Background/Objectives: School closures and social restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic substantially disrupted adolescents' everyday lives. However, much of the existing evidence relies on standardized measures or retrospective accounts, providing less insight into how adolescents themselves described the psychosocial meaning of this disruption while it was still unfolding. This study aimed to explore Hungarian secondary school students' real-time written reflections on their experiences during COVID-19-related school closures, online education, and social restrictions, with a focus on adolescent mental health, peer connectedness, school belonging, and developmental disruption. Methods: A retrospective qualitative study was conducted using 111 anonymized open-ended student reflections written in 2021 during the active period of online education and social restrictions. The texts were originally produced in a pedagogical-reflective context, not as research interviews or questionnaire responses. The material was analysed using structured qualitative content analysis. Two researchers independently coded the texts; disagreements were resolved through discussion, and a third researcher was involved when consensus was required. Descriptive frequency summaries were used to contextualize the qualitative findings. Results: In the descriptive frequency summaries, negative appraisals were most common in relation to the general pandemic situation, online schooling, and peer relationships. Thematic analysis identified recurring patterns of confinement, loss of normality, reduced peer contact, weakened school routines, academic overload, uncertainty about graduation and the future, and the loss of age-specific adolescent experiences and transition rituals. Family appeared as both a stabilizing resource and, in some cases, a source of conflict or additional burden. A central interpretive theme was that adolescents experienced the pandemic not merely as educational disruption but as an interruption of adolescence itself. Conclusions: The findings highlight that adolescent mental health support during large-scale crises should extend beyond maintaining educational continuity. Early prevention and intervention strategies should preserve peer connectedness, school belonging, daily structure, emotional validation, and developmentally sensitive support during future pandemics or comparable periods of prolonged social restriction.
Objective Many children with diagnosed and subclinical ADHD struggle with low academic motivation in early elementary. Fortunately, teachers' needs' supportive practices (NSPs) can mitigate motivational challenges and protect against disengagement and underachievement. Teachers' NSPs include autonomy support, structure, and positive student-teacher relationships that target children's motivational resources (i.e., autonomy, competency, and relatedness) needed to engage with school materials. Particularly, autonomy support practices fuel children's feelings of autonomy, structure caters to feelings of competency, and positive student-teacher relationships provide feelings of belonging. Yet, it is unknown how ADHD symptoms in early elementary are associated with teachers' NSPs. Methods One hundred and fifty-four first-grade students and 25 teachers from three school boards participated. We assessed children's perception of their teachers' autonomy support and structure and their standardised achievement. We also assessed teachers' perceptions of students' ADHD symptoms, student-teacher relationship quality, and conduct problems. Three linear regression analyses were performed with ADHD symptoms as the predictor and NSPs as the dependent variable. Sex, conduct problems, and achievement scores were included as covariates. Results Sex (i.e., males), greater teacher-reported ADHD symptoms, and more teacher-reported conduct problems were associated with worse teacher-reported student-teacher relationship quality. Teacher-reported ADHD symptoms were positively related to student-reported autonomy support, while teacher-reported conduct problems were negatively associated with student-reported autonomy support. Teacher-reported ADHD symptoms and key covariates did not predict student-reported structure. Conclusion Our study illustrates the need to further evaluate how best to support teachers managing disruptive behaviours in early elementary to protect the motivational needs of young children with ADHD symptoms.
Purpose Empowering caregivers with tools to support their children with language delays can potentially increase access to services for families from diverse backgrounds. The purpose of this systematic review was to describe the outcomes and characteristics of caregiver-implemented early language interventions studied or implemented with Spanish-speaking or bilingual Latine children with language delays. We also examined the extent to which these interventions were culturally and linguistically adapted. Method Six search engines were used to identify articles published between 1990 and 2024. We completed a hand search of reference lists within eligible articles. We completed data extraction with an emphasis on the intervention's characteristics, outcomes for caregivers and children, and cultural and linguistic adaptations. Results Ten articles were included in this review. Eight caregiver-implemented early language interventions have been studied with Latine children aged 18-47 months from Spanish-speaking families who exhibit language delays. All studies showed improvements in children's receptive language, expressive language, or both, as well as positive effects on caregivers' behavior. Overall, caregivers were satisfied with the interventions, and few offered suggestions for improvement. Studies using adaptation frameworks reported more comprehensive considerations for cultural and linguistic adaptations. Conclusions The body of research summarized in this review shows how interventions support Spanish-speaking or bilingual Latine caregivers in using language facilitation strategies, leading to positive outcomes for children's language development. Further research measuring effectiveness is necessary, as is increasing representation from different ethnic backgrounds. Developing and using adaptation frameworks is an important next step for this type of research.
