The COVID-19 pandemic created significant disruptions to the provision of education, including restrictions to in-person and remote learning. Little is known about how older adolescents and young adults experienced these disruptions. To address this gap, data were drawn from the Well-Being and Experiences study (the WE Study), a longitudinal community-based sample collected in Manitoba, Canada, from 2017–2021 (n = 494). Prevalent difficulties or stressors during in-person learning were less interaction with friends or classmates, worrying about grades, less interaction with teachers, and too much screen time (range: 47.3% to 61.25%). Prevalent difficulties or stressors for remote learning were less interaction with friends or classmates and teachers, less physical activity, worrying about grades, and too much screen time (range: 62.8% to 79.6%). Differences related to sex, education level, financial burden, and mental health prior to the pandemic were noted. From a public health perspective, efforts to re-establish social connections with friends, classmates, and teachers; strategies to manage stress related to worrying about grades or resources to improve grades that have declined; and approaches to reduce screen time in school and at home may be important for recovery and for any ongoing or future pandemics or endemics that impact the delivery of education.

Child maltreatment is a global public health and child rights crisis made worse by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. While understanding the breadth of the child maltreatment crisis is foundational to informing prevention and response efforts, determining accurate estimates of child maltreatment remains challenging. Alternative informants (parents, caregivers, a Person Most Knowledgeable—PMK) are often tasked with reporting on children’s maltreatment experiences in surveys to mitigate concerns associated with reporting child maltreatment. The overall purpose of this study was to examine child maltreatment reporting practices in surveys by PMKs for children and youth. The research question is: “What is the nature of the evidence of child maltreatment reporting practices in general population surveys by PMKs for children and youth?” A rapid scoping review was conducted to achieve the study’s purpose. A search strategy was conducted in nine databases (e.g., MEDLINE, EBSCO, Scopus, Global Health, ProQuest). The findings from this review indicate that most studies involved PMK informants (i.e., maternal caregivers), included representative samples from primarily Western contexts, and utilized validated measures to assess child maltreatment. Half of the studies assessed involved multi-informant reports, including the PMKs and child/youth. Overall, the congruence between PMK-reported and child/youth-reported child maltreatment experiences was low-to-fair/moderate, and children/youth reported more maltreatment than the PMKs.

Objectives Adolescent vaping has become a public health concern. The aim of this study was to examine the associations between adolescent vaping and subsequent use of other substances and risk factors for polysubstance use. Methods The Well-being and Experiences Study is a longitudinal, intergenerational study conducted in Manitoba, Canada. The sample for this study consisted of adolescents and emerging adults who participated in Waves 1 (N = 1,002; 2017-18; aged 14–17 years) and 2 (n = 756; 2019; aged 15–20 years). Multinomial logistic regression analysis was performed. Results Adolescent vaping was associated with continued use of alcohol, cannabis, and cigarettes (adjusted relative risk ratio [aRRR] range: 12.92–19.39), new onset use of cannabis (aRRR: 6.04) and cigarettes (aRRR: 3.66), and concurrent and simultaneous polysubstance use (aRRR range: 3.14–24.25). Several risk factors were identified for concurrently using three or four substances in the past year (aRRR range: 1.76–2.86) and simultaneously using alcohol, cannabis, and nicotine (aRRR range: 1.99–3.11). Among those who reported vaping nicotine at Wave 2, 33.6% of males and 24.2% of females reported doing so as a coping mechanism. Conclusions Adolescent vaping is a risk factor for subsequent use of other substances and polysubstance use. Efforts are needed to prevent vaping initiation and help adolescents with cessation. Strategies should include selective interventions for those with histories of childhood adversity and mental health disorder.