Food insecurity and adolescent impulsivity: The mediating role of functional connectivity in the context of family flexibility.

Adolescent food insecurity is a salient adversity hypothesized to affect neural systems associated with increased impulsive behavior. Family environments shape how adverse experiences influence development. In this study, hypotheses were tested regarding the conjoint effects of food insecurity and family flexibility on impulsivity via alterations in connectivity between regions within the salience and central executive networks. Such alterations are reflected in resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) metrics between the anterior insula (AI) and the middle frontal gyrus (MFG). Hypotheses were tested in a longitudinal moderated mediation model with two waves of data from 142 adolescents (Time 1 [T1] Mage = 12.89, SD = 0.85; Time 2 [T2] Mage = 15.01, SD = 1.07). Data on past-year household food insecurity, family flexibility, and rsFC were obtained at T1. Impulsivity was self-reported by the adolescent at T1 and T2. Findings revealed that high T1 left-to-left rsFC between the AI and MFG was associated with increased impulsivity at T2. The interaction of family flexibility and food insecurity was associated with AI and MFG rsFC. In the context of low family flexibility, food insecurity was linked to high levels of AI and MFG rsFC. Conversely, in the context of optimal family flexibility, food insecurity was associated with low levels of AI and MFG rsFC. Conditional indirect analysis suggests that the links among food insecurity, rsFC, and impulsive behavior depend on family flexibility. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Adolescent food insecurity was associated with anterior insula and middle frontal gyrus connectivity only at certain levels of family flexibility. High family flexibility attenuated the link between food insecurity and neural connectivity, while low levels of family flexibility increased this risk. High left anterior insula and left middle frontal gyrus connectivity was associated with increased impulsivity 1 year later.

Adolescent caffeine use and problematic school behavior: A longitudinal analysis of student survey data and teacher observations.

INTRODUCTION: Caffeine is a psychostimulant possessing arousal, motor activation, and reinforcing properties, which is consumed daily by most adolescents aged 12-19 years. Although current understanding of the implications of adolescent caffeine consumption for school behaviors remains incomplete, studies have shown that in addition to acute effects of the drug, in common with other habit-forming psychoactive substances, regular use leads to physical dependence, evidenced by recurring negative withdrawal symptoms. METHODS: Employing two waves of longitudinal data, we tested the prospective association between daily caffeine use and homeroom teacher-observed self-control and problem behavior in a sample of middle-school students in 20 schools in West Virginia in the United States. Caffeine was operationalized with two dichotomized variables, daily consumption of <100 mg, and daily consumption of >100 mg, versus no daily use. Gender, mother's education, family financial status, social support by primary caregiver and adults in school, and school climate, were applied as covariates in linear mixed models. RESULTS: Daily caffeine use of >100 mg was robustly and inversely associated with self-control and positively associated with problem behavior. CONCLUSIONS: Caffeine consumption and associated withdrawal symptoms may be an important factor in problematic school behavior among adolescents. Recent advent of highly concentrated caffeine products (e.g., caffeine "shots") commonly marketed directly at youth, should give rise to concerns including consideration about limiting caffeine consumption among children and youth.

Higher substance use is associated with low executive control neural activity and higher inflammation.

Individuals with substance use problems show lower executive control and alterations in prefrontal brain systems supporting emotion regulation and impulse control. A separate literature suggests that heightened inflammation also increases risk for substance use, in part, through targeting brain systems involved in executive control. Research on neural and inflammatory signaling in substance use, however, has occurred in parallel. Drawing on recent neuroimmune network models, we used fMRI to examine the relationships between executive control-related brain activity (as elicited by an n-back working memory task), peripheral inflammation, as quantified by inflammatory cytokines and C-reactive protein (CRP), and substance use for the past month in 93 participants [mean age = 24.4 (SD = 0.6)]. We operationalized low executive control as a neural inefficiency during the n-back task to achieve normative performance, as reflected in higher working memory-related brain activity and lower activity in the default mode network (DMN). Consistent with prediction, individuals with low executive control and high inflammation reported more substance use over the past month, controlling for behavioral performance on the n-back, sex, time between assessments, body-mass-index (BMI), and personal socioeconomic status (SES) (interaction between inflammation and working memory-related brain activity, b = 0.210, p = 0.005; interaction between inflammation and DMN, b = -0.219, p < 0.001). Findings suggest that low executive control and high inflammation may be associated with higher substance use. This has implications for understanding psychological, neural, and immunological risk for substance use problems and the development of interventions to target each of these components.

