A survey of Houston area high school students finds the highest levels of depression occur among older students and transgender youth. This issue brief from the Child Health Policy Program explains how demographic factors affect survey outcomes, noting that school absenteeism and behavioral issues are also associated with students’ poor mental health.
Zoabe Hafeez, Lilian Dindo, Sheela Gavvala, Katarina Reyes, Jan Lindsay, Christopher F. KuleszaMay 1, 2024
What if we could bridge the gap between science and practice to help adolescents transform their lives? Nonresident fellows Lilian Dindo and Jan Lindsay share a plan to expand mental health access, strengthen parity, and promote the well-being of young people post COVID-19.
This brief outlines how the Small Business Administration's long-standing 7(a) loan program can build upon the lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic to strengthen its operations and impact.
Vaccination policies are a cornerstone of public health, but anti-vaccine activists have been adamantly pushing for legislation that would weaken and dismantle the public health infrastructure, the authors write. In this issue brief, they examine vaccine policy challenges leading up to and during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the future of vaccine legislation in Texas and the United States.
The authors identify key themes that emerged from anti-vaccine testimonies during the 2021 Texas legislative session and consider the implications of these discussions as the next legislative session draws near.
The authors examine the recent attacks on oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf nations to shed light on the current state of U.S.-Gulf strategic relations and the potential directions of its evolution in coming years.
By Kirstin R.W. Matthews and Melody T. Tan
Vaccines and vaccine exemptions are increasingly contentious issues in Texas. In this issue brief, the authors dispel five common misconceptions about vaccines that were presented during public hearings at the Texas House of Representatives in 2017.
In this brief, the authors analyze transcripts from public hearrings at the Texas legislature to identify key arguments against school-mandated vaccinations. To ensure public health, policymakers and other stakeholders should be well informed about vaccines, the impact of vaccine-preventable disease, and the risks associated with putting absolute individual rights above public health concerns, they conclude.
This policy brief analyzes the impact of the increasing number of parents who opt their children out of school-entry vaccinations for nonmedical reasons in Texas and argues that the state should make obtaining nonmedical exemptions more rigorous in order to reduce the public health risks and costs associated with vaccine-preventable diseases.
A deadly virus named MERS has spread from Saudi Arabia to over a dozen countries since 2012. While the chances for widespread infection are remote due to the virus's low human-to-human transmission rate, all governments should nevertheless support academic freedom and scientific collaboration to keep local outbreaks of viruses like MERS from becoming serious pandemics.
Kirstin R.W. Matthews, Monica M. Matsumoto, Jon FlynnJuly 25, 2014