Reducing Anxiety and Stress among Youth in a CBT-Based Equine-Assisted Adaptive Riding Program.

Reining in Anxiety (RiA) is a therapeutic program for youth with mild to moderate anxiety delivered in a therapeutic riding setting by Certified Therapeutic Riding Instructors. RiA was developed after a review of the evidence base for youth anxiety, is manualized, and includes five core CBT components: in vivo exposure, cognitive restructuring, youth psychoeducation, relaxation, and caregiver psychoeducation about anxiety. This study extended findings from a prior RCT that examined (1) the feasibility of collecting saliva samples from horses and children to measure stress (cortisol) and relaxation (oxytocin); (2) whether changes in stress and relaxation occurred both during each lesson and over the course of the 10-week intervention for horses and youth; (3) whether changes in anxiety symptoms, emotional regulation, and self-efficacy found in the first trial were comparable; and (4) if fidelity to the program was reliable.

Evaluation of a Modified Bit Device to Obtain Saliva Samples from Horses.

(1) Background: Accounting for the well-being of equine partners is a responsibility of those engaged in Equine-Assisted Services (EAS). Researchers took heed of this call to action by developing an innovative way to collect data to assess the physiological indicators of stress in equine participants. The collection of saliva is considered to be a minimally invasive method of data collection and is typically performed using a cotton swab; however, in equines, the introduction of a foreign object may induce stress; (2) Methods: Researchers used a modified bit to collect pooled saliva in an effort to further reduce stress during the saliva collection process.

Revisiting caregiver satisfaction with children's mental health services in the United States.

Nearly four decades ago, Unclaimed Children documented the gaps in the United States between mental health programs and caregivers' perspectives about those services for their children. This absence of attention to parent or caregiver perspectives, including their satisfaction with these services, was a key finding of the report, which detailed system failure in caring for youth with mental health needs. Since then, the focus on caregiver satisfaction with children's mental health services has been largely overlooked in research, and when examined has been mostly included as an indicator of the feasibility of program implementation.

Aligning dissemination and implementation science with health policies to improve children's mental health.

The prevalence of mental health problems among children (ages 0-21) in the United States remains unacceptably high and, post-COVID-19, is expected to increase dramatically. Decades of psychological knowledge about effective treatments should inform the delivery of better services. Dissemination and implementation (D&I) science has been heralded as a solution to the persistent problem of poor quality services and has, to some extent, improved our understanding of the contexts of delivery systems that implement effective practices.

Preventing Risk and Promoting Young Children's Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Health in State Mental Health Systems.

Early neural development and maternal health have critical long-term effects on children's mental health and outcomes later in life. As child mental disorders continue to rise nationwide, a number of states are considering new ways of investing in the critical early childhood period to prevent later poor outcomes and reduce the burden on the mental health system. Because most state mental health authorities (SMHAs) have no dedicated mental health dollars to devote to this early, crucial period of child development, building coalitions is key to implementing prevention and promotion programming.

Trends Over a Decade in NIH Funding for Autism Spectrum Disorder Services Research.

Investments in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) research, guided by the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC), have focused disproportionately on etiology over a well-established stakeholder priority area: research to improve accessibility and quality of community-based services. This study analyzed National Institutes of Health ASD services research funding from 2008 to 2018 to examine funding patterns, evaluate the impact of IACC objectives, and identify future directions. Approximately 9% of total funds were allocated to services research.

Evaluation of a Train-The-Trainers Model for Family Peer Advocates in Children's Mental Health.

Standardized training and credentialing is increasingly important to states and healthcare systems. Workforce shortages in children's mental health can be addressed through training and credentialing of professional peer parents (called family peer advocates or FPAs), who deliver a range of services to caregivers. A theory-based training program for FPAs targeting skills and knowledge about childhood mental health services (Parent Empowerment Program, or PEP) was developed through a partnership among a statewide family-run organization, state policy leaders, and academic researchers.

A Response to Proposed Budget Cuts Affecting Children's Mental Health: Protecting Policies and Programs That Promote Collective Efficacy.

Children stand to lose if the federal government follows through on threats to cut funding for critical safety-net programs that have long supported families and communities. Although cuts directly targeting children's mental health are a great concern, cuts to policies that support health, housing, education, and family income are equally disturbing. These less publicized proposed cuts affect children indirectly, but they have direct effects on their families and communities.

Animal-Assisted Therapies for Youth with or at risk for Mental Health Problems: A Systematic Review.

Unlabelled: To systematically review experimental evidence about animal-assisted therapies (AAT) for children or adolescents with or at risk for mental health conditions, we reviewed all experimental AAT studies published between 2000-2015, and compared studies by animal type, intervention, and outcomes.

Methods: Studies were included if used therapeutically for children and adolescents (≤21 years) with or at risk for a mental health problem; used random assignment or a waitlist comparison/control group; and included child-specific outcome data. Of 1,535 studies, 24 met inclusion criteria.