A Prospective Examination of Mental Health Trajectories of Disaster-Exposed Young Adults in the COVID-19 Pandemic.

This longitudinal study examines young adult mental health (MH) trajectories after exposure to natural disasters (i.e., hurricanes, wildfires, mudslides) across four waves, two pre- and two during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The mutual influence of parent-child maladaptive emotion regulation on posttraumatic stress following flood exposure.

Decades of disaster research support the influence parents have on their children's adaptation. Recently, research has shifted to focus on disasters as a whole family experience. Using the actor-partner interdependence model, this study examines maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies in parents and children and how these strategies influence their own and one another's posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS).

Coping self-efficacy mediates effects of posttraumatic distress on communal coping in parent-adolescence dyads after floods.

Social cognitive theory provides a framework of human agency during environmental challenges, with coping self-efficacy (CSE) as an important construct underlying adaptation. We examined two alternative models involving CSE as a mediator of the association between posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and communal coping among parent-youth dyads after severe floods using Bayesian dyadic multilevel modeling. The first model included PTSS as the independent variable and communal coping as the dependent variable (disaster distress model).

Identifying what educators need to support trauma-informed practices in the schools: A community needs assessment.

Educators are often on the frontline of supporting the well-being of their students. Thus, it is critical to ask teachers what they need in regard to implementing trauma-informed practices in schools (TIPS). This mixed-methods, community-initiated needs assessment explored educators' well-being and use of trauma-informed resources.

Understanding the psychosocial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Latinx emerging adults.

There is growing evidence about the potential negative psychosocial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on ethnoracially minoritized young adults. Emerging adulthood is a developmental stage (ages 18-29 years old) that is characterized by identity exploration, instability, self-focus, feeling "in between" and having a sense of possibilities. Latinx emerging adults have reported significant socio-emotional consequences as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Life stressors and posttraumatic stress symptoms mediate the association between disaster exposure and identity-related distress in emerging adults.

The current multi-university, multi-disaster study examined the impact of natural disaster exposure on identity-related distress through life stressors and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). : Young adult university students ( = 665, 77% female,  = 20.5 years old) participated in Wave (W) 1.

Social-cognitive mediators of the relationship of media exposure to acute mass violence and distress among adolescents.

Objective: Traditional and social media coverage of acute mass violence (AMV; e.g., terrorism, mass shootings) create an environment where the possibility of being the victim of AMV is constantly portrayed and this media exposure has been linked to distress among people not directly affected.

Psychosocial influences on posttraumatic growth among university students following a mass murder.

To understand the range of psychosocial outcomes associated with a mass violence incident (MVI), there is a need to study posttraumatic growth (PTG). PTG is the experience of positive change that can result from contending with highly challenging life crises (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1996). Studies have documented how characteristics of the individual, their trauma exposure, and how they cope or process the event can influence PTG.

Why Family Communication Matters: the Role of Co-rumination and Topic Avoidance in Understanding Post-Disaster Mental Health.

Although families can be a source of support post-disaster, depending on how they communicate about their stress, their attempts at support can be helpful or harmful. This study explored the moderating role of topic avoidance and co-rumination on post-disaster mental health (MH) in a sample of 485 parent-child dyads following severe floods affecting Texas. Parents (69.

Factors affecting mental health service use among university students following an episode of mass violence.

Objective: Episodes of mass violence can increase mental health (MH) symptoms among survivors, possibly leading to increased MH service use. Within the context of an episode of mass violence that impacted a university community, we prospectively explore the predisposing (demographics, clinical levels of MH symptoms, victimization history, objective exposure, and social support), enabling (MH stigma, prior MH service use,), and need (MH symptoms, current social support) variables that influence posttragedy MH service use.

Method: In the original study, 593 students completed surveys at 2 time points during their first year of college.

Measuring media exposure to acute mass violence.

Objective: Researchers have studied the influence of media exposure to acute mass violence (e.g., terror attack, mass shooting, etc.

Retrospective perceptions of power imbalance in childhood bullying among college students.

Objective: Bullying is characterized by differences in power between targets and aggressors. This study examines how experiences with power dynamics in childhood bullying are associated with symptoms of depression and anxiety in college.

Participants: First-year college students ( = 470) at four universities reported on childhood bullying victimization and power imbalance.

The influence of flood exposure and subsequent stressors on youth social-emotional health.

Most disaster mental health research focuses on the relationship between disaster exposure and distress, often neglecting its influence on social-emotional health, despite implications for resilience and well-being after the disaster. Following multiple floods in Texas, a sample of 486 youth aged 10-19 years old (M = 13.74 years, SD = 2.

Addressing Disaster Exposure Measurement Issues With Latent Class Analysis.

Disaster exposure can put survivors at greater risk for subsequent mental health (MH) problems. Within the field of disaster MH research, it is important to understand how the choice of analytic approaches and their implicit assumptions may affect results when using a disaster exposure measure. We compared different analytic strategies for quantifying disaster exposure and included a new analytic approach, latent class analysis (LCA), in a sample of parents and youth.

A naturalistic study exploring mental health outcomes following trauma-focused treatment among diverse survivors of crime and violence.

Background: Although considerable research has tested evidence-based practices in clinical trials, research is needed on the use of trauma-focused treatments by victims of crime and violence in naturalistic settings. This study investigated four trauma-focused treatments, prolonged exposure therapy (PE), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), eclectic therapy, and person-centered therapy (PCT), and assessed treatment dropout and symptom improvement over five assessment time-points.

