Development of a screening tool to identify adolescents engaged in multiple problem behaviors: the Adolescent Risk Behavior Screen (ARBS).

PURPOSE: To describe the development of a new, brief screening tool to identify teenagers engaged in multiple, co-occurring high-risk behaviors, and to create a screen that bypasses problems associated with assessment of sensitive and potentially stigmatizing behaviors by including questions that are minimally threatening and less transparent than purely face valid items. METHODS: This study utilizes a large, cross-sectional data set consisting of self-report responses to questions about high-risk teen health behaviors such as substance use, sexual risk-taking, and suicidality. Data were collected from 16,664 predominantly Caucasian public high school students, aged 14-18 years, participating in the 2001 New Hampshire Youth Risk Behavior Survey. High-risk status was defined by endorsement of five or more high-risk behaviors. Nine items were chosen for the screen, covering multiple risk domains. The screen's predictive accuracy was then tested on additional holdout subsets of the total sample and separately by gender using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. RESULTS: Approximately 10% of the sample met criteria for "high-risk" status. High ROC areas were found for the initial sample and subsequent holdout samples. The screen was found to be accurate for both girls and boys in identifying multi-problem, high-risk adolescents. CONCLUSIONS: The Adolescent Risk Behavior Screen (ARBS) holds promise as a useful clinical tool for adolescent health care providers. It can quickly and accurately identify multi-problem teens, engaged in dangerous high-risk activities, who are likely in need of more comprehensive evaluation and intervention.

Single and multiple suicide attempts and associated health risk factors in New Hampshire adolescents.

In this study we examined self-reported suicide attempts and their relationship to other health risk factors in a community sample of 16,644 adolescents. Fifteen percent endorsed suicide attempts (10% single; 5% multiple attempts) We hypothesized that multiple attempters would show higher prevalence of comorbid health risks than single or non-attempters. The three groups showed significant differences in ten health risk domains, on factors such as depressed mood, sexual assault, weight problems, and drug and alcohol use (ORs: 3.26-13.57). Repeated suicide attempts appear to be related to increased vulnerability and likelihood of harm in multiple domains of health risk.

Randomized trial of cognitive-behavioral therapy for chronic posttraumatic stress disorder in adult female survivors of childhood sexual abuse.

The authors conducted a randomized clinical trial of individual psychotherapy for women with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) related to childhood sexual abuse (n = 74), comparing cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) with a problem-solving therapy (present-centered therapy; PCT) and to a wait-list (WL). The authors hypothesized that CBT would be more effective than PCT and WL in decreasing PTSD and related symptoms. CBT participants were significantly more likely than PCT participants to no longer meet criteria for a PTSD diagnosis at follow-up assessments. CBT and PCT were superior to WL in decreasing PTSD symptoms and secondary measures. CBT had a significantly greater dropout rate than PCT and WL. Both CBT and PCT were associated with sustained symptom reduction in this sample.

A longitudinal study of retirement in older male veterans.

In this study, the authors examined the effect of retirement on psychological and physical symptoms in 404 older male veterans who were taking part in an ongoing longitudinal study. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to analyze symptom trajectories from preretirement, peri-retirement, and postretirement periods in veterans with either lifetime full or partial posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), trauma exposure only, or no traumatic exposure. As expected, the PTSD group experienced greater increases in psychological and physical symptoms during retirement, relative to the other groups. Retirement due to poor health in the PTSD group did not account for the findings regarding physical symptoms. Results indicate that clinicians should recognize and address the potential for older individuals with PTSD to experience difficulties during retirement.

Psychosocial treatment of children in foster care: a review.

A substantial number of children in foster care exhibit psychiatric difficulties. Recent epidemiological and historical trends in foster care, clinical findings about the adjustment of children in foster care and adult outcomes are reviewed, followed by a description of current approaches to treatment and extant empirical support. Available interventions for these children can be categorized as either symptom-focused or systemic, with empirical support for specific methods ranging from scant to substantial. Even with treatment, behavioral and emotional problems often persist into adulthood resulting in poor functional outcomes. We suggest that self-regulation may be an important mediating factor in the appearance of emotional and behavioral disturbance in these children.

A method for analyzing longitudinal outcomes with many zeros.

