Challenges and Opportunities: Identification and Monitoring of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Pediatrics.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that typically presents in childhood and can cause significant impairment from youth into adulthood across multiple settings (eg, school, home). Pediatricians are the most likely health professionals to identify and treat ADHD. However, ADHD symptoms often overlap with other common mental health disorders, making accurate identification challenging.

Bright Light Therapy for Major Depressive Disorder in Adolescent Outpatients: A Preliminary Study.

Background: Bright light therapy (BLT) has not been well-studied in adolescents with major depressive disorder, particularly in outpatient settings.

Methods: We conducted an 8-week clinical trial of BLT in adolescents recruited from a primary care practice with moderate to severe major depression. Acceptability and feasibility were defined by daily use of the light box and integration into daily routines.

Pediatric collaborative care outcomes in a regional model.

Background: Despite the movement toward hospital-based medical centers acquiring pediatric primary care offices, many primary care pediatricians still work in small, independent practices. To expand mental healthcare access, service delivery models must consider primary care practice needs and regionally available resources.

Objective: This report describes the implementation and evaluation of the Mood, Anxiety, ADHD Collaborative Care (MAACC) program over a 4 years period.

State of the Evidence for Use of Psychotropic Medications in School-Age Youth.

Psychotropic medications are commonly prescribed to school-aged youth for the management of mental health concerns. This paper describes the current state of evidence for psychotropic medications in school-aged youth. More specifically, the following sections summarize relevant medication research trials and practice parameters pertaining to psychotropic medication prescribing as well as the specific medications indicated for a range of commonly presenting disorders and symptom clusters in school-aged youth.

Light Therapy for Adolescent Depression: A Scoping Review.

Purpose: Depressive disorders in adolescents are a major health concern associated with developmental, social, and educational impairment. Bright Light Therapy (BLT) is a feasible and effective treatment for depressive disorders in adults, but few controlled trials have been conducted with children or adolescents. This scoping review focuses on the current state of knowledge for BLT in the treatment of adolescent depression.

Comparative analysis of pediatric anxiety measures in clinical sample: evaluation of the PROMIS pediatric anxiety short forms.

Objective: Examine the psychometric properties, validity in relation to a legacy measure, and diagnostic accuracy of the PROMIS Anxiety Short Form 2.0 (PROMIS A-SF) Caregiver and Youth Reports in a clinical sample.

Methods: Participants were 301 youth and caregivers referred to a behavioral health clinic by their pediatrician.

Improving diagnostic accuracy: Comparison of nomograms and classification tree analyses for predicting the diagnosis of oppositional defiant disorder.

Unstructured clinical interviews are inaccurate tools for diagnostic decision-making. While structured diagnostic evaluations improve reliability, they are infrequently used in clinical practice. Empirical approaches are a hallmark of evidenced-based assessment and may reduce burdens of structured interviews.

Screening for Mental Health Problems in Pediatric Primary Care.

Systematic mental health screening is a recommended but controversial process in the pediatricians' behavioral health tool kit. Although the American Academy of Pediatrics and other organizations promote routine behavioral health screening, implementing an effective and sustainable screening program can be challenging. We discuss the rationale for and barriers to screening in pediatric settings, identify accessible validated tools that can be easily incorporated into practice, and suggest a practical strategy for implementing a more accurate screening system for common mental health concerns in pediatric primary care.

Editorial: Promoting Quality Psychotherapy: It Is Not the Process but the Outcome That Matters!

The article published in this issue of the Journal by Bear et al. is the first to use meta-analytic procedures to try to understand the value of psychotherapy for pediatric anxiety and depression as usually delivered in the community. The authors scoured the literature for psychotherapy clinical trials that used treatment as usual as a control group or observational studies of treatment in mental health settings, then applied meta-analytic approaches to get a better idea of what treatment as usual outcomes were and by extension what to expect from psychotherapy as usually delivered.

Evidence-based assessment in clinical settings: Reducing assessment burden for a structured measure of child and adolescent anxiety.

Clinically useful and evidence-based mental health assessment requires the identification of strategies that maximize diagnostic accuracy, inform treatment planning, and make efficient use of clinician and patient time and resources. This study uses classification tree analyses to determine whether parent- and child-report instruments, alone or in combination, can accurately predict diagnoses as measured by the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule (ADIS). The ADIS, which is the gold-standard semistructured interview for anxiety disorders in children and adolescents, requires formal training and lengthy administration.

An investigation of the partial-assignment completion effect on students' assignment choice behavior.

This study was designed to investigate the partial assignment completion effect. Seventh-grade students were given a math assignment. After working for 5 min, they were interrupted and their partially completed assignments were collected.