Children aged 6 to 12 who were exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV) within the last year participated in an intervention program found to be successful in reducing their internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. However, little is known about factors that may contribute to this efficacy. Both fixed and modifiable risk factors that…

Objectives: The current study examined the independent effects of mothers' childhood abuse (CA) and intimate partner violence (IPV) on psychopathology and functional impairment in children; and the potential moderating and mediating role of individual and family factors in these relationships. Additionally, this study explored the potential…

Youth development approaches have grown in popularity, yet the appropriateness of these strategies for adolescents with serious behavior problems has rarely been addressed. Life-course research examining the onset and developmental course of problem behaviors suggests that youth with different patterns of behavior problems may not equally benefit…

It has been established in the literature that aggressive behaviors in individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) represents a high percentage of referrals to mental health services (Davidson, Cain, Sloane-Reeves, Speybroech, Segel, et al., 1994). The results of several studies conducted with children with ID and aggressive behaviors indicate…

This article is excerpted from a chapter in "Finding Hope in Despair: Clinical Studies in Infant Mental Health" (edited by Marian Birch, published 2008 by ZERO TO THREE). Therapeutic intervention with children and families is not always successful, but the professional literature does not often address treatment failures. To address this need,…

Integrating infant mental health services into early education programs leads to better child outcomes and stronger parent-child relationships--the big question is how to do it appropriately and effectively. Clear answers are in this accessible textbook, created to prepare early childhood professionals and programs to weave best practices in…

The lack of culturally appropriate health and mental health care has contributed to the large number of African American youth and families involved in the child welfare system. This article reviews the consequences of the insufficient access to culturally sensitive, evidence-supported interventions for African American foster youth. The authors…

Objectives: The purpose of this article is to highlight the benefits of collaboration in child focused mental health services research. Method: Three unique research projects are described. These projects address the mental health needs of vulnerable, urban, minority children and their families. In each one, service delivery was codesigned,…

At best, mainstream mental health services are often ineffective with Native American clients, and, at worst, they are a vehicle for Western colonization. As such, the authors explore the notion of abandoning the Western therapeutic project and rebuilding the helping process on the basis of indigenous knowledge foundations. To this end, they…

The purpose of this research is to understand the meanings and perceptions that families, teachers, and school-based service providers on the Westside in Syracuse, New York ascribe to school-based mental health services. The Westside is an economically disadvantaged and under-resourced neighborhood where children experience a great deal of stress…

In 2003, a partnership between a local system of care and a large urban school district led to the creation of a schoolwide educational model called the Full Purpose Partnership (FPP). This model was implemented in several elementary schools in Indianapolis, Indiana to integrate the principles of systems of care and wraparound with the techniques…

Unhealthy coping mechanisms become more widely available to young people during their teenage years. Students frequently choose these unhealthy activities as avenues for dealing with the stress of physical and social changes that confront them during adolescence. For these reasons, a need exists for intervention programs that teach adolescents to…

Continuous quality improvement (CQI) is increasingly being adopted by health care, including child and youth mental health services. As part of the commitment to ongoing quality improvement, child and youth mental health teams in the Fraser region in British Columbia undertook CQI projects over a one year period (2007-2008). The projects covered a…

The increasing emphasis on school-based mental health services is likely to increase the demand for school psychologists to provide counseling with students. Providing counseling in the school context can be challenging, especially given time constraints and limited number of sessions. Solution-focused brief counseling (SFBC) is an approach that…

The American Lung Association's Not On Tobacco (N-O-T) program is federally recognized as an accessible and effective option for teen smoking cessation. The program is the most widely used teen smoking cessation program in schools and communities across the U.S. Over a decade of research demonstrates the program's solid evidence base, with…