This stream of research is dedicated to students’ health at schools, including students’ mental and behavioral health, students’ and families’ mental health during COVID, and students’ physical health through school meals.  

Improving Students’ Mental and Behavioral Health
This initiative partners with the Normandy Schools Collaborative to co-create implementation strategies that improve both mental and behavioral health for students.  

Funders: National Institute for Minority Health and Health Disparities, WashU’s Here
& Next Initiative

Collaborators: Jason Jabbari, Kelly Harris, Olivia Marcucci, Karishma Furtado 

Community Partners: Normandy Schools Collaborative

Publications: N/A

Mental Health During COVID
Research surrounding behavioral health during the COVID-19 pandemic explores topics like social support, mental health, and academic coping among university students, mental health among graduate students, parents’ mental health, and home quarantine’s impact on young children.

Funders: Annie E. Casey Foundation, JPMorgan Chase Foundation, and Neidorff Family and Centene Corporation COVID & Health Disparity Response Fund

Collaborators: Jason Jabbari, Dan Ferris, Melissa Bessaha, Sana Malik, Miriam Schiff, Ruth Pat-Horenczyk, Michael Grinstein-Weiss and Tyler Frank

Community Partners: N/A

Publications:

  • Gilbert, A., Jabbari, J., & Hernandez, R. (2022). How Do Perceived Changes in Child Activities Relate to Perceptions of Health During COVID-19?  Exploring Heterogeneity during the Pandemic. International Journal of Environmental and Public Health, 19(18), 11206. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191811206
  • Jabbari, J., Frank, T., Ferris, D., Pat-Horenczyk, R., Benbenishty, R., & Schiff, M. (2024). Social Support, Mental Health, Academic Coping, and Perceptions of Teaching Quality during COVID-19: A Cross-Lagged Panel Model of University Students in Israel. International Journal of Psychology, 59(6), p. 959-972. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijop.13221
  • Jabbari, J., Bessaha, M., Malik, S., Ferris, D., Brickman, S., Schiff, M., Pat-Horenczyk, R., Grinstein-Weiss, M., & Frank, T. (2023). How Does Social Support Relate to Learning Availability During COVID-19? A Multi-Group Structural Equation Model from the US and Israel. Social Psychology of Education, 26, 1037–1061. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-023-09783-1
  • Heller, O., Moran, M., Pitcho, S., Schwartz-Tayri, T. M., Jabbari, J., Shlomo, Y., & Grintein-Weiss, M. (2023). Home Quarantines and Cumulative Risk Exposure Among Young Children: Isolation and Maladaptation. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 93(6), 504–515. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000696
  • Jabbari, J., Frank, T., Ferris, D., Bessaha, M., & Malik, S. (2022). Intersecting Race and Gender Across Hardships and Mental Health during COVID-19: A Moderated-Mediation Model of Graduate Students at Two Universities. Race and Social Problems, 15, 328–346. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12552-022-09379-y
  • Moreland-Russell, S., Jabbari, J., Ferris, R., Roll, S. (2022). At Home and on the Brink: Parents’ Mental Health During COVID-19. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 19(9). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19095586
  • Hernandez, R. & Jabbari, J. (2022). Disrupted and Disconnected: Child Activities, Social Skills, and the Moderating Role of Race/Ethnicity During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Frontiers in Education, 7: 1-12. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2022.869183
  • Heller, O., Grinstein-Weiss, M., Shlomo, Y., & Jabbari, J. (2021). Pandemic Isolation Increasing Negative Behaviors Among Children in Israel. Social Policy Institute Research.
  • Muñoz-Rivera, A., Jabbari, J., Roll, S., Kristensen, K., & Grinstein-Weiss, M. (2021). Impact of COVID-19 on Households with Children. Social Policy Institute Research.
School Meals and Food Policy
Concerning the physical health of students, this research involves partnerships with both state agencies and local community organizations to explore how novel school meal and family food policies can create more equitable food systems that facilitate thriving for marginalized children.

Funders: Annie E. Casey Foundation, JPMorgan Chase Foundation, and Neidorff Family and Centene Corporation COVID & Health Disparity Response Fund

Collaborators: Sarah Moreland-Russell, Dan Ferris, Jason Jabbari

Community Partners: Operation Food Search

Publications:

  • Gilbert, A., Frank, T., McDermott, L., Walden, N., Jabbari, J., Roll, S., & Ferris, D. (Online First). Access and Satisfaction in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC): Differences Across Race, Ethnicity, Income, and Urbanicity Among Missouri Residents. Accepted at Food and Nutrition Bulletin. https://doi.org/10.1177/03795721251323312 
  • Jabbari, J., Chun, Y., Nandan, P., McDermott, L., Frank, T., Ferris, D., Moreland-Russel, S., & Roll, S. (2022). How Did School Meal Access Change During the COVID-19 Pandemic? A Two-Step Floating Catchment Area Analysis of a Large Metropolitan Area. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(21): 1-17. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182111350
  • Frank, T., Jabbari, J., Roll, S., Ferris, D., Terada, T., Gilbert, A., & McDermott, L. (2023). Connecting the Dots Between Barriers to WIC Access and Adult and Child Food Insecurity: A Survey of Missouri Residents. Nutrients, 15(11), 2496. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15112496
  • Moreland-Russell, S., Jabbari, J., Saliba, F., Ferris, D., Jost, E., Frank, T. & Chun, Y. (2023). Implementation of Flexibilities to the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs and Their Impact on Schools in Missouri. Nutrients, 15(3), 720. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15030720  
  • Ferris, D., Jabbari, J., Chun, Y., & Sándoval, J. S. (2022). Increased School Breakfast Participation from Policy and Program Innovation: The Community Eligibility Provision and Breakfast After the Bell. Nutrients. 14(3): 1-13. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14030511
  • Ferris, D., Roll, S., Huang, J. Matthews, K., Ragain, T., Simpson, K., Jabbari, J., Gilbert, K., Frank, T., & Rothman, S. (2022). Does a Food Insecurity Intervention Improve Prenatal Outcomes for Mother and Child? A Randomized Control Study Protocol of the FreshRx Program. Journal of Public Health Research. 11(2): 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1177/22799036221102496