Resumen

Challenges for children and youth have been exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic, with rates of depression and anxiety doubling. It has highlighted the need to find innovative and accessible approaches to help and engage youth to find their own ways to solve mental health issues. Guided by Self-Determination Theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000) and the Pathway for Participation Framework (Shier, 2001), a gamification-based (Seaborn & Fels, 2015) co-creation group project was conducted to engage youth in developing web application for the prevention of and intervention on mental health issues. Between April and July 2022, four web application co-creation groups were conducted with 29 youth (aged 12-17) in Canada. Each group met once for 2.5 hours. During the group meeting, the participants tested and discussed the strengths and limitations of two existing mobile apps developed to address youth mental health issues. They also reviewed and modified an app prototype developed by the project team, which was designed based on a market analysis of over 40 compatible products, for the next round of testing. Seven main categories of features were deemed by youth participants in this study as important considerations in the development of a web-based application or mobile app for addressing youth mental health issues, including: tracking one’s progress, providing mental health information, having a “sharing” function, relaxation exercise/games, simplicity of the device, personalization options, and engaging visuals. Findings of the program evaluation on the co-creation groups were positive and in alignment with the project objectives in the areas of developing the sense of worth, building social connections, doing something meaningful, working and problem solving with others, and having fun while struggling with the impact of the pandemic. The Use of technology-mediated gamification to support youth mental health will be further discussed in this presentation.

Palabras Clave (separar con comas)

Youth, Mental Health, Technology

Resumen

Race-based stress, such as experiences of racial discrimination, is associated with dissociative symptoms, a common response to trauma exposure. Prior research is limited by a failure to control for non-race-based trauma and a focus on daily experiences of racial discrimination instead of collective experiences suggested by a historical trauma approach. Furthermore, less is known about Black Americans in rural communities. This study addresses these gaps by examining associations between perceived racial discrimination (PRD), adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), and dissociative symptoms among a sample of Black Americans living in underserved, rural communities in the U.S. South.This cross-sectional study collected data from 184 participants across 5 rural sites in Alabama. The Brief Dissociative Experiences Scale measured dissociative symptoms. The ACEs questionnaire assessed experiences of maltreatment and other forms of household dysfunction during childhood. A subscale of the African American Historical Trauma questionnaire measured PRD. Psychological distress (symptoms of depression and anxiety) was measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire-4. Binary logistic regression was used to examine the relationship between PRD and dissociative symptoms (0 = mild/no symptoms, 1= moderate/severe symptoms) while controlling for covariates.\ Nearly 10% of the sample had moderate or severe dissociative symptoms. The mean number of ACEs was 1.89 (SD=2.32). Twenty-two percent had ≥ 4 ACEs, above the national average of 17.3%. The mean PRD score was 8.81 (SD=4.76, range = 0-15). At the bivariate level, ACEs score and PRD was positively associated with dissociative symptoms. In the adjusted model, PRD was not associated with dissociative symptoms. ACEs score (OR = 1.79, 95% CI = 1.12, 2.87) and psychological distress (OR = 1.42, 95% CI = 1.05, 1.92) was associated with higher odds of moderate or severe dissociative symptoms. These findings underscore the importance of timely assessment of childhood trauma and referral to mental health services in underserved communities.\ 

Palabras Clave (separar con comas)

Race-based trauma, adverse childhood experiences, rural poverty, dissociation