Parenting practices and trajectories of proactive coping assets among emerging adult Black men.

Positive youth development (PYD) frameworks suggest that a critical response to investigating the challenges young Black men living in resource poor communities experience involves identifying contextual resources in young men's lives and personal assets that promote success. The following study examines heterogeneity in proactive coping assets trajectories, parental practices as predictors of developmental trajectories, and associated outcomes of each trajectory. The study sample consisted of Black emerging adult men living in rural Georgia (N = 504). At baseline, men were between the ages of 19 and 22 (Mage = 20.29; SD = 1.10). At wave four, the participants' mean age was 27.67 (SD = 1.39). Results of growth mixture modeling from waves 1 to 3 discerned three developmental trajectory classes of emerging adults' proactive coping assets: a high and increasing class (n = 247, 49%), a low and stable class (n = 212, 42%), and a moderate and decreasing class (n = 45, 9%). Trajectory classes were linked to baseline levels of parental support, coaching, and expectations. Analysis revealed that parental support and parental coaching predicted proactive coping asset trajectory class identification. Links were then investigated between emerging adults' proactive coping asset trajectory classes and wave four physical health, depression, and alcohol use. Results revealed significant associations between class identification, alcohol use, and physical health. Study findings provide evidence supporting the impact of parenting on emerging adult Black men, underscoring the need to expand resources that support parenting and emerging adult relationships.

Racial Discrimination and Risk for Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms Among Black Youths.

Importance: Racial discrimination is a psychosocial stressor associated with youths' risk for psychiatric symptoms. Scarce data exist on the moderating role of amygdalar activation patterns among Black youths in the US. Objective: To investigate the association between racial discrimination and risk for psychopathology moderated by neuroaffective processing. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study used longitudinal self-report and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from Black youth participants in the US from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. Data were analyzed from January 2023 to May 2024. Exposures: At time 1 of the current study (12 months after baseline), youths self-reported on their experiences of interpersonal racial discrimination and their feelings of marginalization. Amygdalar response was measured during an emotionally valenced task that included blocks of faces expressing either neutral or negative emotion. Main Outcomes and Measures: At 24 and 36 months after baseline, youths reported their internalizing (anxiety and depressive symptoms) and externalizing symptoms (aggression and rule-breaking symptoms). Results: A total of 1596 youths were a mean (SD) age of 10.92 (0.63) years, and 803 were female (50.3%). Families in the study had a mean annual income range of $25 000 to $34 999. Two factors were derived from factor analysis: interpersonal racial discrimination and feelings of marginalization (FoM). Using structural equation modeling in a linear regression, standardized ß coefficients were obtained. Neural response to faces expressing negative emotion within the right amygdala significantly moderated the association between FoM and changes in internalizing symptoms (ß = -0.20; 95% CI, -0.32 to -0.07; P < .001). The response to negative facial emotion within the right amygdala significantly moderated the association between FoM and changes in externalizing symptoms (ß = 0.24; 95% CI, 0.04 to 0.43; P = .02). Left amygdala response to negative emotion significantly moderated the association between FoM and changes in externalizing symptoms (ß = -0.16; 95% CI, -0.32 to -0.01; P = .04). Conclusions and Relevance: In this cohort study of Black adolescents in the US, findings suggest that amygdala function in response to emotional stimuli can both protect and intensify the affective outcomes of feeling marginalized on risk for psychopathology, informing preventive interventions aimed at reducing the adverse effects of racism on internalizing and externalizing symptoms among Black youths.

Systemic effects of the COVID pandemic on rural black American men's interpersonal relationships: A phenomenological examination.

