The success in ending the COVID-19 pandemic rests partly on the mass uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine. Little work has been done to understand vaccine willingness among older adolescents and young adults. This is important since this age group may be less likely to adhere to public health guidelines. To understand willingness of getting a vaccine and reasons for vaccine hesitancy among a sample of older adolescents and young adults. Data were from the Well-Being and Experiences study (The WE Study), a longitudinal community-based sample of older adolescents and young adults collected from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada from 2017 to 2020 (n = 664). The study setting was a community-based observational longitudinal study. Participants for the study were aged 14 to 17 years old at baseline in 2016-17 (n = 1000). Data were also collected on one parent/caregiver. Waves 2 (n = 747) and 3 (n = 664) were collected in 2019 and 2020, respectively. The main exposures were sociodemographic factors, health conditions, COVID-19 knowledge, and adversity history. The main outcomes were COVID-19 vaccine willingness, hesitancy, and reasons for hesitancy. Willingness to get a COVID-19 vaccine was 65.4%. Willingness did not differ by age, sex, or mental health conditions, but did differ for other sociodemographic characteristics, physical health conditions, COVID-19 knowledge, practicing social/physical distancing, and adversity history. The most common reasons for not wanting a vaccine were related to safety, knowledge, and effectiveness. Sex differences were noted. Increasing uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine among older adolescents and young adults may rely on targeting individuals from households with lower income, financial burden, and adversity history, and generating public health messaging specifically aimed at vaccine safety, how it works to protect against infection, and why it is important to protect oneself against a COVID-19 infection.

It is well established that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with detrimental health outcomes in adulthood. Less is known about the relationships between ACEs and education outcomes and among adolescents. The aim of this study was to examine the associations between ACEs and adolescents’ self-reported education outcomes and provincial education assessments among adolescents in Manitoba, Canada. Data were gathered from 1002 adolescents who participated in the Well-Being and Experiences (WE) Study. A subsample of the adolescents (84%) consented to having their WE survey data linked to administrative education databases. Binary and multinomial logistic regression models were computed to examine associations between ACE history and self-reported education outcomes and provincial education assessments, adjusting for sociodemographic variables. Adolescents with an ACE history had significantly increased likelihood of having ever been suspended from school (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 3.33, 95% CI 1.60–6.92), of lower grades (adjusted relative risk ratio (aRRR) = 3.21, 95% CI 1.42–7.29), and of chronic school absenteeism (aRRR = 2.45, 95% CI 1.28–4.68) compared with adolescents without an ACE history after adjusting for sociodemographic variables. Findings from this study illuminate the important relationship between childhood adversity and poor education outcomes assessed directly by adolescents. Increasing awareness of the public health risk associated with ACEs and education outcomes may inform education policy and school-based interventions.

Child maltreatment and peer victimization are pervasive public health problems associated with adolescent substance use. Although child maltreatment has been identified as a risk factor for peer victimization, few studies have investigated their co-occurrence (i.e., polyvictimization). The study objectives were to: examine sex differences in the prevalence of child maltreatment, peer victimization, and substance use; identify polyvictimization patterns; and examine the associations between the identified typologies and adolescent substance use. Data were self-reported from a sample of adolescents aged 14 to 17 years (n = 2910) who participated in the provincially-representative 2014 Ontario Child Health Study. Latent class analysis with distal outcomes was conducted to identify typologies of six types of child maltreatment and five types of peer victimization and examine the associations between the polyvictimization typologies and use of cigarettes/cigars, alcohol, cannabis, and prescription drugs. Four typologies were identified: Low victimization (76.6 %), Violent home environment (16.0 %), High verbal/social peer victimization (5.3 %), and High polyvictimization (2.1 %). The Violent home environment and High verbal/social peer victimization typologies were associated with increased odds of adolescent substance use (adjusted odds ratio range: 2.06-3.61). The High polyvictimization typology showed increased, but non-significant, odds of substance use. Adolescent-serving health and social services professionals should be aware of polyvictimization patterns and the impact on substance use. For some adolescents, polyvictimization may include exposure to multiple child maltreatment and peer victimization types. Upstream strategies to prevent child maltreatment and peer victimization are needed, which may also contribute to reductions in adolescent substance use.

