Youth-Nex

New research by our Dr. Lauren Mims & colleagues ask, "How do direct & vicarious racism & connectedness in school contexts matter for adolescent suicidality?"

Suicide-related fatality has disproportionately risen among racial–ethnic minoritized youth in the past decade and remains at high levels for white youth. This study identifies direct and school-level, vicarious racism and connectedness to the educational system as potential pathways underlying suicidal thoughts and psychological distress among both racial–ethnic minoritized and white youth.

Read more: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jora.70164

: Meet Dr. Shereen El Mallah who can speak at your next event!

Shereen is a scholar-activist who is passionate about using research to challenge & dismantle systemic inequities within education, including policies, practices & curricula. She is available to provide research- or practitioner-focused workshops or talks!

Read more: https://youthnexdrive.virginia.edu/shereen-el-mallah-2026-speaker

How do you know what is moodiness & when it may be more for young people?

For BIPOC Mental Health Month, our alumna Dr. Rivens helps us understand teen depression. She shares 6 tips of what adults can say & do to teens who may have difficulty asking for help when experiencing high levels of anger. How can you look beyond teen “moodiness” to provide real support?

Read more: https://youthnexdrive.virginia.edu/depression-teens-when-its-more-moodiness

Nearly 1 in 5 students attending public schools in the U.S. is utilizing school-based mental health services. Given this, how can professional development better support school mental health professionals?

Doctoral candidate Simon Daniel discusses new research on how PD can support the diversity of school-based mental health providers. He says, "We have many different kinds of professionals in schools that deliver crucial mental health services, including counselors, psychologists, social workers, nurses, and others. These professionals have highly specialized training that often overlap in the area of youth mental health, but there are differences in their scopes of practice."

Read more: https://education.virginia.edu/news-stories/qa-how-professional-development-supports-school-mental-health-professionals

School cafeterias are a common place for bullying to occur because the student-to-staff ratio is much higher than in a classroom.

In this new article, our Dr. Catherine Bradshaw talks with the Wall Street Journal about lunch shaming. She shares some of her teams' research with over 25,000 students: When asked where at school they’ve been bullied in the past month, 14% of elementary students and 18% of both middle- and high-school students reported it happening in the cafeteria. How is this linked to cell phones in schools?

Read more: https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/school-bullying-lunch-shaming-c6eb5a4b?mod=Searchresults&pos=1&page=1

What is looksmaxxing and what should parents know?

Our Dr. Valerie Adams-Bass talks with NPR about breaking down the walls of adolescence, especially relating to boys. She says social norms mean it's still hard for some boys to express their feelings. She suggests parents should express interest in their sons' passions and use that to help soft-launch conversations about more serious topics.

Read more: https://www.npr.org/2026/05/01/nx-s1-5795549/looksmaxxing-teen-boys-clavicular

The summer is a time when adults & organizations can examine how to prepare for authentic youth-led events, & we can help!

This third checklist, as part of our comprehensive guide published last spring, provides tips and strategies for how to establish a shared decision-making process, like:

✅ Co-create working agreements: build shared norms for collaboration, communication, and conflict resolution.
✅ Explain constraints transparently. More specifically, when an idea is challenging, explain the reasoning and invite youth to revise the idea.

What else could you or your organization do to have true shared decision-making?

Read more and download this 3rd checklist: https://youthnexdrive.virginia.edu/youth-led-event-planning

: Meet Dr. Alexa Budavari who could speak 🗣️ at your next event!

She brings expertise in autism research, public health, and psychiatric epidemiology, with experience examining mental health outcomes across the lifespan and at the population level to inform prevention, policy, and systems-level change. Could she add to your school-based mental health and prevention science work?

Learn more: https://youthnexdrive.virginia.edu/alexa-budavari-2026-speaker

Does social media influence how adolescents think about themselves?

Grad student Anna Tierney pens a research in brief with findings that suggest comparing oneself negatively to others on social media or thinking about one’s attractiveness in a photo on social media are associated with increased negative self-schema in adolescents. What are the implications for parents and other adults supporting teens?

Read more: https://youthnexdrive.virginia.edu/research-brief-social-media-how-adolescents-think-about-themselves

Attention Cville Area High Schoolers!!!

Join this summer internship opportunity to discuss artificial intelligence! Come explore topics related to teens' use of AI tools, especially those related to companionship & mental health. Please share!

Read more & register: https://app.amilia.com/store/en/light-house-studio/api/Activity/Detail?activityId=yQ90eLv