Intervention to Prevent Behavioral Health Symptoms Among Pandemic Affected Children

Racial and ethnic minority children who live in socioeconomically disadvantaged communities are disproportionately impacted by pandemic and climate-induced disasters. Although effective interventions have been designed to treat mental health related symptoms in post-disaster settings, accessible, empirically supported prevention interventions are needed to prevent the onset of mental and behavioral health issues among these children. Building on our preliminary findings, the proposed study examines the efficacy and implementation of a COVID-19 adapted disaster focused prevention intervention, Journey of Hope-C19, in preventing behavioral health and interpersonal problems among racial and ethnic minority children who live in low-resource high poverty communities.

Inclusion Criteria:child experienced the COVID-19 pandemic and an additional large-scale disasterchild score is 5 or above on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnairechild is in 3- 8th grade at enrollmentthe parent or guardian must complete informed consent and child assentchild must speak English or Spanish.Exclusion Criteria:child is currently receiving treatment for a diagnosed mental health conditionchildren who are not able to interact with other students in a group work format, regardless of IEP status