Randomized pilot trial of cell phone support to improve medication adherence among adolescents and young adults with chronic health conditions.

Introduction: Adolescents and young adults (AYA) living with chronic medical conditions often struggle to develop medication adherence skills. This pilot trial evaluated the impact of a mobile health coaching intervention, Cell Phone Support (CPS), on medication adherence.

Methods: Interventions in this randomized trial were CPS delivered by phone calls (CPS-C), CPS delivered by text messages (CPS-T), or automated text message reminders (ATR).

Human-centered design approach to building a transition readiness mHealth intervention for early adolescents.

Objective: Mobile health (mHealth) interventions may be an efficacious strategy for promoting health behaviors among pediatric populations, but their success at the implementation stage has proven challenging. The purpose of this article is to provide a blueprint for using human-centered design (HCD) methods to maximize the potential for implementation, by sharing the example of a youth-, family-, and clinician-engaged process of creating an mHealth intervention aimed at promoting healthcare transition readiness.

Method: Following HCD methods in partnership with three advisory councils, we conducted semistructured interviews with 13- to 15-year-old patients and their caregivers in two phases.

Youth perspectives on mobile health adherence interventions: A qualitative study guided by the supportive accountability model.

Objective: We applied a Supportive Accountability Model lens to understand how youth view remote human coaching versus automated reminders targeting medication adherence.

Methods: We used thematic analysis to interpret (N = 22) youths' responses to semi-structured interviews after 12 weeks of mobile health intervention.

Results: Participants reported that both coaching and automated reminders prompted them to take medication, improving their adherence.

Pediatric subspecialty healthcare providers' views of recruitment during a randomized controlled trial of a mobile health intervention.

Background: Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) enrolling pediatric populations often struggle with recruitment. Engaging healthcare providers in the recruitment process may increase patients' and caregivers' willingness to participate in research. The purpose of this study was to understand the perspectives of pediatric subspecialty healthcare providers considering recruiting patients to participate in an mobile health (mHealth) RCT.

Associations of Reproductive Health Concerns, Health-Related Quality of Life, and Stress Among Adolescents and Young Adults with Chronic Illness.

Objective: Adolescents and young adults (AYA) living with chronic illness are as sexually active and interested in having children as healthy peers. Few studies have examined the intersection of managing chronic illness and concerns about realizing reproductive goals, including fertility, pregnancy, childbirth, and parenting. Even less is understood regarding how these concerns might be associated with psychological distress.

COVID-19's Impact on Substance Use and Well-Being of Younger Adult Cannabis Users in California: A Mixed Methods Inquiry.

Few qualitative studies have examined the impact of COVID-19 on cannabis and alcohol use, and overall well-being among cannabis users. Cannabis users (aged 26-32) were surveyed quantitatively (n=158) and interviewed qualitatively (n=29) in April 2020-May 2021 in Los Angeles. 63.

Coping Motives Mediate the Association of Trauma History with Problematic Cannabis Use in Young Adult Medical Cannabis Patients and Non-Patient Cannabis Users.

: Despite evidence of the contribution of childhood trauma to the development of problematic cannabis use, its mediating pathways are largely unknown. Given the link between cannabis motives with trauma and problematic cannabis use, motives of use may represent a construct through which trauma impacts problematic cannabis use. : A sample of 339 medical cannabis patient and non-patient young adult users from the Los Angeles area were sampled at baseline and one year later.

Designing an mHealth Roadmap for the Journey to Self-Management: A Qualitative Study with Adolescents and Young Adults Living with Chronic Illness.

Objectives: Adolescents and young adults (AYA) with chronic illnesses often struggle with illness self-management. The objective of this study is to understand how AYA with various chronic illnesses develop self-management skills and which mobile health (mHealth) strategies they believe could be helpful.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with patients, between 16 to 20 years old, living with at least one chronic illness (N = 19), between 2018 and 2019 in Los Angeles, CA.

Lessons in Adapting a Family-Based Nutrition Program for Children With Autism.