Child development monitoring by nurses enables the identification of alterations and early interventions. This study analyzed the clinical applicability of a terminology subset for monitoring the development of children aged zero to three years during nursing consultations. This is a cross-sectional, observational study that analyzed the applicability of a terminology subset. Three stages of the clinical applicability analysis method for terminology subsets were followed: development of the data collection instrument; systematic observation of 46 consultations in two Brazilian municipalities; and data organization and analysis. Nursing diagnoses, outcomes, and interventions observed at least once during a consultation were considered applicable. Of the analyzed subset, 64.7% of the diagnoses/outcomes and 21.3% of the interventions were observed during consultations and are applicable to clinical practice. Notably, the diagnosis "Child development, effective" was identified in 93% of the consultations. The data suggest the applicability of the subset in specific Brazilian primary healthcare contexts, predominantly with healthy children.
Background Musculoskeletal and back health of school aged children is a global health problem, with evidence that the prevalence of these problems is increasing. Many modern school systems require children to assume sedentary positions for extended periods of time, and the increasing use of classroom-based technology adds to the number of hours seated. With the incidence of musculoskeletal pain reported not only in adult populations but increasingly in young people, an understanding of spinal health and posture may be essential for students. Objectives The main objective for conducting this review was to conduct a best evidence systematic review. This means we only included the highest quality papers on the effectiveness of school-based education programs on back health for improving knowledge of back health, ergonomics and postural behaviour in school children aged 4-18 years. Search methods We searched the following 21 electronic databases from inception till the 20th January 2023: AMED (EBSCOhost), APA PsycINFO (EBSCOhost), Best Evidence Medical Education (BEME) (EBSCOhost), British Education Index (EBSCOhost), CINAHL (EBSCOhost), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (Wiley), EMBASE (Ovid), ERIC (EBSCOhost), EThOS (British Library), Europe PMC (Europepmc.org), GoogleScholar. Health Technology Assessment (HTA) (INAHTA), Health Management Information Consortium (HMIC) (Ovid), MEDLINE (EBSCOhost), PEDro (pedro.org.au), ProQuest Dissertations & Theses (Proquest), ProQuest Nursing and Allied Health Database (ProQuest), SCOPUS (Elsevier), SportDISCUS (EBSCOhost), Web of Science (Arts and Humanities Citation Index, Science Citation Index Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index, Emerging Sources Citation Index, Conference Proceedings Citation Index - Science, Conference Proceedings Citation Index - Social Sciences and Humanities; Clarivate), ZEToC (British Library). Selection Criteria. Population The population eligible for the review included all children and young people between 4 and 18 years of age, attending school. Exclusion criteria: Children under 4 years of age and adults over 18 years of age; chronic disease or conditions or co-morbidities. Intervention Studies needed to meet the following criteria to be included: any formal educational school-based programme that included back health, ergonomics and postural behaviour that was designed to support the educational performance of students' knowledge of posture and ergonomics within an educational establishment. We excluded physical activity or exercise only interventions. Comparison Included studies were required to have a control group that represented either business-as-usual (no intervention), or a wait-list design. Outcomes We included studies that examined back care knowledge, knowledge of back care ergonomics, back care behaviours and knowledge of back posture. Types of research design This was a Best Evidence Systematic Review and only research papers scoring a "good" or "excellent "on the Downs and Black (1998) risk-of-bias form were included. The following research designs were included: randomised controlled trials (RCTs), cluster randomised controlled trials (CRCT) and quasi-randomised controlled trials (QRCTs). We included prospective non-randomised studies (NRSs) with a control group because it was anticipated that very few RCTs would be found. Controlled before-after studies (CBAs), interrupted time series (ITS) studies as well as controlled studies that were non-randomised and included a pre- and post-test were also eligible for inclusion. Data collection and analysis Titles and abstracts were screened in duplicate. Full texts of studies with seemingly relevant abstracts were retrieved and assessed for eligibility using the pre-specified inclusion criteria. Full texts were also screened in duplicate. Studies were classified as either included or excluded. Two authors independently extracted data from relevant studies. Main results 1,327 potentially relevant papers were found through the searches of the academic databases, while no studies were identified through searches of grey literature and reference lists. After removing 1,256 articles which did not meet the inclusion criteria, 71 studies remained for screening. 