Trajectories and correlates of mental health among urban, school-age children during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic posed numerous obstacles to psychosocial wellbeing for children. We conducted a longitudinal study to evaluate child mental health and social risks during the pandemic. METHODS: Participants were 172 caregivers of children aged 6-11 years old who attended well child visits within 6 months before pandemic onset at an urban safety net hospital in the US. Prepandemic data was extracted from the electronic medical record, and surveys were administered at three time points between August 2020 and July 2021. We measured mental health symptoms with the Pediatric Symptom Checklist-17, social risks (e.g., food and housing insecurity) with the THRIVE questionnaire, and school modality (in-person, hybrid, remote). RESULTS: Compared to pre-pandemic, children had significantly higher PSC-17 total scores (overall mental health symptoms) and THRIVE total scores (total burden of social risks) at all three mid-pandemic waves. Using longitudinal mixed models accounting for time, social risks, and school modality, both social risks (B = 0.37, SE = 0.14, p < 0.01) and school modality were significantly associated with PSC-17 scores (B = - 1.95, SE = 0.63, p < 0.01). Children attending in-person school had fewer mental health symptoms than those attending remote or hybrid school. CONCLUSION: Mental health symptoms and social risks remained significantly higher fifteen months after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to prepandemic. In-person attendance at school appeared protective against persistently elevated mental health symptoms.

A Quality Improvement Initiative for Detection of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in an Urban, Academic Safety Net Hospital.

OBJECTIVE: Improve detection of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in a safety net, hospital-based, academic pediatric practice by optimizing screening with the Pediatric Symptom Checklist attention score (PSC-AS) and further evaluation with the Vanderbilt ADHD Diagnostic Rating Scale (VADRS). METHODS: We implemented a multi-component intervention by (1) optimizing electronic medical record (EMR) features; (2) adjusting clinic operational workflow; and (3) creating a decision-making algorithm for pediatric primary care clinicians (PPCCs). We extracted 4 outcomes manually from the EMR (pediatrician acknowledgment of a positive PSC-AS, documentation of a plan for further evaluation, distribution of VADRS, and completion of at least 1 VADRS). Outcomes were measured monthly in run charts compared to the pre-intervention control period, and implementation was optimized with Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles. RESULTS: PPCCs were significantly more likely to acknowledge a positive PSC-AS in the intervention versus control (65.3% vs 41.5%; p < 0.001), although this did not change documentation of a plan (70% vs 67.1%; p -value = 0.565). Significantly more children with a positive PSC-AS were distributed a parent or teacher VADRS in the intervention versus control (30.6% vs 17.7%; p -value = 0.0059), but the percentage of returned VADRS rating scales did not improve (12.9% vs 9.2%; p -value = 0.269). CONCLUSION: Our ADHD detection quality improvement initiative improved use of the PSC-AS to identify attention problems and distribution of VADRS diagnostic rating scales, but additional interventions are needed to improve the completion of ADHD evaluations in primary care to ensure that children are appropriately identified and offered evidence-based care.

Examining the effects of COVID-19 on pharmacy dispensing of naloxone and syringes sales across Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdowns disrupted access to harm reduction supplies and services known to be effective in overdose prevention and contributed to a worsening of the opioid crisis. However, because pharmacies can provide naloxone and sell over-the-counter (OTC) sterile syringes, their continued operation throughout the pandemic potentially reinforced a public health role as a distribution hub for safer use supplies. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this analysis was to examine patterns of naloxone and OTC syringe sale volume at 463 community pharmacies in 2 states with high overdose rates during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: We analyzed weekly pharmacy-level dispensing data from January 5, 2020, to December 31, 2020, from one corporate community pharmacy chain in Massachusetts (n = 415 pharmacies) and New Hampshire (n = 48 pharmacies). Descriptive statistics and visualizations over the analytical period were generated as initial explorations of the outcome. Zero-inflated Poisson and negative binomial models were used to analyze distribution data along with county-level COVID-19 case rates and store-level COVID-19 testing location status during the same time. Interactions tested the effect of COVID-19 case rates on naloxone and OTC syringe sales. RESULTS: Pharmacies that reported selling nonprescription syringes and dispensing naloxone during the study period averaged 210.13 OTC syringes sold and 0.53 naloxone prescriptions per week. Pharmacies in communities that experienced greater COVID-19 case burden also exhibited higher naloxone dispensing and OTC syringe sales during this period. The odds of selling OTC syringes increased over time but naloxone dispensing remained constant over the pandemic year. Pharmacies hosting COVID-19 testing tended to have lower OTC syringe sales and naloxone provision than nontesting sites. CONCLUSION: During the COVID-19 pandemic, pharmacies provided harm reduction services and dispensed lifesaving medications by quickly adapting to fulfill community needs without disrupting co-located services for COVID-19 response.

