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Background: Homework, or between-session practice of skills learned during therapy, is integral to effective youth mental health TREATMENTS. However, homework is often under-utilized by providers and patients due to many barriers, which might be mitigated via mHealth solutions. Methods: Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with nationally certified trainers in Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT; n = 21) and youth TF-CBT patients ages 8–17 (n = 15) and their caregivers (n = 12) to examine barriers to the successful implementation of homework in youth mental health treatment and potential mHealth solutions to those barriers. Results: The results indicated that many providers struggle to consistently develop, assign, and assess homework exercises with their patients. Patients are often difficult to engage and either avoid or have difficulty remembering to practice exercises, especially given their busy/chaotic home lives. Trainers and families had positive views and useful suggestions for mHealth solutions to these barriers in terms of functionality (e.g., reminders, tracking, pre-made homework exercises, rewards) and user interface (e.g., easy navigation, clear instructions, engaging activities). Conclusions: This study adds to the literature on homework barriers and potential mHealth solutions to those barriers, which is largely based on recommendations from experts in the field. The results aligned well with this literature, providing additional support for existing recommendations, particularly as they relate to treatment with youth and caregivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although early maladaptive schemas (EMS) have been strongly associated with psychopathology in adults, this association is less clear in young people since schemas are still emerging. This systematic review examines the relationship between EMS and psychopathology in young people to assess the degree to which EMS discriminate between psychopathologies, consistent with the cognitive content specificity hypothesis. Methods: PsycINFO, MEDLINE, PsycARTICLES, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, CINAHL Plus, Web of Science, and Scopus databases were systematically searched. Results: Fifty-eight studies were identified for inclusion, with 24,005 participants across all studies. We found evidence of the relationship between EMS and psychopathology in young people. EMS were found to discriminate between depression, anxiety, eating pathology, borderline symptomology, and externalizing behaviors. Conclusion: Findings are discussed in the context of treatment approaches for psychopathology in youth, specifically through an increased understanding of the role of EMS in this developmental period. We also suggest future research directions and discuss the methodological limitations of the studies reviewed, including a bias towards community samples, and a lack of consistency in EMS measures. These findings suggest that EMS may be an important area to target when treating youth presenting with psychological distress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deficits regulating emotions are a core process underlying both substance use and mental health disorders. Research has focused on identifying one-to-one associations between individual emotion regulation (ER) strategies and mental health symptoms. Consequently, little is known about how patterns of ER relate to a broad range of psychopathology, in treatment seeking young people. Latent class analysis was used to examine patterns of ER strategies and their relationship with symptoms of depression, anxiety, eating disorders, substance use and borderline personality disorder, in a sample of young treatment seekers. Participants were young people (N = 306, M = 20.8 years) accessing youth advocacy and support or mental health services in Australia. Participants recalled an emotionally-arousing event experienced when on their own and indicated their use of 14 possible ER responses in an online questionnaire. Symptoms of mental health and substance use were measured. The LCA identified three distinct classes of ER responses: Ruminators/avoiders (n = 76), active regulators (n = 81), and low regulators (n = 129). The ruminators/avoiders endorsed the most severe symptom picture across all disorders except alcohol use. Within this cohort, distinct patterns of ER responding had unique relationships with symptoms of psychopathology. The deleterious impact of heightened maladaptive ER strategies (rumination and avoidance) in the absence of adaptive strategies was highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poor sleep quality commonly co-occurs with anxiety among youth. However, little research has examined linkages between sleep quality and factors thought to underlie panic vulnerability. This study tested the association between self-reported sleep quality and anxiety and fear reported during panic-relevant abrupt increases in bodily arousal elicited by a laboratory-based biological challenge procedure among community-recruited adolescents ( n = 88; Mage = 14.00 years; SD = 2.37). As predicted, both anxiety and fear reported during a well-established 3-min voluntary hyperventilation procedure were significantly positively associated with self-reported sleep quality, after controlling for age, gender, and disease concerns sub-facet of anxiety sensitivity. Findings are discussed in terms of additional research needed to better understand why sleep quality and anxiety reported during elevated bodily arousal are related among youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]