Health care utilization and cost data have challenged analysts because they are often correlated over time, highly skewed, and clumped at 0. Traditional approaches do not address all these problems, and evaluators of mental health and substance abuse interventions often grapple with the problem of how to analyze these data in a way that accurately represents program impact. Recently, the traditional 2-part model has been extended to mixed-effects mixed-distribution model with correlated random effects to deal simultaneously with excess zeros, skewness, and correlated observations. We introduce and demonstrate this new method to mental health services researchers and evaluators by analyzing the data from a study of assertive community treatment (ACT). The response variable is the number of days of hospitalization, collected every 6 months over 3 years. The explanatory variable is group: ACT vs. standard case management. Diagnosis (schizophrenia vs. bipolar disorder), time, and the baseline values of hospital days are covariates. Results indicate that clients in the ACT group have a higher probability of hospital admission, but tend to have shorter lengths of stay. The mixed-distribution model provides greater specification of a model to fit these data and leads to more refined interpretation of the results.

Risk factors for the development versus maintenance of posttraumatic stress disorder.

This study examined risk factors for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in Vietnam veterans: 68 women and 414 men of whom 88 were White, 63 Black, 80 Hispanic, 90 Native Hawaiian, and 93 Japanese American. Continuation ratio logistic regression was used to compare the predictive power of risk factors for the development versus maintenance of full or partial PTSD. The development of PTSD was related to premilitary, military, and postmilitary factors. The maintenance of PTSD was related primarily to military and postmilitary factors. Multivariate analyses identified different models for development and maintenance. We conclude that development of PTSD is related to factors that occur before, during, and after a traumatic event, whereas failure to recover is related primarily to factors that occur during and after the event.

Enhanced skills training and health care management for older persons with severe mental illness.

This report describes a combined skills training (ST) and health management (HM) intervention for older adults with severe mental illness (SMI) and one-year pilot study outcomes. Findings are reported for twelve older persons with SMI (age 60+) who received ST+HM and twelve who received only HM. ST addressed interpersonal and independent living skills. HM included promotion of preventive health care. ST+HM was associated with improved social functioning and independent living skills, whereas functioning remained constant or declined for the HM only group. Both groups receiving HM demonstrated increased use of preventive health services and identification of previously undetected medical disorders.

The Hawaii Vietnam Veterans Project: is minority status a risk factor for posttraumatic stress disorder?

The Hawaii Vietnam Veterans Project (HVVP) was congressionally mandated as a follow-up to the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study (NVVRS) to assess current and lifetime prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The Hawaii Vietnam Veterans Project used the original two-stage NVVRS design in which a lay interview, conducted with a large sample, was followed by a clinical interview with a smaller subsample. Reported results are from the clinical subsample consisting of 100 Native Hawaiian and 102 American of Japanese ancestry veterans compared with white veterans from the NVVRS cohort. The major finding is that veterans of Japanese ancestry exhibited significantly lower prevalence of current full, current partial, and lifetime full PTSD than white veterans. Adjustment for age and war zone exposure did not eliminate most of these differences. These results indicate that minority status per se is not a risk factor for PTSD.

A descriptive analysis of PTSD chronicity in Vietnam veterans.

This study examined the chronicity of PTSD in 530 male and female Vietnam veterans who were drawn from 2 large, ethnically diverse samples. Delayed onset was common, as was a failure to fully remit: 78% of the 239 veterans with full or partial lifetime PTSD were symptomatic in the 3 months prior to assessment. Cluster analysis identified 4 subtypes of posttraumatic response, with women most likely to be in a delayed onset cluster, and minority men most likely to be in a severe chronic cluster. The extent of chronicity observed in this sample underscores the need for treatments that address the persistence of posttraumatic symptoms.

Using discrete-time survival analysis to examine patterns of remission from substance use disorder among persons with severe mental illness.

Investigators in mental health research are often interested in examining critical events such as onset, relapse, and recovery from illness, including substance use disorders. As data on these critical events are often collected at discrete-time intervals (e.g., weekly, monthly, or yearly), discrete-time survival models are more appropriate than well-known continuous-time methods. In this paper, we present discrete-time survival analysis methods at an introductory level. Using data collected every 6 months from a 3-year study of assertive community treatment in New Hampshire, we show that discrete-time survival models can be used to analyze patterns of remission from substance use disorder among clients with severe mental illness. The main questions investigated are (1) when are remissions more likely to occur? and (2) what variables predict remission? The results indicate that remission is more likely to occur in the first 6 months and in the 3rd year of the study. Gender, age, baseline use of substances, and diagnosis are strong predictors of remission.

Treatment of minor depression.

