Examining feasibility, acceptability, and participant experiences of an anti-racist parenting intervention for White U.S. parents.

Many White parents engage in minimal discussion of race and racism with their children, instead engaging in color-evasive practices that communicate that race is unimportant and that White people are racially neutral. Even White parents who express a commitment to anti-racist parenting frequently struggle to act on this commitment and feel underprepared to do so. The current mixed methods pilot study focused on the feasibility, acceptability, and participant experiences of an intervention ("CounterACT") that aimed to address this gap in White U.S.-based parents' skills and knowledge. Participants in the study were 27 White U.S.-based parents of 4- to 6-year-old White children who completed pre- and postintervention surveys as well as postintervention interviews. Findings suggest that the CounterACT model was feasible and acceptable. Parent self-report further suggests that CounterACT had beneficial effects on parenting, parents' beliefs regarding White privilege, and children's critical reflection. Parents reported positive experiences of CounterACT, particularly group components of the intervention. Key elements of participants' experience included learning to understand their own and their children's experience of Whiteness; learning to better tolerate and regulate emotional discomfort; connecting with others for motivation, accountability, and learning; and approaching racial socialization with greater intentionality. However, parents also experienced limits in their progress toward anti-racist parenting. Many indicated a desire for more concrete guidance and greater support enacting what they were learning in their own parenting. A particular concern was how to discuss White racial identities effectively. Our discussion highlights the implications of these findings for future work in this area. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Association between COVID-19-related loneliness or worry and symptoms of anxiety and depression among first-year college students.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between COVID-19-related distress and mental health among first-year college students. PARTICIPANTS: Data for this longitudinal study (n = 727) were collected before the school year (August 2019), end of fall semester (December 2019), and soon after the university suspended in-person instruction (April 2020). METHODS: We used multivariable log-linear and logistic regressions to examine continuous and dichotomous outcomes on the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire and the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale. RESULTS: The most consistent predictor of during-pandemic mental health was feeling extremely isolated (versus not at all), which was associated with increased symptom severity of depression (proportional change[95% CI] = 2.43[1.87, 3.15]) and anxiety (2.02[1.50, 2.73]) and greater odds of new moderate depression (OR[95% CI] = 14.83[3.00, 73.41]) and anxiety (24.74[2.91, 210.00]). Greater COVID-19-related concern was also related to increased mental health symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Results highlight the need for mental health services during crises that lead to social isolation.

Adolescent Mental Health in Relation to Anti-Racism Critical Action.

The relation between critical action and mental health in youth is unclear, despite theory suggesting that engagement in critical action may support adaptive mental health functioning for youth experiencing oppressive systems. The current study contributed to the literature in this understudied area by analyzing the relations between youth critical anti-racism action and their depressive symptoms and psychological well-being, as well as testing two potential moderators of these relations: parent critical motivation and community anti-racism. The study sample consisted of 430 13-to-17-year-old adolescents (M age = 15.3 years, 54% girls, 48% black and 52% white). The findings suggest that critical action is often associated with negative mental health outcomes; however, parent critical motivation and community anti-racism were protective in some instances and communal anti-racism action was more frequently linked to adaptive mental health outcomes than other forms of action. The findings underscore that both psychological risks and rewards are present for youth engaging in critical action for racial justice and highlight the importance of future research to identify malleable factors that are protective for these youth.

How do high school seniors get marijuana? Prevalence and sociodemographic differences.

INTRODUCTION: Efforts to understand how adolescents acquire marijuana will help to contextualize its use among youth. Little is known about ways of getting marijuana and how they differ between subgroups of adolescents. The present study sought to determine how adolescents get marijuana and if modes of access vary by sociodemographic characteristics. METHOD: Data were from the nationally representative Monitoring the Future study of 12th graders in the United States from 2012 to 2018 (N = 4262 students). Participants used marijuana in the past 12 months and were asked how they got marijuana. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to predict modes of getting marijuana based on sex, race/ethnicity, urbanicity, parental education, and survey year. Cross-tabulation analyses compared how recent frequent and non-frequent use related to ways of getting marijuana. RESULTS: The most endorsed methods of getting marijuana were given for free by friends, bought from friends, and bought from a drug dealer/stranger. Differences by sociodemographic subgroup and recent frequent use emerged, including for riskier modes of obtainment such as buying from a drug dealer/stranger (for male students, urban students, and recent frequent users). Recent frequent users were more likely to endorse getting marijuana by nearly each method, except non-frequent users were more likely to be given marijuana for free by friends. DISCUSSION: Understanding the prevalence of different modes of getting marijuana among adolescents and which subgroups are most susceptible to riskier means of getting marijuana will allow drug use prevention efforts to be tailored appropriately so as to maximize effectiveness.

A sequential multiple assignment randomized trial (SMART) protocol for empirically developing an adaptive preventive intervention for college student drinking reduction.

College student alcohol use and associated negative consequences are clear public health problems with consequences including damage to self, others, and institutions. This paper describes the protocol of a research study designed to answer a number of important questions in the development of an adaptive preventive intervention (API) to reduce high-risk drinking among first-year college students. The API is designed to educate students and to motivate heavy-drinking college students to engage in existing resources to support reducing high-risk alcohol use, by leveraging technology-based intervention modalities. The primary outcome is a reduction in binge drinking, with secondary outcomes of reducing negative alcohol-related consequences and increasing health services utilization. Adaptive preventive interventions have the potential to reduce the acute and long-term negative health consequences of young adult alcohol use.

High-intensity drinking by parental status: Differences by age and sex.

AIMS: To examine differences in high-intensity drinking (HID) by parental status, parent age, and parent sex, including two- and three-way interaction effects of these parent demographic categories. METHODS: The present study included individuals ages 18-50 from the National Epidemiologic Study of Alcohol and Related Conditions-III (2012-13), a sample of non-institutionalized adults in the US (N = 22,278). We calculated weighted estimates of past-year HID (≥10/≥8 standard drinks for men/women on a single occasion) for each parental status group (parents of young children <5, parents of children 5-17, not parents of children <18) overall and stratified by sex and stratified by age. We then examined the overall association of parental status and HID and tested for interactions of parental status × sex, parental status × age, and parental status × age × sex, while controlling for other relevant sociodemographic characteristics. RESULTS: Prevalence of HID varied considerably by parental status, with 14.84% of parents with kids under age 5, 12.72% of parents with kids 5 to 17, and 23.15% of non-parents reporting HID. The strength of the associations of parenthood and HID were strongest for females and for older parents. CONCLUSIONS: While parents engage in HID less than those who are not parents, a portion of parents of young and adolescent children do report heavy drinking. Younger parents and male parents, in particular, are at high risk for HID. Given the risks to children and parents, interventions focused on preventing HID among parents, especially fathers, could have significant public health impacts.