Involvement of Youths with Autism Spectrum Disorders or Intellectual Disabilities in Multiple Public Service Systems.

The objectives of this study were to estimate the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and intellectual disability (ID) among youths active in at least one of five public service systems - mental health [MH], educational services for youth with serious emotional disturbance [SED], child welfare [CW], juvenile justice [JJ], and alcohol and drug services [AD].This study also reports the characteristics and patterns of system involvement among these youths. Results indicate that approximately 12% of a random sample of youths involved in these public service systems had ID or ASD.

Factors associated with use of evidence-based practice strategies in usual care youth psychotherapy.

The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of how therapists providing usual care (UC) psychotherapy are using elements of treatment common to evidence-based practices (EBPs) for children with disruptive behavior disorders (DBPs) and to identify client and therapist characteristics that may be associated with EBP strategies directed toward children and those directed to their caregivers. Results indicate that certain child, family, and therapist characteristics are associated with use of EBP strategies; however, much of the variability in practice was not explained by the variables examined. These findings highlight the complexity of UC psychotherapy and provide directions for future research on implementation of EBPs in UC.

Predicting Frequency of Treatment Visits in Community-Based Youth Psychotherapy.

The current study examines factors associated with the number of treatment visits attended by a youth and/or family, including sociodemographic variables, youth clinical characteristics and parent/family characteristics at intake, therapist characteristics, and treatment entry characteristics. A total of 57 therapists in two publicly-funded youth mental health clinics and 169 youths and parents from the therapists' combined caseloads were included in the study. Negative binomial regression was used to examine whether factors within these domains predict the number of treatment visits in this community-based sample.

Evidence-Based Practices for Parentally Bereaved Children and Their Families.

Parental death is one of the most traumatic events that can occur in childhood, and several reviews of the literature have found that the death of a parent places children at risk for a number of negative outcomes. This article describes the knowledge base regarding both empirically-supported, malleable factors that have been shown to contribute to or protect children from mental health problems following the death of a parent and evidence-based practices to change these factors. In addition, nonmealleable factors clinicians should consider when providing services for children who have experienced the death of a parent are reviewed.

Determinates of youth and parent satisfaction in usual care psychotherapy.

Objective: Client satisfaction with mental health services is used commonly as an indicator of the quality of care, but there is minimal research on the construct of client satisfaction in youth services, and the extent to which satisfaction is related to improvements in clinical functioning versus other determinants. We examined the relationship between parent and youth satisfaction with youth services, and tested for significant determinants of satisfaction across three major domains: (1) change in youth clinical functioning; (2) youth/family service entry characteristics; (3) treatment/therapist characteristics.

Method: The participants were 143 youths receiving community-based outpatient care.

Caregiver depression and medication use by youths with ADHD who receive services in the public sector.

Objective: This study examined caregiver depression and medication use by youths with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the public sector.

Methods: Multivariate logistic regression models were created for 390 youths six to 17 years of age who met ADHD criteria on the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (DISC) and were enrolled in a prospective study of youths served in public-sector service systems. The dependent variable was caregiver report of youth medication use for ADHD in the 12 months before the 24-month interview.

Innovations: child and adolescent psychiatry: measuring outcomes of real-world youth psychotherapy: whom to ask and what to ask?

To illustrate complexities in outcomes measurement for youths receiving community-based mental health services, this column presents data on 112 youths in publicly funded, usual-care psychotherapy. Youths and their parents separately completed standard measures of outcomes in three domains--symptoms, functioning, and family environment--at baseline and at six months. The results indicate minimal agreement between youths and parents on individual outcome domains and almost no overlap for each informant (youth and parent) across multiple domains.

Positive parenting as a protective resource for parentally bereaved children.

Positive parenting was examined as a protective resource against the adverse effects of negative life events on parentally bereaved children's mental health problems. The sample consisted of 313 recently bereaved children ages 8 to 16 and their current caregiver. Both the compensatory (direct effect independent of negative life events) and the stress-buffer (interactive effect with negative life events) protective resource models were examined and child gender was explored as a moderator of both models.

Positive parenting as a mediator of the relations between parental psychological distress and mental health problems of parentally bereaved children.

This study investigated a positive parenting composite of multiple measures of warmth and consistent discipline as a mediator of the relations between surviving parents' psychological distress and parentally bereaved children's mental health problems using both cross-sectional and prospective longitudinal models. The study included 214 bereaved children ages 7 to 16 and their surviving parent or current caregiver. A multirater, multimethod measurement model of positive parenting was developed.

Locus of control and self-esteem as stress-moderators or stress-mediators in parentally bereaved children.

Parentally bereaved children's locus of control and self-esteem were examined as stress-moderators or stress-mediators of their internalizing and externalizing mental health problems. Seventy-six children ages 8 to 16 and their surviving parent were assessed 4 to 34 months after the death. Stress, locus of control, and self-esteem were measured by child report questionnaires.

The family bereavement program: efficacy evaluation of a theory-based prevention program for parentally bereaved children and adolescents.

This article presents an experimental evaluation of the Family Bereavement Program (FBP), a 2-component group intervention for parentally bereaved children ages 8-16. The program involved separate groups for caregivers, adolescents, and children, which were designed to change potentially modifiable risk and protective factors for bereaved children. The evaluation involved random assignment of 156 families (244 children and adolescents) to the FBP or a self-study condition.

Six-year follow-up of preventive interventions for children of divorce: a randomized controlled trial.

Context: Compared with their peers with nondivorced parents, adolescents with divorced parents are more likely to have mental health problems, drop out of school, and become pregnant. The long-term effects of intervention programs for this population are unknown.

Objective: To evaluate the long-term effectiveness of 2 programs designed to prevent mental health problems in children with divorced parents.