Faculty Bibliography

This pilot study integrated quantitative and qualitative data to examine the feasibility of implementing a modified version of a multiple family group behavioral parent training intervention (The 4Rs and 2Ss for Strengthening Families Program [4Rs and 2Ss]) in child welfare (CW) placement prevention services from the perspectives of participating caregivers (n = 12) and CW staff (n = 12; i.e., 6 caseworkers, 4 supervisors, and 2 administrators). Quantitative surveys were administered to caregivers and CW staff followed by semi-structured interviews to examine the feasibility of implementing the modified 4Rs and 2Ss program as well as factors impacting feasibility. Results indicated that quantitative benchmarks for high feasibility were met in all assessed areas (e.g., family recruitment, caseworker fidelity ratings, CW staff feasibility ratings) except for family attendance, which was markedly lower than desired. Factors facilitating feasibility included agency and research support, intervention ease-of-use, perceived benefits to existing CW practice, and logistical support (e.g., food, transportation, child care) promoting attendance. Factors hindering feasibility included conflicts between research-based eligibility criteria and existing client population demographics, research-related processes resulting in delays, CW staff role conflicts, added workload burden, complex family issues, and power differentials inherent to CW services which complicated families"™ voluntary participation.

Despite decades of research, both understanding and availability of pharmacological interventions for autistic people are limited. We examined characteristics of pharmacological trials on ClinicalTrials.gov (N = 235) to elucidate trends, identify gaps, and suggest future research directions. We observed that trials predominantly sampled school-aged children and adolescents and focused largely on core autism symptoms, neglecting younger children and adults as well as associated symptom domains often identified by stakeholders as treatment priorities. A variety of intervention agents were trialed, with nearly 60% appearing in just one study. Notably, in line with previous research, there was little consistency in outcome measures used, with the majority (58.9%) used in only one trial. Innovation in research strategies is urgently needed; potential directions for such changes are discussed.

Adolescent depression is a serious and debilitating disorder associated with lifelong negative outcomes, including heightened risk for recurrence into adulthood, psychiatric comorbidities, and suicide. Among evidence-based treatments for adolescents, psychotherapies for depression have the smallest effect sizes of all psychiatric conditions studied. Advancing care for depression in adolescents is complex due to the heterogeneity in etiology and co-occurring difficulties among youth presenting with depression symptoms. This and a companion paper (Lewandowski et al., 2022) draw on a recent multisite collaboration that focused on implementing depression treatment for adolescents within clinical and research contexts. Specifically, this paper will review our work adapting behavioral activation (BA) as a principle-based framework to improve effectiveness and efficiency of depression treatment used within clinical and research settings in academic medical centers. Piloted adaptations include the use of BA principles to address idiographic drivers of depression and in-session BA "exposures" to illustrate BA principles. Case vignettes illustrate these adaptations of BA to address adolescent depression in the context of co-occurring difficulties.

Despite an increased focus on trauma-informed care within the juvenile justice system, we still know very little about the impact of trauma on juvenile justice professionals or their perceptions of trauma-informed interventions. To fill this gap, this study used an organizational assessment to examine perceptions of trauma-informed care among juvenile professionals in a juvenile detention setting. Participants included 204 staff members in two secure juvenile detention facilities. Staff who reported greater availability of trauma-informed practices were more likely to perceive that youth and families felt safe and those who reported that the facility was taking steps to address secondary trauma were more likely to report a sense of staff safety. Regarding individual factors, only age and gender were related to perceptions of youth and family safety. Frontline staff were more likely than supervisory staff to feel they had received adequate training in trauma and had the skills necessary to deescalate youth. These findings suggest that staff are open to trauma-informed practices in juvenile detention, but a greater focus on supervisory staff is needed. Shifting from individual-level strategies to facility-level improvements could have a greater impact on enhancing staff members"™ perceptions of safety, which improves their ability to care for youth.

As the outgoing editor-in-chief of The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, I offer my reflections upon the seventy-fifth volume as I look back at the inception of the series in 1945, and my impressions about then and now. While there are most certainly remarkable differences in the zeitgeist, both in terms of culture, the larger social polity, and shifts in psychoanalytic interests, there are also similarities between these two eras which link them in surprising ways.