A Little Effort Can Withstand the Hardship: Fielding an Internet-Based Intervention to Prevent Depression among Urban Racial/Ethnic Minority Adolescents in a Primary Care Setting.

BACKGROUND: This study explored the implementation of Chicago Urban Resiliency Building (CURB), a randomized clinical trial designed as an Internet-based primary care depression prevention intervention for urban African American and Latino adolescents. METHODS: We utilized a mixed methods analysis to explore four aims. First, we estimated the percent of at-risk adolescents that were successfully screened. Second, we examined clinic site factors and performance. Third, primary care providers (n = 10) and clinic staff (n = 18) were surveyed to assess their knowledge and attitudes about the intervention. Fourth, clinic staff (nursing and medical assistant) interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis to gather perspectives of the implementation process. RESULTS: We found that the estimated percent of at-risk adolescents who were successfully screened in each clinic varied widely between clinics with a mean of 14.48%. Daily clinic communication was suggestive of greater successful screening. Feasibility of screening was high for both primary care providers and clinic staff. Clinic staff exit interviews indicated the presence of community barriers that inhibited successful implementation of the intervention. CONCLUSION: This study shares the challenges and successes for depression screening and implementing Internet-based mental health interventions for urban racial/ethnic minority adolescents in primary care settings.

Skills and Strategies of African American Parents in the Management of ADHD: A Qualitative Study.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to use a strengths-based approach to determine African American parents' skills and strategies for management of children with ADHD. Method: Four focus groups were conducted to identify African American parent beliefs about appropriate ADHD management. Sixteen parents participated and reported having a total of 21 children diagnosed with ADHD. Results: Participants discussed several parenting challenges but advocated for the child by working closely with the child's school and physician. They also managed relationships with family members to protect the child from possible physical or emotional harm. However, parents desired more social support for management of ADHD. Conclusion: African American parents possess key skills and strategies in their management of children with ADHD. Further research is needed to determine the roles and responsibilities of extended family members for children with this disorder, and to identify the social supports parents access to aid with ADHD management.

Behavioral abnormalities are common and severe in patients with distal 22q11.2 microdeletions and microduplications.

We describe six individuals with microdeletions and microduplications in the distal 22q11.2 region detected by microarray. Five of the abnormalities have breakpoints in the low-copy repeats (LCR) in this region and one patient has an atypical rearrangement. Two of the six patients with abnormalities in the region between LCR22 D-E have hearing loss, which has previously been reported only once in association with these abnormalities. We especially note the behavioral/neuropsychiatric problems, including the severity and early onset, in patients with distal 22q11.2 rearrangements. Our patients add to the genotype-phenotype correlations which are still being generated for these chromosomal anomalies.

Randomized Clinical Trial of a Primary Care Internet-based Intervention to Prevent Adolescent Depression: One-year Outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: We developed a primary care/Internet-based intervention for adolescents at risk for depression (CATCH-IT, Competent Adulthood Transition with Cognitive-behavioral, Humanistic and Interpersonal Training). This phase II clinical trial compares two forms of primary care provider (PCP) engagement (motivational interview [MI] and brief advice [BA]) for adolescents using the Internet program. METHOD: ADOLESCENTS SCREENING POSITIVE FOR DEPRESSION WERE RECRUITED FROM PRIMARY CARE PRACTICES AND RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO A VERSION OF THE INTERVENTION: PCP MI + Internet program or PCP BA + Internet program. Between-group and within-group comparisons were conducted on depressive disorder outcome measures at baseline and one-year post-enrollment. Regression analyses examined factors predicting declines in depressed mood. RESULTS: Both groups demonstrated significant within-group decreases in depressed mood, loneliness, and self-harm ideation. While no between-group differences were noted in depressed mood or depressive disorder measures at one-year, fewer participants in the MI group had experienced a depressive episode. Greater participant automatic negative thoughts and more favorable ratings of a component of the Internet-based training experience predicted declines in depressed mood at one-year. CONCLUSIONS: A primary care/Internet-based intervention for depression prevention demonstrated sustained reductions in depressed mood, and, when coupled with motivational interviewing, reduction in the likelihood of being diagnosed with a depressive episode. This tool may help extend the services at the disposal of a primary care provider and can provide a bridge for adolescents at risk for depression prior to referral to mental health specialists.

OBJECTIF: Nous avons mis au point une intervention de soins de première ligne sur Internet pour les adolescents à risque de dépression (CATCH-IT, transition compétente à l'âge adulte par une formation cognitivo-comportementale, humaniste et interpersonnelle). Cette phase II de l'essai clinique compare deux formes d'interaction des prestataires de soins de première ligne (PSPL) (entrevue motivationnelle [EM] et brefs conseils [BC]) avec les adolescents qui utilisent le programme en ligne. MÉTHODE: Les adolescents chez qui une dépression a été dépistée ont été recrutés dans des pratiques de soins de première ligne et affectés au hasard à une version de l'intervention: EM PSPL + programme Internet ou BC PSPL + programme Internet. Les comparaisons entre groupes et au sein des groupes ont été menées sur les mesures de résultat du trouble dépressif, au départ et un an après l'inscription. Des analyses de régression ont examiné les facteurs prédisant les baisses de l'humeur dépressive. RÉSULTATS: Les deux groupes ont démontré des baisses significatives au sein du groupe de l'humeur dépressive, de la solitude, et de l'idéation d'automutilation. Bien qu'aucune différence des mesures de l'humeur dépressive ou du trouble dépressif n'ait été notée entre les groupes à un an, moins de participants du groupe EM ont connu un épisode dépressif. Les pensées négatives automatiques accrues des participants et les cotations plus favorables d'un élément de l'expérience de formation sur Internet prédisaient des baisses de l'humeur dépressive à un an. CONCLUSIONS: Une intervention de soins de première ligne sur Internet pour prévenir la dépression a démontré des baisses soutenues de l'humeur dépressive et, lorsque jumelée à la technique d'entrevue motivationnelle, une probabilité moindre de recevoir un diagnostic d'épisode dépressif a été observée. Cet instrument peut contribuer à étendre les services qui sont à la disposition des prestataires de soins de première ligne, et peut constituer un relais pour les adolescents à risque de dépression, avant de les adresser aux spécialistes de la santé mentale.

The induced sector Arabidopsis apical embryonic fate map.

Creation of an embryonic fate map may provide insight into the patterns of cell division and specification contributing to the apical region of the early Arabidopsis embryo. A fate map has been constructed by inducing genetic chimerism during the two-apical-cell stage of embryogenesis to determine if the orientation of the first anticlinal cell division correlates with later developmental axes. Chimeras were also used to map the relative locations of precursors of the cotyledon and leaf primordia. Genetic chimeras were induced in embryos doubly heterozygous for a heat shock regulated Cre recombinase and a constitutively expressed beta-glucuronidase (GUS) gene flanked by the loxP binding sites for Cre. Individual cells in the two-apical-cell stage embryo responding to heat shock produce GUS-negative daughter cells. Mature plants grown from seed derived from treated embryos were scored for GUS-negative sector extent in the cotyledons and leaves. The GUS-negative daughters of apical cells had a strong tendency to contribute primarily to one cotyledon or the other and to physically adjacent true leaf margins. This result indicated that patterns of early cell division correlate with later axes of symmetry in the embryo and that these patterns partially limit the fates available for adoption by daughter cells. However, GUS-negative sectors were shared between all regions of the mature plant, suggesting that there is no strict fate restriction imposed on the daughters of the first apical cells.