Objective: To evaluate the adaptation and implementation of an existing, evidence-based nutrition program for children with autism and their parents.

Methods: Children aged 7-12 years with autism and their parent participated in 6 weekly sessions. Recruitment, intervention, and data collection took place in a community health center in an urban area.

Hedgehog-Interacting Protein is a multimodal antagonist of Hedgehog signalling.

Hedgehog (HH) morphogen signalling, crucial for cell growth and tissue patterning in animals, is initiated by the binding of dually lipidated HH ligands to cell surface receptors. Hedgehog-Interacting Protein (HHIP), the only reported secreted inhibitor of Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) signalling, binds directly to SHH with high nanomolar affinity, sequestering SHH. Here, we report the structure of the HHIP N-terminal domain (HHIP-N) in complex with a glycosaminoglycan (GAG).

Attitudes and beliefs about recreational cannabis legalization among cannabis-using young adults in Los Angeles: Impact on concurrent cannabis practices and problematic cannabis use.

Background: This study investigated differences in attitudes and beliefs about recreational cannabis legalization (RCL) among cannabis-using young adults comprised of medical cannabis patients (MCP) and non-patient users (NPU). We further investigated whether these variations are associated with concurrent cannabis practices and problematic use.

Method: Cannabis-using young adults (N = 301) were interviewed between 2017 and 2018 - after RCL and through the early months after storefront sales began.

Kids N Fitness Junior: Outcomes of an Evidence-Based Adapted Weight Management Program for Children Ages Three-Seven Years.

Few weight management interventions target young children with obesity from low-income minority families. To conduct a nonrandomized, pragmatic, pilot study of an adapted, evidence-based, weight management program (Kids N Fitness [KNF]) customized for children ages 3-7 years (Kids N Fitness Jr. [KNF-JR]) on changes in adiposity, nutrition, and physical activity behaviors.

Finding MyVOICE: A Mixed-Methods Examination of Health Outcomes of Young Adults with Chronic Illness Transitioning from Pediatric to Adult Health Care.

Introduction: This study examines health use outcomes of young adults with chronic illness following participation in a transition program and identifies variables that impact outcomes.

Method: A sample of 119 ethnically diverse, low-income young adults (mean age = 21.8 years) was interviewed 6 months post-transition.

Changes in Medical Cannabis Patient Status before and after Cannabis Legalization in California: Associations with Cannabis and Other Drug Use.

It is unknown how patterns of cannabis and other drug use changed among young adult cannabis users as they became, exited or stayed medical cannabis patients (MCPs) after California legalized cannabis for adult use in 2016. A cohort of 18-26 year-old cannabis users was recruited in Los Angeles in 2014-15 (64.8% male; 44.

Pain Profiles among Young Adult Cannabis Users: An Analysis of Antecedent Factors and Distal Outcomes.

Background: Pain is a primary reason for medical cannabis use among young adults, however little is known about the patterns of pain in this group. This study identified pain profiles among young adult cannabis users and examined related antecedents and distal outcomes.

Methods: Past 30-day cannabis users aged 18-26, both medical cannabis patients and non-patients, were enrolled in Los Angeles in 2014-2015.

Cannabidiol (CBD) and other drug use among young adults who use cannabis in Los Angeles.

Introduction: Cannabidiol (CBD) is purportedly a promising therapeutic agent to provide relief for a variety of medical conditions with mild or no psychoactive effects. However, little is known about young adults who use cannabis and CBD-dominant products, and associations between CBD use and other drug use.

Methods: Young adults (aged 24-32) who currently used cannabis (n = 239) were surveyed in Los Angeles in March 2019 through March 2020.

The process of capacity-building for pediatric subspecialty providers to address the needs of adolescents and young adults with chronic illness.

Approximately 12% of adolescents in the USA live with a chronic health condition. Although youth with chronic illness visit healthcare providers more than healthy peers, pediatric subspecialty providers are less likely to address developmentally relevant concerns (e.g.

