Examining College Student Engagement with a Peer Support App: Implications for Student Wellbeing

Conference: 2023 Society of Digital Mental Health Virtual Conference

Presentation Type: Poster

Authors: Emily Hersch, Saniya Soni, Megyn Jasman, Alexandra Werntz, and Jean Rhodes

About: This presentation examined whether student engagement with MentorPRO differed by race, first-generation, and international student status. We found that students from historically underrepresented and marginalized communities engaged more with their peer mentor and used a self-assessment more frequently than their White peers, suggesting that MentorPRO has the potential to increase the accessibility of academic and mental health resources for underserved students and reduce disparities in students’ service utilization.

 

SDMH Flash Talk Final_EH

 

Research Proposal: Supportive Accountability for University Students’ Engagement with the Healthy Minds Meditation Application

Conference: Association for Psychological Science 2023 Conference

Presentation Type: Poster

Authors: Emily Hersch, Megyn Jasman, Jordan Cherry, Saniya Soni, Alexandra Werntz, and Jean Rhodes

About: In this poster, we propose an 8-week randomized controlled trial to test whether supportive accountability from a peer mentor will increase university students’ engagement with the Healthy Minds Meditation Application and lead to greater improvements in mindfulness-based skills compared to students who use Healthy Minds without supportive accountability.

 

Emily Hersch APS Poster Final

Implementation of a Technology-Enhanced Peer Mentor Referral System for First-Year University Students

Conference: Association for Psychological Science 2023 Conference

Presentation Type: Symposium

Authors: Megyn Jasman, Alexandra Werntz, and Jean Rhodes

About: During a symposium about leveraging technology and data to improve college and university communities’ wellbeing, a presentation was given on findings from the pilot year of MentorPRO. The full paper can be found here.

 

APS23 Presentation_Megyn_PDF

Bridging the Gap: Technology-Enhanced Peer Mentoring Programs

Conference: University Conference on Teaching and Learning (UCTLT) at the University of Massachusetts Boston

Presentation Type: Presentation

Authors: Saniya Soni, Megyn Jasman, Alexandra Werntz, and Jean Rhodes

About: This presentation covered how technology-enhanced peer mentoring programs can bridge gaps in college services. Findings were presented from a pilot study of a technology mentoring platform for freshman college students.

 

Bridging the Gap_ Technology-Enhanced Peer Mentoring Programs

Supporting Mentees with Anxiety ​Effective Strategies for Promoting Mental Health​

Conference: National Mentoring Summit 2023

Presentation Type: Workshop

Authors: Alexandra Werntz and Saniya Soni

About: This workshop worked to demystify anxiety and encouraged those in attendance to think critically about how mentoring programs can support our nation’s mental health.​

 

Werntz_Soni_MENTOR-supportingyouthanxiety

Innovative Strategies for Technology-Enhanced Peer Mentoring Programs at the University Level​

Conference: National Mentoring Summit 2023

Presentation Type: Workshop

Authors: Megyn Jasman, Alexandra Werntz, and Jean Rhodes

About: The goal of this talk was to overview new findings from a college peer mentoring pilot program, the role technology can play, and future work in college spaces.

 

Jasman_Werntz_Rhodes_MENTOR-mentorcorps

Caregiver Attitudes Toward Digital Mental Heath Interventions and Therapy: Exploring Support Systems for Children Impacted by Caregiver Substance Use

Conference: 2022 Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) Conference. Theme: Emergency & Disaster Preparedness and Response: Using Cognitive and Behavioral Science to Make an Impact

Presentation Type: Poster

Authors: Benlina Aier, Selen Amado, Megyn Jasman, Jordan Cherry, Cyanea Poon, Alexandra Werntz, and Jean Rhodes

About: This project has implications for understanding caregivers’ comfort with and concerns about their child attending therapy and/or using digital mental health interventions for their mental health, specifically for populations impacted by substance use.

 

ABCT PosterBA

Caregivers’ Attitudes Towards Youth Digital Mental Health Interventions during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Conference: 2022 Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) Conference. Theme: Emergency & Disaster Preparedness and Response: Using Cognitive and Behavioral Science to Make an Impact

Presentation Type: Poster

Authors: Selen Amado, Cyanea Poon, Megyn Jasman, Jordan Cherry, Benlina Aier, Alexandra Werntz, and Jean Rhodes

About: This project has implications for understanding parents’ comfort with and concerns about their child using digital mental health interventions for their mental health.

 

FINALresized_SELEN_Caregivers’ Attitudes Towards Youth Digital Mental Health Interventions during the COVID-19 Pandemic (42 × 42 in) (42 × 36 in) (48 × 36 in) (1) (1)

Racial and Ethnic Differences in Caregivers’ Attitudes about Mental Health Treatment

Conference: 2022 Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) Conference. Theme: Emergency & Disaster Preparedness and Response: Using Cognitive and Behavioral Science to Make an Impact

Presentation Type: Symposium presentation

Authors: Cyanea Poon, Alexandra Werntz, Selen Amado, and Jean Rhodes

About: This symposium talk overviews caregivers’ attitudes toward mental health treatment based on demographic differences.

 

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Caregivers with Children in Mentoring Organizations: Attitudes on Mentor Involvement in Child Mental Health and Digital Mental Health Interventions

Conference: 2022 Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) Conference. Theme: Emergency & Disaster Preparedness and Response: Using Cognitive and Behavioral Science to Make an Impact

Presentation Type: Poster

Authors: Megyn Jasman, Selen Amado, Cyanea Poon, Benlina Aier, Jordan Cherry, Alexandra Werntz, and Jean Rhodes

About: This project has implications for mentoring programs and the role of caregivers’ comfort levels with mentor involvement in child mental health support.

 

ABCT_Megyn_FINAL_PDF (1)

Caregiver Experiences and the Impacts on Children’s Engagement with Mental Health Treatments in a Global Pandemic

Conference: 2022 Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) Conference. Theme: Emergency & Disaster Preparedness and Response: Using Cognitive and Behavioral Science to Make an Impact

Presentation Type: Poster

Authors: Jordan Cherry, Benlina Aier, Selen Amado, Megyn Jasman, Jean Rhodes, and Alexandra Werntz

About: Findings found that relative to unmentored caregivers, mentored caregivers were more comfortable with digital mental health interventions and expressed no preference for mentors or therapists delivering them.

 

ABCT_Jordan (2)

Addressing Cultural Differences for Parental Concerns of Child Digital Mental Health Use

Conference: 2022 Society of Digital Mental Health Virtual Conference

Presentation Type: Poster

Authors: Benlina Aier, Jordan Cherry, Megyn Jasman, Selen Amado, Cyanea Poon, Alexandra Werntz, and Jean Rhodes

About: This project has implications for navigating barriers to technology-delivered interventions for youth mental health.

 

SDMH Conference 2022

Lessons Learned: Providing Supportive Accountability to Individuals Enrolled in an Online Anxiety Intervention

Conference: 2021 Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) Conference. Theme: Promoting Cognitive and Behavioral Practice and Science in the Context of Public Health, Social Justice, Policy, Research, Practice, and Training.

Presentation Type: Symposium presentation

Authors: Alexandra Werntz. University of Virginia: Alexandra Silverman, Henry Behan, Suraj Patel, Miranda Beltzer, Mehdi O. Boukhechba, Laura Barnes, Bethany A. Teachman

About: This project has implications for providing supportive accountability for the use of online anxiety interventions. More specifically, the impacts of integrated coaching were examined with the MindTrails intervention for a sample of anxious adults.

 

Coaching lessons learned ABCT 2021