Methods: Descriptive comparisons and pattern mixture multigroup growth models were used to assess differences between treatments on time in treatment, rate of dropout, and improvement in posttraumatic stress (PTSD) and depression symptoms in an outpatient sample of 526 clients seeking routine clinical care.

Perceived consequences of hazing exposure during the first year of college: Associations with childhood victimization.

This study investigates the association between histories of childhood victimization and perceived consequences of college hazing. First-year college students at four US universities ( = 120). Participants completed Web-based surveys asking about childhood victimization (eg, child maltreatment), peer victimization, and perceived consequences of hazing during college.

Initial evidence for the validity of the California Bullying Victimization Scale (CBVS-R) as a retrospective measure for adults.

Childhood bullying is an important predictor of psychological and health outcomes in adulthood; however, validated retrospective measures of childhood bullying are lacking. This study investigates the psychometric properties of an adult retrospective version of the California Bullying Victimization Scale (CBVS). The CBVS self-report measure was developed for use with children and adolescents to assess the three definitional characteristics of bullying (aggression that is chronic, intentional, and involves an imbalance of power), without using the term "bullying.

A Meta-Analysis of the Impact of Natural Disasters on Internalizing and Externalizing Problems in Youth.

Although exposure to natural disasters can lead to diverse mental health (MH) outcomes in youth, most child disaster MH research has focused on posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). To highlight the likelihood of other MH outcomes, we meta-analyzed studies that have examined other (non-PTSS) internalizing and externalizing behavior problems in youth exposed to natural disasters. We used PRISMA guidelines to systematically gather studies that have examined the association between natural disaster exposure and non-PTSS internalizing and/or externalizing problems in samples of children and adolescents.

Social and Contextual Influences on Mental Health Following an Episode of Mass Violence.

Few studies explore how the recovery context following an episode of mass violence affects posttragedy mental health (MH), despite clear implications for developing posttrauma supports. Following a mass murder, this prospective, longitudinal study examined how reactions to media coverage, family reactions, and disappointment in social support influenced posttragedy MH (posttraumatic stress, depression, anxiety), above and beyond the influence of pretragedy MH, pretragedy victimization, and objective exposure. University students who participated in a study of college adjustment prior to the mass murder ( = 593) were recontacted and provided information on their posttragedy life ( = 142).

Dating and Sexual Violence Research in the Schools: Balancing Protection of Confidentiality with Supporting the Welfare of Survivors.

Rigorous research and program evaluation are needed to understand the experience of dating and sexual violence among youth and the impact of prevention and intervention efforts. Our dilemma in doing this work occurred when youth disclosed dating and sexual violence on a research survey. What responsibility do researchers have to protect survivors' confidentiality as a research participant versus taking steps to ensure the student has the opportunity to access help? In our evaluation of a pilot dating violence prevention program, our protocols employed widely used procedures for providing resources to participants upon their completion of the survey and de-identifying survey data.

Protective Factors, Coping Appraisals, and Social Barriers Predict Mental Health Following Community Violence: A Prospective Test of Social Cognitive Theory.

This study tested social cognitive theory of posttraumatic adaptation in the context of mass violence, hypothesizing that pre-event protective factors (general self-efficacy and perceived social support) would reduce posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and depression severity through boosting post-event coping self-efficacy appraisals (mediator). We qualified hypotheses by predicting that post-event social support barriers would disrupt (moderate) the health-promoting indirect effects of pre-event protective factors. With a prospective longitudinal sample, we employed path models with bootstrapping resampling to test hypotheses.

University student voices on healing and recovery following tragedy.

Objective: Guided by conservation of resources theory, this study provides empirical data on students' psychosocial adjustment following a mass murder tragedy, what changed or did not change from their pretragedy adjustment levels, and their view on what helped most in the immediate aftermath.

Method: Students (n = 593) who participated in a study of college adjustment the year prior to a mass murder that affected the university community were recontacted following the tragedy, providing prospective, longitudinal data (n = 141 pretragedy Time 1 and posttragedy; n = 73 pretragedy Times 1 and 2 and posttragedy).

Results: For both anxiety and depression, repeated-measures analysis of variance showed a significant Time × Resource Loss interaction.

Family Influences on the Relationship Between Hurricane Exposure and .

This study focused on characteristics of the family environment that may influence the relationship between hurricane exposure and in Puerto Rican children and youth. Approximately 18 months after Hurricane Georges hit Puerto Rico in 1998, participants were randomly selected based on a probability household sample using 1990 US Census block groups. Caregivers and children were interviewed about past year and lifetime experience of , hurricane exposure, and the family environment in Spanish.

The Role of Peers in the Relation between Hurricane Exposure and Ataques de Nervios among Puerto Rican Adolescents.

Although a relation between disaster exposure and ataques de nervios () has been established in adult samples, little is known about this among youth, including factors that may moderate this relation. This study examined the role of the peer context in the relation between exposure to Hurricane Georges and experiencing a past year and lifetime among a representative community sample of 905 youth (N = 476 boys and 429 girls; ages 11-18) residing in Puerto Rico. Data were gathered from 1999-2000 in Puerto Rico, 12-27 months following Hurricane Georges.