Clinical Adolescent Psychology Research Articles

Using Mechanical Turk to Study Parents and Children: An Examination of Data Quality and Representativeness

ABSTRACT Objective Mechanical Turk (MTurk) is a popular data collection tool that is increasingly used to study parents and children. We examined the quality of data obtained via MTurk, the representativeness of parents on MTurk, and whether the wording of MTurk recruitment materials is related to sample characteristics. Method Participants were 650 parents with children aged 4 to 17 recruited for two separate studies (64.6% female, 83.8% Caucasian, mean age = 37.6 years). The Mental Health Survey (N = 322) recruitment materials described a study about mental health and the Health Survey (N = 328) materials only referenced health; both surveys restricted participation to parents in the United States (U.S.). Parents completed measures about demographics, mental health service seeking history, and parent and youth psychopathology. Results Participants provided reliable responses on study measures, with low rates of missing data. Participants were more female, less racially/ethnically diverse, and more educated than the U.S. population, and also had more children per household. Over 40% of parents and 30% of children had previously received mental health services and many scored in the clinical range on measures of psychopathology. Contrary to hypotheses, mental health help seeking was higher in the Health Survey than the Mental Health survey. Conclusions MTurk is a feasible method for child and adolescent clinical psychology research, although participants may not be fully demographically representative of the general population and could possibly be better considered an at-risk or clinical sample than a community sample.

Clinical-psychological elaboration of discourse with regard to behavioural reactions typical of children and adolescents in the situation of COVID-19 pandemic

Background. The present state of COVID-19 pandemic has made the society face new challenges; it has created a number of crisis situations that regard both adults and children and that need prompt clinical-psychological solutions. Psychological data concerning children and adolescents in the pandemic context are notably few. Objectives. The analysis of how different age strata react to the situation, with special attention to how children and adolescents react to the measures introduced to prevent further spread of COVID-19. Subsequent specification of directions in which clinical-psychological approach could help to develop the corresponding medical-sanitary discourses. Results. It was found that whenever the population reacts and fulfils the corresponding recommendations in an inefficient way it can be explained by the fact that medical-sanitary discourse is not sufficiently elaborated in clinical-psychological terms. It is shown that there is a need for further analysis and development of constructive clinical-psychological approach to informing different age groups and for completing the existing medical-sanitary discourses on the basis of constructive clinical-psychological approach. The study singles out new system characteristics of a more productive medical-psychological approach to informing the public and influencing people’s behaviour in the present situation. Thus, it is shown that the informational-psychological characteristics of the discourse in question must be: exactness, credibility, systematic nature, teleological and behaviourial meaningfulness, as well as acceptability in terms of mental hygiene. It is extremely important to take into account that different age groups, such as children and adolescents, correspondingly, should be approached in different ways when informing them about the correct behaviour in the pandemic conditions. Apart from the mental hygiene issues, one should bear in mind the developmental aspects of construing information for children and adolescents. The clinical-psychological task here is to use the development of pandemic awareness in children and adolescents as an opportunity to create a new situation of psychic development, to form an impulse that not only could prevent them from developing a number of psychic disorders but could also favour their personality growth in the circumstances they find themselves in. Conclusion. The study singled out the directions for developing a new constructive trend in clinical-psychological studies, namely, in child and adolescent clinical psychology.

From referral to discharge: Young people and parents' experience of a systemic paediatric psychology service.

The paediatric and adolescent clinical psychology service at the University College London Hospital provides age-appropriate services to young people up to 19 years of age under the care of a hospital consultant. This short report describes how young people and parents experience what we provide as a systemic paediatric psychology team from referral to discharge. A semi-structured questionnaire was designed to gather service user perspectives on the systemic clinical psychology service. The questionnaire included open and closed questions to generate qualitative and quantitative data about the different stages of the treatment process. A total of 44/79 families discharged in the previous year were contacted by phone. The majority of young people and parents were happy being called to discuss the referral before being offered an appointment and liked the way in which the psychologist worked with the family. The majority of young people and parents reported their situation had improved as a result of the work offered by the psychology team. Negative aspects of the experience reflected the realities of service driven constraints including having to travel a long distance for the appointment, lack of rooms and having to be discharged at 19 years of age. Service user feedback is imperative to providing a high standard of care. This study highlighted positive experiences of a systemic service and indicated areas for future improvement that we are attempting to address.

