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Among youth from high-achieving schools, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) were examined in relation to (a) internalizing and externalizing symptoms in adolescence (n = 527), and (b) symptoms plus psychiatric diagnoses-based on multiple annual interviews-in adulthood (n = 316). Also examined were associations for a "Proxy ACEs" (P-ACEs) measure, containing items similar to those on standard ACEs measures without reference to abuse or neglect. Rates of ACEs were comparable with those in other studies; most commonly endorsed were perceived parental depression followed by aspects of emotional neglect. Groups exposed to zero, 1, 2, 3, and 4+ ACEs differed on symptoms in adulthood, with small to moderate effect sizes; in parallel comparisons of P-ACEs groups on Grade 12 symptoms, differences had large effect sizes. In relation to psychiatric diagnoses, comparisons with the zero ACEs group showed that groups with 1, 2, 3 ACEs, versus 4+ ACES, respectively, had twofold and over fivefold greater odds of having any lifetime diagnosis. The odds for internalizing diagnoses specifically were 2-6 times greater for individuals with 1, 2, and 3 ACEs, and 12 times greater for those reporting 4 ACEs. Remarkably, Grade 12 reports of 2, 3, and 4+ P-ACEs were linked to 2-3 times greater odds of a psychiatric disorder in adulthood, and 3-6 times greater odds for internalizing diagnoses specifically. In the future, assessments of ACEs and P-ACEs could facilitate early detection of problems among HAS students, informing interventions to mitigate vulnerability processes and promote resilience among these youth and their families. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Youth in high-achieving schools (HASs) are now declared to be an “at-risk group,” largely because of strong, ongoing pressures to achieve. In this study, we sought to disentangle processes that might underlie how achievement pressures might exacerbate distress, considering five dimensions conceptually important in HAS settings: feelings of envy, comparisons with others on social media, negative feedback from others, the ability to maintain supportive friendships with peers, and overall time pressures. Also included were two potential confounds: time spent on social media and attachment to parents. Across three different HAS samples (total N = 1608), these dimensions were examined in relation to anxious-depressed, withdrawn-depressed, and somatic symptoms, and rule-breaking behaviors using multivariate analyses conducted separately by school and gender. Results revealed that associations between social comparisons and internalizing symptoms were consistent in all subgroups, with robust effect sizes throughout. Additionally, negative feedback on social media was linked with rule-breaking behavior in five out of six subgroups. Results indicated the critical value of targeting social comparisons, in particular, followed by negative feedback on social media in future interventions aimed at fostering resilient adaptation among HAS youth.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to qualitatively analyze metacommunication during the digital storytelling (DST) workshop process for patients undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). Methods: HCT survivors who had undergone transplant within the past 2 years were recruited at a cancer center in the Phoenix Metropolitan area. Participants (M age = 51.5 years) attended a 3-day DST workshop telling and creating digital stories around their HCT experiences. Using a constructivist grounded theory approach, line by line coding and content analysis were conducted with four research team members. Results: Four themes emerged from the data: (1) communal connection; (2) expressing and processing emotions; (3) self-empowerment; and (4) multi-dimensional coping. Participants described telling and sharing their story with other HCT patients as therapeutic. Conclusion: DST shows promise as a potential coping tool and offers multiple dimensions of the role of narrative as a coping technique, in community building, and in patient-centered contexts within HCT.

Physical activity and nutrition preschool programming must involve parents in positive long-term healthy habits. This paper describes parent outreach in the Sustainability via Active Garden Education (SAGE) study. Newsletters were sent home with children to promote family opportunities to increase physical activity and fruit and vegetable intake. The content was generated via a community advisory board participatory process. Messages linked SAGE curriculum topics with home and community activities. Parents rated frequency of receipt, helpfulness, satisfaction, and use of content. Most participants were Hispanic (>78%) and women (>95%). Most reported receiving newsletters; nearly all reported that they were helpful. Favorite newsletter components included recipes, pictures of their children and seasonal produce spotlights. Most reported doing physical activities from the newsletters (51.9%). Few reported doing featured physical activity (8.9%) and fruit and vegetable (12.7%) community activities. Newsletter outreach methods are a simple strategy to add value to preschool-based interventions promoting healthy families.

