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Given the social and emotional tolls of the COVID-19 pandemic on college and university students, many students have become academically disengaged during the pandemic. Although some colleges and universities have the capacity to promote social support for their students, research has yet to comprehensively demonstrate the relationship between social support and academic engagement. To fill this gap, we leverage survey results from four universities across the United States and Israel. Through multi-group structural equation modelling, we explore (a) how perceived social support relates to being emotionally unavailable for learning, (b) how this relationship is partially explained through coping and COVID-19 concerns, and (c) how these relationships can differ across countries. We find that students who perceived higher levels of social support had lower rates of being emotionally unavailable for learning. Part of this relationship occurred through greater rates of coping and, subsequently, fewer concerns about the pandemic. We also noticed significant differences in these relationships between countries. We conclude with a discussion of study implications for higher education policies and practices.

Although social support is strongly related to college students' mental health in the context of COVID‐19, little is known about the academic mechanisms that explain and influence this relationship. This knowledge gap limits our ability to create effective interventions. Our current study extends the previous research by using longitudinal data from 2020 to 2021 and leveraging a unique panel dataset from over 1,500 university students in Israel. By using a cross‐lagged panel model, we examine how the relationship between social support and mental health is partially explained by academic coping, as well as how these relationships differ across perceived teaching quality. We find that academic coping partially explains the relationship between social support and depression for students who perceived higher‐quality instruction but not for students who perceived lower‐quality instruction. Moreover, these relationships are not apparent for anxiety, suggesting that anxiety may relate to out‐of‐school considerations like pandemic‐related health concerns and hardships. We close with implications for policy and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Food insecurity has far-reaching consequences for health and well-being, especially during pregnancy and postpartum periods. This study examines a food-is-medicine approach that aimed to reduce food insecurity, maternal stress, depression, anxiety, preterm labor, and low birthweight. Design: Pre-post interventional study of FreshRx: Nourishing Healthy Starts, a pregnancy focused food-is-medicine program led by a local hunger relief organization and obstetrics department. Setting: St. Louis, Missouri, a Midwestern U.S. city with higher-than-average infant mortality, low birthweight, and preterm birth rates. Sample: Participants (N = 125) recruited from a local obstetrics clinic had pregnancies earlier than 24 weeks gestation; spoke English; and were enrolled in Medicaid. At baseline, 67.0% reported very low food security and none reported high food security, while 34.7% indicated depressive symptoms. Intervention: FreshRx included weekly deliveries of fresh food meal kits, nutrition counseling and education, care coordination, and supportive services. Measures: 18-Question U.S. Household Food Security Survey, Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, birthweight, gestational age. Analysis: Single arm pre-post analysis. Results: Average gestational age of 38.2 weeks (n = 84) and birthweight of 6.7 pounds (n = 81) were higher than rates for the general population in the area. For study participants who completed a sixty-day post-partum assessment, 13% (n = 45) indicated maternal depression (P <.01). Conclusion: Food-is-medicine interventions may be an efficient, effective, and equitable tool for improving birth and maternal health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In addition to the dearth of literature on successful evaluation capacity building (ECB), there is also a need to highlight novel and blended approaches to evaluating ECB. To evaluate the Data for Social Impact (DSI) initiative, we used developmental evaluation and emergent design evaluation. The DSI initiative was created in the St. Louis metropolitan region in Missouri to build data capacity and collaboration across sectors to improve impact. Within its overarching goal of social‐sector data capacity building, DSI aims to amplify ECB both within and across organizations. In this article, we discuss the background of the initiative and our process of evaluation. This article offers an approach to evaluating ECB that allows for the flexibility and complexity that often comes with evaluation done in collaborative, real‐world contexts. We champion using an emergent and developmental evaluation principles to evaluate ECB programs to extend their reach beyond the evaluation experts and into organizations and communities working toward equity and justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]