Virtually Supporting Schools: Hispanic Adolescent Resilience and Mental health Opportunities in the Nation's Youth-US (HARMONY-US) Phase 2 - The Issue: Hispanic adolescents experience disparities in depression and anxiety (Parodi et al., 2022; Weersing et al., 2022) and are more likely to attempt suicide than White adolescents (Falcone & Dagar, 2022). Mental health problems represent a chronic disease in the US, particularly among adolescent populations – and depression and anxiety are closely linked with other chronic conditions such as diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and heart disease (Huang et al., 2023). It is therefore essential to prevent mental health problems among Hispanic youth, who represent more than a quarter of all US children and adolescents (US Census Bureau, 2023). Indeed, focusing on targeting chronic health conditions by focusing on mental health disparities aligns with the Make America Healthy Again agenda to promote positive outcomes that can help Hispanic youth contribute to US society. Additionally, it is essential to focus on promoting positive outcomes (such as self-esteem and grades) as a way to empower Hispanic youth to contribute to US society. Increasingly, scholars emphasized that these disparities may be rooted in issues of competing life experiences. (e.g., Zayas, 2011). The INHEALTH USA (formerly Health in Color, Inc.) and University of Texas Solution: This Phase II STTR project concentrates on completing, expanding, and rigorously evaluating Supporting Schools Virtually: Hispanic Adolescent Resilience & Mental health Opportunities in the Nation’s Youth – U.S. (HARMONY-US) – formerly entitled Supporting Schools Virtually – VISA IS. The investigators have made minor adjustments to be consistent with agency priorities , while maintaining fidelity to the Phase I pilot and successful outcomes. This digital learning and communications tool is proposed as one of four educational games (Edugames) on INHEALTH USA’s internet-based virtual environment platform The goal of US Games© is to offer an evidence-based experience to enhance well-being and prevent mental health problems among Hispanic adolescents. US Games© will do this by supporting Hispanic adolescents’ development of group attachments, minimizing between-group differences (recognizing common humanity among groups), developing an appreciation for other groups, and learning appropriate ways for managing difficult and harmful experiences. More specifically, US Games© will focus on encouraging youth to adopt a dual attachment where they are able to embrace their connection to U.S. society, while also exploring and retaining their heritage. These strategies will likely improve well-being and prevent depression and anxiety – a chronic condition that places an extreme burden on Hispanic children and families. US Games© will revolve around four Edugames, represented by four game sites – 1) Back to Your Roots; 2) Me, Myself, and Others; 3) Facing and Managing Difficult and Harmful Experiences and 4) Double Vision. The Edugames will consist of theory-based backstories (plots and characters that drive the activities and action in the game), mini-game challenges, and structured exercises that will assist players in exploring the meaning of their own cultural identity, encourage players to interact with characters from a variety of cultural backgrounds, and place players in situations where they either experience adverse and harmful experiences or must serve as arbitrator for socially-charged conflicts. The Project Team: The 36-month Phase II project will engage a seasoned and experienced trans-wisdom team of experts from the fields of psychology, public health, intervention research, and digital media technology who have successfully worked together on similar projects and possess over 20 decades of experience. The Study: The Project team will complete the Phase II tasks through activities under four specific aims: AIM 1. Finalize the curricula, plot arcs, scripts and Game Design Document (GDD) for the final versions of the four full games and develop the final supplemental materials to include
