Using a Digital Mental Health Intervention for Crisis Support and Mental Health Care Among Children and Adolescents With Self-Injurious Thoughts and Behaviors: Retrospective Study.

Background: Self-injurious thoughts and behaviors (SITBs) are increasing dramatically among children and adolescents. Crisis support is intended to provide immediate mental health care, risk mitigation, and intervention for those experiencing SITBs and acute mental health distress. Digital mental health interventions (DMHIs) have emerged as accessible and effective alternatives to in-person care; however, most do not provide crisis support or ongoing care for children and adolescents with SITBs.

Improvements in sleep problems and their associations with mental health symptoms: A study of children and adolescents participating in a digital mental health intervention.

Objective: A growing number of youth are utilizing digital mental health interventions (DMHIs) for treatment of mental health problems such as anxiety, depression, and ADHD. Although these mental health symptoms are closely related to sleep problems, it is unknown whether nonsleep DMHIs indirectly confer improvements in sleep. Using retrospective data, the current study assesses (1) whether youth sleep problems improve over participation in a nonsleep DMHI, and (2) whether mental health symptom severity and improvement are correlated with sleep problem severity over time.

Rates of Trauma Exposure and Posttraumatic Stress in a Pediatric Digital Mental Health Intervention: Retrospective Analysis of Associations With Anxiety and Depressive Symptom Improvement Over Time.

Background: More than 2 out of 3 children and adolescents in the United States experience trauma by the age of 16 years. Exposure to trauma in early life is linked to a range of negative mental health outcomes throughout the lifespan, particularly co-occurring symptoms of posttraumatic stress (PTS), anxiety, and depression. There has been an increasing uptake of digital mental health interventions (DMHIs) among youths, particularly for anxiety and depression.

Improvements in Adolescents' Disordered Eating Behaviors in a Collaborative Care Digital Mental Health Intervention: Retrospective Observational Study.

Background: Young people today are exhibiting increasing rates of disordered eating behaviors, as well as eating disorders (EDs), alongside other mental and behavioral problems such as anxiety and depression. However, limited access to mental health care means that EDs, disordered eating behaviors, and comorbid mental health problems are often underdiagnosed and undertreated. Digital mental health interventions (DMHIs) offer accessible and scalable alternatives to traditional treatment modalities, but their effectiveness has not been well established among adolescents with EDs and disordered eating behaviors.

Exploring the Number of Web-Based Behavioral Health Coaching Sessions Associated With Symptom Improvement in Youth: Observational Retrospective Analysis.

Background: Rates of anxiety and depression have been increasing among children and adolescents for the past decade; however, many young people do not receive adequate mental health care. Digital mental health interventions (DMHIs) that include web-based behavioral health coaching are widely accessible and can confer significant improvements in youth anxiety and depressive symptoms. However, more research is necessary to determine the number of web-based coaching sessions that confer clinically significant improvements in anxiety and depressive symptoms in youth.

Sleep problems and parental stress among caregivers of children and adolescents enrolled in a digital mental health intervention.

Introduction: Caregivers of children with mental health problems such as anxiety, depression, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder often experience heightened sleep problems, largely due to their children's disrupted sleep, and increased parental stress. Evidence suggests that mental and behavioral health care for children and adolescents has the potential to positively affect their caregivers; however, this has not been investigated in the context of pediatric digital mental health interventions (DMHIs). Therefore, the current study used caregivers' self-report measures to determine whether caregivers whose children are involved in a DMHI exhibit improvements in sleep problems and parental stress after initiation of their children's care.

Sleep mediates the effect of stressful environments on youth development of impulsivity: The moderating role of within default mode network resting-state functional connectivity.

Objectives: Youth raised in stressful environments are at increased risk for developing impulsive traits, which are a robust precursor of problem behaviors. Sleep may mediate the link between stress and problem behaviors as it is both sensitive to stress and essential for neurocognitive development underlying behavioral control during adolescence. The default mode network (DMN) is a brain network implicated in stress regulation and sleep.

Using Digital Measurement-Based Care to Address Symptoms of Inattention, Hyperactivity, and Opposition in Youth: Retrospective Analysis of Bend Health.

