Background: The COVID-19 crisis is creating unprecedented disruptions to the U.S. education system. Closures of schools across the country, while an important virus mitigation strategy, have come with negative consequences, including increases in family stress, decreases in children’s engagement with academics, disruptions to children’s social relationships, and declines in both parent and child mental health.

School-based mental health providers (SBMHPs) are an untapped resource for supporting families during this time. The goal of this study is to establish the acceptability, appropriateness, and preliminary efficacy of a brief evidence-informed SBMHP-provided intervention, for parents of students in grades 3-6 to improve family well-being and child academic and mental health outcomes.

Methods: SBMHP and family reports of acceptability and participation rates will be described. Exploratory analyses will examine changes in measures of parent and child well-being, including child behavior, academic success and family mental health, pre- and post-intervention.

Results: Preliminary results from an initial pilot phase have indicated positive evaluations of feasibility and efficacy on the part of SBMHPs and families. Data collection from a larger second phase, including measures of change in parent and child well-being, will be completed by June 2021.

Conclusions: Even beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, there is exciting potential for schools to more effectively support parents to improve child academic and mental health outcomes. Schools are well-positioned to fill the significant implementation gap between effective, evidence-based parent supports and the accessibility of these supports to most families.

background: Food insecurity—the inability to purchase enough food to meet nutritional needs—is associated with negative outcomes and prevalent among U.S. college students. Food insecurity may reasonably have been exacerbated by secondary effects of the COVID-19 pandemic; thus, this cross-sectional study assessed changes in college students’ food insecurity from before to during the pandemic, and how these changes varied based on student characteristics.

methods: In August-November, 2020, 779 students from a public university in the Pacific Northwest, U.S.A. responded to a Qualtrics survey assessing pre-pandemic and current food insecurity (USDA 6-item short-form food security scale), and demographic variables: student status (undergraduate/graduate; U.S./international), sexual orientation (heterosexual/lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, asexual, or pansexual [LGBQAP]), loss of income (any/none), and race/ethnicity (White, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino/a/x, Asian/Asian American, or Other).

results: Reported food insecurity in February 2020 was 46.8% and 47.3% in August-November 2020. Repeated measures ANCOVA tests revealed that, overall, students did not experience a significant change in food insecurity (p =.067) when controlling for all demographic variables. Controlling for all other demographic variables, food insecurity did not vary by student status (undergraduate/graduate, p = .944; U.S./international, p =.362) or race/ethnicity (p = .189), but increased significantly among students who identified as LGBQAP (p < .01), and those who experienced a loss of income (p < .001).

conclusions: Programs are needed that promote food security among all college students, with emphasis on students who identify as LGBQAP and those who have lost income due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Causeway Galveston (CG) provides an integrated, multi-tiered system of social and emotional learning (SEL) and mental health supports for students as well as SEL professional development and coaching for school staff. Our team analyzed the implementation of CG by exploring student knowledge, teacher perceptions, and SEL/mental health staff support on three secondary school campuses.

Methods: Students, teachers, and SEL/mental health staff were recruited from three secondary campuses to participate in four focus groups discussions (FGDs) (N=23) and four semi-structured interviews (N=4). Data was analyzed utilizing a primary and secondary coder strategy, with each transcript coded by individually and then themes mutually agreed on by both coders.

Results: Four themes emerged from the data analyses process: SEL 1) was beneficial for students and adults; 2) needs to be tailored for students, teachers, SEL/mental health staff, and schools; 3) is a vehicle for social change; and 4) provided needed support and connection during the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings suggest that administrator buy-in drives a stronger SEL community, tailoring SEL to schools and school districts leads to an enhanced experience for the school community, and relationships are the foundation for building a successful SEL community. Furthermore, implementation is enhanced when both adults and students buy-in and engage with SEL.

Conclusions: The findings are essential for researchers and advocates in the school mental health field and can be used to inform future SEL and mental health implementation within other school districts.

Background: Due to minority stress, sexual minority students experience higher rates of absenteeism and school-related violence (SRV) than heterosexual students. Feeling unsafe at school may lead to increased absenteeism and weapon-carrying among students.

Methods: Data were combined from the 2015, 2017, and 2019 national Youth Risk Behavior Surveys to produce nationally representative samples of US high school students who identified as gay/lesbian (n=1,061); bisexual (n=3,210); not sure (n=1,696); or heterosexual (n=35,819). Associations were examined between three SRV exposures (being threatened/injured with a weapon at school; being bullied at school; being in a physical fight at school) and two outcomes (school absence due to safety concerns; weapon-carrying at school). In each sample, multivariable logistic regression models were used to calculate prevalence ratios (APRs) adjusted for sex; race/ethnicity; grade; current alcohol use; current marijuana use; offered/sold drugs at school; feeling sad/hopeless; and suicidal thoughts. APRs were considered statistically significant if 95%CIs did not include 1.0.

Results: SRV exposures were associated with school absence due to safety concerns and weapon-carrying at school among each sexual identity group. School absence and weapon-carrying were associated with being threatened/injured with a weapon at school among gay/lesbian (APR=3.00 and APR=3.22, respectively); bisexual (APR=3.66 and APR=3.96, respectively); not sure (APR=4.56 and APR=6.55, respectively); and heterosexual students (APR=3.75 and APR=3.02, respectively).

Conclusions: Associations between school absenteeism, weapon-carrying at school, and SRV exposures exist in each sexual identity group. Implementing programs that provide safe and supportive school environments may result in reduced absenteeism and weapon-carrying at school among all students.