The COVID-19 pandemic was a socionatural disaster that unprecedentedly disrupted the daily lives of individuals, families, and communities. Prior research indicates that Black American men living in rural contexts, particularly in Southern parts of the United States of America, were disproportionately affected by the psychological and economic effects of the pandemic. Despite these disparities, few studies have examined the pandemic's impact on rural Black American men's social networks. This study aimed to explore the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on rural Black American men's interpersonal relationships. Informed by the principles of critical ethnography and guided by van Manen's hermeneutic phenomenology, seventeen men were interviewed using a semi-structured interview protocol. Interviews were transcribed and then analyzed using an iterative thematic reduction process consistent with van Manen's approach. Four themes were generated: Familial Reorganization, Adaptive Fatherhood, Rona Romance, and Essential Community. Participants recounted how the pandemic motivated them to improve their relationships with family members and children but contributed additional stress to their romantic relationships. Participants further recounted how their friendships were the least impacted as they were willing to make exceptions to their normal protective protocols to socialize with close friends. Participants also noted feeling disconnected from their wider community because they could not attend church even though their religious beliefs remained unchanged. Findings highlight the need for scholars, clinicians, and policymakers to consider men's relational health when developing and implementing pandemic recovery efforts, as it can significantly influence their ability to recuperate mentally and physically. Future research should be dedicated to (1) investigating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on fathers, as prior research has nearly exclusively focused on mothers' experiences and (2) delineating protective effects of rural Black American men's involvement in the Black Church from their individual spiritualities to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the influence of contextual crisis on their long-term health and wellbeing.

Childhood adversity and racial discrimination forecast suicidal and death ideation among emerging adult Black men: A longitudinal analysis.

OBJECTIVES: Disproportionate exposure to childhood adversity and the effects of racial discrimination take a toll on Black American men's mental health. Despite increasing rates of suicidal behaviors and thoughts among young adult, Black American men, few longitudinal studies examine their risk for suicidal and death ideation (SDI). We tested a developmental model linking childhood adversity (experiences of deprivation and threatening experiences) and emerging adult exposure to racial discrimination to increases in SDI and examined a potential mechanism for these effects, negative relational schemas. METHOD: A sample of 504 Black men (Mage = 20.7) from rural Georgia were recruited with respondent-driven sampling and completed a baseline survey. Men participated in two additional follow-up surveys (Mage = 21.9 and Mage = 23.5). Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling. RESULTS: Analyses largely supported the proposed model. Childhood adversities were associated directly with reports of SDI. Childhood deprivation indirectly predicted SDI via negative schemas (ß = 0.03, 95% CI [.014, .046]). Racial discrimination also indirectly predicted SDI via negative relational schemas (ß = 0.01, 95% CI [.001, .018]). CONCLUSION: Study results suggest that clinical and preventive interventions for suicidality should target the influence of racism and adverse experiences and the negative relational schemas they induce. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Different Mechanisms Link Internalized Racism to Externalizing Symptomology Among Black American Adolescent Boys and Girls.

OBJECTIVE: Emerging research and theory suggests that the internalization of racist ideas and attitudes, internalized racism, poses a significant threat to Black American adolescents' and increases their risk of externalizing symptomology. Prospective, empirical research linking internalized racism to externalizing symptoms among Black American adolescents and the mechanisms explaining this link is scarce. We hypothesize that internalized racism will forecast externalizing symptoms indirectly, via effects on poor self-regulation and depressive symptoms. We also examine potential sex differences in the pathways linking internalized racism to externalizing symptoms. METHOD: A random sample of 445 Black American adolescents and their primary caregivers were recruited from 8 counties in rural Georgia. Participants provided survey data annually when adolescents were aged 13, 14, 15, and 16 years. Direct, indirect, and multigroup hypotheses were tested with structural equation modeling. RESULTS: Internalized racism assessed at ages 13 and 14 years forecast increased externalizing at age 16, both directly, and indirectly, via increases in poor self-regulation and depressive symptoms. Sex moderated the indirect pathways linking internalized racism and externalizing. Poor self-regulation significantly mediated the path between internalized racism and externalizing symptoms among Black American male youth. Depressive symptoms significantly mediated the pathway between internalized racism and externalizing symptoms among Black American female adolescents. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest behavioral treatment directions for male and female Black American adolescents experiencing depressive symptoms.

