Mental Health

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Event

2025 4-H State Leadership Conference

Event Date
Jul 24, 2025 - Jul 27, 2025

California 4-H State Leadership Conference: Empowering youth (11-19) with leadership, communication & life skills through workshops, speakers & hands-on activities.
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Article

What Is Self-Care and Why Does It Matter?

July 9, 2025
By Matthew R Rodriguez
IntroductionHumans are very complex systems and require ongoing maintenance. Similar to maintaining a vehicle (e.g. oil changes, etc.), people also have ongoing needs in order to function at optimal levels. Adequate sleep, physical exercise, enjoyable activities, positive relationships, and other factors are…
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Article

Sleep and Youth Mental Health

July 8, 2025
By Matthew R Rodriguez
Introduction In the 4-H positive youth development program, youth pledge their "health to better living." Supporting the health and wellbeing of our young people is an important component of the 4-H program. This emphasis on healthy living also aligns with our University of California Cooperative…
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Article

Understanding Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Among Different Groups of Youth (Part 4 of Series)

June 6, 2025
By Matthew R Rodriguez, Sally E Neas, Kaitlyn A Murray, Liliana Vega
IntroductionWhile any young person can potentially experience an adverse childhood experience (ACE), not all young people are as likely to be affected by them. Some groups of youth are at a disproportionately high risk. This increased exposure is shaped by systemic factors that are outside of a young person…
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Article

The Relation between Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Developmental Context (Part 3 of Series)

April 17, 2025
By Matthew R Rodriguez, Liliana Vega, Kaitlyn A Murray, Sally E Neas
IntroductionYouth don’t learn in a vacuum—they learn in different places and with different people. Learning can happen at school, while hanging out with friends at the park, or in a 4-H community club. All of these contexts provide youth with opportunities to interact with others and with their environments…
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Healthy Living

4-H empowers you to be healthy in both body and mind. Having the confidence and skills to lead a healthy lifestyle improves your overall well-being and ability to tackle today's challenges.
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Projects

A 4-H project is a hands-on way for you to find your "spark" - something that you enjoy doing and that interests you.
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About California 4-H

The University of California 4-H Youth Development Program (California 4-H) is open to all youth ages 5 to 18 in every county in California. California 4-H believes in the power of young people. We see that every child has valuable strengths and real influence to improve the world around us. California 4-H…
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Article

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs): The Original 10 ACEs (Part 1 of Series)

February 21, 2025
By Liliana Vega, Kaitlyn A Murray, Sally E Neas, Matthew R Rodriguez
Research on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) shows how traumatic events, or life experiences that cause psychological distress (Gradus & Galea, 2022), that occur during childhood (0-17 years) have profound implications on an individual's long-term health and well-being, physically, mentally, and...
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