Introduction Adolescent and young adult cancer survivors (AYA-CS) make up a distinct, growing oncology patient population that uniquely contends with the challenge of navigating cancer survivorship alongside the typical developmental tasks of emerging adulthood (EA). Though past research has found high levels of psychological distress, anxiety, and depression in this population, AYA-CS remain understudied. Little is known about their personal strategies for coping with stress and their experiences applying evidence-based coping strategies. Methods To fill this gap, we conducted in-depth qualitative semi-structured interviews with AYA-CS ( N = 19), all at least one-year post-treatment, to explore their day-to-day stressors, stress management techniques, and use of mindfulness. Interviews lasted approximately one hour each and were conducted via Zoom videoconferencing. Results Through thematic analysis, three major themes emerged: The fluid salience of survivorship for identity and experience ; Applying self-management and accountability to maintain stress-reducing habits ; and Implicit mutual understanding among AYA-CS . These, with their corresponding subthemes, reflect the dynamic and nuanced ways in which participants, as AYA-CS in EA, construct and understand their identities and lives during survivorship. While the role of survivorship in identity and stress varied, all participants relied on family and friends for social support and to remain accountable to their personal coping strategies, most commonly exercise. Many participants had been previously introduced to mindfulness by their treatment teams, though only four continued to independently use it in their own lives. Finally, more than half agreed that meeting other AYA-CS, which was rare for them, could promote an instant bond and connection that would not otherwise be possible with those their age who had no cancer history. Discussion These findings may be used to inform future intervention development targeted at the specific needs of AYA-CS, who, in this study, demonstrated interest in connecting with peers to share lived experiences and support one another through the unique combination of survivorship and EA. These findings suggest that future peer-supported interventions should be explored and tested.
Shannon Pui Ying Cheung, Aleena Kuriakose, Gary Kwok
Child maltreatment is a major public health problem with lasting health and socioeconomic consequences, yet economic-burden evidence from Latin America remains scarce. Using March 2026 administrative records from Ecuador's Ministry of Human Development, we annualized projected governmental expenditure across three Special Protection Services modalities, institutional care, foster care, and family support, serving 3,588 registered children. The base projection was approximately US dollars (USD) 25.4 million per year (about USD 7,087 per registered user). This figure captures institutional programme expenditure only and is not a national economic-burden estimate of child maltreatment, because services address multiple protection needs and exclude health, education, justice, family, and productivity costs, as well as children outside the formal system. We argue that linked administrative data across protection, health, and education sectors, together with nationally representative prevalence measurement, are required to estimate the economic burden of child maltreatment in Ecuador and to inform evidence-based policy.
Fiorella Quiroz-Cárdenas, Doris Quiroz-Cárdenas, José Francisco López‐Gil
Child trafficking is increasingly mediated through social media, artificial intelligence (AI) and other digital technologies, creating new opportunities for exploitation while strengthening digital prevention and protection. This study examines how digital platforms both facilitate and disrupt technology-enabled child trafficking in Kenya through a digital ethnography that combines social media observations, stakeholder interviews, focus group discussions and analysis of online anti-trafficking discourse. Guided by the Routine Activity and Situational Prevention (RASP) framework, the study investigates how digital opportunity structures shape offender behavior, target vulnerability and distributed digital guardianship. Findings show that traffickers exploit encrypted messaging, algorithmic recommendation systems, livestreaming, closed online communities and digital payment technologies to recruit, groom, coordinate and exploit children while reducing the perceived risk of detection. At the same time, government agencies, law enforcement, civil society organizations, technology companies and community actors employ artificial intelligence, digital evidence preservation, coordinated reporting systems, cross-sector partnerships and the Child Protection Information Management System (CPIMS) to strengthen detection, reporting, victim protection and institutional coordination. The study further demonstrates that anti-child trafficking communication is most effective when it transforms awareness into recognizable risk patterns, actionable reporting pathways, evidence preservation and coordinated institutional responses. The findings extend the RASP framework by conceptualizing the 5 P dimensions (Prevention, Protection, Policy, Prosecution and Partnership) as communication dimensions that operationalize digital guardianship within technology-enabled environments. The study contributes to digital criminology, communication, child protection, platform governance and technology-enabled crime prevention, particularly in the Global South.