Family-Centered Prevention to Reduce Discrimination-Related Depressive Symptoms Among Black Adolescents: Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Racial discrimination undermines the mental health of Black adolescents. Preventive interventions that can attenuate the effects of exposure to racial discrimination are needed. Objective: To investigate whether participation in the Strong African American Families (SAAF) program moderates Black adolescents' depressive symptoms associated with experience of racial discrimination. Design, Setting, and Participants: This secondary analysis used data from a community-based randomized clinical trial of SAAF (SAAF vs no treatment control). Participants were followed up at 10, 22, and 34 months after the baseline assessment. Assessment staff were blind to participant condition. Participants in this trial lived in 7 rural counties in Georgia. SAAF was delivered at local community centers. Eligible families had a child aged 11 to 12 years who self-identified as African American or Black. The joint influence of random assignment to SAAF and exposure to racial discrimination was investigated. Data were analyzed from September 2022 to March 2023. Intervention: SAAF is a 7-session (14 hours) family skills training intervention that occurs over 7 weeks. Small groups of caregivers and their adolescents participate in a structured curriculum targeting effective parenting behavior, adolescent self-regulation, and Black pride. Main Outcomes and Measures: The main outcome was adolescent-reported depressive symptoms, assessed at 34 months via the 20-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale for Children. Results: Of 825 families screened randomly from public school lists, 472 adolescents (mean [SD] age, 11.6 years; 240 [50.8%] female) were enrolled and randomized to SAAF (252 participants) or a no treatment control (220 participants). Exposure to racial discrimination at age 13 years was associated with increased depressive symptoms at age 14 years (ß = 0.23; 95% CI, 0.13 to 0.34; P < .001). Interaction analyses indicated that the experimental condition significantly moderated the association of racial discrimination with depressive symptoms: (ß = -0.27; 95% CI, -0.47 to -0.08; P = .005). Probing the interaction with simple slopes at ±SD revealed that for the control group, racial discrimination was significantly associated with depressive symptoms (ß = 0.39; 95% CI, 0.23 to 0.54; P < .001), while for the SAAF group, there was no association between racial discrimination and depressive symptoms (ß = 0.12; P = .09). Conclusions and Relevance: This randomized clinical trial found that the SAAF intervention reduced the incidence of racism-associated mental health symptoms among Black adolescents. SAAF is recommended for dissemination to health care practitioners working with rural Black adolescents. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03590132.

Substance use trajectories among emerging adult Black men: Risk factors and consequences.

INTRODUCTION: Young, Black American men experience greater social, legal and economic consequences of substance use compared with White men for comparable levels of consumption. The development of tailored interventions requires prospective information on their substance use patterns, risk factors and consequences. We identified longitudinal substance use profiles and examined their links to childhood adversity, racial discrimination and young adult problem substance use and mental health. METHODS: Emerging adult Black men (n = 504, mean age = 20.26, SD = 1.08) provided fours waves of data between January 2012 and March 2021. We conducted a parallel process latent class growth analysis for three substances to explore conjoint longitudinal use patterns and investigated the risk factors and consequences of each pattern. RESULTS: Three trajectory classes emerged: non-using (n = 201, 39.9%), cannabis using (n = 202, 40.1%) and poly-substance using (n = 101, 20%) groups. Threat-based childhood adversity and racial discrimination were associated with higher odds of being members of cannabis or poly-substance groups than non-using group. Deprivation-based adversity was associated with higher odds for membership in poly-substance than non-using group. At Wave 4, elevated depressive symptoms were more prevalent among poly-substance compared with cannabis using group. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: Heterogeneous substance use patterns emerged among Black American men and each pattern has distinct risk factors and outcomes in young adulthood. For prevention, more attention is needed for cannabis use patterns and psychosocial adversities that are unique to Black population.

Risk, resilience and family relationships among at-risk Ethiopian immigrant youth in Israel: A focus group investigation.

Despite the pivotal role that parents play in their adolescent children's lives, intervention programs aimed at at-risk, immigrant youth have often neglected the role of the parents. Informed by an ecological perspective, the current study explored how the intersecting experiences of parents and adolescents in the Ethiopian immigrant community in Israel inform adolescent risk and resilience. A sample of 55 parents and adolescent children, who were involved in a program serving at-risk families, and eight service providers participated in five focus groups. Grounded theory analyses of transcripts provided insights into family processes in which the experience of disenfranchisement of parents (due to societal and familial processes) transacts with feelings of isolation and withdrawal of their adolescent children. We documented five issues that reinforced this core pattern: Stigma and discrimination, cultural and language differences between parents and youth, disempowerment in interactions with authorities, parental role strain, and negative influence of the neighborhood. We also documented three resilience processes that counter this pattern (community cohesion, cultural socialization and ethnic and cultural pride, and vigilant parental monitoring). Results suggest a need for family-based intervention programs that can counter reinforcing cycles of disenfranchisement and build on families' resilience resources.