La formulation de cas : un modèle d’évaluation psychologique de l’enfant et de l’adolescent

This article presents the case formulation approach to child and adolescent clinical psychology assessment. Case formulation was developed as a response to psychiatric diagnosis, which was seen as a reductionist approach to complex mental health issues. Clinical psychologists embraced this model, mainly developed by cognitive behavioural therapists, and adapted it. Nowadays, case formulation is widely used by child clinical psychologists in their everyday practice. It consists of adopting different theoretical lenses to understand a child's psychological difficulties and integrate current theoretical and research findings that can enhance the understanding of the case. It is both an evidence based approach and a type of reflexive practice. The aim of case formulation is to make suggestions and propose the treatment of choice. However, its collaborative nature means that families are part of the decision making process, which reinforces the therapeutic relationship. The present article presents the three major theoretical lenses that are used in a case formulation: cognitive-behavioural, psychodynamic and systemic. The same vignette is used throughout to show the relevance and complementary aspects of each clinical model.

Future Directions for Positive Development Intervention Research

The emergence of multiple universal prevention efforts that reduce psychopathology symptoms, along with growing interest in the promotion of healthy development, presents an exciting opportunity for advancing child and adolescent mental health. Multiple frameworks and related construct models of positive development have been developed—and are all driving substantial findings. In addition, efforts under way to understand and systematically review existing interventions as promoting effective development are proving valuable not only for reducing risk but also for improving emotional and social functioning. Principal contributors to this exciting convergence of interests and advancements are described in this article. Moreover, this article presents important challenges and opportunities for moving forward toward a robust integration of positive development and child and adolescent clinical psychology.

The reading grade level of common measures in child and adolescent clinical psychology.

The purpose of this article is to provide easily accessible readability information for 49 parent- and 35 child- and adolescent-report measures commonly used by clinicians and researchers. There is a great deal of variability in reading ability required across measures. The majority of parent-report measures (65%) required reading ability above the 8th grade level. The average child-/adolescent-report measure required reading ability above the 6th grade level. Given the potential contribution of readability to a measure's reliability, validity, and overall utility, examining and accounting for readability should be a more common practice in test construction and administration.

Qualitative Clinical Research With Children and Adolescents

This article provides an overview of how qualitative research methods (QRMs) can augment the literature in child and adolescent clinical psychology by contributing to theory and hypothesis building. We discuss the utility of qualitative methods in examining the nature of clinical processes and obtaining deeper understandings about quantitative findings. We also present strategies for designing and conducting qualitative investigations, address ethical issues involved in conducting qualitative research with minors, and discuss limitations on inferences that can be made from qualitative findings.

Commentary: Individual Risk Prediction, Individual Risk, and Population Risk

Provides a background to efforts aimed at impacting developmental outcomes across society and discusses challenges and consequences resulting from such efforts. Child and adolescent clinical psychology studies health and behavior with a focus on individuals. This may or may not present an accurate picture of factors relating to the overall levels of health and behavior in a population. In contrast, epidemiology typically studies health and behavior with a focus on populations. Differences between the clinical and epidemiological approaches are most apparent when promoting policy aimed at preventing future disorders or reoccurrence of disorders in at-risk individuals. Awareness of these issues may help clinical psychologists in efforts to inform or shape public policy.

Introduction to the special section on clinical adolescent psychology: Developmental psychopathology and treatment.

This article addresses implications of the interface between developmental psychology and clinical psychology for research on adolescence and describes the importance of considering developmental level when designing treatments for adolescent patients. In addition, the articles that constitute the special section, "Clinical Adolescent Psychology: Developmental Psychopathology and Treatment," are introduced.

Clinical adolescent psychology: What it is, and what it needs to be.

Clinical adolescent psychology: What it is, and what it needs to be.

Introduction to the special section on clinical adolescent psychology: Developmental psychopathology and treatment.

Introduction to the special section on clinical adolescent psychology: Developmental psychopathology and treatment.

The handbook of child and adolescent clinical psychology: a contextual approach

The handbook of child and adolescent clinical psychology: a contextual approach