Cognitive characteristics common to autistic individuals are often seen in adults with anorexia nervosa (AN), raising the question of whether autistic people and people with AN may share an endophenotype. We need to examine autistic characteristics during the early stages of AN to…

PolicyLab participated in the conceptualization and planning of numerous interviews with youth for the 2022 Southeastern PA Regional Community Health Needs Assessment. We plan to utilize the data within this report to help inform research and programs to address youth-identified health…

Through the federal family planning program, Title X, all minors seeking care at a Title X-funded clinic are legally allowed to access confidential services, including sexually transmitted disease testing, contraception and pregnancy counseling, without a parent or guardian even in…

Since May 2021, numerous state legislatures in the United States have introduced bills to restrict the participation of transgender and gender diverse (trans) youth in gender-segregated sports in a manner consistent with their gender identity. The purpose of this study was to…

Telehealth services for medical care were rarely available in the United States before March 2020 when stay-at-home orders went into place in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Gender-affirming care for transgender and nonbinary (TNB) individuals was no…

Youth spend most of their time in school, offering an important opportunity to deliver mental and behavioral health services that meet them where they are. Schools can provide prevention services aimed at supporting positive youth behavioral health, decreasing the need for higher-level…

Gender-affirming care (GAC) is critical to the well-being of transgender and gender diverse youth and was limited by COVID-19 stay-at-home orders. Telehealth created opportunities for youth to continue receiving lifesaving care. We examined the attitudes of patients (n=21) and…

Orthorexia Nervosa (ON) is a term describing a fixation on food purity, involving ritualized eating patterns and a rigid avoidance of "unhealthy foods." Those self-identified as having ON tend to focus on food composition and feel immense guilt after eating food deemed "unhealthy."…

Health education in schools has long been identified as a strategy to support children’s health and well-being. However, there are challenges around standardization and quality of health education and how to implement it in schools. Clinicians and researchers within PolicyLab’s…

While the general relationship between ACEs and the development of chronic pain has become increasingly clear, how ACEs may shape a child's clinical presentation with regards to chronic pain has yet to be fully expounded. We aimed to determine the association between ACEs and clinical…