This initiative will focus on four clusters of problems/disorders that account for the majority of child clinical referrals:
- anxiety and anxiety disorders;
- depression and depressive disorders;
- ADHD and related problems; and
- conduct problems ranging from early childhood disobedience to adolescent delinquency and violence.
To close the gap between the research evidence on effective treatments and the practices used in clinical care for these four conditions, the Network will address the following five objectives:
Build consensus on the scientific evidence.
To synthesize the cumulative findings of many years of extensive research and collection of clinical data, the Network is conducting a comprehensive meta-analysis focused on child-outcome research on treatment of the most common causes of clinical referral. Issue-based analyses will also be conducted to address specific topics that arouse major national concern, such as the treatment of adolescent depression and the diagnosis and treatment of bipolar disorder in young children.
Study current clinical practice for children in community-based service settings.
To complement the research on scientific evidence, the Network is analyzing clinical data that are most relevant to the everyday treatment of children in order to identify strategies for problem-solving and quality improvement. The Network is conducting research on variations in cost and quality in the treatment of the four most common causes of child clinical referral. This research will be used to inform policymakers and practitioners about how we can organize and pay for care to capitalize on research-generated gains in clinical capability and apply our resources in a more productive and efficient manner.
Conduct research focused on bridging the gap between the science and practice of mental health care for children and adolescents.
To make the science of child and adolescent mental health more accessible in an effort to make everyday clinical practice more effective and better matched to children’s and adolescents’ needs, the Network has multiple research aims. The first aim is to streamline empirically based assessment and treatment practices so they are less lengthy and cumbersome and more flexible, user-friendly, and broader in scope to address co-existing mental health concerns and to increase clinical utility. At the same time, the Network is translating a new suicide-risk assessment method for clinical use to improve risk detection and prevent adolescent suicide.
Build strategies for effective communication and dissemination.
The Center and the Network are currently supporting a multi-faceted inquiry conducted by the FrameWorks Institute to learn more about how the public perceives child mental health. With this knowledge, we will develop strategies to generate greater public will and share science more effectively in the policy and practice arenas.
Mobilize the science of child mental health to inform an effective policy agenda through strategically targeted demonstration projects.
To link science to policy, members of the Network will bring their knowledge to bear in one or more demonstration projects to build a growing knowledge base that can be adapted to other settings in Massachusetts and, in the future, across the United States and in other countries, with modifications for differences related to cultural, political, and socioeconomic factors.
Child & Family Mental Health
Science shows that this environment of relationships plays a critical role in shaping a child’s social, emotional, and cognitive development in the earliest years of life. Addressing these emerging emotional and behavioral problems in the early years is an important societal issue – one that should be given the same attention as problems in cognitive development. More >>
