RESEARCH
By Kim Eckart and Hannelore Sudermann
By now we know that the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a particular toll on the mental health of young people. In December, the U.S. surgeon general issued an advisory on protecting youth mental health, calling on individuals, families, organizations, governments and others to take action. Within households, we can make some easy and immediate options available, experts say. A recent UW and Harvard University study surveyed more than 200 Seattle-area children and teens before the pandemic and then during the initial lockdown phase as well as several months later. The study found that adequate sleep, a daily routine and limited screen time could help.
The spread of COVID-19, economic hardships and social isolation, especially during the first several months of the pandemic, fomented stress, anxiety and depression among children and teens alike, the study found. Top stressors for kids were exposure to seemingly frightening media coverage of the coronavirus; the extensive, and passive, use of screens—whether on phones, TVs or computers; and disrupted routines and sleep patterns. “The biggest thing that we hope parents take from the study is that while youth mental health has been negatively impacted by the pandemic, there are some simple steps that families can take that may have a positive impact,” says one of the authors, Maya Rosen, a former UW postdoctoral researcher now at Harvard University. The study involved two groups of Seattle-area children ages 7 to 10 and teens ages 13 to 15 who were already participating in research on youth mental health and behavior prior to the pandemic. Psychology Professor Liliana Lengua started following families when the children were 3 years old. Her work provided the team with a baseline with which to evaluate
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Simple Steps to Improve Youth Mental Health
CATARACTS AND DEMENTIA Cataracts affect mostly older adults, including those at risk for dementia. Now UW researchers have found strong evidence that cataract surgery is associated with a lower risk of developing dementia. Using a Seattle-based observational study of more than 5,000 participants, researchers found that those who had cataract surgery had nearly 30% lower risk of developing dementia compared with those who did not. This lowered risk persisted for at least a decade after surgery. Cataract surgery was also associated with lower risk of Alzheimer's disease dementia specifically. The results were recently reported in the medical journal JAMA Internal Medicine.
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ubookstore.com IN PRAISE OF PRAISE
Books, Husky gear, and more—just across from the light rail station.
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UW MAGAZINE
A Foster School of Business study shows that businesses that praise workers for behaviors that prevent the spread of infectious diseases like COVID-19 may work better than using shame. Marketing Professor Nidhi Agrawal and Lea Dunn, an assistant professor, determined that social media messaging promoting preventive behaviors worked when aligning tone with the politics of the recipients. Encouraging with praise motivated political conservatives to search out health information from credible sources and increased their adoption of practices like social distancing and wearing masks. According to news stories and reports over the summer, political conservatives have been the most resistant to vaccination. “While sometimes a powerful motivator, shame only works when individuals perceive they are violating well-established social norms,” explains Agrawal. “Without these norms in conservative communities, shame may create defensiveness that impedes the critical first step of information-seeking and subsequent distancing behaviors.”
