Effect of Psychosocial Interventions on Children and Youth Emotion Regulation: A Meta-Analysis.

To investigate the effect of psychosocial interventions on emotion regulation outcomes in children and youth (0-23 years). We conducted a meta-analysis using a three-level modeling approach extracting multiple effect-sizes from experimental and quasi-experimental studies. We included 40 interventions from 35 publications involving 3,891 participants and extracted 258 posttreatment effect sizes. Analyses were performed to assess intervention effects on emotion regulation, moderating effects of inclusion of acceptance focus and other potential moderators. Additionally, we examined intervention effects on mental health outcomes. Interventions showed a significant small-to-medium effect on emotion regulation (d = 0.37, 95% CI [0.22, 0.51], p < .001). Similar effects on were found regardless of acceptance-focus. Interventions significantly associated with a higher level of effect (p ≤ 0.045) included ACT, DBT, CBT and behavior parent training interventions. Significant small-to-medium effects were found for mental health outcomes (d = 0.39, 95% CI [0.25, 0.53], p < .001), with a correlation of .56 between overall outcomes across domains. Meta-regression results indicated that psychosocial interventions are moderately effective in improving emotion regulation, with no significant difference in inclusion of acceptance-focus. Findings suggest that emotion regulation is a transdiagnostic process that may inform the development of more beneficial interventions.

A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Measurement Feedback Systems in Treatment for Common Mental Health Disorders.

To investigate the effects of measurement feedback systems (MFSs) in therapy on mental health outcomes through a literature review and meta-analysis. Using a three-level modeling approach, we conducted a meta-analysis of all effect sizes from randomized controlled studies of MFSs used in the treatment of common mental health disorders. Eighty-two effect sizes were extracted from the thirty-one included studies. Analyses were performed to consider the post-treatment effects of the MFS-assisted treatment compared to treatment as usual. A separate analysis was done for the subgroup "not-on-track" patients as it is theorized that MFSs will be clinically useful because they make therapists aware of patients who fail to progress. MFSs had a significant effect on mental health outcomes (d = 0.14, 95% CI [0.082-0.206], p < .001). Further analysis found a larger effect in patients identified as less respondent to therapy, the "not-on-track" group (d = 0.29, 95% CI [0.114, 0.464], p = .003). Moderation analyses indicated that the type of outcome measurement and type of feedback system used, and whether it was used for a child and youth or adult population, influenced effect sizes. MFSs seem to have a small positive effect on treatment outcomes. The effects seem to be larger for "not-on-track" patients, the group of patients that would usually not benefit much from treatment.

Process and Implementation Elements of Measurement Feedback Systems: A Systematic Review.

Measurement feedback systems (MFS) can help guide treatment and improve clinical outcomes. Studies of MFS are heterogeneous both in execution and results, and the effects of MFS seem restricted by limited attention to process and implementation elements and by limited adoption by health professionals. The current systematic review mapped the use of process and implementation elements in MFS studies. An overview of therapists' use of and attitudes toward MFS is provided. Three-level meta-analyses were used to test theoretically informed process and implementation elements as moderators of the effects of MFS. Hypotheses and general propositions from Clinical Performance Feedback Intervention Theory (CP-FIT) were used to organize the elements of the studies and were used as moderator variables. Previous studies on MFS interventions have had a limited focus on implementation efforts and process elements that may increase the effects of MFS and their use among therapists. Efforts have sparsely been made to reduce barriers to MFS use, and several studies have reported limited engagement with MFS among therapists. Therapists' attitudes toward MFS, feedback, or standardized measures were heterogeneously reported, making data synthesis challenging. Identified process and implementation elements were not significantly associated with effect sizes in the studies and the results did not support the propositions of CP-FIT. The lack of statistically significant associations may be due to limited reporting of details about process and implementation aspects. More research designed to test hypotheses regarding process and implementation elements is needed to improve the use and effects of MFS. Future studies should aspire to report findings in a manner that allows for an understanding of the implementation process and therapists' adoption of these systems.

Short measures of youth psychopathology: psychometric properties of the brief problem monitor (BPM) and the behavior and feelings survey (BFS) in a Norwegian clinical sample.

BACKGROUND: Tracking clinical outcomes during therapy can be useful for improving both clinical practice and research. For repeated data collection, short, reliable, and valid measures of central aspects of psychopathology are necessary. The current paper investigates the psychometric properties of two short surveys for measuring central dimensions of psychopathology in youth. METHODS: We investigated the factor structure and validity of the Norwegian translations of the Behavior and Feelings Survey (BFS) and the Brief Problem Monitor (BPM). The BFS has previously shown a two-factor structure and indications of validity as a measure of internalizing and externalizing problems in youth. The BPM has support for a three-factor structure of internalizing, externalizing, and attention problems. In our sample of 503 patients (56% female, age 6 to 18) in a Norwegian outpatient clinic, we conducted confirmatory factor analyses to test the assumed measurement models and further considered the concurrent validity of the measures. RESULTS: Internal reliability of both measures were good. The results suggest that the assumed measurement models for both questionnaires only partly fit our data but that subscales of the BFS and BPM still indicate convergent validity. Scores on subscales (internalizing and externalizing problems) on both measures converged with relevant subscales as well as with relevant groups of diagnoses. CONCLUSIONS: Alternative measurement models, and the usefulness and limitations of these short-form questionnaires for internalizing and externalizing problems, are discussed.

Evaluating Modular Approach to Therapy for Children with Anxiety, Depression, Trauma and Conduct Problems (MATCH-ADCT) in Norwegian child and adolescent outpatient clinics: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Norwegian health, care, and welfare services are experiencing increased demands to deliver services that are safe, effective, of high quality, and that ensure user involvement. Yet, evidence-based treatment for common disorders such as depression, anxiety, trauma, and behavioral problems in children are not regularly used in clinical practice in Norway. Possible explanations for this are that many standard, evidence-based treatments may have difficulty addressing the complexity and comorbidity of referred children and the fact that children's treatment needs often shift during treatment. The Modular Approach to Therapy for children with Anxiety, Depression, Trauma and Conduct problems (MATCH-ADTC) was designed to address these challenges and reduce some of the barriers to therapists' use of evidence-based treatment in their practice. METHODS/DESIGN: Participants will include 280 children (aged 6-14.5 years at intake) who receive treatment in child and adolescent mental health outpatient clinics in Norway, and their families. Families are randomly assigned to either the experimental group receiving treatment from therapists trained in MATCH, or to the comparison group receiving treatment from therapists delivering treatment as usual (TAU). Data on children's symptomology, child and family functioning, demographics, background information, and mental health outcomes are collected as well as frequent feedback on treatment response, plus video-recordings of treatment sessions and implementation quality scores from each participating clinic. Questionnaires are administered in six waves. DISCUSSION: MATCH has been tested in the US with promising results, but we do not know whether this treatment approach will produce similar results in Norway. The implications of this study are 1. Possibly better treatment outcomes and/or more efficient improvements for children and families treated in mental health outpatient clinics in Norway 2. Clinicians learning to use more evidence-based practices in their treatment 3. Implementation of standard procedures for obtaining feedback from children and families and sharing the feedback with clinicians 4. Increased understanding, at the end of the trial, of whether introducing MATCH improves outcomes for children and families treated in mental health outpatient clinics TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN, registration number: ISRCTN24029895 . Registered on 8 August 2016.