Possible role of caffeine in nicotine use onset among early adolescents: Evidence from the Young Mountaineer Health Study Cohort.

BACKGROUND: Preventing nicotine use onset among children and youth is an important public health goal. One possible contributor that has received little empirical investigation is caffeine use. The goal of this study was to examine the possible contribution of caffeine to nicotine onset during early adolescence. METHODS: We used data from the Young Mountaineer Health Study Cohort. Survey data were collected from 1,349 (response rate: 80.7%) 6th grade students (mean age at baseline 11.5 years) in 20 middle schools in West Virginia during the fall of 2020 and spring of 2021. We limited our analyses to students reporting never having used any form of nicotine at baseline. Logistic regression was employed in analyses. RESULTS: Approximately 8% of participants reported having used nicotine at least once between baseline and the follow-up, and 4.7% reported solely using electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) and no other forms of nicotine. In multivariable analyses, we controlled for many environmental, social, and behavioral variables known to influence nicotine use such as alcohol use, peer substance use, and perceived access to nicotine. We formulated our main independent variable, caffeine consumption, as continuous deciles. Any nicotine use, as well as ENDS use only at follow-up, were modeled as dependent variables. Caffeine was significantly associated with nicotine use in both models with ORs of 1.15 (1.04-1.27) and 1.13 (1.00-1.28). CONCLUSIONS: Caffeine consumption among 6th grade non-nicotine users was associated with nicotine use at approximately 6-months follow-up.

Racial discrimination, childhood adversity, and depression among Black men: Tests of stress sensitization hypotheses.

Racial discrimination has been linked to depression among Black American men. Racial discrimination, however, does not uniformly confer risk for depression. According to the stress sensitization theory, racial discrimination can be particularly harmful for those with histories of adversity in childhood. Existing research on stress sensitization is limited in that it has conceptualized childhood adversity as a unidimensional construct composed of a broad range of stressful experiences. To fill this gap in the literature, the current study investigated stress sensitization hypotheses, focusing on how different dimensions of adverse childhood experiences moderate the association between racial discrimination and depression. Study sample was 504 young Black men (mean age at baseline = 20.3, SD = 1.08) living in rural counties in South Georgia where childhood adversity is disproportionately high. The association between racial discrimination and increased risk for depressive symptoms varied by the degree of childhood experience of deprivation, but not threat. Our findings suggest that no or low levels of childhood deprivation, which is commonly regarded as a protective factor, can elevate the negative effects of discrimination on depression. This finding emphasizes that clinicians should consider developmental risk and protective factors that are unique to Black American men.

Social Support and Perceptions of COVID-19-related Emotional Impact on Mental Health Among Early Adolescents in Appalachia.

BACKGROUND: Young people who experience higher levels of social support from their schools and families have been shown to be less likely to develop symptoms of negative mental health outcomes such as depression and anxiety.1-4 This raises questions concerning how young people's stress and psychological changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as social support during this time have affected their overall mental health. The aim of this study was to assess the association between sources of parental- and school-level social support and youth perceptions of COVID-19-related emotional impact on mental health among early adolescent girls and boys in Appalachia. METHODS: Using linear regression, we analyzed the first and third wave of survey data from the larger parent study (Young Mountaineer Health Study) cohort, collected in 20 middle schools throughout West Virginia in the fall of 2020 and fall of 2021 (N = 1349, mean age: 11.5, response rate: 80.7%). RESULTS: Approximately half of participants reported knowing someone that had been sick with COVID-19. Those experiencing higher levels of perceived COVID-19-related emotional impact reported greater levels of depression, anxiety, and anger. Both parental and school-level social support were associated with better mental health outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Early adolescent perceptions of COVID-19-related emotional impact were associated with depression, anxiety, and anger and moderated by social support at home and in school among 11-12-year-old youth in Appalachia.

Contextual Pathways Linking Cumulative Experiences of Racial Discrimination to Black American Men's COVID Vaccine Hesitancy.

