News from the Field Related to Wraparound
Factors that Help Children Thrive in the Face of Adversity
May 12, 2016
Research shows that people who experience four or more adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), such as economic hardship, exposure to violence or the death of a loved one, are more likely to have lasting physical and mental health problems. But in a new study, “The Relative Contributions of Adverse Childhood Experiences and Healthy Environments to Child Flourishing,” researchers found that even when children were exposed to ACEs, certain family and community strengths – most importantly access to patient-centered, coordinated medical care, mothers in excellent mental health and community supports – appeared to have a protective effect on health, social and behavioral outcomes.
Read more here >>.
Psychology professor aims to develop tool to assess how therapists treat youth anxiety
May 11, 2016
Bryce McLeod, Ph.D., of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of Psychology, has received a $431,244 National Institute of Mental Health grant to develop an instrument to assess the effectiveness of therapists’ treatment of young people with anxiety.
Read more here >>.
New Child and Adolescent Mental Health Web Portal from NIMH
May 11, 2016
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) recently introduced a new Child and Adolescent Mental Health Web Portal designed to help youth, caregivers, and professionals in understanding mental health conditions and disorders and the varying symptoms in children and adolescents throughout the developmental stages. This resource features helpful videos from experts, hotlines, and information on clinical trials.
Visit the site here >>.
Risks of Harm from Spanking Confirmed by Analysis of Five Decades of Research
May 6, 2016
A new study shows that spanking children leads to greater defiance toward parents, as well as increased anti-social behavior, aggression, mental health problems and cognitive difficulties. Published in this month’s Journal of Family Psychology the study by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Michigan, analyzed five decades of research involving more than 160,000 children. The study focused specifically on what “American adults would consider spanking” as opposed to other potentially abusive behaviors.
Read more here >>.
SAMHSA Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day Short Report
May 5, 2016
SAMHSA has issued a short report on children’s mental health, “Increasing Access to Behavioral Health Services and Supports through
Systems of Care” to illustrate how serving children and adolescents within a system of care increases access to behavioral health services and
supports and improves outcomes.
Access the full report here >>.
How Talking Openly Against Stigma Helped A Mother And Son Cope With Bipolar Disorder
May 2, 2016
In this profile, single mother of four, Liza Long, talks about how sharing her experience dealing with her then middle-school aged son helped lead to her son’s correct diagnosis and treatment for bipolar disorder. Last month, her son Walton, who is now 16, spoke at TEDx Boise to share his story and speak out against the stigmatization of mental illness.
Read more here >>.
Poll On Children’s Health – Adults Believe Children’s Mental Health Worse Today
April 25, 2016
According to the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health, 55 percent of adults polled believe kids’ mental health is worse today than for their own generation.
Read the full article here >>.
Resource: National Child Traumatic Stress Network Treatment and Intervention Fact Sheets
April 21, 2016
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network has released a set of “Training Guidelines” for interventions to treat a variety of child traumatic stress including Trauma Focused-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools and Parent-Child Interaction Therapy. The new guidelines describe what training is recommended or required to provide, supervise, or train others in each model as well as how to communicate information about interventions to assist agencies in making decisions about their training needs.
Access the fact sheets here >>.
CDC: Social Factors Associated with Children’s Behavioral Health
April 19, 2016
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a new study looking at health care, family, and community factors related to mental, behavioral, and developmental disorders (MBDDs) among children aged two to eight years in the U.S. Researchers found that one out of seven children aged two to eight years were reported to have a diagnosed MBDD. Study findings highlight specific health care, family, and community factors that could be addressed through collaborative policy and programmatic efforts at national, state, and local levels.
Read the full article here >>.
Texting Intervention May Increase Parent Engagement
April 19, 2016
Results of a six-week intervention study show promising potential for mobile technology as a tool to increase parent-child activities. Parents of children from 6 months to 5 years old enrolled at Early Head Start and Head Start centers were sent text messages encouraging them to engage with their children around a variety of topics, and to take time for themselves. At the end of the six-week intervention, parents were surveyed and parents who received the text message intervention engaged in more activities (singing, pretend play, storytelling, etc.) than parents who did not receive the text messages.
Read more about the study here >>.