Fathers' subjective childbirth stress predicts depressive symptoms at six months postpartum.

BACKGROUND: Childbirth is a seminal experience in parents' lives. However, little research has investigated the link between fathers' birth experiences and their postpartum mental health. We hypothesized that a more subjectively stressful birth will predict greater self-reported depressive symptoms in fathers at six months postpartum. We also investigated the association between mode of delivery and paternal subjective stress. METHODS: Seventy-seven heterosexual fathers expecting their first child and cohabiting with their pregnant partners participated in the study. Depressive symptoms were assessed in pregnancy and again at six months postpartum. Subjective birth stress was measured within the first few days of the birth, and birth charts were collected to examine mode of delivery. RESULTS: Fathers' ratings of subjective birth stress significantly predicted postpartum depressive symptoms at six months postpartum. Subjective birth stress ratings varied significantly for fathers whose partners delivered via emergency cesarean section compared to those whose partners gave birth via both medicated and the unmedicated vaginal delivery. LIMITATIONS: The study was limited by its small community (non-clinical) sample, which was restricted to heterosexual, cohabitating couples. Additionally, births were mostly uncomplicated and only 14 mothers underwent emergency cesarean section. CONCLUSION: These findings highlight that the days immediately following childbirth are a window of opportunity for early intervention in new fathers at risk for postpartum depression.

From "surviving to thriving": Mood Lifters - a wellness program for parents of medically complex children.

OBJECTIVES: Parents of medically complex children juggle unique demands associated with caring for chronically ill children, many of which negatively impact their mental wellbeing. Despite this, parents of medically complex children often forgo mental health support due to concerns with costs, time, stigma, and accessibility. There is limited research on evidence-based interventions addressing such barriers for these caregivers. We piloted an adapted version of Mood Lifters, a peer-led wellness program, to equip parents of medically complex children with evidence-based strategies to manage their mental health while also reducing barriers to support. We hypothesized parents would find Mood Lifters to be feasible and acceptable. Further, parents would experience improvements in mental wellbeing upon program completion. METHODS: We conducted a single-arm prospective pilot study to assess Mood Lifters for parents of medically complex children. Participants included 51 parents in the U.S. recruited from a local pediatric hospital providing care for their children. Caregiver mental wellbeing was assessed through validated questionnaires pre-intervention (T1) and post-intervention (T2). Repeated-measures analysis of variance was conducted to evaluate change between T1 and T2. RESULTS: Analyses from T1 and T2 (n = 18) revealed improvements in parents' depression (F(1,17) = 7.691, p = 0.013) and anxiety (F(1,17) = 6.431, p = 0.021) after program completion. Improvements in perceived stress and positive and negative emotion were significant at p < 0.0083. SIGNIFICANCE OF RESULTS: Parents of medically complex children experienced improved mental health upon participating in Mood Lifters. Results offer preliminary support for the feasibility and acceptability of Mood Lifters as an evidence-based care option that may also alleviate common barriers to care.

Dismantling Structural Racism in Child and Adolescent Psychology: A Call to Action to Transform Healthcare, Education, Child Welfare, and the Psychology Workforce to Effectively Promote BIPOC Youth Health and Development.

The field of clinical child and adolescent psychology is in critical need of transformation to effectively meet the mental health needs of marginalized and minoritized youth. As a field, we must acknowledge and grapple with the racist and colonial structures that support the scientific foundation, education and training of psychologists, and the service systems currently in place to support youth mental health in this country. We argue that to effectuate change toward a discipline that centers inclusivity, intersectionality, anti-racism, and social justice, there are four interrelated systems, structures, or processes that currently support racial inequity and would need to be thoroughly examined, dismantled, and re-imagined: (1) the experience of mental health problems and corresponding access to quality care; (2) the school-to-mental healthcare pathway; (3) the child welfare and carceral systems; and (4) the psychology workforce. A "call to action" is issued to address structural racism in these systems and recommendations are provided to guide clinicians, health care systems, educators, welfare and carceral systems, and those involved in training and retaining psychologists in the field in actions they can take to contribute to transformation. We assert that change will only occur when we individually and collectively take responsibility for the roles we have as agents for radical change within the personal and professional contexts in which we live and work. Only then will the field of clinical child and adolescent psychology be able to address the youth mental health crisis and effectively promote the health and well-being of all children.

Low Emotional Awareness as a Transdiagnostic Mechanism Underlying Psychopathology in Adolescence.

The ability to identify and label one's emotions is associated with effective emotion regulation, rendering emotional awareness important for mental health. We evaluated how emotional awareness was related to psychopathology and whether low emotional awareness was a transdiagnostic mechanism explaining the increase in psychopathology during the transition to adolescence and as a function of childhood trauma-specifically violence exposure. In Study 1, children and adolescents (N=120, aged 7-19 years) reported on emotional awareness and psychopathology. Emotional awareness was negatively associated with psychopathology (p-factor) and worsened across age in females but not males. In Study 2 (N=262, aged 8-16 years), we replicated these findings and demonstrated longitudinally that low emotional awareness mediated increases in p-factor as a function of age in females and violence exposure. These findings indicate that low emotional awareness may be a transdiagnostic mechanism linking adolescent development, sex, and trauma with the emergence of psychopathology.