Identifying the Common Elements of Treatment Engagement Interventions in Children’s Mental Health Services

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.     

The Test for Creative Thinking–Drawing Production Test in Preschool Children with Predominantly Migration Background—Psychometrics of the German TCT-DP

The study examined the psychometric properties of the German version of the Creative Thinking – Drawing Production Test (TCT-DP). This test evaluates creative potential with 14 content-related criteria, constituting a total score. Age norms exist for children from 4–16 years. A total of 269 children with predominantly migrant background, aged 36–71 months, from German preschools participated. Total scores of 4- and 5-year-old children were significantly below the German age norms published in the test manual, but did not differ with the degree of the migrant background (both vs. one or none migrant parents). In contrast to boys, scores from girls were slightly higher. Discriminant validity could be confirmed: Total scores did correlate neither with intelligence, nor with gender, fine motor skill, educational, or socio-economic status of the parents. The German TCT-DP respectively revealed acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = .69–.73). For the first time, cumulative percentages for 3-year-olds are provided as a kind of preliminary age norm. The German TCT-DP proved to be applicable in 3-year-old children with migrant background, albeit not all content-related criteria can be interpreted. Its psychometric properties support its use for research rather than for clinical purposes.     

Belongingness is a Mediating Factor Between Religious Service Attendance and Reduced Psychological Distress During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Journal of Religion and Health - This study aimed to test whether pre-pandemic religious service attendance relates to both lesser impact from the COVID-19 pandemic and lower levels of...     

Transdiagnostic Implications of Parental Socialization of Child and Adolescent Emotional Development: Commentary and Future Directions

Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology - This special issue consists of 23 articles focusing on parent socialization of emotion in children and adolescents as a transdiagnostic factor for...