Dr. Leah Lessard

Developmental scientist studying social underpinnings of adolescent educational and health disparities | @UConnRuddCenter | @Act4HlthyKids | PhD @UCLA

[Dr Asma Jabeen @DrasmaJabeen1]

Research gap types #research #academia

[UConn Rudd Center @UConnRuddCenter]

#New: @CDCgov has released training modules for the Wellness Policy in Action Tool (WPAT)!

The WPAT - which utilizes the Rudd Center's WellSAT program - helps schools meet @USDA triennial assessment requirements.

#CDCHealthySchools

🔗: https://t.co/NXRiObedUl

[APA Division 15 @APADivision15]

Action for Healthy Kids RFP for Development and Testing of a Family-School Partnership Assessment for Child Health and Well-Being https://t.co/xHwvNDhCrk

[Healthy Eating Research @HEResearch]

“To support equitable mental health outcomes for youth with diverse body sizes, empirically informed policy needs to address weight-related teasing and bullying” write @LessardLeah & @Sam_E_Lawrence
Read more https://t.co/RlbmIZ5Es9

#mentalhealth #policy #bullying

[Nature Reviews Psychology @NatRevPsych]

In this Perspective, Earnshaw et al. argue that considering stigma in relation to historical, human development & status course timescales can advance progress in addressing stigma to improve health.

https://t.co/jMY1G4RajS

@UDStigmaLab @DrRyanJWatson @anniefoxgalalis

[Dr. Hannah Schacter @hannah_schacter]

What does bullying look like during the pandemic? Does peer victimization "hurt" more when teens attend in-person vs online school?

Our new paper w/ @DrAdamHoffman @adehrhardt @FaizunBakth is now available open access in Development & Psychopathology:

https://t.co/qdMnbvAY65

[Dr. Leah Lessard @LessardLeah]

33% of adolescents in our community sample reported experiencing weight-based cybervictimization, with elevated rates among those with overweight (45%) and obesity (60%).

[UConn Rudd Center @UConnRuddCenter]

Latest study by Rudd Postdoc @LessardLeah and Rudd Deputy Director Rebecca Puhl finds that weight-based cybervictimization (i.e., electronic forms of weight-based peer victimization) is associated with higher levels of stress, depression, and sleep trouble.https://t.co/go8ZlbNzC5

[Dr. Leah Lessard @LessardLeah]

Developmental changes in the frequency and functions of school-related communication with friends and family across high school: Effects on college enrollment. https://t.co/TdTBcdfxsE

[Dr. Leah Lessard @LessardLeah]

Talking about schoolwork and educational planning with friends more frequently across high school increases teens' likelihood of college enrollment.

Our findings from the #UCLASchoolDiversityProject in @APA_Journals ' Developmental Psychology.

[Dr. Leah Lessard @LessardLeah]

@C_Shamballa YAY!!! Congrats!!! 🥳🥳🥳

[Educational Psychologist @EdPsychJournal]

In their 2019 @EdPsychJournal piece, Jaana Juvonen, @LessardLeah, @ritika_rastogi, @hannah_schacter, Danielle Sayre Smith “provide a critical analysis of barriers to social inclusion and integration in schools.” https://t.co/Htv3hQzoXF

[UConn CSCH @UConnCSCH]

It's National #BullyingPrevention Month. Our NEW podcast episode features @LessardLeah's research on the role popular peers may play in reducing weight-based bullying in schools.
https://t.co/OHv2wVAbmm
@UConnRuddCenter @UConnHDFS #NPBM2021

[Timothy Caulfield @CaulfieldTim]

"Is #Facebook Promoting Self-Stigma?" https://t.co/Vv17PX5Zvv by @ConscienHealth cc @UConnRuddCenter #WeightBias

@LessardLeah & Puhl: "...increased exposure to weight stigmatizing social media content is likely to have implications for adolescents’ health and wellbeing..."

[Journal of Pediatric Psychology @JPedPsych]

How have adolescents’ feelings about their bodies and weight-related social influences changed during #COVID19? @LessardLeah and #RebeccaPuhl explore pandemic-related changes in body dissatisfaction and #WeightStigma from peers, parents & social media. https://t.co/KSBBPDQwfe

[Dr. Leah Lessard @LessardLeah]

@marybhargis Meet you there!!

[Dr. Hannah Schacter @hannah_schacter]

So pleased to have our systematic review on peer victimization, friendship, and adolescent health included in this special issue! A team effort with @LessardLeah @skippykip @FaizunBakth @adehrhardt and Janelle Uganski.

Full-text link below 🔗

[Dr. Hannah Schacter @hannah_schacter]

Adolescents with greater pre-COVID friend support felt less depressed and anxious during COVID-19, regardless of time spent with friends or COVID-19 related stress.

"Friends may thus protect against developing internalizing symptoms in times of crisis."

https://t.co/XkQOHOSGPG

[thinking_about_kids @pt_think_kids]

The Journal of Adolescence is searching for two Assistant Editors. JoA is a top developmental journal (5 year citation 4.32), moving to Wiley in 2022. It is unique in that profits from the journal support professionals in adolescent mental health. Share!

https://t.co/MuPxq1NvSj

[Dr. Leah Lessard @LessardLeah]

Our new study links school district antibullying policies to educators' weight bias. We find evidence of lower bias when policies specifically reference "weight" as a characteristic that places youth at risk for bullying. @ASHAnews @UConnRuddCenter

https://t.co/q5fFjXMYl8

[Sarah Tashjian @TashjianSM]

🎊 My first pre-grad study @ucdavis is finally out in Cognitive Psychology! Led by Hannah Kramer we show across 3 studies that the dichotomizing heuristic takes over social judgments: but it fails if judgments are improbable or groups aren’t initially treated as distinct.