Global Mental Health in Our Own Backyard: An Unaccompanied Immigrant Child's Migration From El Salvador to New York City.

There has been a recent surge in the number of children migrating to the United States without a parent. Despite their vulnerability to extreme adversity at every stage of their migration process, little is known about the psychosocial context and mental health needs of unaccompanied children. This article presents a case study of a 16-year-old Salvadoran boy who participated in a larger, mixed-methods study on the psychosocial context, psychological presentation, and mental health service utilization of unaccompanied children living in New York pending their immigration cases. After the presentation of the case, different models for understanding the experiences and needs of unaccompanied children are discussed.

Anxiety among adolescent survivors of pediatric cancer: A missing link in the survivorship literature.

OBJECTIVE: With growing numbers of pediatric cancer survivors, it is becoming increasingly important to investigate the psychosocial sequelae of surviving cancer diagnosed during childhood or adolescence. It is particularly important to study the psychosocial needs of adolescent survivors of pediatric cancer because adolescence is a critical time during psychosocial development. Although there is existent literature about the general psychosocial adjustment of this population, the literature regarding anxiety is scant. This brief review aimed to assesses currently available literature that addresses anxiety in adolescent cancer survivors. METHOD: Articles assessing psychosocial adjustment in adolescent survivors of pediatric cancer were reviewed for information regarding anxiety symptoms. RESULTS: To the authors' knowledge, there is no literature that focuses specifically on anxiety in this population. However, many articles reported results that indicated the possibility of increased anxiety in this group. SIGNIFICANCE OF RESULTS: It is critical to further investigate anxiety in this group and develop appropriate interventions if necessary. Doing so will aid the process of enhancing psychosocial care for adolescent cancer survivors.

Parental Divorce, Familial Risk for Depression, and Psychopathology in Offspring: A Three-Generation Study.

Research suggests a link between parental divorce and negative child outcomes; however, the presence of parental depression may confound this relationship. Studies exploring the simultaneous effects of depression and parents' divorce on the adjustment of their children are scarce and rarely have a longitudinal design. This is the first three-generation study of the relative effects of depression and divorce on offspring psychopathology, based on data from a 25-year longitudinal study with families at high and low risk for depression. One hundred seventy-eight grandchildren (mean age = 13.9 years) of depressed and nondepressed parents and grandparents were evaluated by raters blind to their parents' and grandparents' clinical status. We found that in both low and high-risk children, divorce had a limited impact on child adjustment over and above familial risk for depression. Divorce had a significant effect on child outcomes only among high-risk grandchildren with a depressed grandparent and non-depressed parents, with this group showing a threefold risk for anxiety disorders. Results support previous findings suggesting that familial risk for depression largely overshadows the effect of parental divorce on child psychopathology. Possible reasons for the lack of association between divorce and child psychopathology among low-risk offspring are discussed.

The case for treating depression in military spouses.

The increased operational tempo associated with current deployments to Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) is placing considerable strain on military families. Among other sequelae of OIF and OEF deployment, findings from recent studies suggest high rates of depression in spouses of service members. This review presents a rationale for targeting depression among military spouses. It examines how stressors relating to the deployment cycle may contribute to depression in spouses and outlines the effects of spousal depression on the mental health of service members and their children. Mental health services currently available to military spouses as well as barriers to their care are also described. Considerations for the adaptation of treatment to their unique circumstances and needs are discussed.