Introduction Inhibitory control is a core component of executive function that develops substantially during childhood. Although cognitively demanding exercise has been proposed to enhance inhibitory control, findings regarding the effects of varying cognitive demand remain inconsistent. This study examined the acute effects of exercises with different cognitive demands on inhibitory control in children. Methods Twenty-six children (Mage = 11.8, SD = 0.5) completed three exercise conditions in a randomized crossover design: high cognitively demanding exercise (HE), low cognitively demanding exercise (LE), and active control (AC). Inhibitory control was assessed using the Flanker task. Change scores in reaction time, accuracy, and Flanker effect were analyzed, and exploratory distributional analyses were conducted using conditional accuracy functions and delta plots. Results Reaction time and accuracy did not differ across exercise conditions (all p > 0.05). However, the reduction in Flanker effect was greater following AC than LE ( p = 0.04, d = −0.81). No statistically significant condition-related differences were detected in the exploratory distributional indices (all p > 0.05); these analyses should be interpreted as hypothesis-generating. Discussion Overall, these findings suggest that exercises with higher cognitive demand may not yield greater benefits to inhibitory control than lower-demanding exercises under the higher-than-intended physical intensity elicited in the present protocol. Future studies should consider children’s limited physical and cognitive resources when designing interventions to optimize the potential synergistic effects of cognitively demanding exercise.
Abstract Secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure remains common among Saudi adolescents. This study explored its prevalence, correlates, and behavioral consequences. Data were drawn from the 2022 Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) a school-based cross-sectional survey of 5610 students aged 13–15 years in Saudi Arabia. SHS exposure, tobacco-use behaviors, susceptibility to future use, and tobacco-related attitudes were assessed using standardized GYTS items. Logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate associations between SHS exposure and smoking-related outcomes. 40.1% of adolescents reported exposure to SHS, most commonly in outdoor public places, enclosed public areas, and schools. Females, students in higher grades, and those with greater spending money had higher odds of exposure. SHS exposure was associated with current and ever use of cigarettes, shisha, e-cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, and heated tobacco products. Exposed adolescents were nearly three times more likely to be susceptible to future tobacco use, particularly shisha and e-cigarettes. SHS exposure was linked to ambivalent attitudes—greater awareness of harms and support for indoor bans, but increased perceptions of smoking as socially enhancing. SHS exposure remains widespread among Saudi adolescents. Stronger enforcement of smoke-free policies in schools and public areas is essential to curb exposure and misconceptions
Mohammed Μ. Alqahtani, Sarah S. Monshi, Abdulmohsen Hamdan Al-Zalabani et al.
Early sport specialization (ESS), defined as intensive, year-round training in a single sport at the exclusion of others, has become increasingly prevalent among youth athletes. This trend has coincided with a rise in overuse injuries, and premature attrition. Concurrently, advances in wearable sensors and artificial intelligence (AI) enable real-time quantification of training load, biomechanical deviations, and recovery. However, a translational gap remains: existing AI surveillance models are predominantly validated in elite adult male cohorts, leaving youth athletes underserved. To address this gap, we propose a translational four-pillar framework for ESS-aware AI injury monitoring in youth sport. Bridging technological capabilities with developmental physiology through structured AI surveillance provides a structured risk-monitoring roadmap with the potential to inform preventative strategies, optimize physical readiness, and support long-term musculoskeletal health in youth athletes.
Patrick Mayolo, Zachary A Blashinsky, John Wahl et al.
This study investigated the effect of a teacher-guided interactive mobile-based storytelling method on vocabulary retention of Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) learners within the Calabar Educational Zone of Cross River State, Nigeria. A quasi-experimental pre-test post-test non-equivalent control group design was adopted for the research. The population comprises 17,795 individuals, consisting of 1,756 caregivers and teachers as well as 16,038 preschool children in 439 ECCE/Creche centres in the Calabar Educational Zone of Cross River State. Multistage sampling technique was adopted to obtain a sample of 391 participants consisting of 111 caregivers and teachers and 280 preschoolers selected from 49 ECCE/Creche centres in the same educational zone. Three instruments; Vocabulary Retention Test (VRT), Teacher Perception and Readiness Questionnaire (TPRQ), and Classroom Observation Checklist (COC) were used for the collection of data. The three instruments were validated by experts in relevant fields while an overall reliability index of 0.81 was obtained using the Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) as well as inferential statistics, namely Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) and independent samples t-test, and all tests were conducted at 0.05 level of significance. The result showed that there was no significant difference in the pre-test performance (Baseline) vocabulary level of learners of both the experimental (M=12.84, SD=2.31) and control groups (M=12.67, SD=2.28). However, the performance in terms of the post-test level indicated that learners exposed to teacher guided mobile-based storytelling method showed statistically higher vocabulary retention (M=24.81, SD=2.62) compared to learners taught using the traditional storytelling method (M=17.94, SD=2.83). The result also shows that at four-week delayed post-test, the experimental group maintained a higher score (Mean=23.73, SD=2.48) than the control group (Mean =15.86, SD=2.91) in the retention vocabulary test. ANCOVA performed revealed a significant influence of the treatment on the vocabulary retention of the learners (F=104.95, p<0.001, Partial η²=.275), and the teachers showed a positive perception and readiness (Grand Mean=3.70) towards integrating mobile storytelling in teaching vocabulary. The study concluded that the teacher guided interactive mobile-based storytelling is an effective instructional method for improving learners’ vocabulary acquisition and retention. Therefore, this study recommends that mobile based stories could be integrated into the ECCE curriculum to improve learner’s vocabulary.
