Purpose Physical distancing measures to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus have presented challenges for the mental health and well-being of college students. As campus activities ceased, student-athletes abruptly became isolated from teammates and were no longer able to participate in sport activities that are often central to their identity as an athlete. However, student-athletes who have supportive social connections with teammates during this pandemic may maintain their athletic identity to a greater extent and report better mental health. The present study examined how student-athletes’ mental health was associated with teammate social support, connectedness, and changes to athletic identity from before to during COVID-19. Method A sample of 234 student-athletes completed surveys before COVID-19 physical distancing (February 2020), with 135 (63% female) participating in a follow-up in the month following school closures (April 2020). Path models estimated the effects of teammate social support and connectedness (during COVID-19), as well as changes in athletic identity on indices of mental health. Results Considering all path models tested, student-athletes who received more social support and reported more connectedness with teammates reported less dissolution of their athletic identity and—in most models—reported better mental health and well-being. Indirect effects indicated that student-athletes’ change in athletic identity mediated the effects of teammate social support on psychological well-being and depression symptoms. Conclusions In addition to advancing theory on how small groups relate to mental health, these findings demonstrate the value in remaining socially connected with peers and maintaining role identities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background Vaccination may be critical to curtailing the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, but herd immunity can only be realized with high vaccination coverage. There is a need to identify empirically supported strategies to increase uptake, especially among young adults as this subpopulation has shown relatively poor adherence to physical distancing guidelines. Social norms – estimates of peers’ behavior and attitudes – are robust predictors of health behaviors and norms-based intervention strategies may increase COVID vaccine uptake, once available. This study examined the extent that vaccination intentions and attitudes were associated with estimated social norms as an initial proof-of-concept test. Method In November of 2020, 647 undergraduate students (46.21% response rate) completed online surveys in which they reported intentions to get COVID and influenza vaccines, perceived importance of these vaccines for young adults, and estimated social norms regarding peers’ vaccination behaviors and attitudes. Results Students reported significantly greater intentions to get a COVID vaccine (91.64%) than an influenza vaccine (76.04%), and perceived COVID vaccination as significantly more important than influenza vaccination. The sample generally held strong intentions to receive a COVID vaccine and thought that doing so was of high importance, but participants, on average, perceived that other young adults would be less likely to be vaccinated and would not think vaccination was as important. Multiple regression models indicated that estimated social norms were positively associated with participants’ own intentions and perceived importance of getting a COVID vaccine. Conclusions These significant associations highlight the potential value in developing and testing norms-based intervention strategies, such as personalized normative feedback, to improve uptake of forthcoming COVID vaccines among young adults .

No abstract

Sport may protect against symptoms of mental disorders that are increasingly prevalent among adolescents. This systematic review explores the relationship between adolescent organized sport participation and self-reported symptoms of anxiety and depression. From 9,955 records screened, 29 unique articles were selected that included 61 effect sizes and 122,056 participants. Effects were clustered into four categories based on the operationalization of sport involvement: absence or presence of involvement, frequency of involvement, volume of involvement, and duration of participation. Results from the random-effects meta-analyses indicated that symptoms of anxiety and depression were significantly lower among sport-involved adolescents than in those not involved in sport, although this effect size was small in magnitude. Meta-regression was used to identify how age and sex explained heterogeneity in effects. Although these results do not signify a causal effect, they do support theorizing that sport participation during adolescence may be a protective environment against anxiety and depressive symptoms.

