Journal of School Health最新文献

Background: Few studies have investigated how heat impacts play from the perspective of children. The purpose of this study was to explore children's experiences of recess play during high temperatures.

Methods: We used the draw-and-tell method to retrospectively explore the experiences of recess during hot weather among students (N = 38) between the ages of 5-12 attending four elementary schools in one school district in Arizona (United States). Students were asked to imagine themselves at recess on a hot day, select their preferred playground picture (shaded or unshaded), draw a picture of themselves in the playground, and explain their drawings. Drawings and narrations were analyzed using content analysis and constant comparative methods.

Results: Most students (89%) selected the playground picture with shade. Four themes describing students' experiences were found: (a) discomfort, (b) self-awareness of heat affecting health and safety, (c) influence of heat on play and physical activity, and (d) adaptive strategies for managing heat during recess.

Conclusions: Students are aware that playing outside in the heat has the potential to negatively impact their health and adapt their play to occur in the shade.

Implications for school health policy, practice, and equity: Outdoor school play spaces should increase access to shade.

Background: Universal, classroom-based mental health literacy (MHL) curricula are associated with improved mental health knowledge, attitudes, and help-seeking behaviors. Young adolescents are an ideal target given their need for and receptivity toward MHL education.

Methods: We conducted a scoping review to identify universal, school-based MHL programs primarily for students aged 10-14 years, with adequate descriptions of curriculum implementation and content, and measured outcomes.

Findings: Thirty-one articles describing 24 programs met the inclusion criteria. The content and educational strategies varied, with no two programs having the same curriculum. The studies show promising results for improvement in mental health knowledge, attitudes, help-seeking, and student mental health.

Implications for school health policy, practice, and equity: Collaborative work between educational and mental health professionals, along with rigorous study of outcomes, aiming to reach a consensus on a core MHL curriculum and best implementation practices, will advance efforts to improve MHL.

Conclusions: This scoping review confirmed that existing universal, school-based MHL programs for middle school-aged students improve mental health knowledge. The programs are diverse, and their outcomes are often challenging to compare. Ongoing study in this field to optimize design and implementation for improved effectiveness is needed.

Background: Schools play a key role in children's health. Following COVID-19, programs that promote students' well-being are needed more than ever. This study examines the continuation of a wellness initiative in Anchorage, Alaska, in the 2021-2022 school year.

Methods: Interviews were conducted with n = 25 principals and cafeteria managers. Content analyses of the qualitative data were conducted using an immersion/crystallization approach. Codes were grouped to create themes contained under larger domains.

Results: All schools continued aspects of the wellness initiative following COVID-19. Principals and cafeteria managers indicated: recess, movement opportunities, and longer lunch periods are important for mental health, socialization, and relationship building; COVID-19 exacerbated previous challenges with staffing shortages; additional pressure for the academic time made scheduling the wellness initiative challenging; longer lunch periods give younger students time to eat but cause poor behavior in older students which were alleviated through supportive strategies; and 30-minute recess and movement breaks offer more time to move, reset, and focus on schoolwork.

Implications for school health policy, practice, and equity: The study underscores the importance of school administrators integrating wellness initiatives into their policies, with buy-in from school and district leadership.

Conclusions: This study highlights the need for and importance of school wellness initiatives following COVID-19 extended school closures.

Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a common injury in children. Though research on youth TBI has largely focused on high school students, this study describes selected school outcomes after TBI in the past 12 months among children aged 5-17 years.

Methods: Data from parent-proxy respondents from the pilot administration of the National Concussion Surveillance System (a random-digit-dial telephone survey with over 10,000 adult respondents) were examined. Descriptive statistics of demographic and injury characteristics of children who sustained a TBI were calculated. The association between TBI signs/symptoms and selected school outcomes were determined by multinomial logistic regressions.

Results: Among the 3557 children sampled via parent-proxy-reporting, 9.9% sustained a TBI in the past year. Changes in sleep or being more tired than usual, trouble concentrating, sensitivity to light or noise, and difficulty learning or remembering new things were associated with a greater risk of worse school outcomes following a TBI.

Implications for school health policy, practice, and equity: To promote a positive return to learn (RTL) experience among children following TBI, school districts may prioritize accommodations (e.g., breaks in learning, extra time for assignments) and implement existing ascending levels of academic support where warranted.

Conclusion: These findings may inform stakeholders seeking to enhance RTL and provide needed support or services for school-aged children who sustain a TBI.

Background: School violence is a significant public health concern. Most perpetrators exhibit psychosocial and behavioral warning signals which are often inadequately addressed. While policy and funding typically reinforce politically popular target hardening and threat assessment strategies, these are not most supported by research or requested by education faculty and administration.

Theoretical contributions: The most common threats to school safety are ubiquitous events causing students to feel disconnected, alienated, isolated, and unsafe in school. Theoretical and empirical research indicates that focusing on rare but extreme school violence is less productive than preventative approaches including universal socio-emotional programs, mental health supports, and climate and culture building to produce effective strategies for safe school environments.

Implications for school health policy, practice, and equity: Comprehensive school safety plans should include three essential preventative components: (1) targeted, student-centered approaches addressing social, emotional, and behavioral wellbeing; (2) equity-focused institutional culture and climate approaches aligned with appropriate disciplinary strategies; and (3) well-defined target hardening, threat assessment and reporting measures.

Conclusions: Increasing evidence suggests that keeping schools safe requires coordinated approaches to school safety including student-centered psycho-social behavioral initiatives, systematic attention to equitable culture and climate, and meaningful, racially sensitive target hardening coordinated among and between service professionals.