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1. A Pandemic of Mental Health: Evidence from the U.S.

   https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijdsa.20241004.12  

   Coleman, Ed; Innocent, Jhavon; Kircher, Sarah; Montesinos-Yufa, Hugo; Trauger, McKade (September 2024, International Journal of Data Science and Analysis)

   The direct impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the indirect impact of the ensuing economic and political response have affected the United States on a large scale. We document a substantial surge in anxiety and depression symptoms from 2019 to 2020 driven by the young adult population, indicating a disproportional indirect impact on the young. Multivariate regression analysis was utilized to quantify the stringency of state responses’ indirect effect on the changes in anxiety or depression symptoms during the pandemic. While we observe a slight decline in the share of the adult population experiencing anxiety and depression through July 2021- June 2022, such decline does not compensate for the large surge of mental health issues among young adults in 2020. Overall, our results indicate that the effects of the stringency of the mitigation measures on different areas of health are complex and vary by state, with a wide variation of mental health-related issues by age group and a higher prevalence in younger adult age categories. After discussing inequities in the accessibility of mental health treatment, lack of health insurance, and implications for quality of life among young adults, this paper adds to the breadth of ongoing COVID-19 research and emphasizes the importance of considering the overall health of the population in a large-scale health crisis as well as discussing the potential unintended consequences of the mitigation measures put in place. 

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2. Supporting factors in Native American engineering students’ pursuit of engineering careers

   Koithan, Emily; Schmitt-Morris, Morgan; Wang, Yuqing; Turner, Sherri L. (March 2019, University of Minnesota College of Education and Human Development Research Day)

   For Native American young people, paradoxical cultural pressure (i.e., pressure to do well academically while maintaining tribal identity; Komives et al., 2011), and a lack of academic preparation have been cited as barriers to their academic and career success (Jackson, Smith, & Hill, 2003); however, there is little research regarding the supports that these young people receive. This type of research is especially critical for careers where Native American students are underrepresented, such as in engineering (with Native Americans who comprise almost 2% of the U.S. population comprise only 0.4% of engineers and 0.2% of engineering faculty; NACME, 2014). To tease out differences in how Native American students are supported in their engineering career development compared to students from the dominant cultural group in engineering, we conducted a study with 50 Native American and 50 Caucasian American undergraduate and graduate engineering students. ANOVA’s showed that Caucasian American and Native American students had the same level of interest in pursuing an engineering career; however, Caucasian American students reported greater emotional and instrumental support from parents, school personnel, and peers for studying engineering. Results will be interpreted in light of how educational equity in areas of supporting Native American engineering students can be accomplished. This research was conducted by Emily Koithan, Morgan Schmitt-Morris, Yuqing Wang (Undergraduate Research Scholars [URS]), and Dr. Sherri Turner (Educational Psychology), and colleagues. 

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3. Preventing Cardiovascular Disease Among Urban African Americans With a Mobile Health App (the MOYO App): Protocol for a Usability Study

   https://doi.org/10.2196/16699  

   Taylor Jr, Herman A; Francis, Sherilyn; Evans, Chad Ray; Harvey, Marques; Newton, Brittney A; Jones, Camara P; Akintobi, Tabia Henry; Clifford, Gari (January 2020, JMIR Research Protocols)

   null (Ed.)

