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Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic has put unprecedented stress on essential workers and their children. Limited cross-sectional research has found increases in mental health conditions from workload, reduced income, and isolation among essential workers. Less research has been conducted on children of essential workers. We examined trends in the crisis response of essential workers and their children from April 2020 through August 2021. Methods: We investigated the impact during 3 periods of the pandemic on workers and their children using anonymized data from the Crisis Text Line on crisis help-seeking texts for thoughts of suicide or active suicidal ideation (desire, intent, capability, time frame), abuse (emotional, physical, sexual, unspecified), anxiety/stress, grief, depression, isolation, bullying, eating or body image, gender/sexual identity, self-harm, and substance use. We used generalized estimating equations to study the longitudinal change in crisis response across the later stages of the pandemic using adjusted odds ratios (aORs) for worker status and crisis outcomes. Results: Results demonstrated higher odds of crisis outcomes for thoughts of suicide (aOR = 1.06; 95% CI, 1.00-1.12) and suicide capability (aOR = 1.14; 95% CI, 1.02-1.27) among essential workers than among nonessential workers. Children of essential workers had higher odds of substance use than children of nonessential workers (aOR = 1.33; 95% CI, 1.08-1.65), particularly for Indigenous American children (aOR = 2.76; 95% CI, 1.35-5.36). Essential workers (aOR = 1.17; 95% CI, 1.07-1.27) and their children (aOR = 1.18; 95% CI, 1.07-1.30) had higher odds of grief than nonessential workers and their children. Conclusion: Essential workers and their children had elevated crisis outcomes. Immediate and low-cost psychologically supportive interventions are needed to mitigate the mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on these populations.

This follow-up study investigated the spatio-temporal clustering of adolescent bereavement during the extended response to COVID-19 from October 2020-January 2022 in the continental United States.Deidentified and anonymized bereavement data from Crisis Text Line (CTL), a text-based crisis intervention service, and SaTScan cluster analysis were used to identify space-time clustering of bereavement among adolescents, aged 24 years and less, during the COVID-19 pandemic.Clustering of bereavement conversations occurred during waves of high COVID-19 case and death counts, with the highest risk occurring in the Southeastern United States during the fall of 2020 (relative risk: 5.86, confidence interval: 3.48-8.24). Of the CTL texters who shared their demographic information, Indigenous American, Black, male, and female adolescents were more likely to seek help for bereavement when compared to the other CTL users.Findings show an increased need for bereavement counseling resources during periods of high COVID-19 cases and deaths.

A climate-positive COVID-19 recovery can accelerate the energy transition away from fossil fuels. Yet, current assessments of recovery stimulus programs suggest that the most fossil fuel producers ...

Citizen science has proven to be a valuable tool for biodiversity conservation. However, to maximize the conservation benefits of citizen science programs, researchers and practitioners would gain from a better understanding of project volunteers and what drives them to participate. We examined the diverse motivations of volunteers (n = 3041) participating in Audubon's Christmas Bird Count, one of the world's oldest ecological monitoring citizen (or community) science projects. Principal axis factor analysis along a 16-item scale revealed six distinct intrinsic and extrinsic motivational constructs: science and conservation, outdoor recreation and discovery, commitment and tradition, social interaction, classic birding, and personal accomplishment. Most participants reported multiple motivations, but 40% indicated contribution to science and conservation was their primary reason for initially engaging with the project. As project participation continued, science and conservation-related motives became even more important (with 55% listing as primary continuing motivation). Regression analyses showed motivational orientations varied by socio-demographic attributes and levels/type of project participation. For example, social interaction and tradition were more important to aspiring project leaders than casual observers. Results highlight insights into deepening project engagement and recruiting and retaining citizen scientists. Adapted and applied across different contexts, our instrument and motivational constructs could help to facilitate volunteer management and enhance citizen science's capacity to advance biodiversity conservation goals.