Dysfunctional attitudes scale perfectionism: a predictor and partial mediator of acute treatment outcome among clinically depressed adolescents.

The effect of perfectionism on acute treatment outcomes was explored in a randomized controlled trial of 439 clinically depressed adolescents (12-17 years of age) enrolled in the Treatment for Adolescents with Depression Study (TADS) who received cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), fluoxetine, a combination of CBT and FLX, or pill placebo. Measures included the Children\u27s Depression Rating Scale-Revised, the Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire-Grades 7-9, and the perfectionism subscale from the Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale (DAS). Predictor results indicate that adolescents with higher versus lower DAS perfectionism scores at baseline, regardless of treatment, continued to demonstrate elevated depression scores across the acute treatment period. In the case of suicidality, DAS perfectionism impeded improvement. Treatment outcomes were partially mediated by the change in DAS perfectionism across the 12-week period

An exploratory analysis of the impact of family functioning on treatment for depression in adolescents.

This article explores aspects of family environment and parent-child conflict that may predict or moderate response to acute treatments among depressed adolescents (N = 439) randomly assigned to fluoxetine, cognitive behavioral therapy, their combination, or placebo. Outcomes were Week 12 scores on measures of depression and global impairment. Of 20 candidate variables, one predictor emerged: Across treatments, adolescents with mothers who reported less parent-child conflict were more likely to benefit than their counterparts. When family functioning moderated outcome, adolescents who endorsed more negative environments were more likely to benefit from fluoxetine. Similarly, when moderating effects were seen on cognitive behavioral therapy conditions, they were in the direction of being less effective among teens reporting poorer family environments

Child/Adolescent Anxiety Multimodal Study (CAMS): rationale, design, and methods

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Objective</p> <p>To present the design, methods, and rationale of the Child/Adolescent Anxiety Multimodal Study (CAMS), a recently completed federally-funded, multi-site, randomized placebo-controlled trial that examined the relative efficacy of cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT), sertraline (SRT), and their combination (COMB) against pill placebo (PBO) for the treatment of separation anxiety disorder (SAD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and social phobia (SoP) in children and adolescents.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Following a brief review of the acute outcomes of the CAMS trial, as well as the psychosocial and pharmacologic treatment literature for pediatric anxiety disorders, the design and methods of the CAMS trial are described.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>CAMS was a six-year, six-site, randomized controlled trial. Four hundred eighty-eight (N = 488) children and adolescents (ages 7-17 years) with DSM-IV-TR diagnoses of SAD, GAD, or SoP were randomly assigned to one of four treatment conditions: CBT, SRT, COMB, or PBO. Assessments of anxiety symptoms, safety, and functional outcomes, as well as putative mediators and moderators of treatment response were completed in a multi-measure, multi-informant fashion. Manual-based therapies, trained clinicians and independent evaluators were used to ensure treatment and assessment fidelity. A multi-layered administrative structure with representation from all sites facilitated cross-site coordination of the entire trial, study protocols and quality assurance.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>CAMS offers a model for clinical trials methods applicable to psychosocial and psychopharmacological comparative treatment trials by using state-of-the-art methods and rigorous cross-site quality controls. CAMS also provided a large-scale examination of the relative and combined efficacy and safety of the best evidenced-based psychosocial (CBT) and pharmacologic (SSRI) treatments to date for the most commonly occurring pediatric anxiety disorders. Primary and secondary results of CAMS will hold important implications for informing practice-relevant decisions regarding the initial treatment of youth with anxiety disorders.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00052078.</p

Anxiety Disorders in Children: Family Matters

Accumulating evidence indicates that family/parenting behaviors are associated with the etiology of anxiety disorders in children. This article critically reviews what is known about how family/parenting behaviors have been measured in this literature and presents findings from studies examining the relation between family/parenting constructs and anxiety disorders in children. We review the role of family involvement in the treatment of anxiety disorders in children and conclude with avenues of future research

Treatment Engagement in Adolescents: The Associations of Sociodemographic Characteristics, Caregiver Perceived Barriers, and Clinical Impairment

To examine the associations between sociodemographic characteristics, perceived barriers to treatment, clinical impairment, and youth treatment engagement. Participants included 196 families (youth: ages 12 to 18; 64.3% cis-gender female; 23.5% Black, 60.7% White, and 12.2% Mixed/Other race; 41.3% Hispanic or Latinx ethnicity) recruited as part of a comparative effectiveness trial for adolescent anxiety and depression. Self-report measures of sociodemographic characteristics and caregiver perceived barriers were completed at intake. Youth clinical impairment was assessed at baseline via clinical interview. Measures of engagement were collected throughout treatment, including initiation status, session attendance, and termination status. Relationships were examined using analyses of variances and hierarchal linear and logistic modeling. Perceived barriers did not differ by sociodemographic characteristics. Greater perceived stressors and obstacles predicted fewer sessions attended and a lower likelihood of successful termination. Youth of caregivers with an advanced degree and those with caregivers who were employed part time attended more sessions and were more likely to initiate and terminate treatment successfully compared to youth with caregivers of a lower education level or student or unemployed status. At higher levels of youth clinical impairment, greater perceived treatment demands and issues predicted reduced likelihood of treatment initiation. Perceived barriers, sociodemographic characteristics, and clinical impairment were all associated with levels of engagement in the treatment process. Baseline and continued assessment of perceived and experienced barriers to treatment may promote individualized strategies for families identified as at-risk for reduced engagement

Consultation as an Implementation Strategy to Increase Fidelity of Measurement-Based Care Delivery in Community Mental Health Settings: An Observational Study

Regularly administering outcome measures to clients to inform clinical decision making, referred to as measurement-based care (MBC), has the potential to improve mental health treatment due to its applicability across disorders and treatment settings. Given the utility of MBC, understanding predictors of high-fidelity MBC implementation is important. Training and consultation are widely used implementation strategies to increase the fidelity of evidence-based practice delivery but have rarely been studied with MBC. The current study will examine the relationship between time clinicians spent discussing a case in consultation ("dosage") and MBC fidelity. Thirty clinicians and 56 youth were in the MBC condition of a randomized controlled trial and completed baseline questionnaires. Consultation dosage was extracted from call notes. MBC fidelity was measured using the implementation index, which combines rates of administering and viewing questionnaires, using objective data from the online MBC system. Multi-level modeling was used. Greater consultation dosage significantly predicted a higher implementation index (ß = 0.27, SE = 0.06, p < .001). For every 30 min spent discussing a case in consultation, the case's MBC fidelity increased by 8.1%. Greater consultation dosage significantly predicted higher rates of administration (ß = 0.07, SE = 0.03, p = 0.033) and feedback report viewing (ß = 0.24, SE = 0.06, p < .001). More consultation at the case level predicts greater MBC fidelity using objective measures. The greatest impact was increasing the clinician feedback report viewing rate. The results of this study can help inform future efforts to increase the fidelity with which MBC is delivered and to make consultation as efficient and effective as possible