Minor depression is one of the most common types of depressive disorders, but the benefit of depression-specific treatments for minor depression is less clear than for major depression. The authors reviewed the available evidence-base for the treatment of Minor Depression as conceptualized in DSM-IV or RDC, conducting a computer literature search to identify randomized treatment trials that included minor depression and a control condition, and identifying 10 studies meeting these criteria. Effect sizes, defined as difference in proportions, could be calculated for eight of the studies, and ranged from 0.46 to -0.08. There was no evidence that older persons were less responsive to treatment than younger persons. Few studies have been specifically designed to test treatments for minor depression. The studies are quite variable. Nonspecific treatment factors common to both depression treatments and to active control conditions appear potent and may be of benefit for persons with minor depression.

Substitution between Formal and Informal Care for Persons with Severe Mental Illness and Substance Use Disorders.

BACKGROUND: Persons with severe mental illness (SMI) often get extensive informal care from family members and friends as well as substantial amounts of formal treatment from paid professionals. Both sources of care are well documented, but very little is known about how one affects the other. AIMS OF THE STUDY: This analysis estimates the extent of substitution between direct care provided by family and friends and formal treatment for people with severe mental illness and substance use disorders. Separate estimates are generated for short-term and long-term effects. METHODS: Data are from a randomized clinical trial conducted at seven mental health centers in New Hampshire between 1989 and 1995. The study includes detailed data for 193 persons with dual disorders measured at study entry and every six months for three years. Hours of informal care were compared with total treatment costs within each six-month period to measure short-term effects. Average amount of informal care over three years represented long-term caregiving practices. Measures of informal care are from interviews with informal caregivers. Treatment costs are based on combined data from management information systems, Medicaid claims, hospital records, and self reports. We used mixed effects repeated measures regression to estimate longitudinal effects and a multiple imputation technique to test the sensitivity of results to missing data. RESULTS: In the short-term, persons with bipolar disorder used significantly more formal care as informal care increased (complementarity). The relationship between short-term informal and formal care was significantly weaker for persons with schizophrenia. For both diagnostic groups there was a long-term substitution effect; a 4-6% increase in informal care hours was associated with an approximate 1% decrease in formal care costs. DISCUSSION: Although they must be confirmed by further research, these findings suggest that there is a significant and strong relationship between care given by family and friends and that supplied by formal treatment providers. The analysis indicates that the short-term relationship between informal care and formal treatment tends to be complementary, but differs according to diagnosis. Long-term effects, which are possibly related to changing role perceptions, show substitution between the two forms of care. Missing data for family care hours in some time periods was a concern in this study. However, the consistency in results between the analyses that used imputed data and the model using only original data increase our confidence in the findings. Although there may be some endogeneity between formal and informal care in other treatment settings we believe the unique characteristics of the service-rich environment in which this study was conducted limit that concern here. IMPLICATIONS FOR HEALTH CARE PROVISION AND USE: The amount of care provided by informal caregivers has a significant impact on formal treatment costs. Models of care that explicitly acknowledge the interplay between the two types of care are needed to ensure efficient combinations of formal and informal care. IMPLICATIONS FOR HEALTH POLICY FORMULATION: How to best to encourage informal support, without overburdening caregivers, is a key challenge facing policy makers and providers of mental health services. The merits of various approaches to reducing caregiver burden is a subject that needs more attention from researchers. In the interim, the demands on informal caregivers may mount as efforts to reduce health care spending continue. IMPLICATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH: Informal care is not often included in economic evaluations of mental health treatment. Although additional research is needed to understand better the mechanisms by which informal care and formal treatment are related, we believe our results offer a strong argument for including measures of informal care in future economic evaluations.

Trauma exposure among children with oppositional defiant disorder and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder.

Consecutive admissions to an outpatient child psychiatry clinic diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or adjustment disorder were assessed for trauma exposure by a structured clinical interview and parent report. Controlling for age, gender, severity of internalizing behavior problems, social competence, family psychopathology, and parent-child relationship quality (assessed by parent report), an ODD diagnosis, with or without comorbid ADHD, was associated with increased likelihood of prior victimization (but not nonvictimization) trauma. ADHD alone was not associated with an increased likelihood of a history of trauma exposure. Traumatic victimization contributed uniquely to the prediction of ODD but not ADHD diagnoses. Children in psychiatric treatment who are diagnosed with ODD, but not those diagnosed solely with ADHD, may particularly require evaluation and care for posttraumatic sequelae.