Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Anxious Adolescents: Developmental Influences on Treatment Design and Delivery

Anxiety disorders in adolescence are common and disruptive, pointing to a need for effective treatments for this age group. Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is one of the most popular interventions for adolescent anxiety, and there is empirical support for its application. However, a significant proportion of adolescent clients continue to report anxiety symptoms post-treatment. This paper underscores the need to attend to the unique developmental characteristics of the adolescent period when designing and delivering treatment, in an effort to enhance treatment effectiveness. Informed by the literature from developmental psychology, developmental psychopathology, and clinical child and adolescent psychology, we review the ‘why’ and the ‘how’ of developmentally appropriate CBT for anxious adolescents. ‘Why’ it is important to consider developmental factors in designing and delivering CBT for anxious adolescents is addressed by examining the age-related findings of treatment outcome studies and exploring the influence of developmental factors, including cognitive capacities, on engagement in CBT. ‘How’ clinicians can developmentally tailor CBT for anxious adolescents in six key domains of treatment design and delivery is illustrated with suggestions drawn from both clinically and research-oriented literature. Finally, recommendations are made for research into developmentally appropriate CBT for anxious adolescents

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Early identification of school attendance problems: How helpful are Dutch laws, policies, and protocols?

The identification of emerging school attendance problems (SAPs) is highly important. Early identification permits early intervention, which reduces the likelihood of SAPs becoming established and contributing to additional problems. In the short term, SAPs can contribute to academic and social-emotional problems for the young person and stress for the family, and they place extra demands upon school resources. In the longer-term, SAPs can lead to school drop-out which contributes to problems for the community at large. Local, national, and international efforts aimed at the identification of emerging SAPs are thus a priority. This paper commences with a review of national laws and policies in the Netherlands that have a bearing on the identification of SAPs. Two Dutch protocols relevant to the identification of SAPs are also considered. Thereafter, we discuss the strengths and weaknesses of Dutch laws, policies, and protocols, paying particular attention to the question of whether they satisfactorily stimulate early identification of SAPs. The paper concludes with recommendations about ways to improve early identification in the Netherlands. These recommendations can stimulate thinking among educational professionals and policy-makers in other countries.La identificación de problemas emergentes de asistencia escolar (PAE) es muy importante. La identificación temprana permite la intervención temprana, lo que reduce la probabilidad de que los PAE se establezcan y contribuyan a problemas adicionales. A corto plazo, los PAE pueden contribuir a problemas académicos y socioemocionales para los jóvenes y al estrés para la familia, e imponen demandas adicionales a los recursos escolares. A más largo plazo, los PAE pueden llevar a la deserción escolar, lo que contribuye a problemas para la comunidad en general. Los esfuerzos locales, nacionales e internacionales dirigidos a la identificación de PAE emergentes son, por lo tanto, una prioridad. Este documento comienza con una revisión de las leyes y políticas nacionales en los Países Bajos que inciden en la identificación de los PAE. También se consideran dos protocolos holandeses relevantes para la identificación de PAE. A partir de entonces, discutimos las fortalezas y debilidades de las leyes, políticas y protocolos holandeses, prestando especial atención a la cuestión de si estimulan satisfactoriamente la identificación temprana de los PAE. El documento concluye con recomendaciones sobre formas de mejorar la identificación temprana en los Países Bajos. Estas recomendaciones pueden estimular el pensamiento entre los profesionales de la educación y los responsables políticos en otros países