The mediating role of caregiver hope in relations among caregivers' coping and emotional socialization beliefs in pediatric oncology.

The purpose of this study is to identify links between caregiver hope, caregiver coping behaviors, and caregivers' coaching versus dismissing emotion socialization (ES) beliefs in a pediatric cancer sample.Self-report measures.Caregivers (N = 183, 80.20% mothers; 58.5% white; 32.2% Hispanic) of youth undergoing cancer treatment (51.10% hematological malignancy, 15.30% brain or spinal [CNS] tumor, and 25.14% non-CNS solid tumor) for at least six weeks.We used a series of mediation models to examine links between caregivers' coping behaviors, hope, and ES beliefs.Caregivers' hope significantly mediated a positive relation between caregivers' coping and their emotion coaching beliefs, as well as an inverse relation between caregivers' maladaptive coping and their emotion dismissing beliefs.Enhancing caregivers' hope or adaptive coping may support caregivers' beliefs during the pediatric cancer experience.Our findings support future research to evaluate whether enhancing caregivers' hope or adaptive coping may help support evidence-based interventions that target ES beliefs and behaviors.

Intensive Parent-Child Interaction Therapy for Children with Traumatic Brain Injury: Feasibility Study.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the feasibility and initial outcome of a time-limited and intensive format of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) for families of young children who have sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI). METHODS: The nonrandomized open trial included 15 families with a child aged 2-5 years who had sustained a TBI and displayed clinically elevated levels of externalizing behavior problems. Families received clinic-based PCIT twice per week over an average of 6 weeks, with the exception of two families that received the same intensity and format of PCIT in the home. RESULTS: Ten of the 14 families who completed the baseline assessment (71%) completed the intervention and post and follow-up assessments. On average, caregivers completed homework practice on 52% of the days in between sessions. Caregivers reported high acceptability and satisfaction following the intervention, as well as decreases in child externalizing and internalizing behavior problems at the post-assessment and 2-month follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Results of this open trial provide preliminary support for the feasibility of a time-limited and intensive format of PCIT for families of young children who have sustained a TBI and have elevated levels of behavior problems. This study highlights a promising intervention approach for improving domains commonly affected by early childhood TBI and preventing the development of more severe and persistent problems.

Benefits of expanding behavioral health screening in a pediatric diabetes clinic to include anxiety and caregiver reports in youth 12 years and younger.

INTRODUCTION: Depression and anxiety among youth with Type 1 diabetes (T1D) are associated with poor diabetes management. Further guidance regarding psychosocial screening measures would benefit pediatric integrated care clinics. The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine whether screening for anxiety, assessing caregiver reports, and screening children 12 years old and younger could identify a larger percentage of youth who may benefit from behavioral health support compared to the standard approach of only screening youth 13 and older for depression. METHOD: Sixty-five youth 8-17 years old with T1D (N = 65; M = 13.2 years; 55.4% females) and their caregivers (75% mothers) completed validated self-report and proxy-report depression and anxiety screeners during routine clinic visits between 2019 and 2021. Twenty-seven youth aged 13-17 also completed a measure of diabetes-related distress. RESULTS: The standard approach of screening youth aged 13-17 for depression via self-report identified 25.6% of participants, whereas screening youth ages 8-17 for depression and anxiety via self- and proxy-reports identified 47.7%. Screening for depression/anxiety identified unique portions of youth independent of diabetes distress. DISCUSSION: Utilizing anxiety and proxy-report measures may identify youth likely to benefit from behavioral health support who are not identified when only a self-report depression measure is used in screening. Research should evaluate whether utilizing multiple measures and screening children under 13 years old improve detection and connection to care for youth experiencing difficulty managing diabetes. Early identification and intervention could subsequently mitigate the negative impacts of social-emotional difficulties on diabetes management. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Associations Between Multiple Health-Promoting Behaviors and Subjective Well-Being in High School Age Youth.

BACKGROUND: Conceptualizations of health have expanded to include indicators of adolescents' physical and mental wellness, rather than solely the absence of diseases or disorders. Although extensive research has identified links between mental and physical wellness, few studies have investigated the relationship between health promotion and happiness, particularly in adolescent populations who may be at particular risk for engaging in health-compromising behaviors, such as alcohol consumption. METHODS: This cross-sectional study examined the relationship between 12 health-promoting behaviors and subjective well-being in a sample of 450 high school students from 2 states. Participants reported on their diet, physical activity, sleep hygiene habits, as well as abstinence from tobacco and alcohol products, and completed a multidimensional assessment of subjective well-being. RESULTS: Findings demonstrated that 7 of the 12 health-promoting behaviors were significantly correlated with adolescents' subjective well-being. A sizeable portion of the variance in adolescents' subjective well-being (39.8%) was accounted for by the linear combination of the 12 health-promoting behaviors of interest. Increased physical activity, sleep hygiene cognitive/emotional factors, and bedtime routine all were identified as unique predictors of subjective well-being. CONCLUSIONS: These findings bring attention to the salience of daily physical activity and sleep hygiene and their associations with adolescents' happiness.