   Background Cardiovascular disease (CVD) disparities are a particularly devastating manifestation of health inequity. Despite advancements in prevention and treatment, CVD is still the leading cause of death in the United States. Additionally, research indicates that African American (AA) and other ethnic-minority populations are affected by CVD at earlier ages than white Americans. Given that AAs are the fastest-growing population of smartphone owners and users, mobile health (mHealth) technologies offer the unparalleled potential to prevent or improve self-management of chronic disease among this population. Objective To address the unmet need for culturally tailored primordial prevention CVD–focused mHealth interventions, the MOYO app was cocreated with the involvement of young people from this priority community. The overall project aims to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of a novel smartphone app designed to reduce CVD risk factors among urban-AAs, 18-29 years of age. Methods The theoretical underpinning will combine the principles of community-based participatory research and the agile software development framework. The primary outcome goals of the study will be to determine the usability, acceptability, and functionality of the MOYO app, and to build a cloud-based data collection infrastructure suitable for digital epidemiology in a disparity population. Changes in health-related parameters over a 24-week period as determined by both passive (eg, physical activity levels, sleep duration, social networking) and active (eg, use of mood measures, surveys, uploading pictures of meals and blood pressure readings) measures will be the secondary outcome. Participants will be recruited from a majority AA “large city” school district, 2 historically black colleges or universities, and 1 urban undergraduate college. Following baseline screening for inclusion (administered in person), participants will receive the beta version of the MOYO app. Participants will be monitored during a 24-week pilot period. Analyses of varying data including social network dynamics, standard metrics of activity, percentage of time away from a given radius of home, circadian rhythm metrics, and proxies for sleep will be performed. Together with external variables (eg, weather, pollution, and socioeconomic indicators such as food access), these metrics will be used to train machine-learning frameworks to regress them on the self-reported quality of life indicators. Results This 5-year study (2015-2020) is currently in the implementation phase. We believe that MOYO can build upon findings of classical epidemiology and longitudinal studies like the Jackson Heart Study by adding greater granularity to our knowledge of the exposures and behaviors that affect health and disease, and creating a channel for outreach capable of launching interventions, clinical trials, and enhancements of health literacy. Conclusions The results of this pilot will provide valuable information about community cocreation of mHealth programs, efficacious design features, and essential infrastructure for digital epidemiology among young AA adults. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) DERR1-10.2196/16699 

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4. Rehabilitation Using Mobile Health for Older Adults With Ischemic Heart Disease in the Home Setting (RESILIENT): Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial

   https://doi.org/10.2196/32163  

   Dodson, John A; Schoenthaler, Antoinette; Sweeney, Greg; Fonceva, Ana; Pierre, Alicia; Whiteson, Jonathan; George, Barbara; Marzo, Kevin; Drewes, Wendy; Rerisi, Elizabeth; et al (January 2022, JMIR Research Protocols)

   Background Participation in ambulatory cardiac rehabilitation remains low, especially among older adults. Although mobile health cardiac rehabilitation (mHealth-CR) provides a novel opportunity to deliver care, age-specific impairments may limit older adults’ uptake, and efficacy data are currently lacking. Objective This study aims to describe the design of the rehabilitation using mobile health for older adults with ischemic heart disease in the home setting (RESILIENT) trial. Methods RESILIENT is a multicenter randomized clinical trial that is enrolling patients aged ≥65 years with ischemic heart disease in a 3:1 ratio to either an intervention (mHealth-CR) or control (usual care) arm, with a target sample size of 400 participants. mHealth-CR consists of a commercially available mobile health software platform coupled with weekly exercise therapist sessions to review progress and set new activity goals. The primary outcome is a change in functional mobility (6-minute walk distance), which is measured at baseline and 3 months. Secondary outcomes are health status, goal attainment, hospital readmission, and mortality. Among intervention participants, engagement with the mHealth-CR platform will be analyzed to understand the characteristics that determine different patterns of use (eg, persistent high engagement and declining engagement). Results As of December 2021, the RESILIENT trial had enrolled 116 participants. Enrollment is projected to continue until October 2023. The trial results are expected to be reported in 2024. Conclusions The RESILIENT trial will generate important evidence about the efficacy of mHealth-CR among older adults in multiple domains and characteristics that determine the sustained use of mHealth-CR. These findings will help design future precision medicine approaches to mobile health implementation in older adults. This knowledge is especially important in light of the COVID-19 pandemic that has shifted much of health care to a remote, internet-based setting. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03978130; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03978130 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) DERR1-10.2196/32163 

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5. COVID‐19‐related anxiety: How do coping and optimism relate to substance use in African–American young adults?

   https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.22863  

   Singleton, Gwendolyn; Johnson, Leona; Singleton, Nkosi; Li, Huijun (April 2022, Journal of Community Psychology)

   The COVID–19 pandemic has greatly affected college students nationwide. Recent research suggests that theCOVID–19 pandemic has disproportionately impactedAfrican–American young adults. The infection case rates, hospitalizations, and death rates in African–American populations are 2–5 times higher than among White populations. The intergenerational trauma and systemic racism that African–Americans have faced in past and present times have fomented conditions that lead to vulnerability within this historically resilient community.These stresses and losses increase the risks of anxiety and substance use. This study examined the relationship between COVID‐19‐related anxiety and substance use, and how adaptive coping and optimism influence this relationship in African–Americans young adults. Results reveal that COVID‐related anxiety predicts alcohol and drug use. Optimism and adaptive coping are related to lower pandemic‐related anxiety, alcohol, and drug use among African-American young adults. 

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