Good Trouble in the Time of COVID-19.

The rapid circulation of COVID-19 misinformation posed one of the most vexing challenges to health communication scholars and practitioners during the pandemic. Within the communication field, our response to health misinformation has often focused on shoring up public trust in scientific knowledge and amplifying institutional expertise. But this strategy of rebuilding public trust in institutions has a serious weakness: it requires the leaders of these institutions to actually behave in ways that merit trust. This essay tells the story of one such moment when the actions of university leaders threatened to undermine public faith in George Mason University's "safe return to campus" plan. The essay then discusses how a mobilized and organized faculty helped counter this threat by demanding that university leaders embrace transparency, decision-maker accountability, and a commitment to truth-telling based on science.

Interlinking Structural Racism and Heteropatriarchy: Rethinking Family Structure's Effects on Child Outcomes in a Racialized, Unequal Society.

In the field of family science and in the broader family policy discourse, debate is ongoing about the importance of family structure for child outcomes. Missing from this debate is a full integration of how the foundational pillars of White supremacy, namely structural racism and heteropatriarchy, impact both family formation and child outcomes, especially among diversely configured Black families. From a critical intersectional lens, we argue that conceptual models used to explain racialized child outcomes based on family structure effects are problematic because they compare family structure statuses without accounting for structural racism and interlinked heteropatriarchal conditions. We present a new conceptual model that integrates structural racism and heteropatriarchy to examine the salience of family structure statuses for child outcomes and discuss approaches to research design, empirical measurement, and interpretation in order to bring this new model into practice.

Central American Immigrant Mothers' Mental Health in the Context of Illegality: Structural Stress, Parental Concern, and Trauma.

Using a community-based participatory research approach, we surveyed 134 undocumented Central American immigrant mothers to examine correlates of maternal mental health. Drawing upon an ecosystemic framework, predictors of depression included structural and familial stressors, parental concerns, and maternal health factors. Mothers' perceptions of child affect, traumatic stress, and general health ratings were among the most salient predictors. However, structural and familial stressors, such as food insecurity and single parenting, also accounted for significant variance in depression scores. Findings informed community actions such as advocating for mental health care and building awareness of families' lived experiences within the local school system.

Rural Native and European American Custodial Grandparents: Stressors, Resources, and Resilience.

Native American grandparents by tradition are expected to play a role in rearing grandchildren. However, in many Native grandfamilies, grandparents are rearing grandchildren not by choice or tradition, but as the result of family crises that necessitated grandparent intervention. European American grandparents have likewise been called to rear their grandchildren when their adult children are unable or unwilling to perform parental duties. Less is known about these custodial grandparents' resilience pathways, particularly among rural grandfamilies. Guided by the Resiliency Model of Family Stress, Adjustment, and Adaptation, this study examined the relationships between stressors, resources, and resilience among rural Native and European American custodial grandparents. Correlates of resilience were economic stress and stress management. Significant interactions were found between economic stress and government assistance and economic stress and stress management, indicating complex resilience pathways. Implications of study findings for research and intervention are discussed.

Depression among Mexican men on the migration frontier: the role of family separation and other structural and situational stressors.

This study documents the mental health of Mexican migrant men in a new non-traditional settlement in the Rocky Mountain West and examines the role of family separation and other structural and situational stressors in relation to depressive symptoms. Using a community-based participatory research approach, we conducted interviewer-assisted surveys with 134 Mexican migrant men. Findings revealed that, overall, 46 % of participants reported depressive symptoms in the range for clinical concern and that single and married men who were separated from their families were particularly vulnerable to poor mental health. Best predictors of depression included both structural stressors (family separation, sending remittances to Mexico) and situational stressors (fearfulness, worry about police confrontation, treatment by non-Latinos, and lack of support). These findings highlight the need for complex and contextually-sensitive mental health interventions designed to protect this vulnerable population on the migration frontier and to promote their mental health.

Apsáalooke women's experiences with Pap test screening.

BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer mortality rates are among the highest in the United States for Northern Plains Native American women compared with white and other Native American women. The aims of Messengers for Health, a community-based participatory research project based on the Apsáalooke (Crow Indian) Reservation, are to decrease cervical cancer screening barriers, improve knowledge regarding screening and prevention, and increase the proportion of women receiving Pap tests. This paper presents results from a survey assessing women's perceptions of the level of comfort and care received by health care providers in their most recent Pap test appointment. METHODS: A survey assessing patient communication and satisfaction with their health care providers was conducted with a random sample of 101 Apsáalooke women. Qualitative and quantitative methods were utilized to analyze the survey data. RESULTS: Women reported both positive and negative experiences with their provider regarding their Pap test appointments. They noted positive experiences when trust was established and when the provider offered information, reassured or encouraged them, was personable, was familiar or consistent, maintained confidentiality, and was a woman. The women reported negative experiences when the examination was too short, when they did not have a consistent or female provider, and when they did not feel comfortable with the provider's nonverbal communication. CONCLUSIONS: Continued work with both providers and patients is necessary to decrease communication barriers and increase satisfaction with Pap test appointments.

Evaluating from the outside: conducting cross-cultural evaluation research on an American Indian reservation.

There is limited guidance for conducting competent and responsive cross-cultural evaluation research with American Indian communities. The authors draw on Fisher and Ball's Tribal Participatory Research Model to highlight ways in which this project is attempting to be culturally appropriate and sensitive as they partner with an American Indian community to implement and evaluate a youth-based initiative. Challenges encountered during the evaluation are shared, as well as the authors' collective responses to such challenges. Implications for future cross-cultural evaluation researchers are also discussed in light of these experiences.