Faculty Bibliography

Disproportionately lower educational achievement, coupled with higher grade retention, suspensions, expulsions, and lower school bonding make educational success among Black adolescents a major public health concern. Mental health is a key developmental factor related to educational outcomes among adolescents; however, traditional models of mental health focus on absence of dysfunction as a way to conceptualize mental health. The dual-factor model of mental health incorporates indicators of both subjective wellbeing and psychopathology, supporting more recent research that both are needed to comprehensively assess mental health. This study applied the dual-factor model to measure mental health using the National Survey of American Life-Adolescent Supplement (NSAL-A), a representative cross-sectional survey. The sample included 1170 Black adolescents (52% female; mean age 15). Latent class analysis was conducted with positive indicators of subjective wellbeing (emotional, psychological, and social) as well as measures of psychopathology. Four mental health groups were identified, based on having high or low subjective wellbeing and high or low psychopathology. Accordingly, associations between mental health groups and educational outcomes were investigated. Significant associations were observed in school bonding, suspensions, and grade retention, with the positive mental health group (high subjective wellbeing, low psychopathology) experiencing more beneficial outcomes. The results support a strong association between school bonding and better mental health and have implications for a more comprehensive view of mental health in interventions targeting improved educational experiences and mental health among Black adolescents.

OBJECTIVE:To determine the efficacy of mind-body interventions in depressive symptoms treatment among older Chinese adults (>60 years of age). METHODS:We searched MEDLINE, PsycINFO (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), CINAHL, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Data, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, and Chongqing VIP for eligible studies until September 2016. We reviewed randomized controlled trials investigating the efficacy of mind-body interventions for depressive symptoms among Chinese older adults. Two authors independently conducted screening, and risk of bias assessment. Data were extracted by one author and crosschecked by the research team. Cohen's d standardized mean differences were calculated to represent intervention effects. RESULTS:A comprehensive search yielded 926 records; 14 articles met inclusion criteria. Relative to the control groups, mind-body interventions had large short-term effects in reducing depressive symptoms in older Chinese adults (standardized mean differences = -1.41; 95% CI [-1.82, -0.99]). Most studies did not report the long-term effects of mind-body interventions. Subgroup analyses by type of mind-body interventions, participants' age group, and control condition yielded different effect sizes; however, these differences did not all reach a statistically significant level. The interpretation of the subgroup analysis should be considered with caution given its observational nature and a small number of included studies. CONCLUSIONS:This systematic review suggests that mind-body interventions had short-term effects in alleviating depressive symptoms among older Chinese adults. Further research (randomized controlled trials with active controls and follow-up tests) are needed to assess the effects of mind-body interventions on depressive symptoms among this population. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

If African American boys are contemplating taking their lives at early ages, the hope for future generations is challenging at best. What is going on in African American communities that there is a lack of safe spaces for boys to express their emotions and to share their travails with supportive networks in lieu of ending their lives? The situation of African American boys (ages 5-11) committing suicide at higher levels-more than any other group-and the recent studies regarding the rising rates of suicide among African American adolescent boys (12 and older) call for greater reflection and more discourse around the mental health challenges faced by this group. We must identify the emotional and psychological reasons that underlie suicidal behaviors for African American boys and work to provide immediate intervention. Families, educators, and community workers play key roles in identifying signs of mental health challenges such as depression and connecting African American boys to mental health care services. In this article, the authors discuss specific ways to better support boys who exhibit early signs of depression and suicidal behavior. Topics discussed include (1) untreated depression among African American youth; (2) looking deeper at the reasons for untreated depression; (3) misunderstanding and denial of mental health challenges; (4) risk factors in schools; (5) harsh discipline practices; (6) low teacher expectations; and (7) disconnection from adults. (PsycINFO Database Record

Objective: Increasing rates of mental health needs in child welfare clients highlight the importance of training child welfare workers in effective mental health interventions. This pilot study evaluates the effects of training public child welfare workers and interns in modularized research-supported treatments (RSTs). Methods: We compared knowledge of and attitudes toward RSTs and barriers and facilitators to their use in a sample of 26 field instructors and 11 master of social work students trained in modularized RSTs with an untrained sample of 55 field instructors and 36 students. Results: Trained field instructors had higher knowledge scores at follow-up and were more open to adopting RSTs, as compared with untrained field instructors. Fewer barriers and more facilitators were associated with more positive attitudes toward RSTs across all groups. Conclusions: Interventions to address attitudes, barriers, and facilitators may facilitate the uptake of RSTs in child welfare.

The objectives of the present study are to identify sociodemographic factors associated with father nurturance and assess the relationship between parental (mother and father) nurturance and youth psychological well-being among 216 African American college-aged youth. Participants attended a historically Black college in the Mid-Atlantic region. Findings indicated that the frequency and duration of the participants"™ interactions with their fathers were associated with levels of father nurturance. Youth whose mothers and fathers were married or cohabitating, compared with those who were separated, divorced, widowed, or never married, had lower levels of psychological well-being. Furthermore, youth who reported more mother nurturance had higher levels of overall psychological well-being. These findings highlight the importance of time-based variables in youths"™ perceptions of father nurturance and raise important questions about how the nature of the coparental relationship and variations in the fathering role affect youth well-being.

