Working in the PreK program with the 3 year olds.

INQ Lab is a research team that has conducted a qualitative analysis on the implementation of mental health services in Chicago K-12 public schools. This is an ongoing project as we analyze the program at different stages of implementation.

I assisted in a large scale database search to find relevant studies that can add to our topic of interest. We used two-large scale databases, EBSCOHost and PubMed. We identified approximately 63 peer-reviewed articles, as it focused on adolescence and play. From that, only 7 contributed to the base of empirical literature that met our search guidelines.Adolescence is the second most critical period of development outside of infancy. Research has shown that free play in childhood contributes the social, mental, physical development. There is a significant gap in the body of empirical research concerning adolescent play as well as how adolescent play relates to stress and health.Over the past 50 years, rates of play have declined in children, while the rates of depression, suicide, and other mental health struggles have increased in children and adolescents. These rates are more evident in the US due to COVID shutdowns and online learning. Our next steps include:- Developing a pilot program that contributes to the existing research on adolescence and expands our knowledge of how play is defined by changes within the adolescence developmental period.- Document the contribution play to the psychosocial health of adolescents.