Abstract Latinx youth navigate unique sociopolitical contexts shaped by anti‐immigrant rhetoric and cultural values like familism. This qualitative study examined how 23 immigrant‐origin Latinx older adolescents ( M age = 20.22) perceived their parents' role in their sociopolitical development. Using a modified constructivist grounded theory, we found that parents contributed to participants' sociopolitical development through indirect (affirming Latin American identity, imparting communal values) and direct (modeling engagement, providing encouragement) socialization practices. Socialization occurred primarily through dialogue, with tensions at times emerging. These tensions sometimes were obstacles to development but also catalyzed deeper engagement. Findings extend sociopolitical development theory by documenting how family relationships function as early life experiences (i.e., socialization), showcasing the complex interplay between parents and sociopolitical development.
Wendy de los Reyes, Victoria Vezaldenos, Corissa Draper et al.
Sports-team participation is often regarded as a favorable adolescent context, but whether its associations are consistent across distinct risk behaviors and across sex remains unresolved. We conducted a repeated cross-sectional analysis of seven U. S. National Youth Risk Behavior Survey cycles (2011–2023; 110,409 records) using survey-weighted regression and marginal standardization. Participation in one or more sports teams was associated with higher adjusted prevalence of alcohol use (PD, +4.46 percentage points; 95% CI, +3.38 to +5.55) and physical fighting (+2.53; 95% CI, +1.62 to +3.43), but lower prevalence of cigarette smoking (−3.46; 95% CI, −4.10 to −2.82) and marijuana use (−1.49; 95% CI, −2.33 to −0.66); all Holm-adjusted p < 0.001. Sex heterogeneity was observed for all four outcomes (all interaction p < 0.001): positive associations with fighting and alcohol were more pronounced among males, whereas inverse associations with cigarette smoking and marijuana use were more evident among females. The overall behavioral pattern was retained in participation-level and prespecified sensitivity analyses, although alcohol showed evidence of survey-cycle heterogeneity. Sports-team participation therefore corresponded to a behavior-specific and sex-heterogeneous, rather than uniformly lower- or higher-risk, behavioral profile. These findings may inform prevention science and intervention development in U. S. high school settings by supporting behavior-specific, context-sensitive strategies that address the social conditions surrounding sports participation rather than treating participation itself as uniformly protective or harmful.
Purpose This study aims to investigate the prospective association between unintentional injuries and subsequent suicidal ideation among children and adolescents. Methods This study is a two-wave longitudinal school-based cohort derived from repeated surveys administered in Anhui, China, in November 2023 (Wave 1) and April 2025 (Wave 2). As grade 12 students in Wave 1 would graduate by July 2024 and thus be unavailable for follow-up, we included only students in grades 5–11 from Wave 1. We identified 24,522 students who participated in both waves, yielding a follow-up rate of 84.18% (47.08% female). Results Among 12 types of unintentional injuries, after adjustment for socio-demographic characteristics and Wave 1 suicidal ideation, all 12 types were significantly associated with Wave 2 suicidal ideation, with adjusted odds ratios ranging from 1.31 to 1.65; all associations remained significant after Benjamini–Hochberg FDR correction (q < 0.05). The strongest associations were observed for explosion injuries (OR = 1.65, 95% CI = 1.27–2.13, q < 0.001), injuries from sharp objects (OR = 1.62, 95% CI = 1.50–1.75, q < 0.001), and poisoning (OR = 1.54, 95% CI = 1.19–1.99, q = 0.001), while the weakest, though still significant, was for Swallow a foreign object (OR = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.21–1.42, q < 0.001). Formal interaction tests indicated that only 3 of the 12 injury types (fall injuries, explosion injuries, and electric-current exposure) showed statistically significant gender × injury interactions, suggesting that the overall pattern of associations is largely consistent across sexes. Conclusion Previous unintentional injuries are associated with an increased likelihood of subsequent suicidal ideation. Given the consistent pattern of associations and the absence of a clearly dominant injury category, broadly framed injury-prevention and early-identification strategies may be warranted, rather than prioritization of any single injury type.
