…

The COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to manage it have affected mental health around the world. Although early research on the COVID-19 pandemic showed a general decline in mental health after the pandemic began, mental health in later stages of the pandemic might be improving alongside other changes (e.g., availability of vaccines, return to…

Objective: College students experience a variety of stressors that can increase the risk for mental health concerns, like depression. It is crucial for practitioners working on college campuses to understand the relationship among stressful life events, depression, and coping strategies. The purpose of this study was to explore life stressors'…

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused interruptions to the K-12 US school landscape since spring 2020. Methods: In summer 2020, we completed a pilot study utilizing interviews (n = 13) with school staff (ie, nurses, educators) from across the United States. We aimed to understand the status of school operation and re-entry plans after the…

Background: Engineering students encounter high levels of stress, which may negatively impact their mental health. Nevertheless, engineering students who experience mental health distress are less likely than their peers to seek professional help, even when controlling for gender and race/ethnicity. Purpose: We examined beliefs that undergraduate…

Teachers who work with students with disabilities may have high levels of mental health problems, such as burnout or stress. The aim of this systematic review was to summarise the evidence on mental health outcome assessments among teachers of students with disabilities in different work spaces and to compare the levels of burnout and stress among…

Self-regulation is the ability to intentionally adapt to changes in the environment (Khazan, 2013). While our body can typically regulate itself, stressors in the environment can overpower these regulatory systems, resulting in dysregulation (Mate & Mate, 2022). The ability to intentionally regulate oneself in the face of stress is important,…

Objective: To compare rates of anxiety and depression among LGBTQ college students before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and examine pandemic-related stressors and protective factors. Participants: Two cohorts of LGBTQ college students, aged 18-25, sampled before (N = 3,484) and during (N = 1,647) the pandemic. Methods: The Healthy Minds Study…

The prevalence of mental health challenges continues to worsen among adolescents, with Black American adolescents experiencing rates of suicide attempts that are increasing faster than any other racial and ethnic groups. Research has found that the neighborhood environment impacts mental health through the type and level of stress that people…

Teachers are in a profession with high levels of stress, which play a role in absenteeism and burnout. Many studies have focused on teacher burnout; however, limited literature has examined how to support teacher well-being. Based on my research of school wellness initiatives, I discovered that the role and significance of teachers is the linchpin…

Background: Engineering students experience high levels of distress and low rates of mental health treatment seeking, yet there is a gap in knowledge around how this compares with that of students in other fields of study. Given the influence of social identity (e.g., gender identity, race/ethnicity) on mental health and treatment seeking, it is…

Early childhood educators report high levels of stress. Despite increased attention to holistic models of teacher wellbeing, factors relating to teacher psychological and economic wellbeing are poorly understood. In a sample of 993 early childhood educators who primarily teach underserved children, this study uses a multilevel structural equation…