Probing the digital exposome: associations of social media use patterns with youth mental health.

Recently, the U.S. Surgeon General issued an advisory highlighting the lack of knowledge about the safety of ubiquitous social media use on adolescent mental health.

Allostatic load in early adolescence: gene / environment contributions and relevance for mental health.

Background: Allostatic load is the cumulative "wear and tear" on the body due to chronic adversity We aimed to test poly-environmental (exposomic) and polygenic contributions to allostatic load and their combined contribution to early adolescent mental health.

Methods: We analyzed data on N = 5,035 diverse youth (mean age 12) from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (ABCD). Using dimensionality reduction method, we calculated and overall allostatic load score (AL) using body mass index [BMI], waist circumference, blood pressure, blood glycemia, blood cholesterol, and salivary DHEA.

The Role of Individual Discrimination and Structural Stigma in the Mental Health of Sexual Minority Youth.

Objective: Sexual minority (SM) youth experience a greater mental health burden compared with their heterosexual peers. This study aimed to characterize mental health disparities among SM compared with non-SM youth, test main and interactive associations of SM identity and stressors targeting SM youth at the individual level (interpersonal SM discrimination) and structural level (state-level structural SM stigma) with youth mental health, and explore the contribution of interpersonal SM discrimination to the mental health burden of SM youth.

Method: Participants included 11,622 youth (ages 9-13; 47.

COVID-19-related financial strain and adolescent mental health.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic and associated responses have induced a host of crises worldwide, including an economic recession and a global mental health crisis. The specific effects of recession on youth mental health are understudied. We aimed to examine the mechanisms by which pandemic-related financial strain may affect mental health in a diverse sample of American adolescents.