News from the Field Related to Wraparound
Research: Poverty’s Negative Impact on Children’s Mental Health
March 16, 2017
A recent study in England tracked more than 6,000 families over time to measure the impact of poverty on the family members’ mental health. At the outset, none of families were in poverty and none had mental health problems when their child was 3 years old. By the time the children were 11 years old, 14 percent of the families had moved into poverty. The researchers found that the children who moved into poverty were 40 percent more likely to develop social, emotional or behavioral problems.
Research: Improved Resiliency Following Trauma-Focused CBT
March 14, 2017
Recent research published this month in Child Abuse & Neglect , measured the impact of trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) for youth (7–17 years old) impacted by child sexual abuse (CSA). Results suggest that completing TF-CBT reduces symptom distress (i.e., PTSD and depression), and seems to lead to “greater feelings of mastery and emotional relatedness, and reduced emotional reactivity to stresses”.
Read the article on improved resiliency following trauma-focused CBT»
Study: Effects of Trauma-Informed Care Training
March 7, 2017
Research recently published in Children and Youth Services Review includes the authors’ evaluation of the effectiveness of a training program using a modified version of a Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) curriculum accessible through the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN). The study found that participants’ TIC knowledge increased after training, and their knowledge was still maintained in the 12-month follow-up test.
Read the article on the evaluation of trauma-informed care training»
New Research Finds Unique Fingerprint-Like Pattern in Human Brain
February 28, 2017
A study by researchers from the University of Oslo in Norway published recently in Nature Neuroscience, found unique, fingerprint-like patterns in the human brain. These unique network patterns develop during childhood and adolescence. Children and adolescents with mental illness symptoms were found to have a delay in the way these brain network patterns developed.
Wraparound Conference in New Zealand
February 20, 2017
Dr. Ruth Gammon of Massey University in New Zealand and Dr. Eric Bruns, co-director of the National Wraparound Initiative, were keynote speakers at a Wraparound conference at Massey University earlier this month. The event offered information and training workshops for those who work with at-risk children and families.
Michael Phelps and Allison Schmitt Named Honorary Chairpersons for SAMHSA’s National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day 2017
February 16, 2017
SAMHSA has announced that Olympians Michael Phelps and Allison Schmidt will be the 2017 National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day Chairpersons. Open about their own behavioral health challenges, the gold medalists are ideal role models to help youth understand the importance of mental, as well as physical health. Phelps and Schmidt will speak at The Awareness Day 2017 national event on May 4, where they will be awarded with SAMHSA’s Special Recognition Award.
Read the news release about the 2017 National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day Chairpersons»
NCTSN Impact on Data Initiatives
February 15, 2017
The latest issue of Impact from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) focuses on various ways in which the results of NCTSN’s extensive data collection initiatives have been used by providers and sites to improve the care they provide.
Read about how data improves the quality of care for children who have experienced trauma»
Eric Bruns in New Zealand for National Wraparound Summit
February 13, 2017
Eric Bruns, PhD, co-director of the National Wraparound Initiative, is in New Zealand this week for a National Wraparound Hui at Massey University. (Hui is a word with Māori origins used in New Zealand for gatherings and assemblies). Bruns participated in a national radio interview there with Dr. Ruth Gammon, Massey University psychologist and organizer of the event, about how wraparound services can help at-risk kids.
Listen to the interview on Radio New Zealand with Eric Bruns and Ruth Gammon»
Viewpoint: We need to provide better mental health treatment in schools. Here’s how to start.
February 8, 2017
In this Washington Post viewpoint piece child psychotherapist and parent educator Katie Hurley acknowledges the challenges facing schools in meeting the mental health needs of students. She offers concrete suggestions for ways teachers and school administrators can help create supportive environments in schools.
Research: Maternal Depression Impacts Children’s Basis of Empathy
February 8, 2017
A study published in the January 2017 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry followed children of mothers with depression from birth to preadolescence to look at the impact of mothers’ depression on children’s neural empathic response. Researchers found the neural reaction to pain in others stops earlier for children of depressed mothers than in controls. The patterns of interaction between mother–child were also found to be a factor.