Using the distillation component of the Distillation and Matching Model framework (Chorpita, Daleiden, & Weisz, 2005 ), we examined which engagement practices were associated with three domains of treatment engagement: attendance, adherence, and cognitive preparation (e.g., understanding of, readiness for treatment). Eighty-nine engagement interventions from 40 randomized controlled trials in children' s mental health services were coded according to their engagement practices and outcomes. Analyses examined whether the practices used in successful interventions differed according to engagement domain. Practice patterns differed somewhat depending on whether attendance, adherence, or cognitive preparation was the outcome of interest. For example, assessment of barriers to treatment frequently occurred in successful interventions targeting attendance, whereas homework assignment frequently occurred in successful interventions when adherence was the target outcome. Modeling and expectation setting were frequently used in successful interventions targeting cognitive preparation for treatment. Distillation provides a method for examining the practice patterns associated with different engagement outcomes. An example of the application of these findings to clinical practice includes using certain practices (e.g., assessment, psychoeducation about services, and accessibility promotion) with all youth and families to promote attendance, adherence, and cognitive preparation. Then, other practices (e.g., modeling, homework assignment) can be added on an as-needed basis to boost engagement or to address interference in a particular engagement domain. The use of a distillation framework promotes a common language around engagement and highlights practices that lend themselves well to training, thereby promoting the dissemination of engagement interventions.

Families play an important role in the lives of individuals with mental illness. Coping with the strain of shifting roles and multiple challenges of caregiving can have a huge impact. Limited information exists regarding race-related differences in families' caregiving experiences, their abilities to cope with the mental illness of a loved one, or their interactions with mental health service systems. This study examined race-related differences in the experiences of adults seeking to participate in the National Alliance on Mental Illness Family-to-Family Education Program due to mental illness of a loved one. Participants were 293 White and 107 African American family members who completed measures of problem- and emotion-focused coping, knowledge about mental illness, subjective illness burden, psychological distress, and family functioning. Multiple regression analyses were used to determine race-related differences. African American caregivers reported higher levels of negative caregiving experiences, less knowledge of mental illness, and higher levels of both problem-solving coping and emotion-focused coping, than White caregivers. Mental health programs serving African American families should consider targeting specific strategies to address caregiving challenges, support their use of existing coping mechanisms and support networks, and increase their knowledge of mental illness.

Difficulty engaging families in mental health treatment is seen as an underlying reason for the disparity between child mental health need and service use. Interpretation of the literature on how best to engage families is complicated by a diversity of operational definitions of engagement outcomes and related interventions. Thus, we sought to review studies of engagement interventions using a structured methodology allowing for an aggregate summary of the most common practices associated with effective engagement interventions. We identified 344 articles through a combination of database search methods and recommendations from engagement research experts; 38 articles describing 40 studies met our inclusion criteria. Following coding methods described by Chorpita and Daleiden (J Consul Clin Psychol 77(3):566-579, 2009, doi: 10.1037/a0014565 ), we identified 22 engagement practice elements from 89 study groups that examined or implemented family engagement strategies. Most frequently identified engagement practice elements included assessment, accessibility promotion, psychoeducation about services, homework assignment, and appointment reminders. Assessment and accessibility promotion were two practice elements present in at least 50 % of treatment groups that outperformed a control group in a randomized controlled trial. With the exception of appointment reminders, these frequently identified engagement practice elements had a high likelihood of being associated with winning treatments when they were used. This approach offers a novel way of summarizing the engagement literature and provides the foundation for enhancing clinical decision-making around treatment engagement.

Preventing unnecessary out-of-home placement for youth with behavioral and emotional needs is a goal of several public child-serving services, including child welfare, juvenile justice, and child mental health. Although a small number of manualized interventions have been created to promote family driven and community-based services and have empirical support, other less established programs have been initiated by local jurisdictions to prevent out-of-home placement. To synthesize what is known about efforts to prevent placement, this article describes the common program and practice elements of interventions described in 37 studies (published in 51 articles) that measured placement prevention outcomes for youth at risk for out-of-home care because of behavioral or mental health needs. The most common program elements across published interventions were program monitoring, case management, and accessibility promotion. The most common clinical practice elements for working with youth were assessment and individual therapy; for caregivers, problem solving skills were most frequently included; and family therapy was most common for the family unit. Effect size estimates for placement-related outcomes (decreased out-of-home placement, decreased hospitalization, decreased incarceration, and decreased costs) were calculated to estimate the treatment effectiveness of the interventions in which the program components and clinical practices are embedded.