Developing a Machine Learning-Based Automated Patient Engagement Estimator for Telehealth: Algorithm Development and Validation Study.

Background: Patient engagement is a critical but challenging public health priority in behavioral health care. During telehealth sessions, health care providers need to rely predominantly on verbal strategies rather than typical nonverbal cues to effectively engage patients. Hence, the typical patient engagement behaviors are now different, and health care provider training on telehealth patient engagement is unavailable or quite limited.

Telepsychotherapy with Youth at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis: Clinical Issues and Best Practices during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Early detection and prevention of psychosis has become an international priority. Much of this work has focused on youth presenting with attenuated symptoms of psychosis-those at Clinical High Risk for psychosis (CHR)-given their elevated probability of developing the full disorder in subsequent years. Individuals at CHR may be prone to exacerbated psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic and its subsequent physical isolation measures, due to heightened stress sensitivity and comorbid mental health problems.

Dietary Consumption Among Youth with Antipsychotic-Induced Weight Gain and Changes Following Healthy Lifestyle Education.

Youth treated with antipsychotic medications are high risk for weight gain, increased lipids/glucose, and development of metabolic syndrome. Little is known about the dietary intake/nutritional adequacy in this vulnerable population, and effect on weight gain. This secondary data analysis describes the baseline intake and changes in diet after receiving healthy lifestyle education/counseling over 6 months, in a sample of youth with antipsychotic-induced weight gain.

Metformin add-on vs. antipsychotic switch vs. continued antipsychotic treatment plus healthy lifestyle education in overweight or obese youth with severe mental illness: results from the IMPACT trial.

Antipsychotics are used for many psychiatric conditions in youth. Although developmentally inappropriate weight gain and metabolic abnormalities, which are risk factors for premature cardiovascular mortality, are especially frequent in youth, optimal strategies to reduce pediatric antipsychotic-induced overweight/obesity are unclear. The Improving Metabolic Parameters in Antipsychotic Child Treatment (IMPACT) was a randomized, parallel group, 24-week clinical trial which enrolled overweight/obese, psychiatrically stable youth, aged 8-19 years, with a DSM-IV diagnosis of severe mental illness (schizophrenia spectrum disorder, bipolar spectrum disorder or psychotic depression), at four US universities.

Using the K-SADS psychosis screen to identify people with early psychosis or psychosis risk syndromes.

Background: Current methods to identify people with psychosis risk involve administration of specialized tools such as the Structured Interview for Psychosis-Risk Syndromes (SIPS), but these methods have not been widely adopted. Validation of a more multipurpose assessment tool-such as the Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (K-SADS)-may increase the scope of identification efforts.

Methods: We assessed the correspondence between SIPS-determined clinical high risk/early psychosis (CHR/early psychosis) status and K-SADS psychosis screen (child and parent reports and their combination) in a sample of 147 help-seeking individuals aged 12-25.