37 articles were excluded based on screening the titles and abstracts. This left 34 articles for further examination of full texts. After the full texts had been read, these 34 studies continued to the quality assessment/risk of bias stage using the Downs and Black ROB form. Only two papers scored 20 or over (i.e. good or excellent) and were included in this systematic review. As the outcomes of the two studies differed, it was not possible to conduct a meta-analysis. Therefore, a narrative synthesis was conducted. Each of these studies showed statistically significant improvements on knowledge and behaviour, in the short term (3-8 months) though these need to be interpreted in light of concerns regarding risk of bias. Authors conclusions Despite the comprehensive search of electronic databases, grey literature, hand searching, journals and reference lists of included studies, we only found two 'good' quality studies (scoring 20-25). No studies achieved an "excellent" score, that provided "excellent" evidence, on the effectiveness of school-based education programs on back health for improving knowledge of back health, ergonomics and postural behaviour in school children aged 4-18 years. This highlights the urgent need for high-quality studies to be conducted to assess the effects of these programmes due to the importance of ergonomics and posture in the activities of daily living of school children.
Bettany-Saltikov J, Mcsherry R, Duangkaew R et al.
Objective Sedentarism and physical inactivity are growing concerns for global health institutions, especially with the rising number of adolescents failing to meet daily physical activity guidelines. These inactive lifestyles can adversely affect cognitive functions during development. Thus, a systematic review of observational studies was conducted to evaluate the impact of sedentary behavior and physical inactivity on cognitive performance in children aged 6 to 12. Methods Eligible studies included English-language observational designs (such as cohort and case-control studies), enrolling neurotypical children classified as sedentary, insufficiently active, or physically inactive (experimental group), compared to active children (control group), according to ACSM recommendations. Studies were also required to report outcomes related to executive functions, academic performance metrics, memory, and attention. Systematic searches were conducted in MEDLINE (PubMed), Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Scopus, from inception to February 2026. Risk of bias was assessed using the Risk Of Bias In Non-randomised Studies-of Exposure (ROBINS-E) tool. Data were synthesized through a narrative method. Results Of the 5438 articles initially identified, two studies directly compared inactive and active groups with contrasting results. One showed negative associations between light, moderate physical activity, and total activity time with verbal and perceptual skills in the active group, alongside positive effects of vigorous PA and sedentary behavior on verbal skills. The other pointed positive dose-response effects of sustained moderate-to-vigorous PA trajectories on academic achievement (reading, mathematics, language). However, caution is advised when interpreting these results due to the high risk of bias in both studies, lack of control for confounding variables, and insufficient information on missing data and blinding procedures. While other studies show significant associations between physical activity and cognitive measures, it is crucial to question whether group compositions accurately reflect the cognitive effects of exercise. Given the limited number of articles meeting international physical activity organization criteria, caution is recommended when interpreting the cognitive effects of physical activity-related exposures in children. Conclusions This review introduces a novel data analysis approach that classified groups based on established physical activity recommendations, aiming to standardize group criteria. This method potentially sparks essential debates on group definitions and contributes to enhancing the methodological quality of future observational or experimental studies, enabling more robust and reliable data interpretation.
