The lives of youth with disabilities have changed radically in the past fifty years. Youth who are coming of age right now are the first generation to receive educational services throughout ...childhood and adolescence. Disability policies have opened up opportunities to youth, and they have responded by getting higher levels of education than ever before. Yet many youth are being left behind, compared to their peers without disabilities. Youth with disabilities often still face major obstacles to independence.InTheir Time Has Come, Valerie Leiter argues that there are crucial missing links between federal disability policies and the lives of young people. Youth and their parents struggle to gather information about the resources that disability policies have created, and youth are not typically prepared to use their disability rights effectively. Her argument is based on thorough examination of federal disability policy and interviews with young people with disabilities, their parents, and rehabilitation professionals. Attention is given to the diversity of expectations, the resources available to them, and the impact of federal policy and public and private attitudes on their transition to adulthood.
Aim: Many adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with T1D express a desire to meet others with T1D. We designed a pilot peer support program (DiaBuddies) and assessed feasibility of the match process ...and program implementation.
Methods: Eligible participants (13-25 years old) were recruited and enrolled virtually. After informed consent, participants completed questions about preferred match type (peer vs mentor vs mentee), personal interests, and reasons for entry. Study staff “matched” AYAs 1:1 based on shared interests and mutual preferences on match type. Matches were introduced by email and encouraged to interact using any modality (e.g., text, video, in-person) and frequency they preferred. Study staff did not monitor interactions.
Results: Eighteen AYAs (94% female, 89% non-Hispanic white, age 18.9±6.0, T1D duration 8.5±3.3 years) were enrolled from April-December 2022. Median time between first contact and consent was 14 days (range 4-63). The majority (83%) preferred a same-age peer match. Reasons for participation included: not knowing many people with T1D, wanting to discuss T1D with people who shared their experiences, and feeling eager to give advice and support. Six pairs (n=12) have been matched; median time between consent and match was 40 days (range 25-133). Unmatched participants (n=6) have been waiting a median of 131 days (range 21-196) for a suitable match. During the study, 2 participants expressed disappointment that their match was not responsive to messages, and 5 participants expressed excitement about knowing someone new with T1D.
Conclusion: The DiaBuddies pilot study presented challenges with virtual recruitment and matching AYAs on shared interests. Open-ended questions limited opportunity to match objectively, affecting participant wait time and possibly decreasing enthusiasm. Future programs should incorporate lessons learned by modifying the match process to better facilitate AYAs’ desired type and frequency of peer support.
Disclosure
P.Commissariat: None. H.L.Owens: None. L.K.Volkening: None. L.M.Laffel: Advisory Panel; Medtronic, Lilly Diabetes, Novo Nordisk, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, Roche Diagnostics, Provention Bio, Inc., Consultant; Dexcom, Inc., Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Medscape.
Funding
JDRF; National Institutes of Health (P30DK036836)
In high‐income countries, cancer remains the commonest cause of disease‐related death in adolescents and young adults (AYAs) despite survival improvements. With more than 1,000,000 new diagnoses of ...cancer in AYAs annually worldwide, and their number of life‐years affected by cancer being greatest of all ages, the global burden of cancer in AYAs exceeds that in all other ages. In low‐ and middle‐income countries, where the great majority of the world's 3 billion AYAs reside, the needs of those with cancer have been identified and demand attention. Unique to the age group but universal, the psychosocial challenges they face are the utmost across life's spectrum.
This lead‐off article of a new series in Pediatric Blood and Cancer on AYA oncology attempts to assess the global status of this emerging discipline. The review includes the changing incidence and survival of the common cancers in AYAs—there is no other age group with a similar array of malignancies—and the specific challenges to quality and quantity of life that compromise their lives.
To systematically review and meta-analyse how physical activity (PA) changes from adolescence to early adulthood (13-30 years).
Seven electronic databases were searched: Medline, Embase, PsycInfo, ...SCOPUS, ASSIA, SPORTdiscus and Web of Science.
English-language, longitudinal studies (from 01/1980 to 01/2017) assessing PA ≥twice, with the mean age of ≥1 measurement in adolescence (13-19 years) and ≥1 in young adulthood (16-30 years) were included. Where possible, data were converted to moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) min/day, and meta-analyses were conducted between weighted mean differences (WMDs) in adolescence and adulthood. Heterogeneity was explored using meta-regression.
Of 67 included studies, 49 were eligible for meta-analysis. PA was lower during adulthood than adolescence WMD (95% CI) -5.2 (-7.3 to -3.1) min/day MVPA over mean (SD) 3.4 (2.6) years; heterogeneity was high (I
>99.0%), and no predictors explained this variation (all p>0.05). When we restricted analysis to studies with data for males (n=29) and females (n=30) separately, there were slightly larger declines in WMD (-6.5 (-10.6 to -2.3) and -5.5 (-8.4 to -2.6) min/day MVPA) (both I
>99.0%). For studies with accelerometer data (n=9), the decline was -7.4 (-11.6 to -3.1) and longer follow-up indicated more of a decline in WMD (95% CI) (-1.9 (-3.6 to -0.2) min/day MVPA), explaining 27.0% of between-study variation. Of 18 studies not eligible for meta-analysis, nine statistically tested change over time: seven showed a decline and two showed no change.
PA declines modestly between adolescence and young adulthood. More objective longitudinal PA data (eg, accelerometry) over this transition would be valuable, as would investigating how PA change is associated with contemporaneous social transitions to better inform PA promotion interventions.
PROSPERO ref:CRD42015030114.
•College students report poorer well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic•Mood disorder symptoms, perceived stress, and alcohol use increase during COVID-19•Concern about COVID-19 is positively ...associated with symptom levels•White students report more COVID-19 impact than do African American students
The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant disruption during the spring of 2020. Many college students were told to leave campus at spring break and to complete the semester remotely. This study evaluates effects of this disruption on student well-being. Measures of psychological symptoms, perceived stress, and alcohol use during the pandemic were completed by 148 students in spring 2020 and 352 students in fall 2020 at a university in the southeastern U.S. Results from both cohorts were compared to 240 students who completed the same measures in the fall 2019 semester. Participants in spring 2020 reported more mood disorder symptoms, perceived stress, and alcohol use than did pre-pandemic participants and worry about COVID-19 was negatively associated with well-being. By fall 2020 symptoms had largely returned to pre-pandemic levels. In general, White students reported a greater effect of the pandemic on well-being than did African American students. Young adults appear to be less vulnerable to the most serious medical complications associated with COVID-19, but nonetheless experience psychological effects from the pandemic. Universities and practitioners who work with college students can help young adults manage their symptoms and avoid behaviors like risky alcohol use when confronted with stressors such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
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