Mental health issues faced by children and adolescents worldwide have become prevalent. Anxiety and depression in particular affect their daily lives and overall well-being. However, access to help for such issues remains a challenge. A study led by San Diego State University found that providing brief behavioural therapy in paediatric primary care helps children and teens struggling with anxiety and depression. Latino youth, especially, showed significant improvement with such intervention.
To understand the effectiveness of providing mental health services in paediatric care, the study’s lead author, V. Robin Weersing, Professor in SDSU’s Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, recruited 185 ethnically diverse children and adolescents ages 8 to 16 who were identified by their paediatrician as struggling with anxiety and/or depression. Half of the participants received standard outpatient mental health care referrals, with researchers ensuring follow-ups. The other half received brief behavioural therapy (BBT), involving sessions within their doctor’s office. BBT focused on teaching strategies to confront fears and engage in daily activities that were previously avoided due to negative emotions. After 16 weeks, significantly more youths in the BBT group (57%) showed improvement compared to those in the outpatient referral group (28%). Latino children and adolescents had notably higher improvement rates with BBT (76% improvement) compared to outpatient referrals (7% improvement).
“In these interventions, kids learn not to withdraw from what’s upsetting them,” Weersing said. “Slowly they learn to approach and actively problem solve. Step by step, they re-engage with the tasks that they need to do or want to do, but previously struggled to do, because negative emotions were in the way.”
The research advises:
- Using brief behavioural techniques in the medical setting to address the mental health needs of young people is effective.
- This approach is a crucial step toward meeting the behavioural health needs of a significant percentage of children and adolescents.
“Overall, we view this study as providing promising evidence that anxious and depressed kids can be treated safely and effectively within their paediatricians’ offices,” Weersing said.
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