Background: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and associated behavioral disorders are highly prevalent in children and adolescents, yet many of them do not receive the care they need. Digital mental health interventions (DMHIs) may address this need by providing accessible and high-quality care. Given the necessity for high levels of caregiver and primary care practitioner involvement in addressing ADHD symptoms and behavioral problems, collaborative care interventions that adopt a whole-family approach may be particularly well suited to reduce symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, and opposition in children and adolescents.

Using Digital Measurement-Based Care for the Treatment of Anxiety and Depression in Children and Adolescents: Observational Retrospective Analysis of Bend Health Data.

Background: A growing body of evidence supports the efficacy of measurement-based care (MBC) for children and adolescents experiencing mental health concerns, particularly anxiety and depression. In recent years, MBC has increasingly transitioned to web-based spaces in the form of digital mental health interventions (DMHIs), which render high-quality mental health care more accessible nationwide. Although extant research is promising, the emergence of MBC DMHIs means that much is unknown regarding their effectiveness as a treatment for anxiety and depression, particularly among children and adolescents.

Continuity versus change in latent profiles of emotion regulation and working memory during adolescence.

Significant structural and functional brain development occurs during early adolescence. These changes underlie developments in central neurocognitive processes such as working memory (WM) and emotion regulation (ER). The preponderance of studies modeling trajectories of adolescent brain development use variable-centered approaches, omitting attention to individual differences that may undergird neurobiological embedding of early life stress and attendant psychopathology.

A practical guide for researchers and reviewers using the ABCD Study and other large longitudinal datasets.

As the largest longitudinal study of adolescent brain development and behavior to date, the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study® has provided immense opportunities for researchers across disciplines since its first data release in 2018. The size and scope of the study also present a number of hurdles, which range from becoming familiar with the study design and data structure to employing rigorous and reproducible analyses. The current paper is intended as a guide for researchers and reviewers working with ABCD data, highlighting the features of the data (and the strengths and limitations therein) as well as relevant analytical and methodological considerations.

Neural signatures of the development of antisocial behaviours and callous-unemotional traits among youth: The moderating role of parental support.

Comorbidity of antisocial behaviours (AB) and callous-unemotional (CU) traits characterizes a subgroup of youth at risk for chronic and severe AB in adulthood. Although aberrant neural response to facial emotion confers heightened risk for AB and CU traits, the behavioural effect of this neural response varies by family context. The present study examines the effects of neural response to emotional faces, parental support and the interaction between the two as predictors of AB and CU traits in a longitudinal sample of preadolescents (N  = 11,883; M  = 9.

Child Abuse and Neglect, Callous-Unemotional Traits, and Substance Use Problems: the Moderating Role of Stress Response Reactivity.

Young adults who experienced child abuse and neglect (CAN) are at significant risk for callous-unemotional traits and substance use problems. Research shows that compromised self-regulation may increase risk for these maladaptive outcomes. In the present cross-sectional study, we examined the moderating role of self-regulation, indexed by heart rate variability reactivity, in the indirect link between CAN and alcohol and other drug use problems via callous-unemotional traits.

An autonomic nervous system context of harsh parenting and youth aggression versus delinquency.

Harsh parenting is a significant predictor of youth aggression and delinquency. However, not every child exposed to adverse parenting develops such problem behaviors. Recent developmental evolutionary models suggest that variability in stress response reactivity to parenting, reflected by autonomic nervous system (ANS) functioning, may affect the impact of adverse parenting on youth behavioral adjustment.

Firm parenting and youth adjustment: Stress reactivity and dyadic synchrony of respiratory sinus arrhythmia.

Parental behaviors are potent risk and protective factors for youth development of externalizing problems. Firm control is a parenting strategy that is inconsistently linked to youth adjustment, possibly due to variations in individual biological contexts. Growing research shows that dyadic coregulation of the autonomic nervous system (e.

Impulsivity as a mediating factor in the association between posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and substance use.

Objective: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been associated with heightened impulsivity and risk-taking behaviors, including higher rates of substance use than individuals without PTSD. Although a number of studies suggest that impulsivity is associated with substance use in PTSD, the specific role of impulsivity in this common pattern of comorbidity remains unclear. The current study investigated associations between PTSD symptoms, substance use patterns, and impulsivity in a sample of adults.