A Qualitative Inquiry of Parents' Observations of Their Children's Mental Health Needs During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Given that children and adolescents are at critical periods of development, they may be particularly vulnerable to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a descriptive phenomenological approach, 71 parents' observations of their child's mental health difficulties were explored. Parents sought out treatment because their children were experiencing significant distress. Data used were transcribed from baseline questionnaires and therapy summaries. Data analysis revealed three themes: emotion regulation difficulties, hypervigilance, and despair. The search for strategies and tailored interventions to help mitigate the potential harmful and long-term mental health impacts of the pandemic should be at the forefront of research and clinical practice.

Brief, parent-led, transdiagnostic cognitive-behavioral teletherapy for youth with emotional problems related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to increased stress, anxiety, and depression in children. A six-session, parent-led, transdiagnostic, cognitive-behavioral teletherapy program was adapted from an established protocol to help youth aged between 5 and 13 years manage emotional problems during the pandemic. METHODS: One-hundred twenty-nine parents of youth struggling with emotional problems during the COVID-19 pandemic participated in the program. Parents reported on their children's psychosocial functioning before and after treatment using validated assessments. They also reported on treatment satisfaction. Clinician-rated global improvement was assessed at each session to determine clinically significant treatment response. RESULTS: Significant improvements in parent proxy-reported anxiety (d = 0.56), depression (d = 0.69), stress (d = 0.61), anger (d = 0.69), family relationships (d = 0.32), and COVID-19-related distress (d = 1.08) were found, with 62% of participants who completed the program being classified as treatment responders. Parents reported high levels of satisfaction with the program. LIMITATIONS: This study was limited by use of primarily parent-report assessments and a lack of a control group. CONCLUSIONS: Brief, parent-led, transdiagnostic cognitive-behavioral teletherapy appeared to be an effective way to help youth cope with the pandemic and may be a scalable framework in response to large-scale mental health crises.

Physician Utilization of a Universal Psychosocial Screening Protocol in Pediatric Primary Care.

This study evaluated physicians' utilization of a universal psychosocial screening protocol within a pediatric primary care setting. Pediatricians (n = 20) adopted a multitiered screening algorithm using the Pediatric Symptom Checklist-17 (PSC-17) within well-child checkups (WCC) for children, ages 7 and 11 years. Descriptive analyses were performed to evaluate the initial 3 years of physician screening protocol implementation to: (1) determine frequency and proportion of use and (2) examine patient outcomes associated with accessing behavioral health care. Physicians frequently initiated the protocol, administering the PSC-17 within 3678 WCC encounters, with frequency progressively increasing over the 3-year period. Results highlighted elements of screener utilization, cost-effectiveness, screening algorithm fidelity, and prevalence of psychosocial concerns identified. Secondary implementation challenges were observed after initial screening, specific to implementation of prescribed follow-up procedures. Primary care behavioral health collaborations appear helpful for improving universal screening utilization and cost-effectiveness, and for ensuring children with psychosocial problems are identified early and directed to follow-up care as needed.