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Implementation of trauma and disaster mental health awareness training in Puerto Rico
Climate change is disproportionately impacting youth mental health around the world. Using a Community-Based Participatory approach, three universities (one in South Carolina and two in Puerto Rico) partnered after the devastation of Hurricane Maria in 2017. We offered culturally and linguistically tailored trauma and disaster-informed mental health awareness training (e.g., Psychological First Aid (PFA), Trauma Informed Care (TIC), & Suicide & Crisis Management) to 9236 individuals and 652 Puerto Rican youth were identified and referred to mental health services as a result. The US Surgeon General featured our program as a promising model to help disaster-affected youth.
Impact of pandemic-related worries on mental health in India from 2020 to 2022
This study examines how pandemic-related worries affected mental health in India’s adults from 2020 to 2022. Using data from the Global COVID-19 Trends and Impact Survey (N = 2,576,174), it explores the associations between worry variables (financial stress, food insecurity, and COVID-19-related health worries) and self-reported symptoms of depression and anxiety. Our analysis, based on complete cases (N = 747,996), used survey-weighted models, adjusting for demographics and calendar time. The study finds significant associations between these worries and mental health outcomes, with financial stress being the most significant factor affecting both depression (adjusted odds ratio, aOR: 2.36; 95% confidence interval, CI: [2.27, 2.46]) and anxiety (aOR: 1.91; 95% CI: [1.81, 2.01])). Models with interaction terms revealed gender, residential status, and calendar time as effect modifiers. This study demonstrates that social media platforms like Facebook can effectively gather large-scale survey data to track mental health trends during public health crises.
Dynamic effects of psychiatric vulnerability, loneliness and isolation on distress during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on mental health is challenging to quantify because pre-existing risk, disease burden and public policy varied across individuals, time and regions. Longitudinal, within-person analyses can determine whether pandemic-related changes in social isolation impacted mental health. We analyzed time-varying associations between psychiatric vulnerability, loneliness, psychological distress and social distancing in a US-based study during the first year of the pandemic. We surveyed 3,655 participants about psychological health and COVID-19-related circumstances every 2 weeks for 6 months. We combined self-reports with regional social distancing estimates and a classifier that predicted probability of psychiatric diagnosis at enrollment. Loneliness and psychiatric vulnerability both impacted psychological distress. Loneliness and distress were also linked to social isolation and stress associated with distancing, and psychiatric vulnerability shaped how regional distancing affected loneliness across time. Public health policies should address loneliness when encouraging social distancing, particularly in those at risk for psychiatric conditions.
Advancing community health worker models to support youth and families’ mental health
Introduction It was clear in many parts of the world that the dominant medical and public health models were not meeting the most urgent needs…
Intermittent fasting as a treatment for obesity in young people: a scoping review
Intermittent fasting focuses on the timing of eating rather than diet quality or energy intake, with evidence supporting its effects on weight loss and improvements in cardiometabolic outcomes in adults with obesity. However, there is limited evidence for its feasibility and efficacy in young people. To address this, a scoping review was conducted to examine intermittent fasting regimens in individuals aged 10 to 25 for the treatment of obesity focusing on methodology, intervention parameters, outcomes, adherence, feasibility, and efficacy. Due to the paucity of evidence in this age group, to adequately assess feasibility and adherence, all published studies of intermittent fasting in this age category, regardless of weight status and treatment intention, were included in the review. The review included 34 studies (28 interventional studies and 6 observational studies) with 893 participants aged 12 to 25. Interventions varied with 9 studies in cohorts with obesity utilizing intermittent fasting as an obesity treatment. Thirteen studies utilized 8-h time-restricted eating. Primary outcomes included cardiometabolic risk factors (7/28), anthropometric measurements (7/28), body composition (5/28), muscular performance (4/28), feasibility (1/28), and others (4/28). All 9 studies conducted in young people with obesity reported some degree of weight loss, although the comparator groups varied significantly. This review underscores the various utilizations of intermittent fasting in this age group and highlights its potential in treating obesity. However, the findings emphasize the need for rigorous studies with standardized frameworks for feasibility to ensure comparability and determine intermittent fasting’s practicality in this age group depending on the treatment outcome of interest.
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