Objective:Approximately one in ten adults under the age of 65 in the USA has a mobility impairing disability. People with mobility impairment generally have poorer dietary habits contributing to obesity and related negative health outcomes. This article presents the psychometric properties of the Food Environment Assessment Survey Tool (FEAST) instrument that measures barriers to accessing healthy food from the perspective of people with mobility impairment (PMI).Design:The current study presents cross-sectional data from two sequential independent surveys.Setting:Surveys were administered online to a national sample of PMI.Participants:Participants represented PMI living throughout the USA. The pilot FEAST survey involved 681 participants and was used to shape the final instrument; 25 % completed a retest survey. After following empirically and theoretically guided item reduction strategies, the final FEAST instrument was administered to a separate sample of 304 PMI.Results:The final twenty-seven-item FEAST instrument includes items measuring Neighbourhood Environment, Home Environment, Personal Control and Access to Support (Having Help, Food Delivery Services, Parking/Transportation). The final four scales had acceptable intra-class correlations, indicating that the scales could be used as reliable measures of the hypothesised constructs in future studies.Conclusions:The FEAST instrument is the first of its kind developed to assess the food environment from the perspective of PMI themselves. Future studies would benefit from using this measure in research and practice to help guide the development of policy aimed at improving access to healthy food and promoting healthy eating in community-dwelling PMI.

Background Acculturative stress is known to contribute to chronic diseases among many immigrants and yet this association in Korean Americans remains unclear. Aim The study purpose was to examine the level of acculturative stress in Korean Americans and to determine if correlations existed with personal and physiological factors. Methods An exploratory, cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted in a sample of 107 Korean American adults. Data on acculturative stress and personal factors were collected using a survey questionnaire in addition to a direct measure of physiological factors (i.e., body mass index and blood pressure). Results All 107 participants were first-generation Koreans. Most participants were women (66.4%), with a mean age of 53.9 ± 10.7, married (88.8%), and with a college education (84.2%). Acculturative stress was associated with a number of personal factors (i.e., arrival age, years of U.S education, years of U.S. residency, English proficiency), and the personal factors of gender, age, employment status, and years of U.S. residency were associated with the physiological factors. No statistically significant associations were found between acculturative stress and physiological factors. Conclusions The mean acculturative stress score in this study was higher than findings from prior studies of Korean immigrants in the United States or Canada, with the rates of obesity and hypertension higher than prior reports of Korean Americans or Koreans residing in Korea. Future study is necessary with a larger sample from a variety of different geographic areas of the United States to examine further the impact of acculturative stress on physiological factors during the process of acculturation.

Background Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with a number of health problems and early mortality. Developmental studies have also shown strong links between parents’ contemporaneous negative feelings toward their children and the children’s maladjustment. Objectives The relative, unique contributions of ACEs and parents’ feelings of aggravation were examined in predicting to the presence of children’s internalizing and externalizing problems, perseverance and emotional regulation. Also tested was the potential moderating roles of personal support and external emotional resources for parents. Participants and setting Data from the 2016 National Survey of Children’s Health were used. A random, nationally representative sample of 35,718 adult caregivers in the United States (US) with children ages 6–17 were included. Methods Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were performed to explore the patterns of results in predicting to children’s maladjustment and adjustment, separately by child sex. Results Parental aggravation consistently had larger effects on children’s maladjustment and adjustment than ACEs (1.47–1.82 timesamong males; 1.31–1.83 time among females, with one exception, i.e. internalizing problems). Personal support for parenting attenuated the relations of both ACEs and parental aggravation with children’s outcomes. In the presence of external resources for parenting, children’s maladjustments tended to be even more pronounced, suggesting that parents seek external resources when problem behaviors become significant in their children. Conclusion For children at risk, future interventions should consider the value of refocusing attention from the occurrence ACEs per se, to critical, proximal indices – parents’ negative feelings around parenting – that can have stronger links with children’s maladjustment and that are more amenable to change.