Background: Youth-focused co-design, involving active collaboration between researchers, designers, clinicians and end users, is essential for enhancing the acceptability, feasibility and effectiveness of digital mental health interventions (DMHIs). However, most literature on co-design comes from high-income countries and offers limited…

Engagement in preventive health behaviors (PHBs; i.e., healthy eating, sleep, and physical activity) during adolescence is associated with reduced risks for chronic conditions, such as diabetes, in adulthood. Although several interventions seek to improve adolescents' engagement in health promoting behaviors, racial- and income-based disparities…

Identity formation is a fundamental developmental process that has significant consequences for youth adjustment during adolescence and beyond. This article presents evidence indicating that ethnic-racial identity, specifically, is an important developmental competency on which prevention science should focus in the interest of promoting positive…

Research suggests that the process of adolescents exploring and developing clarity about their ethnic-racial identity (ERI) is an important developmental competency. However, the extent to which individuals view their ERI as central to their overall self-concept (i.e., ERI centrality) informs the degree to which they choose to explore their ERI,…

According to the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013), an substance use disorder (SUD) involves patterns of symptoms caused by using a substance that an individual continues taking despite its negative effects. Though there are 11 specific DSM-5 criteria for an SUD, they…

This review aimed at identifying specific features of PYD interventions with a PA component that appear most promising at reducing bullying behaviors among pre- and early adolescents. We reviewed articles that included PYD interventions with a PA component among pre- and early adolescents aged 8-14 years from five databases and found seven studies…

Background: ADHD is a generally persistent neurodevelopmental condition that can have significant consequences if left untreated, and medication, often in conjunction with psychotherapy, is the first-line treatment with well-established efficacy. Adolescents and young adults (AYAs) represent a particularly vulnerable and understudied subgroup and…

Purpose: Adolescents and adults with Down syndrome are noted to display symptoms and behaviors consistent with a diagnosis of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. While evidenced-based interventions, including psychopharmacology and therapeutic interventions including exposure and response prevention, exist and effectively treat obsessive-compulsive…

Chronic absenteeism is a public health concern. School refusal due to emotional distress is one reason students exhibit chronic absenteeism. The objective of this systematic review was to determine potential aspects of interventions, in school settings or involving a school-based component, that are successful in addressing school refusal among…

Purpose: Stress is a risk factor for poor educational achievement and health. Mindfulness-based programming (MBP) is a viable technology for reducing stress, and Mindful Stress Buffering theory suggests that the benefits of MBP will be most pronounced during periods of high stress. This research details a replication of the MBP "Learning to…

Background: Individuals with intellectual disability have deficits in postural balance and mobility. This study aimed to explore the effect of listening to music on postural balance and mobility in individuals with intellectual disability. Method: Ten participants with intellectual disability and 10 participants with typical development performed…

Background: This review aimed to synthesise the literature about interventions for parents of adolescents with intellectual disability, including parental experience of receiving interventions and intervention effectiveness. Methods: Eligible interventions aimed to improve parenting skills and/or parent-adolescent relationships, adolescent…

Repeat adolescent pregnancy is a public health problem worldwide. Different interventions aimed at increasing the use of contraception and preventing repeat pregnancies have been implemented and their effectiveness has been evaluated. This systematic review evaluates the results of the efficacy of diverse interventions for contraceptive use and…

Purpose: We investigated the effects of classroom-based physical activity (CBPA) interventions on academic performance and assessed the impact of different CBPA elements on academic performance. Methods: Relevant experimental studies in four databases were searched from their inception to September 2022. Random effects models were used to compute…

Mindfulness-based programs have become popular, empirically supported treatment modalities for increasing positive psychological outcomes for children and adolescents, with an overall effect size of 0.4. We argue for implementing community-based participatory research (CBPR) methodology to investigate the specific effects of mindfulness-based…