Disparities in the Implementation of School-Based Mental Health Supports Among K-12 Public Schools.

Objective: The authors sought to explore the availability of mental health supports within public schools during the COVID-19 pandemic by using survey data from a nationally representative sample of U.S. K-12 public schools collected in October-November 2021.

Disparities in Implementing COVID-19 Prevention Strategies in Public Schools, United States, 2021-22 School Year.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, US schools have been encouraged to take a layered approach to prevention, incorporating multiple strategies to curb transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Using survey data representative of US public K-12 schools (N = 437), we determined prevalence estimates of COVID-19 prevention strategies early in the 2021-22 school year and describe disparities in implementing strategies by school characteristics. Prevalence of prevention strategies ranged from 9.

Challenges experienced by U.S. K-12 public schools in serving students with special education needs or underlying health conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic and strategies for improved accessibility.

Background: Students with special education needs or underlying health conditions have been disproportionately impacted (e.g., by reduced access to services) throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Intervening at the Right Level to Improve Student Health: An Analysis of Levels of Influence on Sexual Behavior of High School Students.

This study adopts a socio-ecological framework and examines school- and district-level influences on sexual behaviors among high school students from 16 school districts that were federally funded to conduct a school-based, multilevel sexual health program. We drew cross-sectional data from the 2015 and 2017 Youth Risk Behavior Survey from funded school districts containing 648 schools and 101,728 students. We used multilevel modeling to determine the percentage of variance in sexual health outcomes explained at school and district levels, overall and by race/ethnicity and biological sex.

Ventilation Improvement Strategies Among K-12 Public Schools - The National School COVID-19 Prevention Study, United States, February 14-March 27, 2022.

Effective COVID-19 prevention in kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) schools requires multicomponent prevention strategies in school buildings and school-based transportation, including improving ventilation (1). Improved ventilation can reduce the concentration of infectious aerosols and duration of potential exposures (2,3), is linked to lower COVID-19 incidence (4), and can offer other health-related benefits (e.g.

Dosage in Implementation of an Effective School-Based Health Program Impacts Youth Health Risk Behaviors and Experiences.

Purpose: This study is part of a larger evaluation of a multilevel, multistrategy federal program to reduce high school students' risk for HIV/sexually transmitted infection and unintended pregnancy. Local education agencies supported schools in implementing three strategies: delivering exemplary sexual health education, increasing student access to quality sexual health services, and enhancing safe and supportive school environments (SSE). We examined how levels of school implementation of these strategies moderated program effects on targeted student outcomes.

Cumulative protective factors are associated with decreased risk for prescription opioid misuse among high school students.

Background: Multiple protective factors at the individual and environmental levels have been associated with prescription opioid misuse (POM) among adolescents. The literature may benefit by extending this research to consider the association between cumulative protective factors and current (ie, within the past 30 days) POM.

Methods: The 2017 Virginia Youth Survey (part of the Youth Risk Behaviour Surveillance System) (N=3697) was used to investigate recent POM and the presence of individual and cumulative protective factors among high school students.

Integrating Retention Rates into Economic Analyses of Prevention Interventions.

Evidence-based prevention interventions hold great promise for enhancing the well-being of individuals, families, and society. As these interventions are implemented in new contexts and at wider scales, policymakers and private sector organizations are increasingly interested in understanding the economic returns that programs produce through reductions of burden on public service systems, such as criminal justice and human services. Thus, it is important to ensure that economic models account for factors, such as retention, which are important when interventions are implemented in real-world contexts with selective populations and voluntary participation.

The Long-Term Economic Benefits of Natural Mentoring Relationships for Youth.

Natural mentors have been shown to help improve psychological and educational outcomes of youth, and may serve an important role for youth experiencing risk in the home. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), we investigated the associations between natural mentors during youth and income during early adulthood, including how these relations were moderated by the absence of a father figure and race. We also estimated the lifetime economic benefits to having a natural mentor.