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed and widened racialized health disparities, underscoring the impact of structural inequities and racial discrimination on COVID-19 vaccination uptake. A sizable proportion of Black American men report that they either do not plan to or are unsure about becoming vaccinated against COVID-19. The present study investigated hypotheses regarding the mechanisms by which experiences of racial discrimination are associated with Black American men's COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling with 4 waves of data from 242 Black American men (aged ~ 27) living in resource-poor communities in the rural South. Study findings revealed that racial discrimination was indirectly associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy via increased endorsement of COVID-19 conspiratorial beliefs. Findings also demonstrated that increased levels of ethnic identity strengthen the association between experiences of racial discrimination and COVID-19 conspiratorial beliefs. In contrast, increased levels of social support weakened the association between cumulative experiences of racial discrimination and COVID conspiratorial beliefs. Taken together, these results suggest that racial discrimination may promote conspiratorial beliefs which undermine Black American men's willingness to be vaccinated. Future interventions aimed towards promoting vaccine uptake among Black American men may benefit from the inclusion of targeted efforts to rebuild cultural trust and increase social support.

The Transition to Fatherhood, Contextual Stress, and Substance Abuse: A Prospective Analysis of Rural, Emerging Adult Black American Men.

Background: Among Black American emerging adult men (∼aged 18-25), the early transition to fatherhood is often marred by numerous contextual stressors related to racial discrimination and socioeconomic instability. The strain of transitioning to fatherhood while experiencing high levels of contextual stress may evidence escalations in substance misuse over time as men may turn to substances to cope with the stress of complex life transitions. However, research examining these associations are scarce. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the influence of contextual stress on the association between fatherhood and substance misuse. Hypotheses were tested using multiple linear regression with 3 waves of data from 476 Black American men aged 19 to 22 at baseline living in resource-poor communities in the rural South. Results: Results demonstrated that fatherhood status was associated, prospectively, with Black American fathers' substance misuse when exposure to contextual stress was high but not low. Conclusions: Findings underscore the need for substance misuse prevention programs to (a) support Black American fathers in coping with race-related stress and (b) integrate robust socioeconomic stability services in order in disrupt patterns of future substance misuse by improving Black American men's experience of the transition to fatherhood.

Risk and Resilience Pathways, Community Adversity, Decision-making, and Alcohol Use Among Appalachian Adolescents: Protocol for the Longitudinal Young Mountaineer Health Study Cohort.

BACKGROUND: Alcohol use impairs psychosocial and neurocognitive development and increases the vulnerability of youth to academic failure, substance use disorders, and other mental health problems. The early onset of alcohol use in adolescents is of particular concern, forecasting substance abuse in later adolescence and adulthood. To date, evidence suggests that youth in rural areas are especially vulnerable to contextual and community factors that contribute to the early onset of alcohol use. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the Young Mountaineer Health Study is to investigate the influence of contextual and health behavior variables on the early onset of alcohol use among middle school-aged youth in resource-poor Appalachian rural communities. METHODS: This is a program of prospective cohort studies of approximately 2200 middle school youth from a range of 20 rural, small town, and small city (population <30,000) public schools in West Virginia. Students are participating in 6 waves of data collection (2 per year) over the course of middle school (sixth to eighth grades; fall and spring) from 2020 to 2023. On the basis of an organizational arrangement, which includes a team of local data collection leaders, supervising contact agents in schools, and an honest broker system to deidentify data linked via school IDs, we are able to collect novel forms of data (self-reported data, teacher-reported data, census-linked area data, and archival school records) while ensuring high rates of participation by a large majority of youth in each participating school. RESULTS: In the spring of 2021, 3 waves of student survey data, 2 waves of data from teachers, and a selection of archival school records were collected. Student survey wave 1 comprised 1349 (response rate 80.7%) participants, wave 2 comprised 1649 (response rate 87%) participants, and wave 3 comprised 1909 (response rate 83.1%) participants. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on the sampling frame size, resulting in a reduced number of eligible students, particularly during the fall of 2020. Nevertheless, our team structure and incentive system have proven vitally important in mitigating the potentially far greater negative impact of the pandemic on our data collection processes. CONCLUSIONS: The Young Mountaineer Health Study will use a large data set to test pathways linking rural community disadvantage to alcohol misuse among early adolescents. Furthermore, the program will test hypotheses regarding contextual factors (eg, parenting practices and neighborhood collective efficacy) that protect youth from community disadvantage and explore alcohol antecedents in the onset of nicotine, marijuana, and other drug use. Data collection efforts have been successful despite interruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/40451.

