Youth Mental Health Screening and Linkage to Care.

One Mind, in partnership with Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute, convened several virtual meetings of mental health researchers, clinicians, and other stakeholders in 2020 to identify first steps toward creating an initiative for early screening and linkage to care for youths (individuals in early adolescence through early adulthood, ages 10-24 years) with mental health difficulties, including serious mental illness, in the United States. This article synthesizes and builds on discussions from those meetings by outlining and recommending potential steps and considerations for the development and integration of a novel measurement-based screening process in youth-facing school and medical settings to increase early identification of mental health needs and linkage to evidence-based care. Meeting attendees agreed on an initiative incorporating a staged assessment process that includes a first-stage brief screener for several domains of psychopathology.

Incorporating family factors into treatment planning for adolescent depression: Perceived parental criticism predicts longitudinal symptom trajectory in the Youth Partners in Care trial.

Background: This study aimed to clarify the predictive significance of youth perceptions of parental criticism assessed using a brief measure designed to enhance clinical utility. We hypothesized that high perceived parental criticism would be associated with more severe depression over 18-months of follow-up.

Methods: The study involved secondary analyses from the Youth Partners in Care trial, which demonstrated that a quality improvement intervention aimed at increasing access to evidence-based depression treatment in primary care led to improved depression outcomes at post-treatment compared to usual care enhanced by provider education regarding depression evaluation/management.

Development and efficacy of a family-focused treatment for depression in childhood.

Background: Depression in childhood frequently involves significant impairment, comorbidity, stress, and mental health problems within the family. Family-Focused Treatment for Childhood Depression (FFT-CD) is a 15-session developmentally-informed, evidence-based intervention targeting family interactions to enhance resiliency within the family system to improve and manage childhood depression.

Methods: We present the conceptual framework underlying FFT-CD, the treatment development process, the intervention strategies, a case illustration, and efficacy data from a recent 2-site randomized clinical trial (N = 134) of 7-14 year old children randomly assigned to FFT-CD or individual supportive psychotherapy (IP) conditions.

Parent and Youth Preferences in the Treatment of Youth Depression.

Patient-centered care requires providing care that is responsive to patient preferences, needs, and values, yet data on parent and youth treatment preferences remains sparse. The present study (1) identifies variations in parent and youth preferences for depression treatment, and (2) explores relationships between parent and youth demographics and psychosocial functioning, and the preferences that parents and youth endorse. Participants were 64 youth and 63 parents awaiting randomization in a clinical trial evaluating psychosocial youth depression treatments.

Randomized controlled trial of family-focused treatment for child depression compared to individual psychotherapy: one-year outcomes.

Objective: Childhood-onset depression is associated with increased risk of recurrent depression and high morbidity extending into adolescence and adulthood. This multisite randomized controlled trial evaluated two active psychosocial treatments for childhood depression: family-focused treatment for childhood depression (FFT-CD) and individual supportive psychotherapy (IP). Aims were to describe effects through 52 weeks postrandomization on measures of depression, functioning, nondepressive symptoms, and harm events.

Correction.

This corrects the article DOI: 10.4088/JCP.09m05885blu.