PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic is having a profound impact on children globally, jeopardizing their sense of safety,
security, and behavioral health. In addition to COVID-19, millions of children are still recovering from recent
hurricanes that struck the southern the United States. Children exposed to climate-induced disasters (e.g.
hurricanes) are at a significant risk for mental and behavioral health challenges. Coupled with an enduring
pandemic, many of these children are disproportionately at risk for escalating mental health problems. Racial
and ethnic minority children who live in socio-economically disadvantaged neighborhoods are among the most
vulnerable during and after large-scale disasters. They are more likely experience high levels of social and
material losses, displacement, and lack of access to mental and physical health services. Thus, there is a
critical need for these children to received accessible, empirically supported preventative interventions to
mitigate the onset of mental illness and behavioral health issues. Most post-disaster behavioral health
interventions are designed to treat rather than prevent mental health conditions and are often inaccessible to
racial and ethnic minority children living in socio-economically disadvantaged communities. The present study,
therefore, seeks to examine the implementation and efficacy of the COVID-19 adaptation of a disaster focused
empirically supported prevention intervention, the Journey of Hope (JoH), distributed by Save the Children, a
humanitarian organization serving socio-economically disadvantaged and racial and ethnic minority children in
communities dually impacted by COVID-19 and recent hurricanes that struck the Southern United States. The
long-term goals of this study are to: (1) respond to the critical need of accessible behavioral health
interventions designed to prevent and/or reduce COVID-19 related distress; and (2) provide an understanding
on how a COVID-19 tailored prevention intervention mitigates behavioral health disparities among racial and
ethnic minority children in high poverty settings who have been exposed to multiple large scale disasters. In a
pragmatic randomized control trial with 800 children between 3-8th grade, we seek to: Aim 1: Evaluate the
efficacy of the COVID-19 adapted JoH (JoH-C19) in preventing behavioral health and interpersonal problems
among socio-economically disadvantaged and racial and ethnic minority children who have been exposed to
multiple large-scale disasters relative to a healthy life-style attention control condition. Aim 2: Examine if
hypothesized mechanisms of change variables (social connectedness, adaptive coping, self-efficacy) mediate
intervention effects (JoH-C19 vs attention control) on child individual behavioral health and interpersonal
outcomes. Aim 3: Assess the moderating impact of COVID-19 related stressors on behavioral health
outcomes among children who participate in JoH-C19 versus the control condition. Aim 4: Explore
implementation barriers, facilitators, and acceptability of the JoH-C19 within school and afterschool settings
and delivered by community and school-based counselors.