Relationality, Overload, and Trust: How Housing-Insecure Youth Navigated Health Information During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Reynolds, Hannah E.; Lopez, Alana R.; Escobedo, Renatta; Chien, Lorilee; Saeb, Samia; Carson, Jacob; Calzo, Jerel P.; McDaniels-Davidson, Corinne; Jellá, Steven; Felner, Jennifer K.

doi:10.3390/ijerph23070863

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Relationality, Overload, and Trust: How Housing-Insecure Youth Navigated Health Information During the COVID-19 Pandemic

by

Hannah E. Reynolds

^1,*

,

Alana R. Lopez

^1,2,3

,

Renatta Escobedo

⁴

,

Lorilee Chien

⁴

,

Samia Saeb

^2,3

,

Jacob Carson

^2,3

,

Jerel P. Calzo

^1,2

,

Corinne McDaniels-Davidson

^1,2

,

Steven Jellá

⁴ and

Jennifer K. Felner

^1,2,*

¹

Institute for Behavioral and Community Health, San Diego State University Research Foundation, San Diego State University, 9245 Sky Park Court, San Diego, CA 92123, USA

²

School of Public Health, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Dr, San Diego, CA 92182, USA

³

Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California, 9500 Gilman Dr. La Jolla, San Diego, CA 92093, USA

⁴

San Diego Youth Services, 3255 Wing St, San Diego, CA 92110, USA

^*

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2026, 23(7), 863; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph23070863

Submission received: 23 May 2026 / Revised: 20 June 2026 / Accepted: 27 June 2026 / Published: 30 June 2026

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Psychosocial Impact in the Post-pandemic Era)

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Abstract

Youth experiencing homelessness and housing instability (YEH) face disproportionate health risks and structural barriers to health equity, which were intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted a community-based participatory research study with 21 adolescents (ages 13–17) and transitional-aged youth (ages 18–26) experiencing homelessness or housing instability in San Diego, California, USA. Between February and July 2023, we conducted six “arts-based engagement sessions” (5 in English, 1 in Spanish) that blended expressive arts and focus group approaches to examine how YEH accessed, evaluated, and applied health information, and how trust and material and structural resource constraints shaped engagement with COVID-19 information and prevention guidance. We analyzed data via applied thematic analysis. Participants described how COVID-19 restrictions and economic disruption amplified pre-existing housing precarity, worsening material conditions and mental health. Participants selectively trusted COVID-19 information based on who provided it, how credible it felt, and whether it aligned with their lived experiences. Community-based providers and, for some, churches and cultural or ancestral knowledge were key information sources. Trust in government and public health messaging was conditional and shaped by perceptions of credibility, coherence, and political motivation. Participants described information overload and rapidly changing guidance as overwhelming and often incompatible with their material realities, leading to disengagement, reliance on intuition, or deprioritization of prevention behaviors. Effective communication during future health emergencies must center trusted relational messengers, align guidance with lived realities, and address the structural conditions that shape whether health information can be meaningfully acted upon.

Keywords: COVID-19; health literacy; housing-insecure youth; social networks; trust

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MDPI and ACS Style

Reynolds, H.E.; Lopez, A.R.; Escobedo, R.; Chien, L.; Saeb, S.; Carson, J.; Calzo, J.P.; McDaniels-Davidson, C.; Jellá, S.; Felner, J.K. Relationality, Overload, and Trust: How Housing-Insecure Youth Navigated Health Information During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2026, 23, 863. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph23070863

AMA Style

Reynolds HE, Lopez AR, Escobedo R, Chien L, Saeb S, Carson J, Calzo JP, McDaniels-Davidson C, Jellá S, Felner JK. Relationality, Overload, and Trust: How Housing-Insecure Youth Navigated Health Information During the COVID-19 Pandemic. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2026; 23(7):863. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph23070863

Chicago/Turabian Style

Reynolds, Hannah E., Alana R. Lopez, Renatta Escobedo, Lorilee Chien, Samia Saeb, Jacob Carson, Jerel P. Calzo, Corinne McDaniels-Davidson, Steven Jellá, and Jennifer K. Felner. 2026. "Relationality, Overload, and Trust: How Housing-Insecure Youth Navigated Health Information During the COVID-19 Pandemic" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 23, no. 7: 863. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph23070863

APA Style

Reynolds, H. E., Lopez, A. R., Escobedo, R., Chien, L., Saeb, S., Carson, J., Calzo, J. P., McDaniels-Davidson, C., Jellá, S., & Felner, J. K. (2026). Relationality, Overload, and Trust: How Housing-Insecure Youth Navigated Health Information During the COVID-19 Pandemic. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 23(7), 863. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph23070863

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Relationality, Overload, and Trust: How Housing-Insecure Youth Navigated Health Information During the COVID-19 Pandemic

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