Children and Youth

In this article, we comment on the experience of the Kovler Center Child Trauma Program (KCCTP) following the March 21, 2020, shelter at home order in Chicago due to COVID-19. The KCCTP is a program of Heartland Alliance International that was founded in 2018 to provide community-based mental health and social services to immigrant and refugee youth and families who have experienced trauma. COVID-19 temporarily closed the doors of the center, suspending provision of in-person services in the community, and the program was forced to become remote overnight.

Importance  The increased risk of major depression in the offspring of depressed parents is well known. Whether the risk is transmitted beyond 2 generations is less well known. To our knowledge, no published study with direct interviews of family members and the generations in the age of risk for depression has evaluated beyond 2 generations.

Health is a fundamental component of wellbeing. Children’s health affects their ability to succeed in school and engage in other learning opportunities within the contexts of their family, neighborhood, and community. This brief examines the relationship between the health of children and that of their parents, and between the availability of emotional support for parenting and children’s health, based on a large national sample. We use parent self-reports of health, which prior research has determined are valid measures of health status for both parents and their children.

Mother’s Education and Children’s Outcomes: How Dual-Generation Programs Offer Increased Opportunities for America’s Children is the second in a series of the Foundation for Child Development’s Disparities Among America’s Children reports.

To reduce inequities in child health, we need to reduce the gap between what we know and what we do. We must challenge our practices and traditions, develop new solutions and have the strength and courage to change how we practice. Based on my experience that the best way to help children is to help their parents, and the best way to reach parents is through their children, I propose a new frame of a 2-generation approach that focuses not only on the child but also on the parents and their relationship to guide our innovation and target improvements.

This study assessed the impact of a youth-targeted multilevel nutrition intervention in Baltimore City. The study used a clustered randomized design in which 7 recreation centers and 21 corner stores received interventions and 7 additional recreation centers served as comparison. The 8-month intervention aimed to increase availability and selection of healthful foods through nutrition promotion and education using point-of purchase materials such as posters and flyers in stores and interactive sessions such as taste test and cooking demonstrations.

How do youth from various community groups designated as having a serious emotional disturbance (SED) recover over time? We conducted an evaluation of a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration System of Care grant initiative for Monroe County, New York, to answer this and other questions. We looked at outcome differences over time using the Behavioral and Emotional Ratings Scale’s (2nd ed.) overall strength scores among youth living in four geographical places at the start of services: high-income urban, low-income urban, suburban, and rural.

Few youth meet current physical activity recommendations. Protective social factors such as having a role model, social participation, and adult support at school may help promote youth physical activity. This study used data from the 2011-2012 California Health Interview Survey to examine the extent to which role models, social participation, and support at school promote physical activity among groups at risk of inactivity and obesity, specifically low-income youth and youth of color.

Objective. To better understand the relationship between psychosocial stressors and health behaviors in a low-income pediatric sample. Method. Participants were 122 children (8-11 years old, 53.3% female) and their parents recruited from a low-income primary care clinic. Measures assessed child stressors and parental financial strain, and child sleep problems, sedentary behaviors, and physical activity. Results. Parental financial strain and child stressors were independently associated with sleep problems and sedentary behaviors, controlling for age and gender.