Publications by authors named "Melissa P Fenton"

Driving cessation is robustly associated with poor mental health outcomes among older adults; however, the magnitude of this relationship may differ by rurality. This study examined cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between driving cessation and life satisfaction and depressive symptoms and assessed whether these relationships were moderated by rurality. Data is from participants in the 2014 and 2016 Health and Retirement Study (HRS) (mean age = 73; 58% female) with information on either depressive symptoms (n=5,650) or life satisfaction (n=1,931).

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This study aimed to investigate the association between proposed anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and depressive symptoms among LGBTQ+ college students. Participants ( = 72,135) included LGBTQ+ college students ( = 21,466) from over 530 colleges and universities, including technical and community institutions, across the United States who took part in the Healthy Minds Study (HMS). Data on proposed anti-LGBTQ+ legislation introduced in 2021-2022 were collected from all 50 US states, categorized, and analyzed.

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Few studies have evaluated the influence of both family factors and geographic location on youth substance use. To address this gap, a person-/variable-centered approach was used to: (1) identify latent profiles of family risk and protective factors for substance use, (2) test profile membership as a predictor of lifetime and 30-day substance use, (3) test rurality, as measured by school geographic location, as a predictor, and (4) explore interaction effects between profile membership and rurality. Youth (N=9,104; 53% female) residing in a state in the southeastern U.

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The transition to adulthood is characterized by the assumption of adult social roles, which are well documented in the literature; however, rural young adults remain understudied, especially using nationally representative samples. Therefore, this study analyzed a rural subsample of young adults from Add Health (N = 2562, 63.8% white, 34.

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Rural adolescents are transitioning to adulthood in the context of growing disparities. To advance research on the social, behavioral, and contextual factors that influence rural young adult development, this study conducted a scoping review. The review sought to identify how researchers defined rural and how/which theories guided their work; how they integrated the rural context into the research design and methods; and how they used variables, concepts, and outcomes to measure rural experiences.

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