With widespread concern for increased alcohol use during the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a pressing need to examine changes in young adults’ alcohol use and to identify antecedents of increased use. We tested the hypothesis that self-reported changes in alcohol use during the pandemic (frequency, quantity, heavy episodic drinking) would relate to perceptions of peers’ changes in alcohol use. In April of 2020, 507 college students self-reported changes in their alcohol use and perceived changes in use for typical students at their university (i.e., norms). Most students in our sample reported decreased alcohol use and perceived decreases in peers’ alcohol use. Perceptions of peers’ changes in alcohol use behavior strongly related to changes in students’ own alcohol use. Findings provide strong support for norms-based strategies that can correct normative misperceptions by highlighting the fact that most college students are not in fact engaging in heavier alcohol use during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Youth sport offers physical and psychosocial components that may be beneficial for adolescents' mental health, but the prospective directionality between sport participation and mental health has not been clearly established. The current study examined longitudinal associations between sport participation (individual and team sport) and mental health indices (depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, emotional symptoms, hyperactivity symptoms, conduct problems, peer problems, and prosocial behavior) across adolescence (ages 12-17) in a nationally representative Australian sample of 3956 participants at T1 (M age = 12.41 years, SD = 0.49; 49% female), 3537 at T2 (M age = 14.41 years, SD = 0.49; 49% female), and 3089 at T3 (M age = 16.46 years, SD = 0.51; 49% female). Using random intercept cross-lagged panel modeling, several significant within-person effects were found. Notably, greater participation in team sport prospectively predicted fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety at subsequent timepoints. This study increases the understanding of how sport participation may relate to mental health among adolescents and provides critical evidence to inform policy.

Objective: The current study expands the literature on simultaneous alcohol and marijuana (SAM) use by focusing on the distinction between unplanned and planned SAM use to identify potential intervention targets. This study explored whether unplanned or planned SAM use was associated with differences in alcohol and/or marijuana use and consequences. Method: A community sample of young adults (aged 18-25) with recent alcohol and SAM use was recruited [N = 409; mean (SD) = 21.61 (2.17) years; 50.9% female; 48.2% non-Hispanic/Latinx White]. Participants completed five 2-week bursts of online daily surveys (2×/day; 81.99% of morning and 82.23% of afternoon surveys completed) and reported on substance use intentions and behavior. Results: Descriptive findings showed that among days on which participants reported SAM use, 41.85% of the days were unplanned SAM use days. Based on daily-level results from multilevel models, on days with unplanned SAM use, young adults reported consuming fewer drinks, fewer hours high from marijuana, and lower subjective intoxication/high, compared to planned SAM use days, thus indicating that planned SAM use was riskier. Unplanned SAM use was not significantly associated with positive or negative consequences related to alcohol or marijuana, after accounting for the number of drinks or hours high from marijuana. Conclusions: Current findings suggest that interventions should target days on which young adults are planning to engage in SAM use. Future work is needed to identify factors that predict planned SAM use on specific occasions and also to disentangle the potential role of unplanned heavy use. Public Health Significance StatementIt is critical that we enhance our understanding of risky substance use behaviors, namely, young adults' use of alcohol and marijuana at the same time so that effects overlap. Current findings suggest that intervention efforts should target planned simultaneous alcohol and marijuana (SAM) use to reduce the risk for increased substance use. Event-level predictors and interventions for SAM use may be particularly important.

The COVID‐19 pandemic has presented young adults with novel challenges and disruptions to several life domains. The current study examined how COVID‐19‐related stressors (i.e., job‐related, financial‐related, social/relational, and illness‐related stressors) relate to young adults' symptoms of depression and anxiety, and satisfaction with life (in the US). In Aim 1, we examined associations between COVID‐19‐related stressors and indices of mental health and well‐being in the initial phase of the pandemic (April/May 2020) while accounting for participants' pre‐pandemic levels of these outcomes in January of 2020 (N = 519; Mage = 25.4; 62.8% women). Social/relational stressors were most strongly associated with increased symptoms of anxiety/depression, and financial stressors were most strongly associated with decreased satisfaction with life. Extending this research longitudinally (Aim 2), we sampled young adults bi‐monthly across a year‐long period (September 2020 to August 2021). Multilevel models revealed within‐person associations between each stressor domain and mental health/well‐being; young adults reported more symptoms of depression/anxiety and lower satisfaction with life in months that stressors were relatively more salient. Interactions between stressors and time revealed associations were generally stronger in earlier months and decreased linearly across the pandemic. Taken together, longitudinal evidence indicates that COVID‐19‐related stressors, especially social/relational stressors, have direct and time‐varying associations with mental health and well‐being.