The Role of Life Events/Contextual Factors and Cannabis Use in Patterns of Other Drug Use Among Young Adult Cannabis Users in Los Angeles: A Qualitative Inquiry.

This analysis examined the role of impactful life events/stressful contextual factors and cannabis use in the patterns of illicit drug use. It utilized semi-structured qualitative interviews with 40 young adult medical cannabis patients and 22 non-patient users collected in Los Angeles during 2014-2015. Three patterns of illicit drug use emerged based on participants' narratives: regular/problematic, recreational/occasional, and never users.

Developmental trajectories of illicit drug use, prescription drug misuse and cannabis practices among young adult cannabis users in Los Angeles.

Introduction And Aims: Young adults have the highest rates of drug use and contribute significantly to the growing population of medical cannabis patients (MCP). This study examined relationships between longitudinal patterns of illicit/prescription drug use/misuse and cannabis practices among young adult cannabis users.

Design And Methods: In 2014-2015, 210 young adult MCP and 156 nonpatient users were recruited in Los Angeles and surveyed annually over four waves.

Marijuana sources in a medical marijuana environment: dynamics in access and use among a cohort of young adults in Los Angeles, California.

While a range of sources exist for marijuana users to acquire marijuana for medical or personal use, prior research on marijuana sources primarily focused on single sources. In this analysis, we longitudinally examined characteristics of multiple sources selected by marijuana users, motivations to use sources, and how a blend of marijuana sources accommodated users' needs. Young adult marijuana users (n=60) in Los Angeles, CA, where marijuana has been legal for medical use since 1996, completed two annual qualitative interviews on marijuana use practices and sources between 2014 and 2016.

Cholesterol accessibility at the ciliary membrane controls hedgehog signaling.

Previously we proposed that transmission of the hedgehog signal across the plasma membrane by Smoothened is triggered by its interaction with cholesterol (Luchetti et al., 2016). But how is cholesterol, an abundant lipid, regulated tightly enough to control a signaling system that can cause birth defects and cancer? Using toxin-based sensors that distinguish between distinct pools of cholesterol, we find that Smoothened activation and Hedgehog signaling are driven by a biochemically-defined, small fraction of membrane cholesterol, termed accessible cholesterol.

Density of Medical Marijuana Dispensaries and Current Marijuana Use among Young Adult Marijuana Users in Los Angeles.

While tobacco and alcohol studies have focused on density of outlets as a determinant of consumption, research has begun examining the effects of medical marijuana (MM) dispensaries on marijuana use. Examine the relationship between density of MM dispensaries and frequency of marijuana use among young adult medical marijuana patients (MMP) and nonpatient users (NPU). Young adult marijuana users ( = 329) aged 18- to 26-year old were sampled in Los Angeles in 2014-2015 and separated into MMP ( = 198) and NPU ( = 131).

Illicit drug use and prescription drug misuse among young adult medical cannabis patients and non-patient users in Los Angeles.

Introduction: Young adults have the highest rates of cannabis and other drug use, as compared to other age groups, and contribute a significant proportion to the total population of medical cannabis patients (MCP). However, little is known about the relationships between various cannabis practices and illicit drug use/prescription drug misuse among young adult cannabis users with and without legal access to medical cannabis.

Methods: 210 MCP and 156 non-patient cannabis users (NPU) aged 18-26 were recruited in Los Angeles in 2014-15 for a longitudinal study assessing the impact of medical cannabis on health and substance use among emerging adults.

"Our lives aren't over": A strengths-based perspective on stigma, discrimination, and coping among young parents.

The current study conducted interviews and focus groups with twenty-four diverse 16-25 year-old parents to elicit in-depth narratives about experiences related to parenting status. Parents were recruited from a case management program in the Southwestern United States supporting high school graduation and workforce employment (for mothers and fathers, respectively). Young parents disclosed experiences of shame, stigma, and discrimination associated with perceptions about their "fitness" to be a parent and moral judgment.