Sub-Saharan African (SSA) cities have high air and noise pollution levels, yet limited information exists on children's joint exposures at home and school locations - the two most important environments where children spend much of their time. This study characterised schoolchildren's exposure to multiple air pollutants and environmental noise and sound sources within the Accra School Health and Environment Study (ASHES). ASHES involved 1034 children aged 8-12 years from 90 public (73%) and private schools in Accra, Ghana, a major SSA city. Annual mean concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and black carbon (BC), as well as environmental noise (L day, L night, L den) and sound sources, were derived from land use regression models and linked to geocoded school and home locations for 919 children with valid data. A time-location weighted total exposure estimate was calculated for the air and noise pollution metrics. We also examined children's responses to a noise annoyance survey in relation to their noise exposure levels at home. For air pollutants, median home exposures were 33.8 μg m-3 (PM2.5), 55.5 μg m-3 (NO2), and 5.2 × 10-5m-1 (BC), and corresponding median school exposures were 29.9 μg m-3, 53.5 μg m-3, and 4.9 × 10-5m-1. The time location-weighted total air pollutant exposures for most children surpassed the respective World Health Organization (WHO) guideline. Similarly, median environmental noise levels (in dBA) at home (L den = 66.3 and L night = 54.2) and at school (L day = 62.4) exceeded WHO thresholds for road-traffic noise and Ghana's noise standard for areas with educational facilities, respectively. Pollution levels at home and school were moderately correlated (r [PM2.5] = 0.56; r [NO2] = 0.33; r [L den]= 0.47). On average, children attending public schools or living in lower income areas had higher exposures to both air and noise pollution than their private school (fee-paying) or higher-income counterparts. In contrast, nature-based sounds were more common in higher income areas. Among children exposed to L den noise levels between 65 and 70 dBA, 35% reported being highly annoyed to road traffic noise. Schoolchildren in Accra experience air and noise pollution levels exceeding health-based guidelines and standards. Exposures are unequally distributed, highlighting environmental inequalities with implications for child health, development, and learning.
Coaching is an effective form of professional learning used in early childhood (EC; 0-8) settings to promote teachers' use of high-quality practices and children's outcomes generally. Yet, research on its effectiveness to support key content areas, including language and literacy; social-emotional and behavioral development; and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, is limited. This meta-analysis examined effects of coaching on teacher practice and child outcomes by content area and potential moderating effects of school, teacher, and child characteristics from 112 studies with 918 effect sizes. Results indicated positive, medium-to-large effects of EC coaching across key content areas on teacher practice and child outcomes. No moderating effects of school and teacher characteristics and limited moderation by child characteristics were identified.
Background and aims While Nordic countries have a relatively high socioeconomic status population, they are challenged by the health deficit of rising obesity and overweight among young people. The aim of this regional scoping review is to identify best practices for designing and implementing effective school nutrition programs in Nordic countries and identify gaps for further research. Methods Using the PRISMA-ScR guidelines, a scoping review was conducted across nine academic databases between 1980 and May 2025. Results Fifty-three studies met the inclusion criteria, from small pilot interventions to large national or international cohorts involving thousands of students across the five Nordic countries. Conclusion Most intervention studies were multicomponent in nature, combining individual student-focused education, changes to the school environment, and engagement with families or the wider community. The reviewed interventions consistently demonstrated positive impacts on nutrition knowledge, dietary behaviors, and in some cases, physical health indicators, though effect sizes and sustainability varied. Some schools have the advantage of a national nutrition education framework that gives consistency to the nature and extent of nutrition promotion, but all schools have found ways to include nutrition education programs in the curriculum. Government or private entity provisions of healthy meals or snacks have a significant effect on the improvement of youth nutrition, especially for students with limited familial resources.
Introduction Given the rapidly emerging research on climate and eco-anxiety among youth and young adults (YYA), knowledge synthesis work is imperative. This study uses an umbrella review methodology to characterize conceptual and theoretical perspectives and gaps across existing reviews, and to summarize priorities for advancing coping research, policy, and practice. Methods A search across four databases, a backward search, and a manual search resulted in a final sample of 20 reviews. Data were analyzed using a structured data extraction form, critical appraisal, and thematic analysis. Members of the project Youth and Young Adult Advisory Circle shared their perspectives on preliminary findings. Results The reviews, published between 2006 and 2024, span multiple disciplines but generally lack methodological rigor. Review objectives and youth subgroups varied, and none included perspectives from YYA. Conceptual ambiguity and limited theoretical engagement were evident.Seven key themes related to coping practices presented in the findings of existing reviews were identified: climate action and societal transformation, perspective and reframing, media engagement, mental health and emotional regulation, social and nature-based connections, education and skill-building, and de-emphasizing, distancing, and avoidance. Key research and policy priorities reported in the existing reviews were summarized. Discussion and conclusion We summarize gaps in the existing reviews, followed by a discussion of priority pathways for advancing coping research, policy, and practice. These pathways include (1) prioritizing YYA experiences and perspectives, (2) skill-building, training, and resources for youth allies, (3) developing coping skills among YYA along with evaluative research, (4) collective action, education, and communication, (5) enhancing interdisciplinary and interprofessional work and network-building, and (6) greater attention to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion.