Caffeine consumption and onset of alcohol use among early adolescents.

Preventing or delaying the onset of alcohol use among children and youth is an important public health goal. One possible factor in alcohol use onset among early adolescents is caffeine. The aim of this study was to assess the possible contribution of caffeine to the onset of alcohol use during early adolescence. We used data from the Young Mountaineer Health Study Cohort. Survey data were collected from 1349 (response rate: 80.7%) 6th grade students (mean age at baseline 11.5 years) in 20 middle schools in West Virginia during the fall of 2020, and again approximately 6 months later in spring of 2021. We limited our analyses to students reporting never having used any form of alcohol at baseline. Logistic regression was employed in multivariable analyses and both Odds Ratios and Relative Risks reported. At follow-up, almost 14% of participants reported having consumed alcohol at least once and 57% used caffeine of 100 mg + daily. In multivariable analyses we controlled for social and behavioral variables known to impact tobacco use. Caffeine use was operationalized as a three-level factor: no use, <100 mg per day, and 100 + mg per day, with the latter being the approximate equivalent of the minimum of a typical cup of coffee or can of energy drink. Caffeine use of 100 mg + per day was significantly related to alcohol use at 6-months follow-up (OR: 1.79, RR: 1.56, p = .037). We conclude that caffeine consumption among 11-12-year-old adolescents may be a factor in early onset of alcohol use.

Racial Discrimination and Conduct Problems Among Black American Youth: The Moderating Effect of Ethnic Racial Socialization.

PURPOSE: Experiencing racial discrimination in everyday life can have lasting detrimental effects on Black American youth. Conduct problems are one of the consequences of discriminatory experiences. The present study examined whether the effects of discrimination on conduct problems vary by the levels of ethnic-racial socialization youth experience. METHODS: A sample of 472 Black American youth provided five waves of survey data from ages 11-15 (June 2013 - December 2017). We tested the moderating effect of different types of ethnic-racial socialization (preparation for bias, cultural socialization, promotion of mistrust) on the association between discrimination and conduct problems using logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: We found that cultural socialization significantly moderates the effects of racial discrimination on conduct problems. Promotion of mistrust was directly associated with increased risk for conduct problems. DISCUSSION: Findings suggest that high levels of cultural socialization are beneficial to mitigate the effect of discrimination on conduct problems. Promotion of mistrust needs to be avoided but future research is warranted to investigate if promotion of mistrust can be helpful to youth in certain contexts.

Planful Self-Control, Metabolic Risk, and Psychosocial Outcomes Among Young, Black Men: A Test of Skin-Deep Resilience Theory.

Research on skin-deep resilience suggests that for youth and young adults from disadvantaged backgrounds, high levels of planful self-control may promote positive psychosocial outcomes while simultaneously conferring vulnerabilities to chronic diseases related to aging. In this study, we investigated the divergent effects of planful self-control on young Black American men's psychosocial well-being and their metabolic risk. We expected that high levels of planful self-control in emerging adulthood would predict positive outcomes in young adulthood (educational attainment, low depressive symptoms, job satisfaction); however, the combination of high levels of planful self-control and the experience of contextual adversity either in emerging adulthood or in childhood would forecast poor metabolic health. Hypotheses were tested with prospective data from 504 Black American men followed from age 20 to age 26. Planful self-control in emerging adulthood directly forecasted low levels of depressive symptoms, one's likelihood of obtaining a bachelor's degree, increased job satisfaction, and increases in metabolic risk. Exposure to childhood deprivation moderated the influence of planful self-control on metabolic risk. Men with high levels of deprivation and high levels of planful self-control exhibited the worst metabolic profiles in the sample. In contrast, men with high levels of childhood deprivation and low levels of planful self-control exhibited the best metabolic profiles. Documenting the health consequences associated with planful self-control provides a foundation from which to identify modifiable psychosocial factors that affect the course of psychosocial problems and health.