Technology Innovations for Violence Prevention, Mental Wellness and Resilience among Youth

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Background

The established high prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), as well as other forms of potentially trauma events and adverse contexts, highlight the need for better outreach to support youth in their day-to-day resilience. Victims of violence, and those at risk for violence, are more likely to experience symptoms of mental health disorders, substance use, and difficulties forming and maintaining healthy relationships. While technology may facilitate mental wellness, it has created challenges, such as increased risk for recruitment to sexual exploitation and assault, among vulnerable youth (e.g., child welfare system, street-involved). Further, digital data may be creatively used to address understanding the scope of problems (e.g., child sexual abuse material on social media), and mobilization of research evidence (e.g., demonstrating scientific uptake of sexual exploitation of children initiatives). Digital innovations have the potential to be at the intersection of addressing clinical challenges of wait-lists for treatment, stepped care, supporting hard-to-reach clients, and redressing service inequities.

Digital innovations have the opportunity to impact the trajectories of youth who have been impacted by exposure to potentially traumatic events and ACES in a variety of ways, including screening, assessment, intervention engagement, intervention augmentation, intervention delivery, program implementation, and data sharing. Given the rapid expansion and advancement of digital health options, especially given the COVID-19 pandemic, it is timely to consider what technological innovations are emerging and available to positively impact the lives of youth whose life experiences have made them vulnerable for challenges related to mental health, substance abuse, and poor health trajectories more broadly. The primary goal of this collection is to better understand how technological innovations can impact the life course of trauma-impacted youth, and to inform the future directions of rigorous, innovative, and clinically relevant technology-based research. More specifically, research that pushes the boundaries of standard practice with technology innovations and offers opportunity for high reach, low cost innovations with strong potential for public health impact is highly preferred, especially studies that include disparate populations and health equity. Research that considers risks to youth with technology (e.g., sexting), and how to incorporate these new targets into prevention programming is welcome.

For this Research Topic, conceptual, review and empirical articles will be considered. Themes should include studies that explore technology or digital innovations that can be used to improve the lives of youth who have been impacted by exposure to ACES or potentially traumatic events, as well as considerations of where technology may increase risk or challenge youth resilience. Technology innovations used for data collection, screening, assessment, intervention, or program implementation with youth or social contexts that include youth (in families, in systems) will be fully considered. For empirical articles, both formative work and evaluation work will be considered.

Keywords: technology, mhealth, resilience, youth, trauma, mentalhealth, violenceprevention, youthscreening, technologyintervention, ACEs, healthcare, collegiates, digitalhealth, parenting, substance use

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