Feasibility, Acceptability and Preliminary Implementation of the Cornerstone Program for Transition-Age Youth with Mental Health Conditions: A Mixed Methods Study.

Transition-age youth with mental health conditions from low socio-economic backgrounds often drop out of mental health services and, as such, do not receive therapeutic doses of treatment. Cornerstone is an innovative team-based, multi-component intervention designed to address the clinical needs of this understudied population through coordination and extensive provision of services in vivo (in the community). The present study used a convergent parallel mixed-methods design. Researchers collected quantitative and qualitative data during a small developmental trial, analyzing the two data types independently and then exploring them side-by-side to evaluate feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary implementation. Semi-structured interviews and quantitative surveys were conducted with transition-age youth, clinic staff, and policy makers. Qualitative interview guides were developed using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research to build understanding on implementation determinants alongside feasibility and acceptability. A two-group preliminary randomized trial was conducted to assess feasibility outcomes, such as recruitment, randomization, measurement performance, and trends in pre- to post- outcomes. Using grounded theory coding techniques, transcripts were coded by multiple coders, and themes were identified on acceptability and implementation. The team recruited fifty-six transition-age youth. Randomization was used in the study and the intervention was provided without incident. Results suggest individual components with both the social worker and mentor were more acceptable to participants than group-based approaches. Thematic analyses revealed themes associated with the inner, outer, and policy contexts describing a range of critical implementation determinants. Findings suggest that Cornerstone is feasible, acceptable, and promising for transition-age youth. It represents an innovative multi-component intervention worth exploring for transition-age youth with mental health conditions in a larger efficacy trial.Trial registration: The trial was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02696109) on 22 April 16, Protocol Record R34-MH102525-01A1, New York University, Cornerstone program for transition-age youth with serious mental illness: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Impact of a brief intervention to improve engagement in a recovery program for young adults with serious mental illness.

OBJECTIVE: Serious mental illnesses (SMI) commonly emerge during young adulthood. Effective treatments for this population exist; however, engagement in treatment is a persistent challenge. This study examines the impact of Just Do You (JDY), an innovative intake-focused intervention designed to improve engagement in treatment and enhance personal recovery. METHODS: The study used a parallel group randomized trial to examine if and how JDY improved recovery among 121 young adults with SMI from low-resourced communities referred to personalized recovery-oriented services (PROS). Measures of engagement (buy-in and attendance) and personal recovery in this pilot study were assessed at baseline and 3-month follow-up. RESULTS: Participants in JDY reported more positive engagement outcomes; that is, relative to the control group they reported higher past two week attendance (b = 0.72, p < 0.05, Cohen's d = 0.56) and higher levels of buy-in to treatment (b = 2.42, p < 0.05, Cohen's d = 0.50). JDY also impacted young adults' personal recovery (b = 0.99, p < 0.05, Cohen's d = 1.15) and did so largely by increasing their level of buy-in to the treatment program. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that an engagement intervention for young adults that orients, prepares, and empowers them to be active and involved in the larger treatment program makes a difference by improving engagement and enhancing recovery. Data also support conceptualizing and examining engagement beyond treatment attendance; in this study what mattered most for recovery was the level of buy-in to treatment among young adults.

Outcomes of a Metaintervention to Improve Treatment Engagement Among Young Adults With Serious Mental Illnesses: Application of a Pilot Randomized Explanatory Design.

PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to conduct a preliminary evaluation of a new young adult-centered metaintervention to improve treatment engagement among those with serious mental illness. METHODS: Young adults, clinic staff, and policy makers provided feedback on the intervention, which is a two-module engagement program provided by a clinician and person with lived experience (peer) during intake. A two-group pilot randomized explanatory trial design was conducted, comparing treatment as usual with treatment as usual plus the engagement program, Just Do You. The primary outcomes were treatment engagement and presumed mediators of program effects measured at 3 months after baseline. RESULTS: The randomized explanatory trial indicated that young adults in Just Do You were more engaged in treatment than treatment as usual and that changes in several mediators of engagement occurred. Mechanisms that demonstrated between-group differences were stigma, perceived expertise of providers, trust in providers, and beliefs about the benefits of treatment. Results also provide diagnostic information on mediators that the program failed to change, such as hope, self-efficacy, and emotional reactions to treatment. These results inform next steps in the development of this promising intervention. CONCLUSIONS: Just Do You illustrated feasibility, acceptability and preliminary impact. It represents an innovative metaintervention that has promise for improving treatment engagement in mental health services among young adults who have a history of poor engagement.

Young adult trauma symptoms in the context of community violence exposure.

AIMS: The primary purpose of this study is to understand how community violence exposure is associated with both common and unique variance characterizing posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms among young adults living in a low-resourced setting. METHODS: Data were collected using a cross-sectional survey design. Participants were recruited from public housing developments in a city in the eastern United States. Participants completed a survey that included questions related to community violence, PTS symptoms, and optimism. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. RESULTS: We found a relationship between a generalized PTS response and each of the PTS symptom categories. Experiencing community violence was significantly related to generalized PTS response over and above other traumatic events. CONCLUSION: Young adults who experience community violence have a general distress response to those experiences, and yet, beyond that general response, there are ways in which each symptom is distinct from a generalized distress reaction.

A conceptual model of mental health service utilization among young adults at clinical high-risk for developing psychosis.

OBJECTIVE: Research has shown that young adults at clinical high risk (CHR) for developing psychosis have difficulties seeking, accessing, and staying engaged with mental health services. The present study explored perspectives on engagement with mental health services among young adults at CHR. METHOD: In-depth interviews were conducted with 30 participants at CHR, ages 18-30, from an Eastern U.S. state. Grounded theory methodology was used to analyzed qualitative data. RESULTS: Six major categories emerged from the data reflecting participants' perspectives of engagement with services. Contextual factors such as social, community, and online networks mattered to young adults, and individual factors such as level of awareness, stigma, emotions, and environmental factors emerged as critical. These factors suggested a conceptual model of service utilization among young adults at clinical high risk for developing psychosis that builds upon and extends existing conceptual frameworks of service use among young adults. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: A conceptual model of service utilization among young adults at CHR emerged from that data that can inform interventions aimed at improving engagement in services and reduce the amount of time young adults at CHR remain untreated for emerging psychological problems. Furthermore, this study highlights the unique contribution of mental health service use messages received from online networks and a possible relationship between hierarchical stigma and service use. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Race and gender differences in attitudes toward help seeking among marginalized young adults with mood disorders: A mixed-methods investigation.

OBJECTIVE: Race and gender differences in help seeking are well-established; however, reasons for these differences are less clear. This study examined race and gender differences in two potential contributors-perceptions of illness and attitudes toward treatment-in a sample of marginalized young adults. METHOD: Interviews were conducted with young adults (age 18-25) with prior involvement in public systems of care and mood disorder diagnoses (n = 60). A quantitative interview assessed illness perceptions and attitudes followed by a qualitative interview focused on perceptions of mental illness and treatment. Analyses examined quantitative differences across four race/gender subgroups-White women (n = 13), White men (n = 6), women of color (n = 27), and men of color (n = 14), then qualitative results were reviewed for a subset of cases (n = 30) to understand differences revealed in the quantitative analyses. RESULTS: Women of color had lower scores on illness understanding compared to other groups and men of color had lower scores on chronicity. Attitudes including propensity toward help seeking and stigma resistance were lowest in men of color, followed by women of color. Qualitative findings supported that men of color viewed their symptoms as less chronic and managed symptoms by changing their mindset rather than formal treatments. White participants talked more about their illnesses as chronic conditions and spoke more positively of treatment. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Race/gender differences were identified, particularly in relation to views of mental illness and stigma. Messaging that highlights independence and strength in relation to managing symptoms may be particularly important for young people of color. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).