Problem gambling and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are highly co-morbid and lead to numerous adverse health outcomes. Research demonstrates that greater levels of well-being protect individuals from experiencing ACE-related harms after a history of childhood adversity; however, this relationship has not been examined in the gambling literature. We hypothesized that individuals who experienced ACEs would engage in more problem gambling behaviors. We also hypothesized that individuals who experienced ACEs and reported flourishing mental health would have lower rates of problem gambling than individuals who experienced ACEs but did not report flourishing mental health. We conducted a secondary data analysis of the adult sample in the Well-Being and Experiences (WE) Study. Examining a parent population, parents and caregivers (N = 1000; M_age = 45.2 years; 86.5% female) of adolescents were interviewed on a variety of measures, including their history of ACEs, their gambling behaviors within the past year, and their mental health and well-being. We used multinomial logistic regression analysis to examine the relationship between 15 ACEs and gambling type (i.e., non-gambler, non-problem gambler, at-risk/problem gambler). We used interaction terms between each ACE and mental health to examine the moderating role of flourishing mental health and well-being. ACEs were associated with at-risk/problem gambling supporting hypothesis 1. Contrary to hypothesis 2, overall, flourishing mental health did not moderate the relationship between ACEs and gambling severity except for one ACE. In this study, we were able to gain a better understanding of how different ACEs each contribute to varying levels of gambling severity.

Background: Research consistently demonstrates that physical punishment of children including “spanking” is harmful. Interest in effective prevention is growing rapidly. The aim of the current study is to examine spanking beliefs among adolescents and parents in relation to reports of spanking that the adolescents experienced before 11 years of age.Methods: Data were drawn from Wave 1 of a study conducted in 2017–2018 that included adolescents (14–17 years old) and one of their parents/caregivers from Manitoba, Canada (n = 1000 pairs). The study objectives were to examine: 1) spanking beliefs of adolescents and their parents; 2) the correlation between parent and adolescent spanking beliefs; 3) whether parents perceive the words “spank” vs. “hit” differently using intraclass correlation; 4) the association between parents’ beliefs about spanking and parent- and adolescent-reported use of it; and 5) the relationship between sociodemographic variables and spanking. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Spearman’s correlation, intraclass correlation, and binary and multinomial logistic regression analyses.Results: The prevalence of adolescent-reported and parents’-reported spanking were 46.0% and 39.6%, respectively. The proportions agreeing that spanking is a normal part of parenting were similar among adolescents (22.0%) and parents (18.5%), and were moderately correlated (intraclass correlation = 0.38, SE = 0.038). More than five times as many parents believed that “spanking” is necessary (19.5%) than believed that “hitting” is necessary (3.5%). Parents’ positive spanking beliefs were associated with increased likelihood of adolescent- and parent-reported spanking. Few significant associations were found between sociodemographic variables and parent-reported or adolescent-reported spanking.Conclusions: Adolescents’ spanking beliefs are related to their parents’ spanking beliefs, suggesting that they are transmitted across generations. Public education and law reform are needed to decrease the normalization and perceived necessity of spanking in child-rearing. Efforts should include improving the understanding that spanking is a form of violence against children. With only a few significant differences noted between sociodemographic variables and parent- and adolescent- reported spanking and the prevalent use of spanking across all sociodemographic variable categories, it may be useful to develop universal approaches to awareness-raising and implementation of education strategies in Canada.

Adolescents who have experienced adversity have an increased likelihood of using substances. This study examined if individual-, family-, school-, and community-level protective factors were associated with a decreased likelihood of substance use. Data from the Well-Being and Experiences Study (the WE Study) collected from 2017 to 2018 were used. The sample was adolescents aged 14 to 17 years (N = 1002) from Manitoba, Canada. Statistical methods included descriptive statistics and logistic regression models. The prevalence of past 30-day substance use was 20.5% among boys and 29.2% among girls. Substance use was greater among adolescent girls compared to boys. Protective factors associated with an increased likelihood of not using substances included knowing culture or language, being excited for the future, picturing the future, sleeping 8 to 10 h per night (unadjusted models only), participating in non-sport activity organized by the school, having a trusted adult in the family, frequent hugs from parent, parent saying “I love you” (unadjusted models only), eating dinner together every day, mother and father understanding adolescent’s worries and problems, being able to confide in mother and father, feeling close to other students at school, having a trusted adult at school, feeling a part of school, having a trusted adult in the community (unadjusted models only), volunteering once a week or more, and feeling motivated to help and improve one’s community. Knowledge of protective factors related to decreased odds of substance use may help inform strategies for preventing substance use and ways to foster resilience among adolescents.