COVID-19 and telepsychiatry: Early outpatient experiences and implications for the future.

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically transformed the U.S. healthcare landscape.

A validation study of the Zanmi Lasante Depression Symptom Inventory (ZLDSI) in a school-based study population of transitional age youth in Haiti.

Background: The Zanmi Lasante Depression Symptom Inventory (ZLDSI) is a screening tool for major depression used in 12 primary care clinics in Haiti's Central Plateau. Although previously validated in a clinic-based sample, the present study is the first to evaluate the validity and clinical utility of the ZLDSI for depression screening in a school-based population in central Haiti.

Methods: We assessed depressive symptoms in a school-based sample of transitional age youth (18-22 years;  = 120) with the ZLDSI.

Prevalence of stressful life events and their association with post-traumatic stress disorder among youth attending secondary school in Haiti.

The association between earthquakes and youth post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been well described, but little is known about the relationship between other stressful life events (SLEs) and PTSD among earthquake-affected youth. This study examines a variety of SLEs, including earthquake, and their association with PTSD among school-going Haitian youth following a major earthquake in 2010. In 2013, we assessed 120 students ages 18-22 for PTSD and other SLEs using a modified Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID)-based interview and the Stressful Life Events Checklist (SLE Checklist).

Mental health training for secondary school teachers in Haiti: a mixed methods, prospective, formative research study of feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness in knowledge acquisition.

Background: Engagement and training of educators in student mental health holds promise for promoting access to care as a task sharing strategy but has not been well-studied in low-income regions.

Methods: We used a prospective and convergent mixed methods design to evaluate a customized school mental health 2½ day training for teachers in rural Haiti ( = 22) as the initial component of formative research developing a school-based intervention to promote student mental health. Training prepared teachers to respond to student mental health needs by providing psychoeducational and practical support to facilitate access to care.

High burden of mental illness and low utilization of care among school-going youth in Central Haiti: A window into the youth mental health treatment gap in a low-income country.

Background: The mental health treatment gap for youth in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is substantial; strategies for redress are urgently needed to mitigate the serious health and social consequences of untreated mental illness in youth.

Aims: To estimate the burden of major depressive episode (MDE) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as well as utilization of care among Haitian youth in order to describe the mental health treatment gap in a LMIC setting.

Methods: We estimated the point prevalence of MDE, PTSD, and subthreshold variants in a school-based sample of youth ( n = 120, ages 18-22 years) using a modified Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-TR Axis I Disorders (SCID)-based interview and examined treatment utilization among those receiving one of these diagnoses.