With support from the Blythe Brenden-Mann Foundation, we will conduct analysis of existing data from the Minnesota Student Survey (N~100,000 per survey wave) to pursue two aims:
- Findings from the 2025 Minnesota Student Survey provided a “good news” story, with rates of emotional distress, substance use, and other indicators of adolescent health showing substantial improvement. But does this good news apply to all young people? We will examine trends (2013-2025) to determine if disparities in health risks have narrowed over time, and for whom.
- The sociopolitical context adolescents live in contributes to the supportive – or stigmatizing – environment around their development and health. Although Minnesota is considered a progressive state, substantial variability exists: the percent of votes cast for the Republican presidential candidate in 2024 ranged from 22%-77% across our 87 counties. Community political contexts shape funding decisions, prevention priorities, and the services available to support child, adolescent, and family health needs. We will examine associations between an existing indicator of county-level policy preferences of voters in the county (ranging from more conservative to more democratic) and measures of adolescent health risk in the Minnesota Student Survey, cross-sectionally and across time. We will focus on youth with highest risk of health disparities (identified in Aim 1).
We expect findings from this work to identify populations and areas that have not seen positive benefits, where prevention and intervention efforts are most needed and have the greatest potential for impact.