"If he doesn't buy in, it's a waste of time": Perspectives from diverse parents and adolescents on engaging children in ADHD treatment.

Engaging children and adolescents in ADHD care is critical for future independent disease management. However, there is a lack of evidence guiding health professionals and parents on how best to engage their children and adolescents in ADHD care. We recruited 41 diverse parents of children and adolescents with ADHD and 11 adolescents with ADHD from an urban, safety-net hospital to participate in in-depth, semi-structured qualitative interviews and then analyzed this data using thematic analysis. Children's level of illness insight about ADHD and self-esteem emerged as two major contributors to engagement of children and adolescents in ADHD care, and their intersection created four styles of engagement: proactive (high insight, high self-esteem), anxious (high insight, low self-esteem), apathetic (low insight, high self-esteem), and resistant (low insight, low self-esteem). This framework can help health professionals engage children and adolescents in care for ADHD and guide development of interventions to improve engagement in care.

Changes in psychosocial functioning among urban, school-age children during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: There is concern about the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychosocial functioning among school-age children, who have faced unusual stressors during this time. Our goal was to assess mental health symptoms and social risks during COVID-19, compared to before the pandemic, for urban, racial and ethnic minority school-age children, and investigate the relationship between mental health and social risks. METHODS: We conducted a cohort study from September 2019 until January 2021 of children age 5-11 years old recruited from an urban safety net hospital-based pediatric primary care practice. We measured emotional and behavioral symptoms (including attention, internalizing, and externalizing symptoms) before and during the pandemic with the Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC-17). We measured social risks (including food and housing insecurity) before and during the pandemic with the THRIVE screener. We measured additional mid-pandemic COVID-related stressors with items on school participation, screens/media use, illness exposure, and caregiver mental health. We compared pre- and mid-pandemic PSC-17 symptom scores across 4 domains (total, attention, internalizing, and externalizing) and used path analysis to examine the relationship between mental health and social risks pre- and mid-pandemic. RESULTS: Caregivers of 168 children (54% non-Hispanic Black, 29% Hispanic, and 22% non-English speaking) completed the study. Children had significantly higher levels of emotional and behavioral symptoms midpandemic- vs. pre-pandemic in all domains. Significantly more children had a positive PSC-17 total score (18% vs. 8%, p < 0.01) and internalizing (depression and anxiety) score (18% vs. 5%, p < 0.001) during the pandemic vs. before, indicating clinical concerns in these areas. Caregivers reported significantly more social risks during vs. before the pandemic (p < 0.001). Mental health symptoms significantly correlated with number of social risks before the pandemic, but not during the pandemic. Less school assignment completion, increased screen time, and caregiver depression were all significantly associated with worse mid-pandemic mental health in children. CONCLUSION: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a dramatic increase in depression/anxiety problems and social risks among urban, racial and ethnic minority school-age children compared to before the pandemic. More research is needed to understand if these changes will persist.

Six Stages of Engagement in ADHD Treatment Described by Diverse, Urban Parents.

BACKGROUND: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental condition in children. Although ADHD is treatable, barriers remain to engagement in treatment, especially among socioeconomically disadvantaged and racial and ethnic minority families. Our goal was to examine the process by which families engage in ADHD treatment and to identify targets for an intervention to improve engagement in care. METHODS: We conducted in-depth semistructured qualitative interviews with 41 parents of diverse youth aged 3 to 17 years old in treatment of ADHD at an urban safety net hospital. Parents were asked about their journey through diagnosis and treatment, community attitudes about ADHD, and other factors influencing treatment access and decision-making. Transcripts were analyzed by using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Of children with ADHD, 69.2% were male, 57.7% were Black or African American, and 38.5% were of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin. Parents were 92.7% female, were 75.6% English speaking, and had a median income of $20 000. Parents described 6 stages to the process of engaging in care for their child's ADHD, which unfolded like a developmental process: (1) normalization and hesitation, (2) fear and stigmatization, (3) action and advocacy, (4) communication and navigation, (5) care and validation, and (6) preparation and transition. Barriers often occurred at points of stage mismatch between parents and providers and/or systems. Difficulty resolving an earlier stage interfered with the progression through subsequent stages. CONCLUSIONS: The 6 stages framework could be used to develop new strategies to measure engagement and to design family-centered interventions to facilitate engagement in ADHD treatment.