A digitally enhanced home-based physical activity intervention for high-risk middle school youth during COVID-19

COVID-19 significantly impacted physical activity among high-risk youth. Camp from Home, a digitally enhanced home-based intervention, was developed to address physical activity disparities among middle school youth during COVID-19. Camp from Home enrolled 62 youth in 54 families from five schools in Philadelphia during the summer of 2020. The 6-week intervention comprised of (1) three home deliveries of “activity kits” including exercise equipment and activity booklets, (2) asynchronous sport and exercise videos posted to a private YouTube channel, and (3) supportive text-messages from health coaches. YouTube analytics and self-report surveys completed by parents and youth at baseline and at the end of programming were used to assess engagement, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy. Youth participants were 12.4 (1.2) years, 38.7% female and 90.3% Black/African American. At follow-up, 41 parents (75.9%) and 34 youth (54.8%) completed measures. Youth self-reported increases in self-efficacy (ΔM(sd) = 0.4(1.0), p = .03) and physical activity (ΔM(sd) = 4.2(7.9), p = .004), despite suboptimal engagement in digital program components. Overall, participants highly rated the program. Activity kits and text-messages from health coaches were rated as most helpful. Most parents (95.1%) and youth (83.8%) expressed interested in participating again in the future. A 6-week digitally enhanced, home-based physical activity intervention was acceptable and feasible among parents and youth during the summer of 2020, with youth reporting improvements in self-efficacy and physical activity. Summer programs are critical for reducing disparities in physical activity and hold potential for addressing key barriers for high-risk youth even outside the context of COVID-19.

Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Outcomes

This chapter identifies some of the main barriers and available supports that allow students with disabilities to participate in vocational rehabilitation (VR) transition programs. VR is a US federal program that attempts (as one of its goals) to introduce students with disabilities to employment experiences while they are still in school. The program uses access to paid internships and vocational counseling among several other components as key mechanisms to pursue its objectives. The chapter describes how the program is introduced from a best-practices perspective and proposes a conceptual model that highlights the individual, organizational, and contextual factors affecting employment outcomes for youth with disabilities. It also introduces the concept of entrepreneurship as another way to support the transition of high school youth with disabilities and discuss the implications of VR programs and supports on the employment outcomes of youth with disabilities.

Freire’s Time: Unlocking Energy and Options for Out-of-School Youth in Jordan

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"You have to vape to make it through": E-cigarette Outcome Expectancies among Youth and Parents

Objectives: Outcome expectancies are central to explaining health behavior and have been shown to predict tobacco use. Research on outcome expectancies for e-cigarette use among youth is scarce but increasingly important given the growing rates of use, particularly of high-nicotine pod devices and the recent outbreak of e-cigarette related lung disease. Methods: In 2019, we conducted 3 focus groups with middle school youth (N=25), 5 with high school youth (N=38), and 4 with parents (N=27). Youth and parents were not related and groups included both users and non-users. Participants discussed reasons for e-cigarette use and bad and good things that might happen to a person who vapes. Results: Participants described positive and negative psychoactive/sensory, social, and health-related outcome expectancies. Both youth and parents mentioned stress relief and appearing older as positive outcome expectancies, and e-cigarette flavors, acting rebellious, and structural opportunities as other reasons for initiating e-cigarette use. Social consequences and health outcomes were negative outcome expectancies deterring use. Conclusions: Regulations and public communication campaigns can counteract the positive outcome expectancies (flavor regulation, providing stress reduction tips) and capitalize on negative ones (communicating negative health outcomes) to decrease youth e-cigarette use.